Dessert Darling

Thinny Thursday Tip, Never Drink Soda!

Never Drink Sodas

This Thinny Thursday tip is pretty self-explanatory.  Soda has been linked to pancreatic cancer, heart risks, rotting teeth, and of course, obesity.  I know a guy who simply cut soda out of his diet and dropped 15 pounds. Wop-babaloo-bop, there you go.

And for you diet soda fans who drink a beverage as a snack or food substitute, you're drowning your insides in disgusting chemicals for nothing, because studies show that "artificial sweeteners increase weight gain odds." Studies also show that even sugar free sodas result in an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome ("a cluster of risk factors linked to diabetes and heart disease").

Yikes!

Anyway, it's a complete waist of calories to drink them, if you ask me. I'm a huge fan of the tall glass of water! If you need caffeine, drink tea! Tea can have incredible benefits for your body. Green tea is practically touted as a panacea by some!

If you need bubbles, try fruit flavored sparkling water.  Or if you want a cold palette cleanser with a kick, try Kombucha!  This fizzy beverage is amazing and naturally low in calories :)

 

 

 

Finally, if you must must must have "soda", try all natural brands made with natural sweeteners and fewer calories.  Hope that helps! :)

 

xo

Amazing Raw Oreo Cookie Recipe from Awake and Living

This Thinny Thursday I'd like to introduce you to my friend and health aficionado, Juls from Awake and Living.  Juls has a contagious zest for life and energetically encourages those around her to live it to their fullest. At Awake and Living, Juls doles out daily health tips with weekly themes ranging from diet & nutrition, to skin & beauty, with much more in between.  

Recently, Juls created this amazing recipe for Raw "Oreo" Cookies that were UH-mazing. Totally rich, moist, sweet, flavorful, and healthy on top! Say what!? If you're looking for adventure in the kitchen and a party in your mouth, you must try this recipe! 

 

Gluten-Free Cupcakes from French Meadow Bakery

Dear Gluten-Free Friends,

I'm keeping my eyes and ears peeled for tasty treats that you can enjoy too. Alas, these cupcakes by French Meadow Bakery that I found in Whole Foods are not the answer. The cake has an oddly firm quality and the icing tastes like a poor-man's buttercream. Let's just say, palm oil and corn syrup are no substitutes for real butter and sugar! I'm a purist, so these cupcakes let me down, but if you only eat Gluten-Free desserts, they may not be that bad in your book.  In the meantime, the search is still on....!                 ps: Sorry for the pink-ness of the shot. Camera was on a weird setting.. I'm learning!

 

   

 

Delicious Sin-Free Chocolates from Benchic Chocolates

 

The other day I came home to a box of Benchic Chocolates at my store step and was totally delighted to discover homemade, raw, organic, and vegan chocolate squares. These silky smooth and almost fudge-like chocolates are made with only six simple ingredients: cacao, honey, lucuma, Himalayan sea salt, goji berries, and almonds. Nearly all of these items benefit your body with properties like flavanols, minerals, vitamins, fiber, and protein.   If there's such thing as sin-free chocolates, these are they!

For those who don't like honey, the distinct flavor can be detected in these sweets, albeit, subtly thanks to the strong, rich cacao flavor.  My book club went gaga for these treats and especially enjoyed them with red wine.  If I were to rate these chocolates at large, I'd give them 3.5 cherries, but for the "healthy" world, I'd give them 5 enthusiastic cherries.. averaging about a score of 4 cherries overall!

 

 

Thank you Benchic Chocolate for sending me this delicious box! For more information on how to order your own Benchic Chocolates, click here. They are a must try!

 

Lovin' Scoopful Ice Cream

Some days you've just gotta have ice-cream straight from the carton. You know those days. I'm grateful that I happen to have a gallon of Lovin Scoopful's Churned Light Ice-cream right now.  I'm going to town on it as I write, making my keyboard sticky with "Baba's Butter Pecan Brittle."  Boasting half the fat or regular ice-cream, Lovin' Scoopful reminds me of Dryer's Slow Churned ice-cream. Both are air-whipped and light, but still tasty enough to chose over their more fattening but decadent competitors. The most appealing part of Lovin Scoopful's ice-cream though, is that they donate 25% of the proceeds to the Special Olympics and the Boys and Girls' Club. Ice-cream with a heart! It's Low-fat and Does Good- now what's not to Lovin' about that?

