My Top 3 Healthy Desserts

My three favorite food groups are, in order of favoriteness, ice cream, Juicy Juice and sweet potatoes.

That’d be my last meal request, if I was ever so unfortunate as to find myself in place that has last meal requests.

I’ve reigned in my Juice Juice addiction, for now – it costs significantly more than $0, so I’ve been sticking with water.  Once I’m one of those bigwig journalists with the six-figure salary (including the right of the decimal), I’ll fill jacuzzis with the stuff.  And sweet potatoes are limited by the fact that it takes time to make it edible, and time doesn’t fit into my schedule at the minute.

So I’m left with ice cream, which is always easy, always delicious, always cold.  And I’m not sure what the amount of ice cream consumed by the average American is, but if I’m not in the 90th percentile, I’d be surprised.

So today’s post is a rumination on healthy ways to kick the ice cream habit, but still have creamy, tasty treats on a daily basis.

Let’s start with some product placement for which I don’t, but should, get paid for.

Talento Sorbetto | Photo by HealthyandLazy

This stuff is delicious – and it’s vegan, fat-free, HFCS-free, sugar-free, gluten-free and free of lots of other things as well.  In line with our upside-down food production system, the fact that this has nothing in it makes it pretty expensive.  It goes BOGO at Publix, though, so I’d snatch ’em up if you get the chance.  The wife and I can knock one of these back together in one sitting, not that we did last Friday afternoon.

Have less money?  Here’s another idea, courtesy of a family friend: plain Greek yogurt with cinnamon and honey.  Greek yogurt is all the rage at the moment.  Go to the grocery store late at night, when the old folks and soccer moms are gone, and you’ll see  all the hipsters with Chobani in their Earth-friendly totes.

I’ve been eating this regularly, and it’s a great stand in for ice cream (fat-free as well, if you care about that sort of thing).

Greek Yogurt, Honey and Cinnamon | Photo by HealthyandLazy

Last but not least, we’ve got some vegan banana ice cream.  I’ve made it, but didn’t take pics, so I’ll borrow from a good friend and super blogger, the Homemade Chocolatier.

The idea is simple – freeze a banana, then put it in a food processor until it’s blended smooth, and it has all the creamy of ice cream and none of the dairy (and almost none of the fat).  You can add in other things, like cocoa powder, peanut butter or, in my case, a packet of hot chocolate mix to make it even better.

I know, I know, mashed banana doesn’t sound like the best dessert/desert, but I swear it tastes more like soft serve ice cream than fruit.  Check out her post for more details.

 

Pre-blend | Photo by Homemade Chocolatier

Post-blend | Photo by Homemade Chocolatier

That’s it for now, folks.  If you’ve tried any of this, let me know what you think in the comments section.  One lucky commenter will be selected at random to win a free virtual high-five courtesy of yours truly.

Vegan Black Bean Brownies

Bahhh… I did it again.  I have this thing where I pull out my camera, snap a bunch of shots and then realize days later that the memory card isn’t/wasn’t in the camera.  This time, I managed to take a few before removing the card, so I’m not completely picture-less, but still.  I think this was the third time I’ve done it.  What’s that saying?  Fool me once, shame on you… Not sure if it applies if I’m fooling myself.  Whatever.

So here I am, with a cool post and nothing to show for it.  I saw a post over at Spatoola about black bean brownies, and she has the common sense to use cameras with memory cards, so check over there for finished-product pictures.

Black Bean Goo | Photo by HealthyandLazy

I had never heard of black bean brownies, and the very idea sounded preposterous.  Spatoola claims you can’t taste the beans (she’s right), and I decided to give it a shot.  I mean, I like black beans and I love brownies – it has to work, right?

Puppy Chow

Chocolately, Peanut Buttery Puppy Chow | Photo by HealthyandLazy

Every once and a while, you’ll see one of those recipes that combines a strange collection of ingredients into a harmonious, delicious creation.  Foreign food groups will mingle and the flavors will bounce off one another with zeal.

This isn’t one of those recipes.

As good as it is, anything covered in chocolate, peanut butter and sugar isn’t really groundbreaking.  But this is worth making, nonetheless.

It’s called Puppy Chow, and it’s not my invention.  It a side-of-the-cereal-box type of recipe, but it fits the theme of this blog nicely.  It really is healthy and lazy.