Clean eating dessert recipes

Most of us crave sweets ever now and again. right? Maybe more "now" than "again"? Here are some sweet and healthy treats for those of us with a sweet tooth:

Black Forest Banana Split

• 2 cups nonfat ricotta cheese
• 2 bananas, split lengthwise
• 16 walnut halves
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cherry concentrate (available at health-food stores)

Spoon ricotta into a dessert dish and place a banana half on each side of the cheese. Put the walnut halves on top and dust with the cocoa powder. Drizzle the cherry concentrate on top.

Makes: 2 servings

Black forest banana split

Chocolate Dipped Banana Pops

• 2 ounces roughly chopped unsweetened baking chocolate
• 3 ounces roughly chopped milk chocolate
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts (or toasted coconut or cacao nibs if desired)

Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Slice bananas into thirds crosswise; insert a wooden freezer-pop stick or skewer in one end of each. Dip pieces in melted chocolate, spooning on additional chocolate to cover. Place on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with chopped salted peanuts. Freeze until chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes, or up to 2 hours. (If frozen for more than 2 hours, let soften for 20 minutes before serving.)

Servings Per Recipe: 6

PER SERVING: 206 cal., 13 g total fat (6 g sat. fat), 69 mg sodium, 22 g carb. (4 g fiber), 5 g pro.

Chocolate dipped banana pops

Baked Apples

Makes 1

• 1 Fuji apple
• Raisins, as desired
• Cinnamon, as desired
• Honey, as desired

Core a Fuji apple, stuff with raisins, cinnamon, and honey, as desired. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Baked apples

RECIPES for clean eating!

Picture taken from forkandbeans.com 

Here is a list of some recipe ideas to help you on your clean eating lifestyle:

Breakfast:

Remember eggs in a hole? Fried egg in toast? Check out this revised version: Reinvented egg in a hole recipe

Oatmeal! Do you love oatmeal? I hope so because it is good for you! 5 minute power oatmeal recipe

Lunch:

These shrimp and avocado summer rolls look amazing! Shrimp and avocado summer roll recipe

Salmon is good for us! Check out this tasty recipe for salmon cakes...and yes, it is good for you: Oven fried salmon cake recipe

Dinner:

Crispy chicken? Yes please... Crispiest spring chicken recipe

Risotto anyone? How about: White bean cauliflower risotto 

Planning your meals…is it worth the extra effort?

If you want to continue to eat healthy and stay away from processed, boxed and packaged foods, I would say YES!

A simple way to meal plan is to find recipes you want to try via the Internet or cookbooks and put all the ingredients needed onto your grocery list…to make sure you have everything you need for the week. This may take you about 15 to 30 minutes.

You can do all the prep work for the meals over the weekend to make weekdays easier!

Your body will thank you!

Eat your snacks!

By preparing snacks for your day before leaving the house, you will be less likely to snack on foods that do not fall within the clean eating guidelines.
Preparation is key to a clean eating lifestyle.

Here are is a list of healthy snacks to get you through the day:

• Organic mini carrots and hummus
• Organic applesauce cups, with or without cinnamon
• Nuts, mixed or your favorite variety
• Organic string cheese
• Organic fruit, ex: apples, bananas, grapes, oranges
• Hard boiled eggs (organic)
• Pumpkin seeds
• Homemade trail mix: nuts, seeds and dried fruits
• Homemade granola with nuts
• Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and granola