 

For more information on Lovin' Scoopful, click here. 

 

Ginger-spice Cookies from Williams-Sonoma Catalogue

These ginger-spice Halloween cookies from the Williams-Sonoma catalogue remind me of the German "peppernut" cookie, Pfeffernusse.  They bubble out and have a soft consistency, with a thin, mild, and hardened glaze that somewhat tempers the strong spices and cloves in the cookie.  With only 2.5 grams of fat for five little cookies, these are a very low-fat and forgiving treat.  While these Gingerbread cookies aren't quite the way grandma made them, they're cute to put out in a bowl or tray for Halloween festivities. Kids would surely love the fun and colorful options and they're just the right size for little hands. Just don't buy these cookies in hopes of total decadence, otherwise, you'll be tricked expecting your treat.

 

 

For more info on ordering these cookies from Williams-Sonoma, click here. 

 

Thinny Thursday - Choco-Laté Tea from the American Tea Room

This Thinny Thursday I'm introducing you to something very un-Dessert Darling-esque. That is because this item is not a dessert. However, if you are, for some reason.. ((gasp)) avoiding desserts, this is the "treat" for you.  Introducing Chocolate Tea that I recently received from the American Tea Room.

The Choco*Laté is a caffeine-free, fat-free blend of organic cacao husks, vanilla beans, and anti-oxidant packed rooibos. It truly smells just like chocolate.  The flavor is quite subtle as a tea, but lovely nonetheless. For a slightly more "decadent" experience, the website suggests adding milk and agave nectar. Mmm.  In general, I find that the times I'm drinking the most tea are also the times that I'm taking in the least calories, so if you're looking to keep the waistline down before the surge of Holiday treats, this is the perfect alternative to cleansing your palette after a meal!

 

  


For more information on the American Tea Room, click here. 

 

SCOOPS Gelato

The Heat is ON!  Evidently Mother Nature swapped her seasons on us, giving Angelenos a chilly summer and a smoking hot autumn so far.  No complaints here! This just means I get to eat more of my favorite dessert... gelato!

The other day I finally checked out SCOOPS, a charming little gelateria near Silver Lake that serves both traditional gelato as well as vegan, gluten and lactose-free options made with soy milk. This gelato holds true to the Italian tradition of using milk instead of cream, which results in a markedly lighter fair. This fresh rendition is incredibly desirable during a heat-wave (and a diet, for those counting cals)!

In addition to great consistency, Scoops boasts unique and original flavors like Mascarpone Butterfinger, Honey Lavendar, Red Velvet Cake (with cake and icing in it!) and their best selling "Brown Bread," which is an incredible combo of brown sugar with crunchy Grapenuts! Mmm. Five cherries all the way!~

 

"Brown Bread" on top of Honey Almond and gluten-free Pistachio 

 

For more info on SCOOPS, click here. 

 

Raw, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free Ice-Cream at Kind Kreme

Wow- it's rare, if ever, that you'd see me award five cherries to a Gluten Free, Vegan, no less raw dessert, but I have to say, the soft serve ice-cream at Kind Kreme completely knocked my socks off. For ages my friend has been telling me about this cute little joint in Studio City, but I dilly-dallied, wondering how edible could this stuff really be?  I'm a changed woman. 

A sample of soft-served Chocolate Vanilla swirled

I started to feel healthy just entering Kind Cream where the air smells of fresh grass (which is odd since they don't actually have wheat grass), and wide smiles greet you from behind the counter.  The employees generously allow you to try their many creative flavors with mini, earth friendly wooden spoons.  As I tasted my samples, I learned quickly that the flavors sweetened with Agave Nectar were significantly tastier than those sweetened with honey, which left a bit of a bitter aftertaste.  Ultimately, the soft serve was the best option, but the the hard packed Ginger Basil, Rocky Road, Chocolate and Mint Chip totally delighted me as well. 

 

Made with "Superfood" ingredients like Maca, almond butter, Goji berries, Chia seeds, and Cacao nibs, this is one dessert that truly leaves you feeling uplifted and energize. The only downside of these high quality ingredients is their steeper price.  Also, there're some reports that Agave nectar can be hard on some people's systems. ((Sigh)), I guess you can't win them all.  Ultimately though, Kind Cream makes incredibly refreshing and delicious ice-cream that can compete with even the creamiest, most sugar-packed store brands...just make sure you pick the right flavors!  

