Healthy Ways to Indulge a Chocolate Craving

Many people have a sweet tooth that creates a craving for chocolate, but while the occasional indulgence is okay, eating too much chocolate could be the end to your healthy diet. Here are a few healthy ways to eat chocolate that will keep you right on track when a craving strikes.

Chocolate Tart with Hazelnut Shortbread Crust [Eating Well]
Make this seemingly decadent dessert the next time you have friends over for dinner, and no one will even know that it’s actually healthy. With just over 250 calories per serving and six grams of protein, you’ll get the taste of chocolate without feeling weighed down.

Black Bean Brownies [Chocolate Covered Katie]
While the addition of black beans to brownies may seem strange at first, you won’t even be able to taste the protein-packed beans when they’re masked by the rich, dense chocolate flavor. These brownies are also flourless, which is great for low-carb diets.

Healthy Homemade Chocolate [Wellness Mama]
Instead of grabbing a fat- and sugar-packed candy bar from the checkout counter at the grocery store, make your own healthier version at home. This recipe includes only four ingredients, and because they’re all natural, you won’t have to worry about ingesting any chemicals and unnatural ingredients.

Enjoy These Sweet Lava Cake Recipes

With warm, gooey chocolate inside of a moist cake exterior, molten lava cake is a chocolate lover’s dream. This decadent dessert may look like a gourmet treat, but it’s actually surprisingly easy to make. Here are two sweet and simple molten lava cake recipes!

Paula Deen’s Molten Lava Cakes [Food Network]
Everything that Food Network host Paula Deen makes is delightfully sinful, and these Molten Lava Cakes are no exception. They take just 30 minutes to prepare, and the mix of bittersweet and semisweet chocolate with orange liqueur adds a unique taste that your guests and family will love.

Healthier Molten Lava Cakes for Two [Texanerin Baking]
If you want to cut calories while still maintaining the indulgent taste and texture, this Healthier Molten Lava Cake recipe from Texanerin Baking is the perfect choice. It makes just enough for two people so that you can share with a friend, but you won’t be tempted with leftovers. Plus, the dark chocolate and espresso powder add major chocolate flavor without the added sugar of milk chocolate.

These Recipes for Fresh Strawberries Are Berry Delicious

Strawberries taste delicious all on their own, so imagine how tasty they’ll be when expertly combined with other creative ingredients. If you want to make sweet and savory dishes that utilize your favorite fruit, these strawberry recipes are a great resource.

Berry “Pizza”
This dessert combines the rich, tangy taste of ricotta cheese with sweet and fragrant strawberries into individual pies. Flour tortillas create the crust, while the ricotta imitates the cheese of a more traditional pizza pie. If that’s not already enough, the small, individual sizes of these desserts are just simply adorable.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread
Make a sweet breakfast treat that the whole family will love with this recipe for Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread. The cream cheese adds a creamy texture, while the chunks of fresh strawberries create a lovely pop of pink color. The end result is dense and sweet, and it tastes perfect when paired with a steaming cup of hot coffee.

Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos with Strawberry Salsa
Fish tacos are a lunch or dinnertime favorite, but they’re only enhanced by the sweet and spicy taste of a homemade strawberry salsa. Add an avocado sour cream dipping sauce, and this dish will secure a place on your list of favorite recipes!

Any Novice Baker Can Master These Easy Shortbread Cookie Recipes

Whether you dip it into a steaming cup of tea or serve it as a treat for dessert, rich, buttery shortcake is a classic cookie that just about everyone enjoys. There are a wide variety of ways to make shortbread, and there are even more delicious toppings to bring out that creamy flavor. Here are two of the best shortbread recipes.

Ina Garten’s Shortbread Cookies [The Food Network]
Ina Garten of The Barefoot Contessa offers a traditional shortbread cookie recipe that’s anything but boring. Unsalted butter, vanilla, and sugar combine to create the signature sweet, buttery taste, while a pinch of salt helps to enrich the already delicious flavor. After the cookies are done, Garten recommends drizzling them with semisweet chocolate as a topping.

Scottish Shortbread [Allrecipes]
Prepared just like they used to make it in Scotland, this recipe uses only real, full flavor ingredients to create the beloved cookie. Real butter and brown sugar spare no expense when it comes to taste, and the recipe itself is so simple that just about anyone can make it.

Easy Ways to Sneak More Fiber Into Your Diet

Fiber helps to prevent chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, and it even aids in weight loss because it makes you feel more full after eating. If all of these things sound good to you, check out these common foods to help incorporate more fiber into your diet.

  1. Pears. One small pear packs an impressive five grams of fiber, and it’s tasty, too. Eat one whole for a handheld snack while you’re on the go, or slice one up and add it to a summery salad.
  2. Oatmeal. Your favorite healthy breakfast food is filled with soluble fiber. Eating fiber-packed oatmeal everyday can help you lose weight and lower your cholesterol.
  3. Raspberries. Seed-filled fruits, like raspberries, boast about eight grams of fiber per cup. Eat them alone or sprinkle some fresh on top of your favorite Greek yogurt.
  4. Artichokes. Although artichokes don’t seem like the likeliest source of fiber, they’re actually packed with a whopping 10 grams each. One artichoke also only contains 65 calories, so it makes a great way to lose weight and consume more fiber.
  5. Whole-wheat noodles. Instead of reaching for your usual spaghetti at the grocery store, opt for a whole-wheat pasta instead. One cup offers six grams of fiber, which is twice the amount of regular pasta.

