Reese's Cup Brownie... now with pictures

So, I've talked about this brownie a lot, but I thought it was time to do it a little justice, so last night when I baked them, I took some pictures.

So, once again, Reese's Cup Brownies, Medifast-style!

You need:

• One Packet Soft Bake Brownie
• Two tablespoons PB2 (prepared)
• A Ramekin
• An Oven, preheated to 350F
• A Refrigerator
• Time

Step one, prepare the Brownie mix according o the directions. I like to use a little extra water, but not much. Then, pour half the brownie into your ramekin, like so:

You can try to not get a drop on the side when you do it.

Then, once you've added half your batter, make a little hockey puck of PB2 (this is easiest if you make the PB2 with a little less water than normal) and drop that on top of the batter.

Doesn't that look tasty? Sure it does.

Then, cover with the rest of your batter, like so:

If you're lucky, your brownies will also magically clone themselves. 

Then, pop your ramekin into the oven for 15 minutes. While you wait, keep preparing your lean and green. Eventually they'll be ready and you can pull them out and see them. they should look like this:

Probably too hot to eat at this point.

Stick them in the fridge for a couple hours, or the freezer for less time. After dinner, they should be chilled well and you can eat!

Doesn't that look tempting? No? You haven't been on Medifast long enough.

And that's it. Looking at the pictures, it's obvious some things I could do better. If I baked the ramekins sitting in a pan of water, I'd probably lose the cracking on the surface. And if I flattened out the Peanut butter more, I'd lose the 'glop' in the middle. Overall though, this is a quick and easy dessert that adds a lot to the basic Medifast brownie.

As we keep eating these, I'm coming to the conclusion that I prefer the smoothies I make out of Pudding and Chocolate Chip Cookies, but I like having this as an option. I doubt I'll ever eat a 'normal' brownie again, though.

Medifast 'dessert' recipes

Having a dessert on Medifast is pretty nice as a daily morale boost. My wife and have have come up with several that we really like that require only a little bit of extra preparation.

• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Smoothies
• Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Shakes
• Dark Chocolate Brownie Smoothies
• "Reese's Cup" Brownies

I've talked about these before, but let's spell them out.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Smoothies

Ingredients

• 1 Packet Medifast Chocolate Chip Cookie Soft Bake
• 1 Tbsp Light Cream Cheese
• 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1/2 cup cold water

Preparation

• Put the ice in a blender and blend until it becomes 'snow'.
• Add all other ingredients and blend until mixed. 
• If necessary, scrape down the sides of the blender with a spatula and blend more
• Pour into a glass and eat with a spoon or drink with a large straw.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Shakes

Ingredients

• 1 Packet Medifast Chocolate Pudding
• 1 Tbsp PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter
• 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1/2 cup cold water

Preparation

• Put the ice in a blender and blend until it becomes 'snow'.
• Add all other ingredients and blend until mixed. 
• If necessary, scrape down the sides of the blender with a spatula and blend more
• Pour into a glass and eat with a spoon or drink with a large straw.

Dark Chocolate Brownie Smoothies

Ingredients

• 1 Packet Medifast Chocolate Brownie Soft Bake
• 1 Tbsp Light Cream Cheese
• 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1/2 cup cold water

Preparation

• Put the ice in a blender and blend until it becomes 'snow'.
• Add all other ingredients and blend until mixed. 
• If necessary, scrape down the sides of the blender with a spatula and blend more
• Pour into a glass and eat with a spoon or drink with a large straw.

You'll note that these three recipes are surprisingly similar. Feel free to experiment with other extract flavors, more or less cocoa powder, or other tweaks. IN every case, I'm a big fan of ice cream and shakes, and these are great ways to make a bulky dessert at the end of the day.

"Reese's Cup" Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 Packet Medifast Chocolate Brownie Soft Bake
• 2 Tbsp PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter, prepared
• 5 oz water

Preparation

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
• Mix the Brownie in a bowl with 5 oz of water, it should be runnier than normal
• Mix the PB2 with 1 tbsp of water (or less, you want it somewhat thick) and set aside
• Pour half of your brownie mixture into a small ramekin
• add the PB2, making a round flat 'biscuit' of PB2 that doesn't touch the edges
• Cover with remaining brownie batter
• Bake for 15 minutes
• Remove from the oven and put in the Freezer for 30-45 minutes, or the fridge for 2-3 hours
• Eat with a spoon!

These are amazing. I mean, they really are. You add extra water to get a good consistency, 15 minutes at 350 under-bakes them, and then you chill them and you've got a really fudge-like dessert. I cook them at the same time I'm cooking my Lean and Green, so they're ready to go a couple hours later.

