beautyfoodnerdrunningshoptravel

March 26, 2013

"earning it" or "deserving it" celebrity edition

new book due out in april

recently there's been a lot of talk in my office about haters. especially women hating on women. i'm guilty of this during every broadcast sporting event. as a woman who loves sports i am all for women being integrated into the male dominated field of sports broadcasting. what i'm not for, are the networks putting a woman on the game coverage when she clearly is only there for her pleasing looks. that being said, i love pam ward, she knows her sports.

i'll move away from sports and on to food, cause i love food. i feel like women, more often than men, are the target of cook book hate. from rachel ray to pippa middleton to gwenyth paltrow, if it isn't a complicated chem lab a-la martha stewart, it just isn't good enough.  i wonder, if george clooney did a cook book would he be judged so harshly?

while stumbling around the interwebs one day i discovered goop.com, gwenyth paltrow's personal blog. she's been a health nut for a few years and while i'm not into cupping (ew), macrobiotic or cleansing, i can get on board with healthier versions of the foods i already love.





she has been critized for having no formal culinary training and her use of organic "hard to find" ingredients. well sure, she's a big hollywood actress married to a rock star, she can afford to go to the high end stores to buy her agave and spelt flour. where shall we peasants shop for such items? umm, the grocery store. putting aside the fact that her preferred flour brand (king arthur) is available for order online, it is also stocked at my albertson's which is a kroger brand. i'm pretty sure the average shopper could find the items at their grocer if only they'd get down off their horse and take a look. as far as no formal training, it's true. she does however love to cook and has written her books with the help of a pro, giving her full credit. she even did some cooking at catch while shooting ironman in wilmington, yum!

i haven't picked up her first book just yet, she has a new one on deck in april and i may try that one, but she did post some of her recipes in self magazine and on her website goop.com. i decided to give the brownies a go. i've been craving some chocolate this week and they looked like they'd hit the spot. these claim to be "as healthy as you can get without sacrificing flavor." the calorie count is high, around 270 per brownie, but the healthier ingredients make the brownies better for your body as a whole. the one place i diverted from the plan was using cow's milk rather than soy. i'm a cow milk girl and didn't see buying a whole thing of soy for half a cup. (click on the link for the full directions)

goop.com
2 cups white spelt flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup light agave nectar
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

sifting the dry 

folding, in my super cool new marvel t-shirt

ready for the oven

how'd they turn out? pretty damn good. there were only about 5 left at the end of the day, and they were tiny!

it did call for half a cup of agave and the grocery stores seem to only stock the smaller jars. so for more baking, looks like i'll be heading over to amazon for this item. i also used an 8x8 pan, the recipe calls for a 9x11. after much searching this appears to be a size only available from falcon in the uk, quelle grande suprise. i ended up baking for about 45-50 min before pulling the pan for fear i may burn the edges. the middle wasn't quite solid and after sitting to cool, it fell. i ended up with a 3 inch circle of gooey goodness to cut the brownie slices around. looks like i'll be adding the dish set to my wish list. a 9x9 pan is pretty standard and would probably fare better, but falcon looks so chic!

 before the middle sank

this months self mag and my greasy pizza stain

up next on my "oh no they shouldn't" shame train, i think i'll try a bread from ms. pippa middleton. the uk obsession continues!

4 comments:

  1. Ooooo yummy! I've always wanted to look at her book. She's just a person who likes to cook. Its nice having a cookbook perspective from someone who isn't trained. You would think people would be into that.

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  2. Speaking of goop.com I was looking at this smoothie recipe today! Can't wait to try this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADPHaCm9-d4

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  3. The actual typed recipe is here: http://www.goop.com/recipes/breakfast/chocolatelove-smoothie

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  4. i've been wanting to try this too, maybe after the first greenpolkadot delivery. i'd use a whole banana instead of ice cubes, my cuisanart doesn't really dig ice.

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