Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe for Weight Loss

There are people who cannot afford to deprive themselves of eating desserts, even though they work out. Who will not be tempted to eat sweets if you can see them everywhere? Well, I guess you just really need to have a strong will power in order for you to fight these sweet temptations.

Don't fret if you can't stop or control yourself from eating different desserts. Who says desserts cannot be healthy too? Well, if you didn't know, desserts can really be healthy and can be helpful for one's weight loss.

According to eatthis.womensmag.com, there are a lot of desserts who can make you guilt-free once you dig in. The all-time favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies can also help you when it comes to weight loss, provided that you follow this recipe given by eatthis.womensmag.com:

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie
Image source:eatthis.womensmag.com

190 calories
8 g fat (5 g saturated)
28 g carbohydrates
16 g sugars

No applesauce, protein powder, or Splenda here. Just good, honest, truly delicious chocolate chip cookies.

You'll Need:
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Sea salt flakes (optional)

How to Make It
* Preheat the oven to 375°F.

* In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy. Stir in eggs and vanilla until well incorporated. Add the baking soda, salt, and flour and mix until the dough comes together, being careful not to overmix. Stir in the chocolate chips.

* Drop the dough onto a baking sheet in balls about 3 tablespoons in size, leaving at least 3 inches between cookies.

* Bake until the edges are golden and the middles are just barely set. Remove from the sheet, sprinkle with a bit of sea salt (if using), and cool on a wire rack. 

Makes about 12 cookies.

Well, I hope this helps those who crave but deprive themselves because of the calorie count in desserts. It's really good to eat desserts you know. Don't worry, these chocolate chip cookies won't harm you, they're healthy and at the same time delicious. So what now? Will you try it?  :) 

Filipino Halo-Halo, introduced by the Japanese?

Filipinos are all aware of the dessert called "halo-halo" or translated in English, mix mix. It is popular among all Filipinos, and it is made of shaved ice, evaporated milk with beans and fruits, all served in a tall glass or a bowl.

Halo-halo has been a Filipino favorite for a long time. During the summer, people crave for this cold treat, which makes it a certified hit in the season. Halo-halo is very easy to do that is why vendors crowd the streets during the summer, in order to satisfy their customer's cooling needs.

Halo-Halo Vendors
Image source:100poundfoodie.com

We have been snacking on it, and we claim it as a Certified Pinoy Dessert, but have you ever wondered how the concept of the halo-halo started?

No one knows who started making the first halo halo in the Philippines, but historical records show that:

It was first introduced by the Karayukisan-san. This is a group of Japanese women who traveled to East Asia and Southeast Asia to work as prostitutes about 100 years ago. These women, after retiring from their old work, which was prostitution, started to make Japanese sweets using the Philippines’ local fruits and crops for a new business in order for them to gain money.

Karayukisan-san Women

In an excerpt from the book, A Japanese in the Philippines” by Kiyoshi Osawa (1981), the food referred to is the halo halo:

“Another line of business monopolised by the Japanese [in the Philippines] was what we Japanese called mongo-ya. Mongo is a Tagalog word meaning red beans. What was sold for ten centavos was a plateful of cooked red beans heaped with ground ice, topped with sugar and milk. The business could be started with a small capital outlay and some Japanese, after a few years of modest saving as farming immigrants, turned a new leaf as proprietors of mongo-ya. All that was needed to open a shop were a makeshift hut, some small tables and log chairs, and one young boy to help. Also needed were red beans, ice cream, papayas, and penny candies, all in small quantities.”

Halo-halo is already popular all over the world. The Japanese may have started it during the pre-war times, but, the Halo-Halo will always be a typical Filipino's favorite dessert. You know what they say, You are not a Filipino, unless you try the Halo-Halo :)

Cookie Monster's Cookie Addiction

We have been aware of Cookie Monster in the classic Sesame Street, and he has been chewing on chocolate chip cookies all the time ever since! But did we even bother ask why is he addicted to them? 

I guess not, because I didn't. I just found this blue puppet adorable even though he is a certified chow-hound. Little did I know that there is something to Cookie Monster's Addiction, I researched it and it goes like this:

"Few muppets are as utterly pathetic as The Cookie Monster. He may not be a cartoon, but he still can’t control his urges. Slobbering, arms flailing wildly, and barely capable of even putting together a simple sentence, The Cookie Monster is epitome of a late stage junkie. The Cookie Monster spends every day of his life looking for cookies and eating cookies. He’s so far gone he’ll even eat anything remotely cookie shaped if he can’t get his hands on a real one. Hell, the dude even ate an entire motorcycle once. Years of cookie abuse have left his eyes permanently googalized, his fur an unhealthy shade of blue, and his grammar Tarzan-level at best. “Me eat cookie!” he screams. But no one on Sesame Street has the courage to yell at him, “You go rehab!”

At least The Cookie Monster comes by his addiction honestly. Cookie’s father, mother, sister, and even his cousin are all food addicts. Cookie learned early that there was an unfillable void in the center of him that could only be filled by stuffing his face with any cookie he could get his shaking hands on. As his addiction progressed, everything else fell away. Things got so bad that he even forgot his real name. Years of shoving cookies down his mouth had driven him insane. This Cookie Man had finally become a Cookie Monster."- Source: grub.grunaxin.com

There! Our question has been answered! We won't be wondering why Cookie Monster is crazy about them. Cookie Monster even said that before he ate his very first cookie, his name was SID! He was too addicted to cookies, that he forgot about it. Do you all know his signature song? It's also about cookies! C is for Cookies :D

Oh, by the way, Chocolate chips are his first favorite cookies, and second to his list are oatmeal cookies. Me want cookie too! Omnomnom! :) 

Chocolate Shoes, Cars and MORE!

