How daily desserts can help you stop eating sweet treats

Have you ever been on a diet and been told “you can never eat (enter your favorite dessert here) again?”  Or on the flip side, you love (enter favorite here) so much that it’s always in your house so you eat it all time? 

How do you stop eating indulgent sweet treats on the regular without swearing them off for life?  The answer lies behind “the double D."  Nope, I’m not talking bra sizes here ladies.  Rather, “daily desserts.”  Daily desserts are 100% healthy foods that satisfy dessert and sweet cravings.  Here’s a few examples...

Daily Desserts:

• Banana ice-cream
• Blueberry crisp
• Berry-chocolate banana ice-cream 
• Microwaved baked apples 

The trick is to keep your kitchen stocked with daily desserts well, daily.  Always have frozen fruit, dates, cocoa powder and maple syrup in the kitchen, this way, you’re always ensured a yummy daily dessert.

At the same time, you have to get the tempting treats out of the house and you can’t bring them into the house either.  This is worth repeating:  “Get the treats -- cakes, cookies, candy, ice-cream -- out of your kitchen.”  If you don’t, it’s only a matter of time until you eat them.  If you go to a party and are offered to bring the left-over cake home -- don’t do it.  If you do, you’ll eat it.  If you have a party and there’s dessert left-overs, have someone else take it home, bring it to work for others or, throw it away.

This doesn’t mean you can’t ever eat tempting treats ever again, but what living by “the double D” does do, is allow you to eat guilt-free desserts on a regular basis.  How can you gauge if it’s a good time to eat a tempting treat or not?  Ask yourself this question -- “Is this a special occasion outside of my house?”  (Think wedding anniversary, Christmas dinner...).  If the answer is yes, then it’s okay to eat a treat.  No guilt.    

Even vegan tempting treats should not be in the house on a regular basis.  If I kept this amazing and easy Sweet Treat Chocolate Pudding in my house all the time, my husband and I would eat a  pound of chocolate chips every week.  Although it’s made with tofu instead of dairy, it still doesn’t make the “double D” list (but if you need a sweet treat -- it’s a good one).  

Now I'd love to hear from you.  Click 'comment' below and answer...

Take Control Now Question

What are your favorite daily desserts?  How has getting treats out of your kitchen helped you eat healthier?

Sweet Treat Chocolate Pudding

Sweet Treat Chocolate Pudding                                                                                                           By: Trisha Mandes, MPHN                                                                                                                      Prep and cook time:  20 minutes                                                                                                       Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb silken tofu
• 1 c 48% cocoa chocolate chips
• 1/4 c brown rice syrup

Directions

1.  Blend tofu in a blender until smooth.

2.  Prepare a double boiler to melt the chocolate chips.  To do this, place a metal mixing bowl over top of a sauce pot that holds enough water without hitting the top of the mixing bowl.  Bring water to a simmer.

3.  Add the blended tofu, chocolate chips and brown rice syrup to the double boiler (place in warm metal mixing bowl that's on-top of the simmering sauce pot).  Constantly stir the mixture with a high heat spatula.  Be sure to constantly scrape the bottom to ensure all of the chocolate is removed and all ingredients blend evenly.  Stir until evenly melted and blended.  About 8 minutes. 

4.  Remove bowl from sauce pot.  Let sit for a few minutes to slightly cool.  Place covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours.  

5.  Enjoy as is, sprinkled with black finishing salt or as a dip for fresh fruit, or as an addition to banana ice-cream.  

What do you think?  Please click 'comment' below and let me know how you enjoy Sweet Treat Chocolate Pudding.  xoxo

How to Make Creamy Tahini Mashed Potatoes

This is one of my favorite oil-free vegan (and delicious!) culinary wonders that my husband has made yet.  We've enjoyed it as a dinner with creamy mushroom gravy and sautéed kale, served it to multiple groups in the Columbia's Cooking kitchen classroom, for Thanksgiving with 3 different types of gravy (I really love gravy) and most recently, with our family as part of our Christmas meal.  It's fairly simple and pleases all crowds.  I encourage you to try Erik's recipe, then answer the Take Control Now Question below and let us know what you think.  We'd love to hear from you!

Creamy Tahini Mashed Potatoes           

By: Erik Hoffman                                                                                                                              Serves: 4                                                                                                                                               Prep + cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 large russet potatoes (peeled and quartered)
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 large onion diced
• ⅔ c vegetable stock
• 2 T tahini
• 1 c unsweetened almond milk
• salt
• white pepper

Directions

1. Prepare your mis en place (all of the ingredients prepped and cut).  

2. Start the potatoes.

Add prepared russet potatoes to a large pot and cover with at least two inches of water.  Salt liberally (at least 2 tablespoons). Place on stove top and turn heat to high. Cook uncovered until water comes to a boil (begin step 2).

Check potatoes three minutes after the water begins to boil. You want potatoes to be tender and have a starchy, translucent look.  They should be tender enough to cut through with a spoon with very little resistance. At this point, remove from stove and strain through a colander. Return potatoes back to pot or transfer into a large mixing bowl.  Cover to keep warm and set aside.

3.  Begin potato mixture.

In a small sauce pot, cook onions and garlic in ⅓ cup vegetable stock over medium heat until tender and liquid is almost gone.  Add to the onions and garlic, ⅔ cup almond milk and the remaining the vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, turn down to a simmer and add 2 tablespoons tahini. Mix well to incorporate tahini.  Once tahini has been stirred in, add the mixture to the potato pot.

4.  Mash the taters.

Mash potatoes well with the liquid. I use a rigid spoon and mix vigorously until the potatoes become very creamy.  You can also use a potato masher or hand blender if you want.  Once the potatoes are to a consistency of your liking, add the final ⅓ cup of almond milk and stir in until you have a very smooth result.  Season your creamy tahini potatoes with salt and pepper to your liking (I prefer the spice of white pepper in my mashed potatoes over plack pepper) and enjoy.