 

 

Check out my Tasty Tuesday video here to see how Kind Kreme makes me Fly! ;)

For more information on Kind Kreme, click here. 

 

Bethenny's Brownie Cookies From The Skinnygirl Dish

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Swooning. Melting. Dying. These are some of the best cookies I've ever made, and I've made a lot of cookies in my day. In fact, I failed miserably at Nestle Toll House cookies three times this month! I was beginning to blame the oven (because truth be told, the dough was amazing), but now that I've made Bethenny's cookies from The Skinnygirl Dish, and they turned out perfectly.. I'll never go back.

 

Agh! I'm so excited! Who knew that fibrous Oat Flour, Raw Sugar, No eggs, and halving the "butter" fat, could yield such delicious treats?? I don't Miss ANY of the old ingredients.  I'm Shocked. I believe these are even vegan and gluten-free!! (at least, they're very low-gluton)

Bravo Bethenny! I loved you before for being a hilarious, intelligent woman with an inspirational fairytale that unfolded before my very eyes, but now I'm a Devotee! Of course, Chocolate sealed the deal. ;)

If you're not familiar with Bethenny from BRAVO's The Real Housewives of NYC and Bethenny Getting Maried, you must at least check out The Skinnygirl Dish from where I got this recipe. I bought this book because like me, Bethenny believes in eating real food.

To see step by step pictures of my baking process, click below :)

 

Thinny Thursday Tip 7

Move Your Body

Hi everyone, here's your Thinny Thursday tip of the day: Move Your Body.  Note that I didn't simply write "exercise." We all know that exercise is a key component to a healthy, happy life. We also know it's a pain in the arse to allot time to do it and sometimes even worse yet is actually doing it if you're out of shape. Whether you have time to run a marathon every morning or haven't seen the inside of the gym in 4 years, you have ample opportunities to use your body during the day.  

For example, I'm someone who always uses the stairs. Even at the airport with my two heavy carry-ons, I'm cruising right up those steps past the lallygagging people on the escalators.  And woo! Extra calories burned for lugging 30lb bags in each hand! 

Waiting in line somewhere? Stand tall, engage your abs, roll your shoulders pack. Heck, get a calf workout in and go up and down on your toes.. Ok, you might look like an antsy kid in need of a bathroom, but your legs will look fabulous later on when you throw on those heels! The point is, don't be lazy. Always engage yourself when you have the opportunity.  These in between moments of physical exertion add up and count.  I know someone who hasn't been to a gym years, but he's always on the go and has so much energy that he can still eat everything in site and maintain a sleek physique. 

 

Thinny Thursday Tip 5

Be in Touch with You Body

Ok, this advise is much more wishy-washy than the clear-cut tips I've doled out thus far.  What does it mean to be in touch with your body? Quite simply, it means to stay in tune with what's right for you, whether it's your exercise regime, diet, or happy body weight. There is no "one size fits all" routine for people to adhere to.  It's your job to tune into the rhythms and patterns of your body and know what suits you best.

For example, my work-out limit is one-hour a day. Anything more than that means I'll have to peace out the next day to let my body recover.  This limited work-out time varies drastically from my friends who run 26 mile marathons for more than three hours at a time!!!

Additionally, everyone has a happy body weight that she should be in tune with. Anything 5-10 lbs more feels sluggish and excuse me for saying so, kinda depressing. Anything less feels too light and will make me hungry.  My personal pendulum swings 2 pounds left and 2 pounds right of it's happy medium every week.  Usually something like this... thin and great on Friday since I disciplined myself for the weekend. Gorge myself over the weekend. Feel sluggish come Sunday night. "Diet" starts again Monday to feel totally fabulous again come Friday, and on and on my cycle goes. It works for me. I know it, I get it.

Another aspect of being in touch with your body is the hunger versus boredom & stress issue.  I'm a classic over-eater when I'm stressed. I know this about myself and have simply banned my kitchen from trigger foods like boxes of cereal and pints of ice-cream. Furthermore, I do everything I can to eliminate stress altogether! I surround myself with happy, positive, and supportive people, I work-out, do yoga, and if something isn't working in my life, I don't pout about it, I change it (Ok, so maybe I pout a little, but then I change it).