These recipes all came from other sites and blogs, but I've tweaked them a tad to make them more to my liking. Oh, and seriously, invest in a ramekin for your brownies. So much better than the microwave-safe paper container. 

So sick of the snow...

Looking out my window, despite it being above freezing and raining, there's still snow everywhere. A lot melted over the past 12 hours, but we're scheduled to get a little more.

It's finally melting...

However, next week is supposed to be in the 60's part of the time, and maybe we can get all the snow that isn't piled up from plowing melted, at least. I'm ready to be able to go outside and not moan about how cold and gross it is.

In other news, I had a low water day yesterday. I probably only drank 24-32 oz of water, and 16 oz of tea, and I could totally tell. I'm a little swollen, up about half a pound, and have dry mouth. I'll resolve that today and see how that works out for me.

Not much to say today, so I'll leave with a Medifast Snack Bar tip:

Caramel Crunch bars have a chewy odd texture, and are too sweet as-is. Toss them in the microwave for 5-9 seconds and then push them down into some coarse sea salt. You get a sea-salt caramel flavor that cuts the sweetness and is pretty delicious if you like salted caramel. 

And ugh... as I type this the rain splattering my office window has just transitioned to sleet.  

Medifast Menu Choices

As we continue our Medifast diet, the options as to what we eat are settling in, and I definitely have some preferences starting to get 'hard coded' as to what I prefer to eat, and when.

Meal 1 - Breakfast: For this meal I always want one of three things... a Ready to Drink Chocolate Shake, or Cinnamon or Mixed Berry Cereal with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. I strongly associate shakes and cereal with breakfast and these are by far my favorite choices.  

Failed to make the cut: Pancakes, Blueberry Muffins. While both of these are ok, they aren't a go-to choice. I'm not sure how many of either of these I'll be ordering in the future... having a box of one or the other on hand is probably a good idea for variety, but they won't be a common choice.

Meal 2 - Snack: For this I almost always want a Crunch Bar. My favorite crunch bar is the chocolate peanut butter, followed up with Lemon Meringue and Cinnamon Roll. Caramel Crunch is ok but not great, but I'm hoping the application of some sea salt will transform this. I'll be trying that today. I also like the Chewy bars (Cookie Dough and Chocolate Peanut Butter), but they aren't as satisfying as the crunch bars.

Failed to make the cut: Chocolate Mint Crunch Bar. Not a fan. 

Meal 3 - Lunch: This is where I want something hot with more preparation. My go to here is by far the Macaroni and Cheese. Chili and Cream of Chicken soup are also good options. All three of these choices need to be doctored for me to enjoy them... 

• Mac  & Cheese: Add a Laughing Cow wedge and a dash of Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
• Chili: Add an ounce of ground turkey and a lot of chili powder.
• Cream of chicken soup: add a drop of bullion and Cajun Seasoning, plus an ounce of finely diced chicken breast.

Because of the pain in adding an ounce of lean protein to the chili and the soup, they are less common.

Failed to make the cut: Sloppy Joe. This is far too tomato-y, and just didn't have a good flavor. I had to doctor it a lot to get it to where I liked it. Once I had, it was ok, but this will not be a staple, ever. 

Meal 4 - Snack: Here, the Honey Mustard Pretzel Bites are the clear winner. Cinnamon Pretzels are good too, but I prefer something more savory. Chili Nacho Puffs are a good change of pace. I want to try the BBQ bites next order, though.

Failed to make the cut: Parmesan Puffs and Cheese Pizza Bites. Neither of these have a flavor I really like. Both are inoffensive and edible, but why bother when I like the pretzels? 

Meal 5 - Dessert: Number one choice is the Soft Bake Brownie... once we learned how to make it awesome. Second choice is chocolate pudding. Finally, we just learned a new way to use the Chocolate Chip soft bake as well. When made in their 'normal' way, none of these really did it for me, but doctored? Oh man, these are good...

• Brownie: mix a bit of extra water, pour half into a ramekin, drop 2 TBSP of PB2 onto the brownie mix, cover with remaining batter, bake at 350 for 15 minutes and then chill for 1-2 hours.
• Chocolate Pudding: mix in a Ninja blender with 1 cup of ice, 1/2 cup of water, and some PB2 and Cocoa Powder for a dark chocolate peanut butter frosty.
• Chocolate Chip: mix in the Ninja with water and ice, plus an ounce of cream cheese and a bit of cocoa powder for a cookie dough smoothie. 

  Failed to make the cut: Preparing any of these desserts by the directions!

Things we haven't tried yet:

There are still a lot of bars we haven't ordered, and most of those will likely get a one-box order now and then to add them.

I'm not interested in the other puddings or shakes, or the soft serves at all... I feel like the options I have now are sufficient, but it's possible we'll try them later.

