Have Your Cake! Or brownie...

I haven't done ANY cake decorating posts on this page.  I've had to stay away from baking almost anything because I have no self control.  However, I got this fabulous brownie pan for Christmas and I really, really wanted to try it out, and then dip said brownies in chocolate and cover in sprinkles.

I used a basic "family size" Pillsbury brownie box mix, and scooped about 1 1/2 cookie scoops into each cup of my Pampered Chef brownie pan.  I cooked those last night.  One box filled the pan and then there was maybe one brownies worth of batter left.  I may have ate some of the batter.  But that's okay.

You will need:

Almond Bark.  I used 1/2 a package. (so six of the small squares)

Pre-baked brownies!

A double boiler.  AKA a bot of boiling water and a metal or glass pan. set atop it.

A drying rack.

Sprinkles!

First step is to chop up the chocolate.  Don't ask me why, but I neglected to take a picture of the chopped up chocolate.  
                                     

Second Step: Make a giant mess moving chocolate into double boiler.  Stir, stir, stir the chocolate.  Keep stirring until it is all melted.

  Third Step: Observe, melted almond bark!  Turn off the burner or you risk burning the chocolate.  Burn chocolate is NOT yummy.

Fourth step: Using a fork dip brownie squares into chocolate, rotate, pull out of pan and put on drying rack. Sprinkle with sprinkles.  I covered most of the brownies, but also tested dipping half and dipping the top.  I didn't think the half dipped were as pretty so I only did one, and then I did two with just the top covered.  They're just as pretty but overall I like the fully covered one.

Fifth Step:  Let the chocolate cool.  Almond bark is made to set quickly, I say these were probably about a half hour.

Final Step: Look at the pretty brownies and then eat them!  Or one.  Since you know, weight loss.

I actually don't plan on eating any of these.  I'm weird and don't like anything on my brownies.  I just like plain old brownies.  These were really quite easy to do, and I think anyone could make them.  I do also think you don't have to have the Pampered Chef brownie pan BUT, because the pan has you cook individual brownies, there are no crumbs in the chocolate.  I think if you baked a tray of brownies and then cut them and tried to dip them you'd definitely get crumbs in the chocolate tossing the brownies around.

As for me, and my weight loss goals.  I may have dug that scale out of that bag I put it in the other day.  I was just finding it really hard to get back on 100% track even with my meal prep and plan and sometimes I need to see how bad I've let it go to get that fire lit again.  Turns out, I was magically 189.  So, not the 185 and I won't make it to 180 by tomorrow (Valentine's Day) but NOT the 194-196 I was actually expecting after last week.

My doctor's appointment is a week from tomorrow and I'm really going to try to be 182.  That'll be a 10 pound loss since the last visit a month ago, and that's really reasonable.  I still want to end the month at 177.  If I stay true to my food plan and exercise five days a week, I KNOW I can accomplish that goal.  I also know life doesn't always go according to plan and that is why I have struggled so much.  Because I keep letting life take me off track.  

My goal for end of March is 170.  I want to buy myself something for making it to 170 but I can't for the life of me think of something that would push me towards that goal.  But I think a big prize or something I really want but wouldn't normally buy would help me work for it.  So I plan on thinking about it these next couple days.

Anyway, hope you like my quick and un-detailed brownie tutorial!