low calorie dessert recipes

Fit Links: Top Health Habits For Bikini Season and How to Train Like an Olympian

June 22, 2012 at 1:26 pm
By Karla Walsh

This week’s fit links from around the web:

• Donning a swimsuit will be no sweat with these tips from Dr. Oz! — iVillage
• Go for gold! We can’t all compete at the Olympics, but we can train like we are on the team with exercises from some of the best U.S. athletes. — Refinery 29
• You know we love Bob Harper, so it was extra-fun to get to live vicariously through this blogger who hit the gym with him! — Fit Bottomed Girls
• Where’s the beef? Your barbecue guests won’t feel deprived one bit with these DIY meat-free burgers. — Iowa Girl Eats
• Match the weather to your (work and workout) wardrobe with the relaunched iPhone app, Cloth. Index your closet, then it automatically provides suggestions based on predicted temps. — N.Y. Times
• Cheesecake for 87 calories?! This is one treat too sweet to pass up. — Snack Girl

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Cool Off With 4 DIY Desserts For Hot Summer Days

June 14, 2012 at 12:06 pm
By Karla Walsh

When the weather warms up, our tastes naturally veer toward lighter, oven-free fare. Whole Foods Market’s Health Starts Here program has dozens of low-calorie, refreshing ideas to help you fit in your fruit and vegetable servings all summer long. Here are four of our favorites, all of which will please a crowd!

Double Grape Slushies

Serves 4

• 1/2 cup concord grape juice
• 1 cup seedless red or green grapes
• 1 cup honeydew melon chunks
• 2 cups ice cubes

1. Pour juice into a blender. Drop in fruit and ice.
2. Put the lid on and blend until smooth.

Nutrition information per serving: 60 calories, 0 g fat

Banana Nice Cream

• 2 bananas, sliced and frozen
• 1 cup unsweetened soymilk
• 2 tablespoons smooth almond butter or peanut butter

1. Put bananas, soymilk and nut butter into a blender.
2. Puree, turning off the motor and stirring the mixture two or three times, until smooth and creamy.
3. Pour into two bowls and serve.

Nutrition information per serving: 280 calories, 13 g fat

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Fit Links: Light, Sweet Summer Desserts and How to Cut Thousands of Calories While Dining Out

May 25, 2012 at 2:57 pm
By Karla Walsh

This week’s fit links from around the web:

• Pies, popsicles, pina coladas and more! Sweeten up the season with these light desserts. — Skinny Taste
• Save up to 1,180 calories by making just one of these 24 smart swaps while dining out. — Family Circle
• Roll with it! Here are six ways to loosen up with your foam roller, then find more ideas on page 54 of our June issue. — Fitnessista
• Say cheers to Memorial Day and the start of summer with this refreshing red, white and blue sangria. — Diets in Review
• Prefer walking to running? No sweat. You can still burn major calories with this incline routine. — Peanut Butter Fingers
• Whether you think racing is a sport or not, here’s a highlight of the women in this weekend’s Indy 500. — OC Register

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Sweet! 3 Low-Cal Sundaes For Summer

May 17, 2012 at 10:45 am
By Karla Walsh

Cool news: The Soft Serve Fruit Co., home to healthy, wholesome frozen yogurt-like concoctions made from real fruit, water and a bit of organic cane sugar, can now be shipped straight to your doorstep. Inspired to try a similar treat? Here are three sundae recipes from the company, which you can create with your own favorite base. (Hint: Blend up a frozen banana or some frozen strawberries with a little milk for homemade soft serve!)

(Photos courtesy of The Soft Serve Fruit Co.)

Crunchy Salty

• Banana Soft Serve Fruit
• Sliced banana
• Pretzels
• Peanut butter
• Chocolate chips

Banana Split

• Strawberry Soft Serve Fruit
• Diced banana
• Diced strawberries
• Diced pineapple
• Walnuts
• Hot chocolate sauce
• Maple syrup

Breakfast Berry

• Strawberry Soft Serve Fruit
• Raisins
• Granola
• Whole O’s (or Cheerios)
• Strawberries
• Blueberries

Now tell us: What’s your favorite warm weather dessert?

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Fit Links: Skinny Cinco de Mayo Treats and Finding the Perfect Sports Bra

May 4, 2012 at 3:31 pm
By Karla Walsh

This week’s fit links from around the web:

• We love the name title “Shrinko de Mayo” almost as much as we love the dishes and drinks that received a nutritional makeover for the holiday! — Iowa Girl Eats
• The search for the elusive bounce-free sports bra ends here. — Vital Juice
• What does a CrossFit workout really look like? See one Bob Harper loves here. — Carrots ‘N’ Cake
• Try just one of these 20 simple calorie-cutting tricks each day to lose two pounds in one month! — iVillage
• Shh…the ingredient that makes these desserts so moist is our little secret. — Fit Sugar
• Time for a girls night—for your health! Having a lonely heart can actually damage your ticker. —Yahoo! Shine

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Waistline-Approved Super Bowl Recipes

February 2, 2012 at 11:03 am
By Colleen Moody

Whether you’re watching for the game, the halftime show, or just want to stare at some buns in tight spandex for four hours, the Super Bowl is one of the biggest chow down sporting events of the year. To help you nosh at the festivities, we snagged some low-cal, football friendly food for you to make this year from cookbook author Dana Jacobi. Eat up!

Teriyaki Chicken Wings with Hot Mango Dipping Sauce

16 chicken wings, about 3 1/4 pounds

For sauce

• 1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/3 cup Stevia In The Raw Baker’s Bag
• 2 tablespoons defrosted orange juice concentrate
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced lengthwise
• 3/4-inch fresh ginger, in 3 slices

1. In small saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients. Boil sauce over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Cool sauce to room temperature. If desired, remove garlic and ginger, transfer to tightly covered container and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a 15 x 11-inch or larger baking pan with foil. Coat two 10 x 10-inch wire racks with cooking spray and set in the pan, overlapping them.

3. Cut off first joint of chicken wings and discard. Arrange wings in prepared baking pan in one layer, smooth side up. Bake for 10 minutes.

4. Brush wings on both sides with sauce and bake smooth side up for 5 minutes. Brush with sauce again and bake with underside up for 5 minutes. Brush wings a third time and bake smooth side up for 5 minutes. Brush wings again and bake underside up for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 400° F. Brush tops of wings with sauce and bake, topside up, for 10 minutes.

5. Arrange wings on serving plate and discard any remaining sauce. Serve with Hot Mango Dipping Sauce (recipe on next page).

Read on to get the recipe for the dipping sauce and a healthy Super Bowl dessert recipe!

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