Cream De Mint Brownies and GIVEAWAY!

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Enter to win a box of ChocoPerfection bars! All you have to do is leave a comment below that you would like to win and also include what "healthified" recipe you and your family enjoy the most. The winner will be picked on January 30th (Contest is for US only). Good Luck!

Alcohol Facts

When people go on a diet, they often choose the “light” version of their favorite alcoholic beverages in order to save a few calories. However, that is only a small piece of the puzzle. Fat metabolism is reduced by as much as 73% after only two alcoholic beverages. This scary fact shows that the primary effect of alcohol on the body is not so much how many calories we consume, but how it stops the body’s ability to use your fat stores for energy.

Alcohol in the body is converted into a substance called acetate. Unlike a car that uses one supply of fuel, the body is able to draw from carbohydrates, fats and proteins for energy. When your blood acetate levels increase, your body uses acetate instead of fat. To make matters worse, the more you drink the more you tend to eat; and unfortunately, drinking will make your liver work to convert the alcohol into acetate, which means that the foods you consume at this time will be converted into extra fat on your body.

If that didn’t sound bad enough; alcohol stimulates appetite and decrease your testosterone levels for up to 24 hours and increases estrogen by 300%. The infamous “beer belly” is really just an “estrogen belly.” Biochemically, the higher your level of estrogen is, the more readily you absorb alcohol, but the slower you break it down.

Muscle Tip: Drinking alcohol is the most efficient way to slash your testosterone levels; women…we don’t want this to happen either. Just a single event of serious drinking raises levels of the muscle-wasting stress hormone called cortisol and decreases the levels of testosterone for up to 24 hours. If you are working out to build strong fat-burning muscles yet consuming alcohol, this actually breaks down muscle further and you end up with a slower metabolism. This is because you break down muscle as you lift weights and you repair them as you rest if you have proper hormone levels...if not, you never repair your muscles properly!

Also, we all know that alcohol dehydrates us. In order for fat to be metabolized, it must first be released from the fat cell and then be transported by the bloodstream where it is pushed to the liver to be used as fuel. If you are dehydrated, the liver has to come to the aid of the kidneys and can’t focus on its role of releasing fat.

Alcohol also affects every organ of the body, it’s most dramatic impact is upon the liver. The liver cells normally prefer fatty acids as fuel, and package excess fatty acids as triglycerides, which they then route to other tissues of the body. However, when alcohol is present, the liver cells are forced to first metabolize the alcohol, letting the fatty acids accumulate in huge amounts. Alcohol metabolism permanently changes liver cell structure, which impairs the liver’s ability to metabolize fats, which causes fatty liver disease. To read more, check out my book: Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism. I have a whole chapter called "Alcohol, It's Not Just the Calories!"

Swerve Deal for January

This month Swerve is running a deal where you can buy a 3 pack of Confectioners, Get 40ct packets Free! Just go Here to get stocked up!

BROWNIES:
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup butter or coconut oil
4 large eggs
2 cups Swerve (or erythritol and 2 tsp stevia glycerite)
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp mint extract
1 cup blanched almond flour
FILLING:
1/2 cup cream cheese or coconut cream
1/4 cup Swerve confectioners (or erythritol and 1/4tsp stevia glycerite)
2 TBS unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp mint extract
CHOCOLATE ICING:
2 TBS butter or coconut oil
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
5 TBS unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup Swerve confectioners (or erythritol and 1/4 tsp stevia glycerite)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan with coconut oil spray. BROWNIES: In double boiler, melt baking chocolate and 1 cup butter over simmering water; cool slightly. In medium mixing bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until blended, then add the sweetener and continue whisking until mixture is light and fluffy. Add cooled chocolate mixture, salt, extract and almond flour. Keep whisking until thoroughly blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and leave brownies to cool in pan.

FILLING: Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the 1/2 cup cream cheese and sweetener together until well blended. Stir in the almond milk and creme de menthe until blend well. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate in original baking pan until filling is firm.

ICING: Place the butter and chopped chocolate in a double boiler (or in a heat safe dish over a pot of boiling water). Stir well until just melted (don't burn the chocolate!), add in the almond milk, and sweetener. Stir until smooth and thick. Use to frost the brownies. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens.  Makes about 14 servings.

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Traditional Brownies = 441 calories, 25g fat, 3.8g protein, 56 carbs, 1.7g fiber (54.3 effective carbs)
"Healthified" Brownies = 246 calories, 24g fat, 4.9g protein, 4.6 carbs, 2.3g fiber (2.3 effective carbs)

If you have a dairy allergy, you can use Coconut Cream in place of cream cheese. (click HERE to find)