Although I am in a pretty happy place in my life I have fought periods of depression and anxiety in the past and even now can find myself so down in the dumps that I have to fight to get back to a happy place in my life.  In the past I most definitely turned to food to ease my pain.  This of course does not work and can really only lead to more feelings of depression.

So yesterday I found myself having one of those days.  I just couldn’t shake the blues no matter what I tried.  It has been one of the rainiest springs and summers in history where I live and that does not help.  The boys were trapped inside…again and I really couldn’t find the energy to find something for us to do.  It was a very long day!

Today I woke up with a better mind set and planned on doing 2 things that have always helped me get out of a funky mood- exercise and bake.  I am fully aware that these 2 things pretty much counteract each other, but today I made sure to get up with my alarm and get a good work out in.  I picked one of my favorites the night before and I was actually looking forward to pushing play on some PiYo Buns as soon as I got up. I also took a nice long bike ride with Alex before lunch.

Then I was pretty excited to try a new recipe that a friend had sent me!  This came at the prefect time because I got to bake, enjoy a sweet treat and with less of the guilt because this recipe is clean and relatively good for you.  Luckily I had everything in the house to make them!

Using Chickpeas (or Garbanzo beans) instead of flour offers a gluten free option and is 220 calories for 1 cup vs roughly 400 for a cup of whole wheat flour.  Chickpeas are also a great form of fiber and plant based protein.

chickpea cookies

Here is the recipe:

• 1 1/4 C of chickpeas (rinsed, drained and dried with a paper towel)
• 1/2 C plus 2 T of natural peanut butter (or other nut butter)
• 1/4 C honey
• 2 t vanilla
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 C chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life making these dairy free)

Put all the ingredients except the chocolate chips into a high speed blender or food processor.  Blend until creamy.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  I use a small ice cream scoop to make my cookies- about 1 1/2 inch balls.  You can flatten them if you want them to be more like normal cookies.  Bake on parchment paper for about 10 minute at 350.  They will store well in an airtight container for up to a week, if they make it that long!

This recipe made 14 balls for me.  I would have 1 as a treat swap if following the 21 Day Fix. They are only 13 carbs each making them a great treat for Jacob!

Depending on how experimental your family is with food you can tell them about the chickpeas or leave it your little secret.  I promise they will never know. 😉

What do you do to Bust a Bad Mood?