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Healthy Recipe: Apple Oatmeal Flax Cookies

FitSugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:50:29 -0700

Fall is officially here and that means it's apple season. Take a trip to your local orchard and pick a peck of McIntosh, Cortland, or Empire apples and give this recipe a try. With chunks of apples, oats, flax meal, and walnuts, these are packed with fiber and a taste that'll warm your soul.

Check out the recipe when you read more.

Recipe for Apple Oatmeal Flax Cookies
original recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup flax meal (ground flaxseed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Sucanat (or sugar)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups quick oats
2 medium apples, peeled and chopped
1 cup walnuts

Directions

In a bowl, mix the flour, flax meal, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat together oil, Sucanat, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. Stir in the oats, apples, flour mixture, and nuts.
Spoon out cookies onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cook seven to eight minutes, or until edges are slightly brown. Place cookies on a cooling rack.

Makes three dozen cookies.

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Healthy Dessert: Carrot Zucchini Bread

FitSugar — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 03:00:00 -0700

Zucchinis are overflowing out of many people's gardens now so you can either find them free from a generous friend, or for a couple bucks at your local farmers market. Once you get your hands on this green summer squash, give this recipe a try.

Carrot Zucchini Bread
Grandma's recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (flax meal)
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 cup Sucanat (or sugar)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup grated carrots

Directions

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat egg and add sugars. Then add oil and vanilla and mix until smooth.
Stir in vegetables. Then mix in dry ingredients.
Pour into greased bread pan. Bake 45 to 55 minutes at 350° F until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

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Healthy Snack: Smudgies

FitSugar — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:30:00 -0700

If sweet frozen treats are what you crave in the heat, then here's a snack for you. It's a cinch to make and contains only three ingredients - graham crackers, bananas, and peanut butter. This dessert is dairy and cholesterol free, contains no added sugar, and tastes like an ice cream sandwich. My girls and I all love them, and I bet you will too.

To see the recipe just read more.

Peanut Butter and Banana Smudgies
Recipe from: My Preschool Teacher

A healthy treat that's easy to make, has only 3 ingredients and is perfect for Summer.

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas
2 heaping tablespoons of all natural crunchy peanut butter
8 graham crackers rectangles (which makes 16 squares)

Directions
Serving Size: 1 Smudgie sandwich
Yields: 8 Smudgie sandwiches

1. Peel the bananas and place them in a bowl.

2. Put two tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter in the bowl and mash the two together with a fork until creamy.

3. Place 8 graham cracker squares on a piece of foil. Use the fork to smear the banana and peanut butter mixture onto the crackers.

4. Then place a plain graham cracker on top to make 8 sandwiches.

5. Stack them so you have a row of four and then wrap them in the foil.

6. Place them in the freezer for at least six hours and enjoy.

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Do you have a healthy snack or recipe to share? Then share it in the Lite'n it Up - Healthy Recipe Group and I might just post it on FitSugar.

Healthy Recipe: Cappuccino Dessert

FitSugar — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:30:00 -0700

Sometimes a fruit mix will do just fine for dessert, and sometimes you need something that feels and taste a little more like dessert. This tasty little Cappuccino Dessert posted by user ces016 looks like it would do the trick. It's probably not for those of you who eat all natural and organic, but for everyone else it's worth a try.

For the easy recipe just read more.

Cappuccino Dessert
From Kraftfoods.com

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 1 hr 10 min
Makes: 5 servings

Ingredients

2 cups cold fat-free milk
2 tsp. Maxwell House Instant Coffee
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Fat-Free Sugar-Free Instant Reduced Calorie Pudding and Pie Filling
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup thawed Cool Whip Light Whipped Topping

Directions
Pour milk and instant coffee into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Pour into five dessert dishes.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Add cinnamon to whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Spread over pudding. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

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Nutrition Information (per serving):
Calories 90
Total fat 2 g
Saturated fat 2 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 320 mg
Carbohydrate 14 g
Dietary fiber 0 g
Sugars 7 g
Protein 4 g

Healthy Eating Tip: Find Healthier Alternatives

FitSugar — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:30:00 -0700

Even if you're trying to lose a few pounds or stick to your health kick, I don't recommend ever giving up the foods you love. Moderation works for me (most of the time), but when I can't hold myself back from devouring more than just a few tasty bites, I try to make or find healthier alternatives. Here are some of my favorites. If you have healthy alternatives to the foods you crave, please share them in the comment section below.

