Kim's wonderful brownies

Wow these are good! We made them yesterday and they were gone so fast! The boys kept saying 'oh these are so good' as they enjoyed.

1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c agave syrup
1/2 c flour
1/2 c egg whites (about 4)
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder

Mix all above ingredients in food processor (I used my blender, and had to just stir a little with a fork at the end) til smooth.

Then add
6 TB mini semisweet chocolate chips--stir them in

Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish and preheat oven to 350. Bake about 20 - 25 minutes til toothpick comes out clean. Cool for about 1 hour til room temperature so the frosting won't melt away. (I put ours in the freezer for a little while)

Frosting
6 oz fat free cream cheese
1/4 c agave syrup
2 TB vanilla
Stir these together and spread on cooled brownies. The orig recipe says cut into 12. I cut them into 20 squares and 25 would have been a fine size too.

Melt 2 TB Mini Choc chips and drizzle them on top. Or--we tried grated orange zest on part of it. Both were so good!

These are definitely good enough to take somewhere to share. The cream cheese topping is soft and kind of pudding consistency so you can't stack them on a plate cause they will goo on each other. They are so yummy!

And they are lots different nutritionally than the ones we have all made and loved for years.
Have fun!

The whole pan of brownies has 29 points (including the frosting). 1-2 points for each brownie depending on how they are cut.

Renata's Salad

Renata Salad

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained well)
1 medium cucumber (peeled and diced)
1 cup super sweet frozen corn
3/4 cup chopped green pepper (it was 1/2 of a large pepper)
2 scallions chopped (both green and white)
1 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (about 2 tomatoes)
1/2 cup Kraft Free Catalina dressing

optional: celery, kidney beans, chicken chunks, basically anything that sounds good

(filling foods: black beans, cucumber, corn, pepper, scallion, tomato)

You can crush baked tortilla chips on it, use it for a salsa dip, or just eat it plain.

11 points for the entire salad

1 1/2 points for 1 cup serving

Black Bean Brownies

I know they sound awful and when I make them later this week I'll post a picture but I thought I would post the recipe first.

Black Bean Brownies
1 can black beans
1 box brownie mix
water

Drain and rinse the can of beans. Place the beans back into the can and fill with water. Pour water into brownie mix. Mash beans and add to brownie mix & water. Stir till mixed together don't over mix, brownies are better that way. Pour into a 9 X 13 sprayed pan. Cook according to the box directions.
I was surprised at just how rich these are.
Cut into 20 pieces. Enjoy.
1 brownie is 3 points. A regular brownie from the box is 4-5 points.

Rice and Beans

1/3 cup brown rice

1/3 cup black beans
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup sweet mini peppers
1/4 cup onion
1 tsp olive oil
1/8 cup fat free shredded cheese
1/3 cup salsa

5 points total

This was too much for me to eat, but the portions I wrote down is what is on the plate. I sauteed the onion and the peppers in the oil. YUM! That is my favorite way to eat my oils. This is one of my favorite meals of all time. My husband and kids roll theirs up in tortillas to make "tacos." They use ranch and BBQ sauce with theirs. This meal keeps me feeling very satisfied for a long time. I love it.