Healthier Dessert Ideas?

Have you tried frozen grapes??? They are the best! I see a lot of other frozen fruit suggestions, but it's also possible to make warm fruits for the winter months. This is especially helpful if you live in a cold area. Try baked apples with cloves and cinnamon. Core out the middle and sprinkle the cinnamon inside (to taste) and then poke the whole cloves in the sides. Not too many you don't want it to overpower the delicate taste of the apples. Bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes. Warms the belly and tastes good. Also, you could try this variation on bananas foster which I love. I use cottage cheese (nonfat for us) and then use a butter flavored cooking spray to lightly sautee the sliced bananas. Pile the banana on top of the cottage cheese and then use either sugar free syrup or honey to drizzle over the top. I have other recipes if you are interested. Just sent me back an email.

Hi Robyn,
It looks like you have a lot of fruity ideas already, as that is what you asked for, but, I found no sugar added vanilla pudding at a store called Fresh & Easy. It is their brand. Don't know if you have that store in your area.

Or, what about white cake with no frosting? I eat cake everyone once in a while, but I remove the frosting because it is too sweet for me.

Or, when I make breads such as banana nut bread, I always use about half the sugar the recipe calls for. Just adjust the sugar each time you make it until you find the amount that still has a great taste.

Have fun with all your new ideas.

C.

It's not fruit, but Trader Joe's sells brownie mix called "No Pudge" and they are fat free and delicious. All you add is non fat plain or vanilla yogurt. They are so good and I don't feel so guilty.

Great job on offering fruits for dessert. We do the same. My friend told me to try frozen banana, she said it is like having an ice cream treat.

For the most part, we don't do dessert but when we do it is fresh fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, watermelon (our favorite). I use 100% fruit juice to make popsicles. Frozen grapes (cut in half if you think your kids aren't ready for these).

Make a plate of several in season fruits and just set it out, the sweeter the better in my opinion. Have you tried kiwi or mango?

Wish I had more for you but we are pretty plain over here!
M.

Time does go so fast, doesn't it!

I liked reading these replies ... what yummy stuff!
All I want to add is that at this young age you dont need to knock yourself out. It's not a dinner party. Preparation is nice and laying out various fruits you sliced can't be beat for gorgeousness and yumminess!
;-) I feel it's important that they grow up with the impression that fruits ARE good enough and yummy enough on their own and not with cream added or anything too fancy, unless its a special occasion!
That way they will more likely grow older wanting stuff the way nature intended and they will not grow into average adults that think, 'Ah well I can't be bothered making something healthy / with fruit' They will go for and enjoy the fruits every time!

how 'bout a smoothie! you might even be able to get a few veggies in there too. My girls love it! serve in a fancy cup with a straw. or extra thick (add frozen yogurt/ice) serve with a long spoon!

One of my summer favorites is to buy frozen mixed berries (with no sugar added). If you pour milk over the berries while they're still frozen, the milk will instantly freeze over the berries and coat them. Skim milk doesn't seem to work as well with this, but 1% or 2% creates a creamy cold treat. Or, as an easy parfait, layer torn up chunks of angel food cake (you can usually find sugar free versions in bakery sections of the super market), cool whip, and bite size chunks of fresh fruit.

I made crepes for dinner one night, with banana toppings. I've also served up frozen yogurt, a real favorite for my little one. Also any of the fruits can be cut up into shapes, kids love to eat foods cut into shapes. You can also make smoothies with any of the fruits you named. Kids like to help make them too, You can use yogurt or juice too. I once tried making a flourless chocolate cake, it does use semi-sweet chocolate chips. I found it too rich for my taste, but was loved by my husband and daughter. You can look up recipes on the internet, by ingredients too. I often look up on allrecipes.com and change some ingredients to fit my diet. Keep enjoying desert!

The kids and adults love my fruit jello...It tastes good..and it isn't loaded with a bunch of calories. Hey...Did I just sound like a infomercial or what? lol I usually make strawberry or rasberry jello (minus half a cup of cold water) I normally use sweet rasberrys or strawberries...I fold them into the jello,when its almost set,then I fold in a medium size container of cool whip. You stick it back in the frig for about a half hour and its ready The kids love it because its so fluffy and light, they love the fruit to .I really love it, because I don't ever feel guilty after I have a bowl. It sure beats a big fat piece of chocolate cake.: ) As a kid, I use to love, when M. would make us her banana pudding,with sliced bananas, and vanilla wafers. I haven't had that for a while. : ) Geeze I'm gettin hungry here ! lol

save your small maragarine cups, then put whatever kind of fresh fruit like grapes, peaches, mangos, etc. in and poor over grape, or white grape juice. Freeze and eat with a spoon after you slush it all up.Might have to set out for 15 min. if your freezer is set on extra cold... but this tastes great, and you can get juice with no sugar added and be almost sugar free!!! Depending on the fruit you use. Plus, it's yummy.

I used to make kids that I babysat for strawberry shortcake. Buy shortcake dessert cups (they have a lowfat variety), strawberries, and lite Cool Whip. Put the strawberries into the dessert cup, and top with Cool Whip. Yummy! (One tip: the dessert cups are usually over in the produce section of the grocery store...I think they're Hostess, but they have other varieties.) The entire dessert is not more than 200 calories, and it's lowfat!

Try some sugar/cake ice cream cones filled with fruit and a spoonful of yogurt on top and sprinkle with some granola. Fun, easy, delicious and no dishes to wash! You can substitute the yogurt with cool whip :-)

Frozen mixed berries with whipped cream are really yummy. My mother also used to make this weird dessert for us when we were kids:

One pear halve atop a leaf of lettuce, with a dollop of cream in the center and a single maraschino cherry on top.

Strawberries with crumbled granola in yogurt.

Slightly warmed sliced peaches with Quaker 100% natural granola generously sprinkled about.

Sliced apples sauted in a little butter with cinnamon or nutmeg sprinkled.

Also, try using natural forms of sugar (which process better in the body and have the enzymes intact, like evaporated cane juice, honey or even molasses) for sweetening rather than chemical sweeteners. And you wouldn't believe the extra ingredients in milk products once they become the 'light' or low-fat versions.

Our bodies recognize and know how to process natural foods, not overly processed chemicals which fool the tongue but not the cells in the body.

there are these deserts called skinny cow and they have like half the fat and half the calorie sof normal deserts and also have even been mentioned on many health shows they are also very good my kids love them and they dont really taste that much different and there not that expensive either you can also have fruit salads like stawberrys with a little suger or i dont remember what kind but there is this bread and i really good you can put fruit on top and maybe a little dollop of whip cream too