 

 

Thinny Thursday Tip 2

Never Drink Sodas

This Thinny Thursday tip is pretty self-explanatory.  Soda has been linked to pancreatic cancer, heart risks, rotting teeth, and of course, obesity.  I know a guy who simply cut soda out of his diet and dropped 15 pounds. Wop-babaloo-bop, there you go.

And for you diet soda fans who drink a beverage as a snack or food substitute, you're drowning your insides in disgusting chemicals for nothing, because studies show that "artificial sweeteners increase weight gain odds." Studies also show that even sugar free sodas result in an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome ("a cluster of risk factors linked to diabetes and heart disease").

Yikes!

Anyway, it's a complete waist of calories to drink them, if you ask me. I'm a huge fan of the tall glass of water! If you need caffeine, drink tea! Tea can have incredible benefits for your body. Green tea is practically touted as a panacea by some!

If you need bubbles, try fruit flavored sparkling water.  Or if you want a cold palette cleanser with a kick, try Kombucha!  This fizzy beverage is amazing and naturally low in calories :)

 

 

 

Finally, if you must must must have "soda", try all natural brands made with natural sweeteners and fewer calories.  Hope that helps. :)

Thinny Thursday Tip 1

EAT REAL FOOD

Hi everyone! You might recall from this post here that you all inquired about how one stays thin while eating dessert.  I'll repeat that I'm not a nutritionist and diet was never meant to be a focus of my blog, but since so many people have asked, I'm sharing my personal tips on Thinny Thursdays.  

My first tip is to EAT REAL FOOD. This might seem like a pretty basic demand of human survival, yet in this day and age, so many chemicals, additives, powders, bars, junk, and artificial "foods" abound, often times tricking people into thinking that they're "healthy," that it must be stated.. Eat real food. 

 Before I elaborate, reflect for one moment about the bodies you see in images from the '50s, '60,'70s,and  '80s. These were fairly innocent days before the Fat-Free, Sugar-Free, Carb-Free phases descended upon us (for which I was at Ground Zero for each trend).  In fact, there's a photo of my Dad in the 1960s at a breakfast table with a milk carton that advertised "Made with 20% more cream!"-  Can you imagine?!

Also, remember when "Chunk" was the fat kid in The Goonies?  He now looks like a typical kid!

A Dessert Darling Recipe for Reduced Fat Blueberry Banana Bread

It's not often that I bake. I pretty much banned myself from the kitchen on account of the fact that I eat almost all the batter of everything before it even makes its way to the oven.

I had a bunch of ripe bananas though, and  couldn't resist the opportunity to make my reduced fat Blueberry Banana Bread for the holiday weekend. I basically end up substituting a fresh peach and some apple sauce for the excess butter. The treat is still completely tasty, delicious, and a huge hit with my man. I hope you enjoy!! 

 

I forgot to take a photo before we demolished the bread, so this image is courtesy of Melissa from 99percentcacao.

Ingredients:

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

1.5 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 stick salted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

7 medium, ripe bananas, mashed

1 large, ripe peach

2 tbsp apple sauce

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Lots of blueberries!

optional: chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease two 9-by-5 inch loaf pans.

In a medium bowl combine flour, soda and salt with a wire whisk; set aside.

In a medium bowl, mash bananas with a chopped ripe peach, and then add 2 tbsp apple sauce.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add bowl of mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until thick.  Scrap down sides of bowl.

Add the flour mixture, and then blend at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.

Fold in blueberries with a spatula.  

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake on center rack of oven for 60-70 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!! :-)

Brownies with Fiber

Well why not?! If you're going to make brownies from a box mix, vary it up a bit and throw in some healthy fiber for a change!  Lynn, from The Actor's Diet, made "idiot-proof" brownies by adding in black bean-puree instead of eggs, water, and oil.  She claims in this post here that it was quite the successful experiment! 

I know Hungry Girl has a similar trick, but instead of bean-puree, she uses a can of pumpkin for a low-guilt, healthy, but goey batch of brownies.  And finally, a friend of mine swears that all a good batch of brownie-mix needs is a bit of alcohol, like Makers scotch.  Have you tried any of these ideas before? What do you think?!

 
 

100 Calorie Ice Cream Sandwich Julie's Organic Ice-Cream

It's hard to find an actual ice-cream sandwich, you know, made with real ice-cream, that comes in a 100 Calorie serving size. I scoured the shelves at Whole Foods, my eyes cruising by the soy, coconut milk, yogurt, and even goat-milk options before I landed on on Julie's Organic Ice-Cream sandwiches. 

