Eating the Forbidden Fruit

25 Oct 2012

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Food for Thought, Recipes
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Roasted Almonds and Eating the Forbidden Fruit

I don’t really believe in putting food into the good-for-you and bad-for-you categories. I think it creates paranoia and food “issues”… Now that I’m 6 months into my new role of Mom I’ve started noticing parents tell their very young children about foods that are bad for them (the obvious culprits) versus foods that they should eat.  Guess which ones they want?  I mean who doesn’t want the forbidden fruit?  Who doesn’t want the cereal with Elmo on the front, that Mom keeps grabbing out of your hands at the supermarket, versus the unadorned steel cut oats straight from Mama’s dusty, Pyrex jar.  And it’s no different when we’re 20 or 60 or 100 (from what I’m told).

So my answer: make the good-for-you foods look, taste and SOUND (!) as good as Cherry Garcia ice cream.  Make them SO good that there is no need to forbid them (from your children or from you). So with that in mind, here are a few of my favorite ways to embrace the forbidden fruit.

1)      “French Toast” Almonds:  These are so good that I have to make them in very small batches or next thing I know I look down and the bowl’s been emptied and I start blaming it on my 6 mos old. They’re pictured at top and all you do is take almonds, toss them into a skillet, shake them around a little on the stovetop so they get a touch brown on both sides, then immediately put them into a bowl, add a little drizzle of maple syrup, a touch of a salt, a dash of cinnamon and you’re set.  It’s a bite of French toast in every bite.
2)      Lemon Dream: Ricotta cheese has a super creamy consistency and when you sweeten it, it becomes dessert in an instant.  If you want to go low fat, there are lots of no-fat options on the shelf.  To the ricotta, add a dash of stevia (zero calorie, 100% plant based sweetener), some grated lemon rind, and a squeeze of lemon juice, oh and the pulp too.  You can also go the chocolate route, and instead of the lemon, add some shakes of non-sweetened cocoa. Or add both for a lemon, chocolate sensation.
3)      Parmesan and Honey: Cant’ think of any fancy words for this since it’s just so darn basic. Parmesan cheese with a touch of honey spread over it. And that’s it. They actually serve this as a dessert in Italy but I swear I was doing it before I even knew the Italians do it. Really.
4)      Choca Mocha:  As the winter months loom this is a good one to keep in mind … Mix together some decaf coffee (or caf if you so wish) and add to it a healthy dose of unsweetened powdered cocoa and a hint of stevia.  Add boiling water, as much milk as you want, and you’ve got your go-to hot decadent (but almost zero calorie!) winter drink.

Got any super easy, super decadent, but actually good-for-you, treats to share?

 

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Michelle

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