Everyone knows that you can play with Melted Chocolate but who says you can't make them into cool designs like gadgets, and everyday stuff such as pencils and tools? 

I was bored and I was thinking of what to blog about. I came across the site crookedbrains.net, and I was in awe of the chocolate designs that were there. Allow me to share them to you :)

CHOCOLATE FERRARI

This Ferrari is made out of 4,405lbs of Belgian chocolate and it took over a year for it to be finished. It's red coating is also edible. The car's model is a Ferrari F2008 and it is reported to be amounting to £12,000!

CHOCOLATE HIGH HEELS SHOE

 This chocolate high heels shoe is so elegant that you wouldn't know it's chocolate when you look at it. The shoe is made for a Department Store in Tokyo, Japan.

CHOCOLATE SNEAKERS

Nike's AF1 is now in Dark and White Chocolate! These miniature shoes were made by +41, for Nike's AF1 25th Anniversary. 

CHOCOLATE PENCILS

These are pencils purely made out of chocolate. These pencils have a special sharpener, where in no chocolate goes to waste because you can make use of the pencil shavings for desserts or for a bite.

CHOCO SHOT GLASSES

It must be awesome to drink form a shot glass made from chocolate! Well, don't fret because it really exists. Rococo Chocolates in London produce chocolate shot glasses for everyone to enjoy. :)

CHOCOLATE MAIL

Sending letters will be fun when you these stamps from Toby Ng Design, it comes in 3 flavors, dark, milk and white chocolate. These are stamps that are sold a set of 24 and are designed to look like a bar of chocolate which is packaged in an envelope.

For more designs, you can check out crookedbrains.net :)

Cool Cake Designs!

Cakes are always present in different occasions, they are in demand because of their capacity to serve a lot of guests.

However, cakes today are not only presented in traditional designs, they are now designed and customized in a way that cakes are presented in a cool and unusual way.

Cakes based on video games and fastfood can now be made especially for you!

If you want to see what I am talking about, here are some examples of cakes with cool designs from different websites.

Xbox 360 cake
Image source:pinkcakebox.com

Plants vs. Zombies Cake
Image source:funportion.com

Teeth Design
Imagesource:theberry.com

Popcorn Tub Cake
Image source:jenny-cakes.com

Millennium Falcon Cake
Image source:geeky-gadgets.com

Indeed there are a lot of cool designs nowadays. If in case you want an unusual cake for your special occasion, you have to use your imagination :)

Celebs and their Favorite Desserts

Celebrities are always on spotlight, they walk the red carpets and have all the money to spend, but just like everybody else in the world, they also have their own sweet tooth.

It doesn't mean that one you are a celebrity, you can't crave for more desserts. In fact, I have researched some of the sweet weaknesses of 10 Hollywood stars, and I came up with this:

JESSICA ALBA- Ice Creams, Donuts, and Sorbet

Image source:zimbio.com

Image source:celebrity-gossip.net

JENNIFER GARNER-Chocolates

Jennifer snacking on a Snickers bar
Image source:posh24.com

KATIE HOLMES- Cupcakes

Katie buying Cupcakes on NYC Magnolia Bakery
Image source:hollywoodlife.com

SOFIA VERGARA- Tiramisu and Lollipops (Substitute for Tiramisu for lower calorie count)

Sofia Vergara and her pink lollipop
Image source:moejackson.com

OPRAH WINFREY- Ciao Bella Blood Orange Sorbetto

This is one of Oprah's favorite dessert
Image source:www.healthytippingpoint.com

KIM KARDASHIAN- Cupcakes, Ice Cream, Cakes and Pastries!

Screaming for Ice Cream?:)
Image source:http://girlstalkinsmack.com

JUSTIN BIEBER and SELENA GOMEZ- Ice Cream, Pies and Candy.

Spongebobsicle and Justin 
Image source:justjaredjr.com

Image source: surfme.wordpress.com

KATY PERRY- Crepes and Ice Cream

Katy eating Icy Pole Ice cream
Image source:katyperryeating.tumblr.com

KATHERINE HEIGL- Cupcakes, Chocolate

She does love cupcakes. :D
Image source:celebrities-eating.com

There you have it guys, some of the favorite desserts of celebrities! Oh, by the way, do you have the same favorites with these stars?:)

Manila's Liquid Nitrogen Desserts

You may think that you have tried everything, but there is something new you must try once you get to visit Maginhawa St., in Quezon City. Why?

The Iscreamist
Image source:justinjustintime.blogspot.com

There's this ice cream shop called The Iscreamist which serves milkshakes, yogurt shakes, and ice blended coffee. Yes, you may find it popular to shops nowadays to serve these kind of drinks but do you know they serve Liquid Nitrogen with their desserts?

The Iscreamists' Peridiodic Table inspired Menu
Image source:http://papurrcat.files.wordpress.com

The Iscreamist's Working area
Image source:featsj121.wordpress.com

With Liquid Nitrogen, the dessert changes. Milkshakes can be turned into ice cream because it makes it cold.

The store's must try is their Dragon's Breath. With Dragon's Breath, your dessert is served with your own cup of liquid nitrogen. You dip your dessert in the cup for a couple of seconds, because your dessert becomes cold once you do so. 

When you're ready, take a bite and see what happens. Smoke comes out of your mouth and your nose! It's eating your dessert in a fun and smoky way :)

S'mores Dragon's Breath
Image source:manilafoodistas.blogspot.com

The Iscreamist is located at Maginhawa St., Quezon City, Philippines.