The warm weather of Spring and Summer bring about so many lovely reminders of previous years. The smell of flowers, weddings galore, backyard barbeques, and time spent with family and friends. What these seasons also bring with them can be some unpleasant weight gain. No matter how hard you may be working on your swimsuit figure, the heat and the sun makes our bikini bodies tired, and leaves us craving sugar for some added energy. As easy as it may be to reach for that fudgsicle in the freezer or dig into frozen yogurt...twice a day...there are a few recipes that can help satisfy that sugar craving without adding a lot of the sweet toxin to your diet. The recipes below all contain healthy servings of protein, fiber, and antioxidants, all of which keep people saying your body, not your diet, is super sweet.
Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
Ingredients:
16oz container of strawberries, hulled
8oz. package of cream cheese- You need the protein from full milk fat!
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions: In a small bowl, mix softened cream cheese, honey, and pecans together with a fork. You can use a hand mixer if you like to do more dishes, but a fork works just fine as long as the cream cheese is softened. Set mixture aside. Lay out strawberries on a plate, flat bottom side-down, and using a paring knife, slice an "X" on the tip of the strawberry. Grab a plastic bag- however big or small you'd like, and spoon the cream cheese mixture into the bag. Cut a small hole in the bottom corner of the bag and use it to pipe the mixture into the bottom of the strawberries. The cream cheese should come out of the "X" on the top of the strawberries just slightly. Keep these covered on a plate with plastic wrap for no more than 8 hours- otherwise they get soggy. These are seriously so good, y'all. Go eat them. Now. Go make them! You have all these ingredients in your house! If you don't, drop everything and run to the store! Don't forget to bring your baby.
Chocolate Nutty Mousse
Ingredients:
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup walnuts
2 teaspoons honey
2/3 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Additional Equipment Needed: Food processor
Directions: Pour cocoa powder, walnuts, and honey into the food processor, fitted with the largest blade you've got. Blend until it starts sticking to the sides of the food processor. Then slowly pour in the almond milk (not while the food processor is on- disaster alert) and continue to blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. There will be bits and pieces of walnuts in the mousse, so if you prefer a smoother texture, chop the walnuts prior to blending and pulse them in the food processor first to get them as small as possible. Spoon the mixture into an airtight container and keep in the fridge- if you can stop yourself from eating all of it right away. Once the mixture hardens a little, you can scoop out little balls of the mixture and roll them in coconut shavings, or dip them in peanut butter. The light, truffle flavor will satisfy any chocoholic! Adding a little rum flavoring will satisfy any alcoholic. The choice is yours.
Apple No Pie
Ingredients:
2 Fuji Apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions: This recipe really is as easy as pie. Simply mix all 3 ingredients together and keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 30 minutes- 1 hour. This will let the cinnamon infuse the apples and release some of the juices. After the mixture has had a chance to sit, stir it together and eat it up! Some good combinations with this is to pour some of the apples on greek yogurt and enjoy with a little bit of granola. You can also sprinkle it on top of oatmeal for breakfast. My favorite way to eat it so to heat the apples up for 1 minute in the microwave and then put a little dollop of whipped cream on top. It tastes just like apple pie, with none of the buttery carb guilt! You can even pour this on some grilled pork chops. Yum!
Keep your willpower strong! Remember how good it feels to be in a swimsuit and not covered up in a sarong made of thick muslin with no skin showing. Unless that is your religion, in which case you should by all means cover up.
Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
Ingredients:
16oz container of strawberries, hulled
8oz. package of cream cheese- You need the protein from full milk fat!
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions: In a small bowl, mix softened cream cheese, honey, and pecans together with a fork. You can use a hand mixer if you like to do more dishes, but a fork works just fine as long as the cream cheese is softened. Set mixture aside. Lay out strawberries on a plate, flat bottom side-down, and using a paring knife, slice an "X" on the tip of the strawberry. Grab a plastic bag- however big or small you'd like, and spoon the cream cheese mixture into the bag. Cut a small hole in the bottom corner of the bag and use it to pipe the mixture into the bottom of the strawberries. The cream cheese should come out of the "X" on the top of the strawberries just slightly. Keep these covered on a plate with plastic wrap for no more than 8 hours- otherwise they get soggy. These are seriously so good, y'all. Go eat them. Now. Go make them! You have all these ingredients in your house! If you don't, drop everything and run to the store! Don't forget to bring your baby.
Chocolate Nutty Mousse
Ingredients:
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup walnuts
2 teaspoons honey
2/3 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Additional Equipment Needed: Food processor
Directions: Pour cocoa powder, walnuts, and honey into the food processor, fitted with the largest blade you've got. Blend until it starts sticking to the sides of the food processor. Then slowly pour in the almond milk (not while the food processor is on- disaster alert) and continue to blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. There will be bits and pieces of walnuts in the mousse, so if you prefer a smoother texture, chop the walnuts prior to blending and pulse them in the food processor first to get them as small as possible. Spoon the mixture into an airtight container and keep in the fridge- if you can stop yourself from eating all of it right away. Once the mixture hardens a little, you can scoop out little balls of the mixture and roll them in coconut shavings, or dip them in peanut butter. The light, truffle flavor will satisfy any chocoholic! Adding a little rum flavoring will satisfy any alcoholic. The choice is yours.
Apple No Pie
Ingredients:
2 Fuji Apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions: This recipe really is as easy as pie. Simply mix all 3 ingredients together and keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 30 minutes- 1 hour. This will let the cinnamon infuse the apples and release some of the juices. After the mixture has had a chance to sit, stir it together and eat it up! Some good combinations with this is to pour some of the apples on greek yogurt and enjoy with a little bit of granola. You can also sprinkle it on top of oatmeal for breakfast. My favorite way to eat it so to heat the apples up for 1 minute in the microwave and then put a little dollop of whipped cream on top. It tastes just like apple pie, with none of the buttery carb guilt! You can even pour this on some grilled pork chops. Yum!
Keep your willpower strong! Remember how good it feels to be in a swimsuit and not covered up in a sarong made of thick muslin with no skin showing. Unless that is your religion, in which case you should by all means cover up.
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