Healthy and dessert are two words that are not usually linked together. Maybe that's because we consider dessert to be a combination of sugar and fat, loaded with calories and other bad stuff. The reality of a healthy dessert can be yours though if you are willing to try something different. Oh yeah, fruit is already a dessert in some countries, but in the USA we consider it a treat only when it's baked inside some kind of crust and loaded with sugar.
Granted, if you have a serious sweet tooth, this alternative healthy stuff is probably not going to satisfy you but if you are also trying to be healthier and weigh less, it will help a lot. The easiest way to give yourself a healthy treat is to go for a really good yogurt-like Bulgarian yogurt, or Greek yogurt-which can be found in your local health food store. Then wander down the aisle where they keep the cacao products and grab yourself a package of cacao nibs. To that you can add some Goji berries or golden currants but stay away from the Incan golden-berries unless you are a great fan of TART and sour tastes (those little things may be packed with great antioxidant power but boy, are they tart). Throw in some chopped nuts, add a little stevia for sweetness, mix it all up, and you have a great healthy dessert. Another healthy treat is to put the same things in some ricotta cheese. That's a little heavier but just as tasty and usually doesn't require any sweetener.
Desserts
Okay now let's get real and talk about chocolate, which is what you are really reading this for right? Yes, you can have your chocolate and still be eating something healthy. The cacao bean is chock full of antioxidant power; it's the sugar that gets added that is the problem. You can get the cacao bean and grind it up with some coconut oil or organic cream and get yourself a creamy treat but you'll still have to add some sweetness to it. You can get the sweetness either from stevia (a natural-source sweetener called Honey Leaf) or just add honey, fruit juice or sugar. To be healthiest though, use stevia. If you just make the creamy cacao mixture you can spread it on something healthy like apple slices or make some almond bark. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be a healthy dessert, right?
Another healthy alternative is to put some nut butter on fruit; that works best on apple or pear slices but you can always thin the butter out a bit with some coconut oil or cacao and dip strawberries, cherries and the like...and then roll them in nuts. Whipped cream is also an easy addition to make some fresh fruit special and if you fry some bananas in butter or coconut oil, dip them in cacao cream and then throw some chopped nuts on them, with a dollop of whipped cream...well...Elvis would have gone for that, I'm sure.
©2010 Dr.Valerie Olmsted All Rights Reserved
Healthy Desserts
Dr. Valerie Olmsted is an author, naturopathic physician, metaphysician, internet entrepreneur, artist, speaker, and lover of life. Traveling with the Quantum Vortex Experience, she has helped thousands of people reach the inner connection they are seeking and has contributed to the discoveries of manifestation practices via quantum physics applications.
http://www.BeWhoYouReallyAreCoach.com
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