11 Ways to Get More Fiber in Your Diet [Food Network]
Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet [Mayo Clinic]
Five Painless Ways to Get Your Fiber On [ABC News]
5 Simple Ways to Eat More Fiber [Eating Well]

Clever Uses for Mayonnaise Outside the Kitchen

You might think that you need to cut out mayonnaise in order to maintain a healthier lifestyle. While that may be true when it comes to your diet, mayonnaise has a number of creative uses in other parts of you life. Here are some of the most helpful and creative ways to use mayonnaise.

  1. Fix cracks in wood furniture. It seems unlikely, but mayonnaise is a great tool to fix cracks in your older furniture. Smear it over the crack and let it sit for a few days, and the oils will cause the wood to swell and fill in the space where the crack used to be.
  2. Condition your hair. You can splurge on the priciest hair mask at the beauty supply store, but few things work better than regular old mayonnaise. Coat your hair in mayonnaise and let it sit for a few minutes under a shower cap before thoroughly rinsing.
  3. Remove crayon stains from walls. If energetic children mark up your walls with their crayons, let mayonnaise soak on the stains for a few minutes and they’ll wipe right off.
  4. Clean tar off of your car. Smear mayonnaise on any parts of your car that are covered in tar, sap, or other sticky substances. Let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe the area with a clean cloth.

20 Uses for Mayonnaise [All You]
11 Home and Beauty Uses for Mayonnaise [Reader's Digest]
9 Surprising Non-Cooking Uses for Mayonnaise [Every Day]
10 Unexpected Home Uses for Mayonnaise [Wise Bread]

Sweet Recipes for Tres Leches Cake

If you haven’t heard of tres leches cake before, you’re in for a real treat. This traditional Latin American cake combines a simple sponge cake with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream to create a moist, delicious cake that’s unlike any other type of dessert. Here are two delicious ways to prepare a unique tres leches cake.

The Pioneer Woman’s Tres Leches Cake [The Pioneer Woman]
The Pioneer Woman’s Tres Leches Cake recipe involves a homemade sponge cake that’s already moist and delicious. She recommends drizzling the three milk mixtures all over the entire cake once it’s cool, and she even proposes the option of adding rum to give the cake an even more distinct flavor.

Tres Leches Cake [Allrecipes]
With three layers— cake itself, the filling, and the topping—this Tres Leches Cake uses a traditional recipe that makes it taste just as sweet and delicious as the original. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top to add a bit of extra spice to the rich, creamy flavor.

Deliciously Simple Uses for Fresh Watermelon

Fresh watermelon is a cool, refreshing snack, but it has a number of other uses as well. If you’re looking for unique watermelon dishes outside of the usual fruit salad, these delicious (and incredibly simple!) recipes can help.

Watermelon Agua Fresca
Traditional agua frescas are made with simple fruit juices and sweeteners, and they’re often served by vendors and restaurants all over Mexico. This one incorporates watermelon, club soda, and lime juice to give it its refreshing taste.

Watermelon Salad with Mint and Crispy Prosciutto
Opposites often attract when it comes to food, and this salad is a wonderful example. The salty taste of the prosciutto blends perfectly with the cool mint and juicy watermelon to create a summer salad that’s perfect for dinner outdoors.

Raspberry Watermelon Lemonade
This sweet lemonade is given an extra fruity flavor by adding plump, juicy raspberries and cubed watermelon. Leaving the fruit pulp in the mix gives it an extra bit of texture.

Watermelon Gazpacho
Chilled gazpacho soup is perfect on a hot day, and this one is made with watermelon, blanched almonds, and fresh garlic cloves that create a sweet and savory combination. Interestingly, plain old white bread gives the soup its thick, dense consistency.

Delicious (and Healthy!) Frittata Recipes

More elegant than your usual omelet but a bit easier to make than a quiche, the simple frittata is a delicious, versatile breakfast or brunch dish. These recipes will teach you how to make gourmet-quality frittatas right from the comfort of your own kitchen.

Green Chile Frittata
If you love the zesty flavor of the green chili pepper, this frittata recipe is perfect for your next breakfast or brunch meal. It is a rich, creamy dish with just the right amount of spiciness, and its variety of different cheeses add a bit of complexity that you won’t find in just any frittata. Because most of the ingredients are non-fat or low-fat, you’ll also save a few calories along the way.

Potato and Pepper Frittata
Add a bit more substance to your usual frittata with the soft, hearty potatoes in this recipe. Red peppers, bacon and goat cheese add a ton of lively flavor, and they even make this frittata a great part of lunch or dinner, too.

Roasted Vegetable Frittata
Full of fresh vegetables and a hearty, roasted flavor, this elegant frittata is great for days when you have a bit of extra time to spend preparing breakfast. Because it uses a dozen eggs, this dish also makes the perfect main course for serving a large group of people.

Public Domain/Photos-public-domain

Spice Up Your Diet With These DASH Recipes

Any dieter will agree that healthy foods aren’t always the most exciting. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (or DASH) eating plan aims to incorporate convenient, tasty meals into your healthy diet, using only accessible ingredients that you likely have around the house. This NIH website offers a number of DASH-friendly recipes for every day of the week.

Here are three recipes you'll find there:

Chicken Salad
Just like the summer picnic favorite, this zesty chicken salad can be spread on sandwiches or placed on a bed of lettuce. Unlike its fattening counterpart, DASH’s chicken salad recipe contains less than 200 calories.

Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce
Whether you follow a meat-free diet or not, this delicious spaghetti sauce tastes great over pastas or on other Italian dishes. It also contains only 479 mg of sodium per serving, significantly less than other sauces.

Chicken and Spanish Rice
A traditional dish with a zesty kick of flavor, this Spanish rice recipe contains much less sodium than other versions. By substituting brown rice for regular white rice and adding a variety of vitamin-rich vegetables, this fast and easy recipe can help you stay on track with healthy eating as well. 

To find the full week’s worth of DASH recipes, visit the NIH website here.

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