Then answer today's Take Control Now question by clicking 'comment' below.

Take Control Now Question

What did you and your family think of Erik's recipe?  Would you do something different?  Other thoughts to share?

Trisha's Top Three Holiday Desserts

Eating dessert is more fun when it tastes delicious AND it’s nourishing to your body.  Do healthy and delicious desserts like this even exist?  But of course!  Dates are blended into a thick paste to substitute sugar, almond meal acts as an egg binder, and peanutbutter and ground nuts contribute fatty and rich tasting flavors.  And let’s not forget mother nature’s number one dessert -- fruit!  

I’ve baked over 10 plant-based desserts this season and these three top my list (even though they aren’t chocolate!).    

 Trisha’s Top Three Holiday Desserts

1.  The pretty party dessert:  Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies by OhSheGlows.com (LOVE her recipes!)

Not only are these cookies healthy, they’re beautiful and delicious.  They're my number one “take to a party” dessert.  I baked these in a Columbia’s Cooking community class and they looked even more beautiful in person.  

2.  Interesting yet yummy dessert:  Chocolate Peanut-butter Cookie Dough Bites by TexanErin.com

These cookies are good and are even better the next day, but what really attracts me to these -- chick peas.  This may not sound exciting but the neutrality of the chickpeas binds and blends the chocolate and peanut together just right to make a traditionally not-so-good cookie, oh so good.  They really taste good!  They’re also gluten and flour free for those who avoid those products.  Recipe hint:  flatten the cookies out before baking instead of rolling them into balls to avoid the cookies breaking apart once baked.  

3.  The delicious daily dessert:  Microwaved Baked Apple by FatFreeVegan.com (so many great recipes on this website!)

I love this dessert because it’s incredibly healthy, simple, easy and delicious.  It’s a wonderful “daily dessert” and it’s perfect when you’re instantly in the mood for something sweet (and beautiful) to eat at home.  I love cuddling up to this dessert, enjoying how sweetand delicious it is and knowing I’m doing a great service to my body by eating it.  Makes it taste all the better.  Prep time: 5 minutes!

Take Control Now Question

What’s your favorite oil-free vegan dessert and why?  Have a recipe to share?

Answer by clicking ‘comment’ below.  

5 Tips for Transitioning to a Plant-Based Diet

Are you interested in adopting a healthy, vegan diet but don't know where to begin?  Maybe you’ve tried the diet before but it didn’t fully “stick” and you're ready try again.  Today I’m sharing with you 5 transition tips to help you start eating plant-based tomorrow.

5 Tips for Transitioning to a Plant-Based Diet

Transition tip 1:  Know your “great rate.”  

Your “great rate” is the rate at which you’re most likely to succeed over the long-term when adopting a plant-based diet.  Is your “great rate” adopting a plant-based diet 100% tomorrow (comparable to diving into a pool) or do you need 3 weeks to research and cook new recipes before you make a full attempt (tip-toeing into a pool)?  

There’s pros and cons to both “great rates” but knowing which is best for you is key to your success.  Be realistic and know that whatever rate you choose is not just okay, it’s “great” because it’s the rate at which you’re most likely to succeed over the long-term.  

Transition tip 2:  Plan, plan, plan.

You’re more likely to succeed in adopting and maintaing a healthy, vegan diet if you plan.  I can’t stress this enough.  Set aside one hour every Sunday to plan what meals you’d like to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner the following week.  Use the cookbooks and recipe website recommendations in my free resource guide (don't have it?  Sign-up for free resources on the bottom of this page) to help you find recipes or meal inspiration.  Remember to factor in left-overs for lunches and batch cooking for freezing when planning.  

Then, write the meals you chose in your planner.  Seriously.  Next, schedule the dates and times you’ll shop for groceries (will you need to go to a specialty store for any certain ingredients?) as well as the dates and times you’ll cook.

Making a plan doesn’t mean you have to stick to it preciously (although it’s encouraged), but you’re more likely to eat better if you spend a little extra time up-front each week planning versus just winging it.  

Transition tip 3:  Drop the guilt.  

"Cheating" doesn't exist here.  Just because you have a bad food day or eat a treat outside the context of the recommendations doesn’t mean you cheated, sinned or that you “blew” the diet and it’s all over now.  Eating a healthy, plant-based diet doesn’t work that way.  Instead, the very next meal or the next day, you just start eating better again.  That’s it.  Just get back to it.  No need to feel guilty.  

Transition tip 4:  Sanitize your surroundings.

This is one of the most important tips I teach.  Keep foods to avoid and treats outside of your controllable surroundings and fill your home and office with healthy foods you can eat in unlimited amounts (don’t know what foods can be eaten in unlimited and limited amounts and which ones to avoid?  Watch Food Guidelines: what to eat, what to avoid).  If you don’t sanitize your surroundings, it’s only a matter of time until the ice-cream, chips and other foods to be avoided start calling your name and you eat them.  Don’t tempt yourself!  Instead, get rid of it, and keep your pantry and fridge filled with foods you can eat in unlimited amounts.  

Transition tip 5:  Find support and accountability.

Additional support and accountability may increase the likelihood of you succeeding.  Transition with a friend to support one another; tell your family and co-workers what you’re doing (but don’t preach) for additional accountability or, schedule a person session with myself (30 days of free email support included) for professional support and accountability.   

Now I’d love to hear from you by answering today’s question by clicking “comment” below.  

Take Control Now Question

Share a transition tip thought.  What’s your “great rate?”  What type of additional support or accountability will you choose?  Do you struggle with planning?