Fudgy Brownie Cupcakes (and a little preachin')

Three things I would like to eliminate from my life completely:

Stress, guilt, and feeling sorry for myself.

So often I find myself stressing over school, work, relationships, etc. or feeling guilty for eating too many cookies, spending too much money, skipping out on exercising, missing an assignment, saying "no" to someone, and then having all of these things accumulate and ending up feeling sorry for myself.  It's sort of a viscous cycle that I would like to put to an end.

If all of the time I spent doing all of the above was spent on positive things, I would be a much happier person.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a very happy person, but I have my fair share of feeling down, just like everyone else.  Recently, I've been trying very hard to stay in a positive frame of mind because, really, there's no point in feeling guilty over something that you've already done, no point in feeling stressed out when you know it won't help you accomplish anything, and no point in feeling sorry for yourself when you could easily turn a situation around. What's done is done and all you can do is move forward and realize that if you've made a mistake, you've got tomorrow to start over.

There are so many things people feel guilty about.  For example, food.

Every time I get on Yahoo!, there's a new headline about food studies that have been done, and every single one of them is different.  I wish that society didn't put a big "off limits" stamp or "sinful" on foods like sweets, fats, etc. because all that does is create unhealthy relationships with food for people.  They start to obsess over what they can and cannot eat and it can eventually turn into an eating disorder.  My philosophy is that no food should be off limits, but should be eaten in moderation.  Don't listen to what "scientists" say, don't count calories, listen to your body.  If your body is craving something, it probably needs it.  If it's telling you it's hungry, don't deny it.  Don't compare what you eat to other people, because everybody needs different amounts.  It's just food.  What you eat does not define you as a person.

Life is beautiful, so don't spend your time obsessing over silly little things.  Think positively (I love positive affirmations), live your life to the fullest, and love yourself. It's amazing how much just changing your thought process from negative to positive can change your life.  A healthy mind is just as, if not more, important as a healthy body.

Today, go ahead and make these yummmy fudgy brownie cupcakes.  They are not "sinful", they're delicious.  Enjoy them and don't feel guilty for eating them, even if you do happen to eat one or two too many. (oops :))

Fudgy Brownie Cupcakes
HowSweetEats

 Start out melting the butter and chocolate together.

 And mix until it's nice and shiny.

 Add in other ingredients.

 Fold in chocolate chips.

 Look how crunchy the outside is...

And look how gooey the inside is!  Tastes best with ice cream.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick Butter
• 3 whole Squares Baker's Chocolate
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 4 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Melt butter and baking squares in a microwave safe bowl. In the mixing bowl, cream melted butter and chocolate mixture. Add in sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in eggs, beating one at a time. Add flour and cocoa powder and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill a muffin tin with muffin liners and fill each liner about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until brownie is set. The top will be a bit crunchy and the insides will be fudgy.