The "Juliette" has thin chocolate wafers that neatly contain a bar of delicious vanilla ice-cream. Made with natural and organic ingredients, Julie's Organic "Juliette's" won my heart.     

For more info on Julie's Organic Ice-Cream, click here.

 

 Note, this image is of the larger sandwich, not the 100 cal bars!

Acai Mango Sorbet from Belizza

Belizza! Love this Acai Mango sorbet! I'm not normally a sorbet girl. I find it a bit shocking with with it's icy cold temps and disproportionate ratio of high sugar to low fat.  I need some cream and substance in there to balance it out!

In this instance though, Acai is a creamy super fruit that's packed with both antioxidants and yumminess.  Not only is Acai supposed to give you great energy and glowing skin, but also, it's the hangover cure of choice in Brazil.  Voila!  

Finally, the sweet mango is the perfect mate to the mild acai for a rockin' summer, low cal treat.  :)

For more info on Belizza's Acai sorbets, click here. 

 

Organic Chewy Brownie from FABES Natural Bakery

I really appreciate FABE's All Natural Bakery for concocting organic treats that don't have bleached flours, refined sugars or hydrogenation. Their Chewy Brownie is just that... chewy.  You can taste the sweetness of the agave nectar and enjoy the soft, Tootsie Roll like consistency, but I won't lie and tell you it's just like sugar and butter! 

Also, somewhat distressing, is this article that I came across that claims that agave nectar is actually worse for you than high fructose corn syrup!! A DessertDarling-say-what? This can't be!!  See, this is why I just stick to the real stuff.  It all probably ends up being bad for you, but at least you get desserts that taste amazing.  

For more info on FABE's All Natural Bakery, click here. 

 

 

Donut Holes from Nutrilicious Natural Bakery

I feel sorry for some of these "healthy" dessert items since they simply can't compete, sometimes, with the really great decadent stuff.  Nutrilicious's dairy and egg-free Spelt Flour Cinnamon Donut Holes are definitely fighting with one hand behind their back, and quite frankly, they lost the battle.

These dense little balls are dry in the center and leave a weird cinnamon aftertaste. The best part of these donuts are the glazed outsides that I eat while discarding the cardboard centers.   For people with dietary restrictions, these might be a nice treat.. otherwise, pass.

Almond Crunch from Mrs. May's Naturals

To say Mrs. May's Almond Crunch is "dessert" would be a bit of a stretch. That said, it's a respectable alternative to tastiness if you're avoiding sugar, animal fats, gluten, cholesterol, dairy, wheat, artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.  In short, Mrs. May's Almond Crunch is a "healthy" treat.  

I sought refuge in these sweetly coated almond clusters when I was cutting down on sugar for a week and was so grateful for their healthy existence.  Mrs. May's Naturals are definitely the kind of "treats" my future children will be getting someday! HA ;)

For more info on Mrs. May's Naturals and her other great snacks, click here. 

Vegan Cupcakes from Luscious

The last two years at the Coachella Music Festival I've had the pleasure of stumbling upon the organic and vegan dessert booth by Luscious. 

Their cupcakes are both delicious and relatively "healthy" as they use the finest ingredients with no hydrogenation, refined sugars or bleached flours. Normally, this would raise an eyebrow for me, but truly, I don't even miss it in these delectable treats.

The cupcakes are delicious, but a little on the dense side, so a few bites go along way and are great to share with a friend (then again, I might have been full to start off with too much pizza and beer.. hey, it was a rock festival ;)

Kudos to Luscious for desserts that are both delicious and organic & vegan!

For more info on Luscious and their other yummy looking baked goods, click here. 

 
 

Yogurtland

                    

If you're anything like me, you went through a MASSIVE frozen yogurt phase (also known known as Fro-yo). In fact, one of my daily highlights in school was discovering what new flavors the cafeteria was serving.. Ha!  

I've since discarded the soft stuff in exchange for real ice-cream.  However, there is one frozen yogurt joint that still makes my eyes sparkle.  This magical haven is Yogurtland, a fro-yo chain that not only has the most delicious frozen yogurt EVER, but also features 16 flavors at a time that you get to self-serve, as well as an incredible array of toppings that (wait for it.. ) you get to SELF SERVE!  (How much do we love self-serving? We love it.. a lot)

With fat and sugar-free options for yogurt and healthy fruit and nut toppings avail, you can make this stop as "healthy" or as naughty as you like (But! if you're like me.. you walk out with 8 different flavors packed in a cup, standing at a foot tall. Heh heh,  what can I say, I'm the Dessert Darling!).