Oatmeal and Eggs are both iffy. I'd rather use Egg Beaters than powdered eggs, and I've never liked oatmeal unless it was piled high with sugar.

The hot drinks hold absolutely no interest for me, either.

A couple of the other hearty choices (Ziti, Soups) are potential pick ups, but not until I start getting sick of Mac and Cheese.

'Cooking' on Medifast

Our second order of Medifast food is coming in and I thought I'd go over what we've had so far, and the best ways to prepare it!

 First the easy stuff: 

• Peanut Butter Crunch Bar
• Chocolate Mint Crunch Bar
• Parmesan Cheese Puffs
• Cheese Pizza Bites
• Chewy Cookie Dough Bars
• Ready to Drink Dutch Chocolate Shake 

All of this we've eaten right out of the package. With the exception of the Cheese Pizza Bites, all of these are pretty good too. Now on to the food that has more preparation:

Cream of Chicken Soup - made by the instructions, this was horrible, and I ate it when I was hungry no less. It was so bad I didn't give it another chance for over a week. When I revisited it, though I did the following: Soak the soup in water, add a tiny bit of chicken flavor, an oz of finely chopped cooked chicken breast, and some Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. Now it's good! It takes an oz of your Lean and Green protein, but it's worth it. 

Vegetarian Chili - soak this for *hours* before you microwave it, seriously. Overnight is good, but at least 4 hours. This gets the beans tender enoguh to eat and thickens everythign up nicely. I add Chili Powder or Cayenne to give it some kick, and an oz or two of ground turkey from my Lean and Green. This gives it some more depth and bulks it up, too. 

Macaroni and Cheese - this is edible with enough pepper if you prepare it normally, but when you mix in a wedge of Laughing Cow and a dash of something spicy (more Tony Chachere's), it transforms. Throw in something from your L&G (mushrooms, or turkey, or chicken) and it becomes a great lunch.

Cinnamon Crunch Cereal - I was very iffy about this, because I don't like dry cereal, and I never had any desire to try soy or almond milk... I don't even like skim milk. Then I had this with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and it was amazing. I will be using that milk for all cereals I eat, even when I'm off Medifast completely. It's that good.

Pancakes - These cook faster than 'normal' pancakes, so you have to set the temp a little lower. Also, mix them by eye, and not measurement, as they tell you to add way too much water. Unlike real pancakes, where you have lots of wiggle room to add more mix and toss the first one when you under/overcook it, you really only get one chance with these guys. Tastewise, they are decent, but this has probably been the most frustrating thing I've cooked. I want to explore some of the options with these, my one experiment so far has been a pancake muffin in a cup in the microwave, and it didn't turn out great.

Blueberry Muffin Soft Bake - cooking these by the instructions ends up with a dry mess. I need to find out how to perfect this, because I want more of these, but they are hard to prepare.

Chocolate Chip Soft Bake - for this, I add a little extra water and pay attention when cooking, I want it to be a little underdone. We're going to explore some options with this tonight, as well... makign a Chocolate Chip/Chocolate PB2 'truffle' tonight, using the brownie method below:

Chocolate Brownie Soft Bake - this simply wasn't as good as the chocolate chip, until we made a find. Mix up your brownie mix with a touch more water, pour half into a parchment-lined muffin cup. Put a ball of PB2 on the brownie mix, then cover with the rest of the brownie. Bake for 12-14 minutes at 350, then pull it out and toss it in the freezer for 30 minutes. the brownie doesn't cook completely in that time, and you end up with this rich fudgey peanutbuttery treat. I might have thought this was this amazing on day 1... not sure though.

Chocolate Pudding -  we've only made this one way, and I don't see any reason to change it. You throw the pudding, a half cup of water, and a cup of ice into your Ninja Blender and blend the living crap out of it. Dump it into a glass and you've got this really nice chocolate soft serve. Add more liquid and it's a drinkable milkshake (a 'real' shake, that is difficult to get through a straw). If you've got the calories, make it with almond milk instead of water, and if you like darker chocolate, add some dark cocoa powder.

That's all so far. I'll also give a piece of general advice... if you don't like something early on, try it again later. You really will have a light shift in your taste buds and things will taste differently to you. Also, split up your L&G. After a few days on plan, your L&G is realyl too big of a meal at one sitting. Spreading  it out to 'enhance' your Medifast lunch is a great trick. Also, we make a point to have a 'dessert' after dinner every night, and save our puddings and chocolate chip/brownie soft bakes for this. That helps a lot with having somethign to look forward to.

Final thoughts: I had bunless turkey burgers for dinner last night, wrapped in romaine lettuce. I managed to eat all of my lettuce, and didn't give up on it. This is a pretty major victory for me since I hate lettuce. I want to incorporate more into my diet and maybe I'll be able to eat some salad in the future.