My Guilty Confession

Who ate the peanut butter in the peanut butter jar? Who me? Couldn't be... Then who? Must be my 3 year old!

I wish I could blame it on him!!! I am obsessed with peanut butter and the sad part is I just bought that jar a few days ago:( WOW! Not being so conscious of how much I was eating!! Time to take a break from peanut butter and switch to almond butter;) Or maybe just eat them both in moderation and not half the whole jar within a couple of days!!

and here is one of the many ways I gave into my obsession with peanut butter... Okay and maybe I had an extra spoonful while I was making this...

This can be a great diet snack, if you don't eat extra peanut butter like me! 

Rice Cracker Open Face Sandwich

(Peanut Butter & Banana Style)

1 brown rice cracker

1 tablespoon peanut butter or another nut butter

1/4-1/2 sliced bananas

Serves 1

150 calories (1/4 sliced bananas)

Health tip:

Rice crackers are a great bread substitution and are super low in calories. Rice crackers by them self, mm, not so good. Rice cracker made into an open face sandwich. I think so!

Apple Chips!

This recipe was posted by my sister in law Erin!

I came up with this idea because I had a few apples that were starting to get old and "meely" (is that a word for anyone else??). So I didn't necessarily want to just eat them, and I found a post on pintrest (oh how I love thee) about homemade apple chips! They turned out great, but let me forewarn you, this is not a great last minute treat, it takes some planning ahead!

What you'll need:

as many thinly sliced apples as you want or need (I used two whole apples)

Cinnamon

An oven preheated to 200 degrees

So, I sliced my apples as thin as I could. I have one of those handy apple slicer/corers so I initially sliced them with that, which gave me 8 apple slices. I then sliced each wedge into 4 more slices. That was about as thin as I could go! Then I placed them on a cookie sheet that was sprayed with Pam, sprinkled cinnamon on them and then sprayed the apples again with cooking spray.  Place your trays in the oven and set your timer to about an hour and a half. Check your apples at that point, turn them, and remove any that look like they are crisp enough to your liking. Keep the remaining apples in the oven about another hour, checking frequently, for apples that are crisp. Once your apples are cooled they crisp up even more. However, I only at a few that were completely cooled... they were too tempting right out of the oven! Enjoy!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

These are delicious! Oh how I love cookie dough! I secretly like making cookies just so I can nibble on the dough!! Now I can do it guilt free.

I have tried SEVERAL different recipes for healthy chocolate chip cookie dough and none of them hit the spot until I came up with these. I tweaked several different recipes, taking things out, lowering the calories, making them healthier, not having them taste like whole wheat, or pureed beans, etc. etc.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cashews

1/2 cup oats

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

couple dashes of cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon stevia*

3 tablespoons sugar free maple syrup or liquid sweetener of your choice*

1/4 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips or chocolate chip of your choice

Directions:

Blend cashews and oats in the blender or food processor until flour like consistency. Pour in a bowl and mix well with the remaining ingredients. Eat dough as is or form into little balls about a teaspoon each. Should make about 30 cookie dough balls if you haven't already nibbled on the dough. Freeze cookie dough balls on a plate so they don't stick together. After they are frozen, toss them in a bag and keep them in the freezer.

 *I used Joseph's Original Sugar Free Maple Syrup. You could also try substituting it with maple syrup, honey, or agave. If using a different sweetener you can probably omit the stevia.

Did you know eating nuts like cashews lowers your risk of weight gain?! In moderation of course!

Although nuts are known to provide a variety of cardio-protective benefits, many avoid them for fear of weight gain. A prospective study published in the journal Obesity shows such fears are groundless. In fact, people who eat nuts at least twice a week are much less likely to gain weight than those who almost never eat nuts.

Read more health benefits of cashews: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=98

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream Sandwich

During this time of year I usually get a huge craving for pumpkin pie. This time around I've been craving pumpkin pie ice cream, so I thought I would make pumpkin pie frozen yogurt since that's what I had on hand and it's healthier! As I was making this, I thought it would be yummy to eat it with a graham cracker and whip cream and this kind of fell in my lap! Okay I know it says ice cream sandwich and it's not really ice cream. I just thought frozen yogurt sandwich sounded a little weird!

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream Sandwich

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Pie Frozen Yogurt

Healthy graham crackers (no hydrogenated oils)

Healthy whip cream

Pumpkin Pie Frozen Yogurt Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup Greek yogurt

6 tablespoons pumpkin puree

 6 tablespoons sugar free maple syrup or other sweetener to taste

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice* (or to taste)

Directions:

Combine pumpkin pie frozen yogurt ingredients in a freezer safe bowl and mix well. Set in freezer for about an hour or until it firms up a little bit.

Take frozen yogurt out and scoop some onto each half of a graham cracker.

Top frozen yogurt with whip cream and place the other half of graham cracker on top.

Put sandwiches back in the freezer until desired firmness.

ENJOY!

Here is a yummy variation:

Pumpkin Pie Smore

Just melt some grain sweetened chocolate chips and spread on one side of the graham cracker.

*Don't have pumpkin pie spice?!
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice= 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon cloves

Did you know pumpkins have an excellent source of fiber; one-half cup serving contains 5 grams of fiber?! Fiber helps reduce bad cholesterol levels, protect the body against heart disease, control blood sugar levels, promote healthy digestion, and plays a role in weight loss.

Read more at Suite101: Health Benefits of Pumpkin: Nutrient-Rich Fruit with Anti-Aging and Disease-Fighting Properties | Suite101.com http://jennifermurray.suite101.com/health-benefits-of-pumpkin-a153140#ixzz1aiHglQLD

Here's the whip cream & sugar free syrup I used.

