Tulare County - February is the month we celebrate Love. It is also the month when heart-shaped boxes of all shapes and sizes, filled with chocolate of all sorts of flavors, are flying off the shelves in people's attempts to show affection for their special someone. The holidays are always the time of year when we health nuts find the temptation of “good” food hard to resist. We made it past the holidays and hopefully all of your jeans still fit! But now it is the Valentine's Day season and again we are faced with finding creative ways to stay healthy but yet enjoy the treats that only come around in February.
I started thinking of ways to give chocolate as a gift without giving away a ton of extra calories. It requires a little home cooking but I think that just adds more TLC to the gift. A friend of mine turned me on to “No Pudge Fudge Brownies.” They come in a white and pink box and can be found at most Save Marts and at any health food store. They are fat-free brownies made with plain yogurt. They are delicious and only 120 calories without all the fat! Any grocery store sells heart-shaped cookie cutters and it would be a cinch to make these brownies in the shape of a heart and give them away to someone you love.
Splenda has also come out with a sugar-free brown sugar! If you haven't tried it, it is fantastic! I was so excited when I found out they made sugar-free brown sugar. It works perfectly for any cakes, cookies, sauces or any other food choice that require brown sugar. I once made a broccoli salad and used plain yogurt and Splenda for the sauce. It was very good and the people I served it to were surprised when they learned it was all sugar-free and fat-free. Maybe many of you already use sugar substitutes when you cook, but for those of you who do not, you should really give it a try. If you are using Splenda, it is serving for serving. If the receipt calls for 2 cups of sugar, you simply substitute with 2 cups of Splenda.
Of course, I don't recommend getting in the habit of eating fat-free brownies on a regular basis just because they are “fat-free” and low in calories. The treats I mentioned above are just that, treats for special occasions or emergency CHEATS! Although you save yourself excess calories and sugar, your body could still spike insulin levels and have the same effect hormonally as the simple sugar would have had. Of course, if you want to stay away from chocolate altogether, a day at the spa makes a great gift for everyone, male or female.
To everyone in love and those looking for love, best wishes and I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!
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If You Have a Sweet Tooth
by Kathy Chastain, Owner, Max Muscle - Visalia