dark chocolate pumpkin spice fudge brownies

crazy good 5:30 am workout this fine tuesday morning! got through 1 hour of Total Conditioning, a Lifetime Athletic signature formatted class. almost 700 cals burned! i set aside some time every monday to sit down and write out exercises for my class. i have always sucked at making up stuff on the spot- that never goes great for me. like i could never be given a mic and asked to 'say a few words' at an event... omg. i'd totally pee on myself. however if i'm to speak about health, fitness, or FOOD, i'd be straight!!

i'm no longer unbeweavable. i know sew-ins are supposed to last way longer than one month lol, but that's all i could take. i definitely sweat out my perm this morning and i'll be smelling it for the next few days. aaaaand so will anybody on the elliptical to the left and right of me :lol:

after my class, i did a quick upper body circuit cause i didn't get to finish my workout from last night. i did:

bench press 4 x 10

machine curls 4 x 12

machine tricep extensions 4 x 12

machine pull ups 4 x 10

pushups 4 x 10

cable flyes 3 x 12

with moderate - heavy weight. didn't do abs cause i do them at the end of my class.

breakfast was my banana-cinnamon oats and spinach egg white omelette as usual. dinner last night though.....

i was imagining making and eating this while on the elliptical, not even kidding. could not get home fast enough.

grilled chicken BBQ pizza.

i used mc. cormick BBQ seasoned grilled chicken, Trader Joe's organic pizza sauce, roma tomatoes, shredded rice cheese, and fresh cilantro on an oatmeal/egg white pizza crust. i made two out of one serving and killed them both immediately.

are you stocked up on canned pumpkin through the winter? lol. i have way too many cans of it in my pantry right now. i bought so many at once though cause there was a shortage last year. i use canned pumpkin all year round though, and pumpkin pie is my fave next to key lime. pure pumpkin is low-fat, low sugar, low carb, and has plenty of fiber. great for sweet and savory dishes, just like sweet potatoes.

i cannot wait until Chiso can participate more with me in the kitchen! i have so many fun cooking projects planned. for now, he's my studio audience and listens to all my cooking demos. yeah right, he only sticks around if i give him snacks.

my little hamburglar munching on strawberry magic pop, his fave. this week.

Sonny requested brownies, so i made some with canned pumpkin. who the heck knows who created this recipe first, but i got it from Hungry Girl a couple years back. it's just 1 can pure pumpkin mixed with 1 box of brownie mix. no oil, eggs, or butter. i added a few thangs though.

dark chocolate pumpkin spice fudge brownies

the stuff:

1 box fudge brownies (your fave brand)
1 can Libby's pure pumpkin
1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

i cut 15 servings outta my loaves.

do this:

set oven to 350 and mix everything together in a big bowl until smooth. no lumps or dry spots. cooking times vary..but since the batter is thicker than normal, take it out after baking it for the required time according to the kind of pan you use and do the toothpick test.

hey, the stats are still waaaay lower than the normal box recipe.

made two loaves instead of using a rectangle or square pan- one with chocolate chips, and one without. which was stupid cause all our visitors ate the one with chips.

and that's why! i microwaved a piece for a few seconds until the chocolate melted a little, then topped it with some vegan whipped topping (found at HEB in the vegan/produce department).