Craving This?	Try this Instead
Ice cream	Frozen yogurt, soy ice cream, or chocolate sorbet
Candy bar (Snickers, Kit Kat)	A piece of dark chocolate with a handful of almonds
Pizza	Choose ones made with thin crust (for less carbs) or make your own using lowfat cheese and grilled veggies. Or try a pizza salad.
Chewy candy (skittles, sour patch kids)	Dried Fruit or trail mix
Peanut butter cookie	Peanut butter on a whole grain cracker, topped with a drizzle of honey
Chocolate mousse or fudge	Make your own chocolate pudding with nonfat milk
Apple pie	Baked apple
Banana cream pie	Halve a banana lengthwise and top with 1 tbsp chocolate chips
French Fries with ketchup	Bake or grill regular or sweet potatoes instead, and flavor with fresh rosemary

Do you have a healthy alternative you rely on when craving something crazy? Share it in the comments section below.

Source

Healthy Dessert: Baked Apples

FitSugar — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:30:00 -0800

I love a sweet treat, but I like them to be healthy, too. Baked apples were always a Winter favorite when I was growing up. They were delicious and made the entire house smell sweet. Now that I am a mom I appreciate how easy they are to make and how healthy they are to boot.

To see this simple recipe just read more

What you need:

2 apples (I like to use Macintosh)
Chopped walnuts
Dried cranberries
Honey

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Wash the apples thoroughly. Then remove 3/4 of the core, leaving a little at the bottom.

Place them in a pan and fill the holes up with a mixture of the walnuts and cranberries. Drizzle each with about 1 tbsp of honey.

Cover the pan with foil and place in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Check on your apples occasionally to make sure they're not getting too mushy.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for five minutes and enjoy.

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Healthy T-Day Dessert: Pumpkin-Carrot Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting

FitSugar — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:30:05 -0800

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and my love of all things pumpkin is hardly waning. From yogurt to muffins, I relish this tasty flavor of Fall. If you're looking for a pumpkin pie alternative, these pumpkin-carrot bars are delish. The bit of cream cheese frosting adds a deceptive element of decadence.

Low in calories while remaining full of flavor, these pumpkin bars make a great dessert - perfect for potlucks (much easier to share with large groups than pies) and they're relatively guilt-free. They're high in vitamin A - and trust me you cannot even taste the shredded carrot - and a bar only contains 70 calories and less than two grams of fat. With nutritional stats like that, it's OK to go back for seconds.

Check out the recipe when you read more.

Pumpkin-Carrot Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
Modified from SparkPeople

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Earth Balance (or other butter substitute)
2 eggs
2 large egg whites
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
2/3 cup finely shredded carrot

Cream cheese topping:
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon skim milk

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Spray a 15 x 10 jellyroll pan with cooking spray.
In small bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and baking soda.
In larger bowl, use electric mixer to beat sugar, Earth Balance, and brown sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie filling, and carrots. Beat until well blended.
Add flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread onto greased pan.
To prepare cream cheese topping: mix together cream cheese, sugar, and milk until thoroughly blended.
Drop teaspoon-fulls of topping over pumpkin batter and swirl and cut mixture into batter with a butter knife.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan completely on wire rack before cutting into squares.

Makes 48 squares.

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Looking for more healthy recipes? Then check out the Healthy Recipe Group - the name pretty much says it all.

Healthy Side Dishes and Desserts

FitSugar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:30:46 -0700

Barbecues are a great way to chill out with your friends, but they can be a disaster for your waistline. Be proactive and bring side dishes and desserts you know are healthy and diet-friendly. This way you can spread the health while ensuring you have something to eat. Here are some ideas.

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Healthy Eating Tip: Have a Fig For Dessert

FitSugar — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:00:04 -0800

Figgy pudding may be a traditional holiday dessert, but it isn't exactly the healthiest choice. If you crave something sweet after a meal, give dried figs a taste. If you've never tried this sweet, tasty treat, then you are really missing out. Like dates and many other dried fruits, figs are unexpectedly dessert-like in flavor and texture.

Just three dried figs packs a whopping 10 grams of fiber. That's about 40 percent of the recommended daily allowance of fiber for women. Eating 25 to 30 grams of fiber every day can help reduce your risk or heart disease, so why not get part of your RDI through dessert?

Healthy Eating Tip: Eat Calcium For Dessert

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Even when our willpower is at its peak performance, sweet treats after meals can be the hardest thing to give up. I don't know about you, but after a savory meal, I often crave just a tiny bite of dessert. If you're the same way, I have a tasty tip ensures that you get your RDI of calcium while satisfying your sweet tooth.

After dinner, eat a calcium chew, like the ones made by Viactiv. They taste just like candy - well, I guess they sort of are candy - but each piece has just 20 calories. They come in flavors such as chocolate, mint chocolate, and raspberry; my favorite is caramel, though I actually buy the Walgreens brand. One chew delivers 500 mg of calcium, which is half your RDI.

My only complaint is that they're made with corn syrup. But when the alternative is eating a sugary, high-fat candy bar or cookie, this calcium-rich treat is worth trying.

Source