By Torri Myler
You start the day with a well balanced, healthy breakfast and follow it with a nutritious lunch, happy to be eating right and feeling great thanks to it. But by the late afternoon you're done waiting for dinner and you reach for a quick desert, telling yourself that a couple of pieces of chocolate or a cookie won't do any harm. Unfortunately more often than not it doesn't end on just two little pieces of dark chocolate or one oatmeal cookie, and what was supposed to be a little snack before a healthy dinner turns into a whole sweet meal in itself. A sweet dinner every once in a while is not bad, it will help with your cravings, as long as you skip the bag of mini chocolate candy bars or a batch of rich brownies and go for treats that are better for you.
For a warm and fruity dessert in place for dinner try some delicious bread pudding. However, make it with low carb bread, add rich spices like ground ginger, cinnamon and real vanilla, mix in your favorite fruit, like apples, cranberries or raisins. When serving, stop short of pouring rich sauce on it or decorating it with heaps of whipped cream, and instead sprinkle a dash of spices and maybe drizzle just a bit of real maple syrup or honey on top. If you eat your bread pudding still warm, the richness of the flavor and the different textures will make it so tasty in and of itself that you won't be missing any calorie rich additions.
If you like the idea of a warm and fruity dessert but are not too fond of it being bread or dough based, your best bet is to light up your grill. Stick your favorite fruit cut up into chunks onto skewers and place on the grill, or if you don't have one, on a cast iron pan or in the oven and keep it just long enough to get the grill marks. Fruit prepared this way will taste great, and you can bring more flavor out by adding some nutty spices and serving it with fresh mint leaves on top. For a more filling dish prepare a yogurt dip using a thick, Greek, natural yogurt and mixing it with spices, honey or just the softened fruit.
Some people like their snack soft and gooey, others prefer a bit of crunch. If you like to bite into something crispy, consider making pita bread chips by cutting your pita into triangles and tossing it in the oven or skillet until they harden, and preparing a selection of delicious dips to go with them. A smooth fruit and yogurt dip, a thick guacamole on a sweet side, home made peanut or almond butter, spicy apple sauce or a banana cream cheese are just some of the dips that will go great with your chips, and the great thing is that if you have any left over, you can always grab them the next day for lunch.
Chocolate, candy, cookies, ice cream and all kinds of other sweets are delicious, but if eaten too often they can lead to weight and health issues. That's why if you do have a sweet tooth, turning to more health conscious sweet snacks is a must, and if you let your imagination run wild, those good for you snacks will be as delicious as they are sweet.
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