How a brownie can ruin your day

For the past few days I have ended my lunch and dinner meals with a chocolate brownie. To be quite frank, the brownie tastes horrible. It’s dry, overly sweet, and much too cakey. Sometimes it’s covered by a layer of thick glistening frosting, various syrups (mint or strawberry), or covered with highly decorative, colorful sprinkles. No matter what condiment is added, the brownie still remains quite tasteless. However, I am a creature of habit and I have continued to eat the aforementioned brownie more for continuity than hunger or appreciation.

Tonight, after eating an unhealthy salad (no, this is not an oxymoron) consisting of Asian noodles, chicken, tomatoes, chick peas, lentils, roasted eggplant and sweet potatoes, and cheddar cheese with a splash of strawberry vinaigrette, I headed over to the dessert table. In most cases, I am pretty health conscious and therefore strayed from the looming carrot cake and blueberry pie and picked up my brownie and returned to my table. A few bites later and we had decided to head back towards our dorms to finish any last minute work. On the way out, I spotted a colorful pamphlet with various pictures of fruits and vegetables. It is of little doubt that I picked it up and opened up to the first page, hoping for an interesting read; possibly about local farmers. No such luck came: it was the dreaded nutritional count for all the dining hall foods.

I am still undecided as to whether I like being informed of my healthy choices or to whether I hate being informed of my unhealthy choices. On the one hand, I usually do like to be aware of the calorie and fat content of most foods (I have been known to spend several minutes at grocery stores shelves deciding between brands based on nutritional information) and will usually make my selection based off of what I deem to be nutritionally sound. I don’t always play by this rule because being a “registered” foodie does require some flexibility; there really is no way that pots de cream or risotto can be healthy. On the other hand, being informed of certain foods’ unhealthy nature can make you just not want to eat at all. If I want a slice of cheesecake, I really don’t want to be told how much equivalent of lard I’m consuming.

Back to the brownie story. I opened the pamphlet and absentmindedly found the nutritional count reserved for desserts. My eyes crisscrossed the selection and I was so happy to find that the carrot cake I didn’t take had 500 calories per slice. Likewise, the blueberry pie had 460 calories. “Who would ever eat this stuff?” I pondered. In that moment, I felt so proud, so relieved, that I had chosen a healthier alternative; a two inch brownie that couldn’t possible compare to the calorie count of its other dessert counterparts. Oh, if only I could relive that blissful moment, for I was soon to learn that the brownie was 450 calories!

I felt cheated, hurt, and slightly ready to throw up. No, I am not bulimic or completely obsessed with my weight but, 450 calories!? And the stupid thing wasn’t even good! To make matters far worse, I had also eaten an equally distasteful blondie, that though I did not check was most likely up there in calories. My friend (Alex) turned around and questioned my sorrowful face. After a quick explanation, he too became enraged and ranted that he had eaten three brownies in the last 24 hours alone and was equally disgruntled by their flavor.

So, here I am several hours later, a little bit more composed but, still a little annoyed. Alex and I have vowed not to eat the brownies for at least a few days but, now another problem arises. By what means can we satisfy our chocolate cravings if by not means of a small brownie?