Healthy Kettlecorn Popcorn

Looking for a healthy snack for movie night! This satisfies the sweet & salty cravings all at the same time and it is so GOOD for you! This is one of my FAVORITE SNACKS! I make it all the time. This is also a perfect diet food. It fills me up for not very many calories.

Healthy Kettle Corn Popcorn

Ingredients:
1/3 cup popcorn kernels
1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil
Stevia, to taste (I use about 1-2 Tablespoons)
Salt, to taste

Directions:

Air pop the popcorn kernels. Drizzle melted coconut oil on top of popped popcorn and sprinkle with stevia & salt to taste.
I have also made it on my stir crazy! Which taste amazing!! Pour coconut oil in the stir crazy, then add the kernels. Turn stir crazy on and sprinkle with a few packets of stevia and put the lid on. When they are all done popping add more stevia to taste and salt to taste.
I am sure it will work well on the stove top too!

ENJOY!

Did you know popcorn helps with weight management?! Popcorn provides plenty of volume to fill you up, but few calories. It is a satisfying snack that may help stave off hunger. Three cups of popcorn provides roughly 4 g of dietary fiber. Eating fiber-rich foods keeps you feeling full for a longer period of time. An additional bonus is that plain popcorn is sugar-free.

Source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/288302-the-healthy-benefits-of-popcorn/#ixzz1ZwC5oXoA

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fall is definitely my favorite season! I know for a lot of people it is hard to see summer go, but I seriously get a surge of endorphins when I wake up to a crisp morning! Now don't get me wrong, winter is the pits, but I love fall! I think it must be the Alaskan in me... or maybe the fact that all the holidays are just around the corner, and I love the holidays! So what better way to bring on the "fallness" than with HEALTHY pumpkin chocolate chip cookies?! These are a hit! I have made them twice in the past week (for public consumption!) and they have been gobbled up instantly! You HAVE to try these! Best part?? THEY ARE ONLY 45 CALORIES!!!!!!!! It makes them taste even better!!

Serious... No guilt!

This recipe was posted by my sister in law Erin!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup canned pureed pumpkin

1 cup xylitol - this is a great sweetener you can find at the health food store. It has 40% less calorie than table sugar and a very low glycemic index!

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cup oat flour ( w.w. is good too, a little grainier though)

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon milk

1-2 cups chocolate chips (dark, grain sweetened, milk, etc.)

Blend first 5 ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients except baking soda. Sift together. Combine baking soda and milk in a small bowl until dissolved. Add baking soda mixture to wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing well. Add chocolate chips. Drop small rounded spoonfuls (about the size of a small dinner spoon) of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. ENJOY!

This recipe yields about 50 smallish cookies made from a 1-inch heaping cookie scoop.

These are delicious right out of the oven, and you probably won't make it to this point, BUT if you have left overs I suggest storing them in an air tight container in the fridge. That way they don't get soggy.

* I calculated my nutritional data on nutritiondata.self.com

No Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

YUM, is all I have to say about these cookies. I definitely do not feel guilty about eating these cookies or giving them to my family. They are full of nutrients & sugar free (refined sugar that is)! Okay, I may feel a little guilty about these cookies only because I can't limit myself to one!

No Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup raisins

¼ cup cashew butter*

1/3 cup oatmeal

¼ cup of walnuts, chopped

½ teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Using a food processor or blender, puree raisins. Mix pureed raisins with the rest of the ingredients. Shape into cookies (roughly 2 tablespoon for each cookie.) Eat & enjoy!

I stored the cookies in the freezer, to decrease stickiness & hold form.
*You can substitute it with another nut butter if you'd like!

Did you know cashews are rich in antioxidants that help in the elimination of free radicals that may cause some cancer?!

Source: http://len7288.hubpages.com/hub/Health_Benefits_of_Cashew_Nuts

Peanut Butter & Jelly Yogurt

I am absolutely obsessed with peanut butter! I can't get enough of it! I am now obsessed with this yogurt! Soooo delicious!

PB&J Yogurt

Ingredients:
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter (can get away with 2 teaspoons)
7 drops vanilla stevia liquid or to taste*
1 tablespoon healthy strawberry freezer jam, favorite jelly, or fresh pureed strawberries!

Directions:
 Mix yogurt, peanut butter, stevia together & swirl jelly in! Eat & Enjoy!

*Can use powdered stevia & a splash of vanilla or any other healthy sweetener of your choice.

Did you know Greek yogurt Greek yogurt has substantially more protein than standard American yogurt. Per ounce, Greek yogurt provides an additional gram of protein over typical non-fat yogurt. Additional protein can help you to feel full and satisfied.

Source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/233450-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-greek-yogurt/#ixzz1ZwPEUUEc

Peach Frozen Yogurt

One of my fondest childhood food memories was fresh peach ice cream in the summer time. Oh how I love fresh, ripe, juicy peaches! So I healthified my fond food memory and it definitely hit the spot and brought back wonderful childhood memories. I miss being a kid sometimes!

Healthy Peach Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

2 ripe peaches
1 ½ cups plain greek yogurt
¼ cup honey (could use 1/8 cup honey & 1/8 cup of stevia to lessen calories)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Puree peaches in food processor or blender until smooth. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until well-mixed. Chill mixture in the refrigerator until cold. 
Then freeze according to your ice cream maker manufacturer’s instructions.
Yields four 1/2 cup servings.

Did you know the health benefits of peaches include healthy eyesight, cancer prevention and lung health?!
Rource: http://healthbenefits-of.org/2011/07/the-health-benefits-of-peaches.html

Recipe adapted from: tastykitchen