PB&J parfait (high protein/lowfat)

I have a big love for PB2. I actually prefer it to regular peanut butter. Yes, the main reason is because of its caloric value. But another reason is that I’m actually not a big fan of peanut butter itself. I prefer almond butter. I always have. While peanut butter is alright (but not super high) in my book, I still like the flavor of PB&J. I mean, what’s not to like? I even made vegan chocolate PB&J cupcakes before!

Anyway, this peanut butter and jelly pudding parfait is a healthier and lower fat alternative to your favorite peanut butter and jelly snacks or desserts. It is high in protein thanks to the use of cottage cheese and peanut flour. The crunch from the granola is perfect and gives an ideal combo of textures. Additionally, the use of cinnamon helps regulate blood sugar levels from all of that delicious sweetness that’s going on here. And you wonder why I add cinnamon to all my desserts? 😉 I love me some great health benefits, duh.

I also recommend finding a lower sugar or no sugar added jam variety. Fruit are sweet on their own, I don’t think it’s necessary to add any additional sweetners to the mix. Thankfully, I still have some jam from May’s trip to the Amish country.

Reese’s Overnight Oats (high protein)

I loved these because of how creamy they turned out. I made them before and I had to write down the exact proportions because of how well they turned out. Now I made these again last night but I ran out of almond milk! So I improvised and used some of the nonfat kefir I had in the fridge. The original written down recipe calls for 2/3 cup almond milk so you can try it either the original way or the way I’ve written it down in the recipe. Both results in creamy delicious oaty goodness. Mmmm.

My preference is for multi grain hot cereal rather than Old Fashioned oats simply because they have less calories. But then again they are also tastier, there is more of a complex flavor to them. But both kinds will work here, of course.

I was actually surprised how much these overnight oats truly taste like a peanut butter cup. But better! Because it’s healthier, fills you up more, packed with protein, not much sugar, AND it’s creamy (who doesn’t like creaminess?). These proportions are much recommended.

Coconut Brownie for One (vegan/low cal/low fat)

As a girl living on her own, without a family to feed, I’ve come to really appreciate single serve desserts. One, I don’t have to make a whole bunch of whatever it is I’m craving and then feel obligated to overeat because I don’t want it to go to waste. Two, in case the recipe doesn’t work, I don’t feel bad because I didn’t waste a whole lot of ingredients. And three, I don’t have to share 😉

I’ve come to love coconut flour for its flavor. I’ve been craving something coconut-y… but I also wanted to use some more Arctic Zero as a topping. A combination of ice cream and cake is perfect. Obviously.

You would never guess this beautiful dessert is healthy. And the whole thing (WITH the ice cream) is under 250 calories. That’s the beauty of healthy baking. And the beauty of Arctic Zero ice cream which you can try to win if you enter in my giveaway. It’s worth it.

Raspberry Mint Yogurt Bites

My parents’ garden is filled with raspberries. I love how easily they want to grow. Every day there is a ton of new ones ripening and they are simply delicious! No pesticides here, oh no. Why would we want to sacrifice taste to make sure a fruit is bug-free? Who cares if there’s a bug in there or if the raspberries come out big or small? I think flavor is what really matters in a delicious fruit.

Take non-organic strawberries for example – they barely taste like anything. Regular strawberries seem to have no flavor to me, similarly to many other berries as well as cherries. But try an organic berry and your world will be blown. The flavor is so intense and complex it simply bursts in your mouth and your tastebuds dance in joy as they have never danced before! Now that’s a celebration of fresh fruit!

Combining raspberries with fresh mint leaves seemed like a great idea. Adding yogurt to the mix, similarly how I did with the chocolate-covered yogurt bites a while back was the basis for the creation. This delicious snack does a great job at cooling you down on a hot summer day all while delivering important antioxidants and protein from the yogurt.

Gotta love quick (kinda) and easy summer desserts. This is why summer is my favorite. Nothing in the world beats fresh home berries. Yum!

Strawberry Kiwi Quinoa Muffins

The other day, I went ahead and visited a nearby Farmer’s Market. I’ve been dying to check it out from all that you guys talk about how awesome they are – and how much cheaper all of the produce is! Unfortunately, as I talked about yesterday, the prices were not very competitive, they were actually quite a bit higher than I expected them to be. Not horrible of course, but higher than I thought. Plus there wasn’t as much stuff there as I expected to find either.

I did however find some amazingly flavorful organic strawberries. I paid $6 for a pint and I was in heaven – the flavor of these babies was just as good as the strawberries I remember from Poland. So much flavor in every bite, this sweetness, the delicate tartness… oh man, I just love berries. So much!

I had some kiwi left over from my recent grocery trip and I’ve been getting tired of eating them by themselves. So after mixing and matching with ideas and what I’ve seen all around I put all of the stuff I had together, including the unopened box of Quinoa flakes.

Strawberries, kiwi, and quinoa flakes. I bought the quinoa flakes 2 months ago because I found a cool recipe for it. But you know, what else is new, I lost the recipe. So the box has been sitting there unopened ever since. Until now, that is 🙂 When these muffins were baking the whole apartment was filled with the aroma of strawberries and kefir. Such a nice fragnant scent.

I enjoyed a muffin with a glass of strawberry banana protein shake post workout 🙂

Oh no, a strawberry is drowning!

Chocolate-Dipped Yogurt Bites & This or That Quiz

I love quick and easy snacks. I especially love when they are healthy. ESPECIALLY when they also taste sinful. Like these little babies.. I used to make frozen yogurt bites all the time. I usually used Yoplait flavored yogurt though. That was before I realized the horrible additives pretty much everything has. So this time I used plain Greek yogurt.

The beauty of plain yogurt is that you can flavor is however you want. Want to add honey? Go for it. Cinnamon? You got it. And thanks to flavored liquid Stevia, you are able to flavor your yogurt whatever you want while adding sweetness without the calories of processed sugars.

Now take it a step further and dip the creation in melted chocolate. Can you say healthy heaven? Mmmm..

And then there’s one of those “This or That” quizzes on the bottom of the post. I’ve been seeing them around quite a bit and I thought, might as well.

Chocolate Chia Pudding + SweetLeaf Stevia

Today I am sharing something that tastes so indulgent but is actually really good for you. Don’t you love those treats? They are just the best. I sometimes get random night cravings – they suck. I’ll eat perfectly well all day but then as soon as night hits, I get cravings. It might be partially because I start getting bored – and food thoughts creep into my mind. So sometimes I ignore them successfully. However, sometimes they are so loud, I am unable to. I must satisfy that darn craving. Chocolate.

So why not satisfy it guit-free? Chocolate pudding. You could make the Chocolate Pudding with avocado. That one is delicious… but you don’t always have avocado on hand. So then you could make something else – chocolate chia pudding. Chia has wonderful properties which soak up the liquid they are in, making it into a gel/pudding consistency. This one was simply perfect.

Plus it was perfect for the new Chocolate SweetLeaf Stevia liquid drops I got in the mail recently. Good way to try them out, they were the perfect addition to this recipe. By the way, I was pretty excited when I got this in the mail – I got both the chocolate and root beer flavors. I’m psyched for the chocolate – it gives the perfect chocolatey flavor with sweetness of stevia. I’m totally sold on liquid stevia products by SweetLeaf – they don’t leave a weird aftertaste and taste delicious.