I used to do this thing where I ate when I was sad or upset.  A lot.  I didn’t know why I did it, but I did.  Baking became a hassle for a while because I knew that every time I did it, I would eat way too much of what I was making, but for the love of you all, I did it anyway.

After trying and trying to just flat out stop stress eating, I sat down and tried to figure out why I did it instead.  I came to the conclusion that either:

a) I did it one time when I was upset and it made me feel better, so after that I just turned to food every time I was stressed out.

or

b)  When I’m eating and eating and eating, I don’t think about anything, I just taste the sweet (because it was mostly sweets) in my mouth and all I know is that it’s making me feel good.

Once I found the root of my problem, I was able to fix it.  Considering that there are many other things to relieve stress, I made a list of alternatives and haven’t done it binged since then.

Here’s my list:

1.  Start a craft of some sort.  Lay everything out and just start it.  Once you get into it, the project will most likely consume you.
2.  Call one of your friends you haven’t talked to for a while.  Talking to a friend will immediately release stress and hopefully by the time you get off the phone, the feelings will have passed.
3.  Drink a glass of water and go for a walk.  The water will fill your stomach and the walk will clear your head.
4.  Watch TV or read a good book.
5.  Write!  Anything… make a list of things you’re grateful for, or things you love about yourself.  Or just write whatever comes out.
6.  Set a budget and go shopping.  It doesn’t have to be big… makeup, jewelry, clothes, whatever. Just go… but don’t let it turn into retail therapy.
7.  Do yoga.  I’ve found that yoga is really good at clearing your head.
8.  Make a hair or nail appointment.
9.  Make a list of how you’re feeling and then another list of how to fix that without doing something you’ll feel bad about later.
10. Paint your nails.
11.  Clean the house. Wash the dishes by hand.
12.  Go for a drive and listen to your music.
13.  Color.
14.  Donate clothes to someplace or someone.
15.  Just get dressed up.  I find that when I put myself together I already start to feel better.
16.  Go the library.  I love going to the library!
17.  Take a long bath.
18.  Take some online quizzes or play some online games or just do stuff online.

You might feel unproductive doing some of these things, but just let yourself enjoy them and remember that any of these things are better than stress eating (or anything else you do because of stress).

And, since some of you are probably here for a recipe, I’ve got one for you!  Remember those White Chocolate Frosting Cookies I made with the frosting in the dough?  Well, I’ve turned them into blondies! They’re suppperr good.  When they first came out of the oven last night, I was kind of worried because they weren’t very dense.  They tasted good, but more like cake.  But when I woke up this morning, they had become dense and blondie-like.  And they’re delicious, so make them!

White Chocolate Frosting Blondies
Serves 30ish (depending on how big you like your pieces )

Ingredients

• 
  
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 16 tablespoons (2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cups frosting, room temp.
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly butter an 9×13 inch square baking pan.
Using an electric mixer, beat together the brown sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the vanilla, butter, and 1/2 cup frosting and beat to mix well.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter mixture, beating until just incorporated. Do not overmix.
Using a spoon, stir in the white chocolate.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
Drop the remaining 1/4 cup over batter and spread into top of batter with a spatula.
Bake the blondies for 40-45 minutes, until the top is dry and golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached (not wet, but not perfectly dry).
Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Cut the blondies.
The blondies can be stored, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days (they get better as they sit).

I like to make these even worse for you and drizzle white chocolate on top.