Yogurtland wins the coveted Golden Cherry for best frozen yogurt stop, hands down!

For more info on Yogurtland and a location near you, click here.

Introducing a New Healthy Category

Hi fellow sweet-teeth! I'm so sorry for my little hiatus.  I actually had a mini medical scare for which I was advised to cut down on sugar (GASP).  The good news is, my tests came back to reveal that I am A-OK ((sigh of relief)).  

During my sugar-free week, I discovered some healthy alternatives that helped scratch the sugar itch as well as gained compassion for those who cannot or do not eat desserts for medical reasons.  While I wanted Dessert Darling to be a Guilt-Free zone that ignored calories and fat, I understand there's a need for people to find sweet endings that won't wreak havoc on their bodies too.

So, introducing my new "Healthy" category. I put "Healthy" in quotes because what's healthy to some is not to others. Personally, I hate artificial sugar, but if you're a diabetic, you might indulge in sugar-free pudding.  And if you're avoiding fat, your zero-fat yogurt might be loaded with sugar. So for now, "healthy" will encompass everything that's altered to satisfy various dietary needs.

Thanks for checking in during my absence!!! Now let the reviews resume!  xo

 

 

 

 

Vegan Carrot Cake at Newsroom Cafe

When done right, Carrot Cake can be one of the dreamiest, most delectable dessert options on the menu.  Unfortunately, it's hard to do vegan carrot cake well, but I do have to credit The Newsroom Cafe for trying!

The vegan carrot cake at The Newsroom Cafe on Robertson is hearty, dense, and heated to make it seem a little more special (which works.) The flavor is lovely enough, but the consistency is way more muffin than it is cake.  Finally, the icing--(sigh) the icing. This is where vegan loses me.  I LOVE the traditional cream cheese frosting, so the thin layer of vegan who-knows-what on top of my dessert slab did not do the trick for me.  In the vegan world, I'm sure it ranks up there, but overall, 2.5 cherries the Newsroom's carrot cake.~

  

Mani's Bakery

Mani's Bakery on Fairfax has a loyal and dedicated following of health conscious fans who desire organic, vegan, or white-sugar free desserts.  Gwyneth Paltrow and Kirsten Dunst are just some of the celebs rumored to frequent this little cafe.

 The ingredients are both wholesome and fresh and the treats here don't leave you feeling sick and regretful.  That said, they don't summon your name on a random day, luring you in for a naughty indulgence the way a traditional cupcake or pastry might.  

I've had a hard time figuring out how to rank this special bakery.  If I were to compare it to a traditional bakery that has free reign to use sinful ingredients, Mani's would score 3 cherries.  In a world of healthy desserts only though, Mani does a great job making these treats taste delicious with selective ingredients and would score 4.5 cherries.

My top recommendations at Mani's are the peanut butter cookies, chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, and raspberry chocolate cake. Mmm~

For more info on Mani's, click here. 

 

 

 

Blisscuits - A Healthy Treat

I just discovered Mariel Hemingway's healthy line of "Blisscuits," which truly saved my life this afternoon as I was stuck in traffic for hours starving, when it dawned on me "Wait, I have a package of Blisscuits in my bag!" They were wholesome, sweet, filled-me up, and made me feel great (unlike other packaged foods that only drag down your energy).

Made with no chemicals, no sugar, and 40% organic, healthy immune boosting ingredients, how could you go wrong? Not quite a dessert per se, but when I have kids, I'll put it in their lunch pales and tell them it is!

Click here for more info the Mariel's Blisscuits!  

Ice-cream Sandwiches from So Delicious

Not bad.. Not bad at all.  These small "ice-cream" sandwiches by So Delicious are the perfect substitute for naughty creamy-dreaminess.  Boasting only 2 grams of fat and 90 calories (hey, that's less then a 100 calorie pack! ;-), these all natural soy treats are dairy free.

While I can't, in good conscience, award 5 cherries to a low-fat dessert, I can say that the So Delicious minis are a must-have staple for your freezer to satisfy your daily sweet tooth!

For more info on So Delicious, click here.