Happy New Year! I hope you have enjoyed the festivities over the past few weeks as much as I have. Like me however, you may be feeling the excesses of too much chocolates and booze. I am dreading heading back to work and fastening my trousers...
Something I like to do on the blog in January is offer a few healthier alternatives to treats to inspire any new streamlined eating regime ( I hate the word 'diet') you may be adopting.
I will be bringing you new treats soon, but in the meantime, I have had a look through my archives and came up with 10 of the most popular healthier recipes I have featured.
1. Key Lime Pie Smoothie
This smoothie is designed to detox and tastes just like, well kind of like, a key lime pie. Packed with healthful spinach, limes, almond milk and banana, this really is a super sweet smoothie you can feel food about.
2, Raw Coconut 'Fudge'
This isn't fudge in the traditional sense, but it goes some way to satisfying that gap. A very simple ingredient, which I whizzed up in my Froothie Optimum 9400 blender , it features just a handful of ingredients. Simply whizz up coconut, dates, vanilla and a pinch of salt to achieve this deceptively rich tasting sweet, it tastes just as good as regular fudge.
3. Cherry Bakewell Energy Bites
I love picking up bags of dried fruit on my travels and when I came across a huge bag of dried cherries, this inspired the recipe here for something which tastes just like cherry bakewell, but is packed with energy and nothing too bad. Ideal for taking on a long walk with you.
4. Apricot and Goji Berry Balls
Again, inspired by dried fruits, these balls of pure energy feature bright orange dried apricots and flame coloured goji berries which I whizzed up in my blender to make these day-glo sweet healthy treats.
5. Strawberry and Kiwi Bliss Balls
I kept seeing Bliss Balls in health shops, only to discover that is what I have really been making all along - dried fruits, some nuts and a few other ingredients blitzed up to provide a tasty, not too sinful, sweet treat. Who knew you could get dried kiwi? I found it in my local Chinese supermarket and knew it would pair well with dried strawberries, dusted in coconut.
6. Cosmopolitan Smoothie
I thought it would be fun to try making a smoothie sound like a cocktail and essentially came up with a cosmopolitan - minus the vodka or triple sec. It features lime juice, cranberry juice and oranges whizzed up with some almond milk to give a very refreshing drink even Carrie Bradshaw would approve of.
7. Blender Brownies
For many, those trying to eat a bit healthier means giving up chocolate. If you can't bear to part from the cocoa bean however, these heathier blender brownies may help fill the chocolaty void. These brownies have raw cacao powder in them, and a little bit of 72% dark chocolate which has been proven, in moderation, to be not too bad as it contains essential anti-oxidants. The brownie batter is made right in the blender then baked in the oven - easy!
8. Goji Berry Granola Bars
These bars feature the goji berry, which some claim are a superfruit, plus another superfood oats. Loads of other ingredients abound in these bars such as (a small amount of chocolate chips), coconut, hazelnuts and agave nectar. These plack plenty of energy.
9. Carrot Cake Smoothie
Similar to the Key Lime Pie Smoothie, this drink features a load of heathy ingredients and tastes just like a slice of carrot cake (almost!). Raw carrots were pulverised easily in my super Optimum 9400 blender and to these I added cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, banana and some 0% fat Greek yoghurt. Talk about having your cake and eating it.
10. I Can't Believe It's Not Caramel
Last up, a healthier alternative to caramel sauce, with no sugar or cream anywhere in sight. This sauce, again whizzed up in the blender, is made from a combination of dates, coconut oil and some maple syrup. Okay, it's not exactly like caramel, but for anyone trying to cut back and still wanting a sweet, buttery tasting sauce to drizzle, you really must give this a try.
There we have 10 healthier treats to inspire your new eating regime. No need to cut out everything sweet with these tasty ideas. Remember however, dried fruits do contain a lot of sugars, albeit it naturally occurring, so moderation is always the key.
Most of these recipes were made in the Optimum 9400 blender from Froothie which can pulverise anything and make light work of sticky substances such as some of the recipes above. I really recommend this one, compared to others on the market which are not nearly as powerful.
Some more healthy treats coming soon...
Disclosure Statement: I received the Optimum 9400 blender free to review. Any opinions expressed are my own.
