YES YES YES YAAAAAAAAS! Healthy things do come in scrumptious, decadent packages!  Now here’s where you’re gonna have to trust me.  Ok?  Look at that picture up there 👆… You know you want a bite of that… So, don’t go turning the page on me when I tell you that the main ingredient in this cookie dough is… dun dun dun . . .  

It seems like nobody has been able to escape the cold lately!  ❄️ Even us Miamians have been bundled up, donning jackets and scarves with our flips flops…  seriously though, it hit 46 degrees here! ❄️ I’ve seen pictures and videos all over Facebook and Instagram of people 🏂 snowboarding down the street, swan-diving into the snow and doing all sorts of crazy things with the snow… including eating it. 🍧  So I figured, even though right now . . .

Ok, so at some point in our childhoods, we’ve probably all been sent to school with a couple dozen made-from-a-box cupcakes to share with our classmates and celebrate our birthdays.  While I’ve always personally preferred to make my desserts from scratch, there have been times where a boxed mix has come in handy…  Like last week when a certain indecisive toddler happened to change her mind every five minutes about what kind of cake she wanted on her birthday.  By the fifth change of heart, I just gave up on making sure I had all of the ingredients for all different flavor cakes on hand.  So I went to the grocery store . . .

Hello fireworks and new beginnings, Bye bye 2015!  It is absolutely surreal to me (I’m sure it is to most of you too) that it’s 2016 already and I’m the mommy to a very-soon-to-be 3 year old… I just had a baby!  Like yesterday…  At least it feels that way.

These all-natural Rocket Pops are totally fitting while ringing in the New Year, but that’s not why we actually got to making them.  Every time Zoey and I go to my parents’ house, she likes to rummage through their Tupperware drawer in search of their ice pop molds.  She always finds them and demands that we make them “right now!”  And it’s not so easy to explain to a not even 3 year old little human that . . . 

Ok, so who doesn’t love a good donut hole, or munchkin?? And how about a fresh, hot jelly donut?? Take away the greasy fried dough and the fake sugary syrup and you’re left with these healthy, fruit-filled “dough-not” holes! 

One of the great things about toddlers is that their worlds are really small—what you don’t bring into their worlds doesn’t exist as far as their concerned.  This is one of the main reasons why I emphasize how important it is to start tailoring their eating habits from a very young age—as young as their first foods.  I've never fed my daughter store bought baby food from a jar and the one desperate attempt I made to do so failed miserably.  We were at Disney World for our first time as a family.  We went directly from Tampa, Fl. where I had just taken the Florida Bar Exam.  With so much on my mind (the bar, our first family vacation), I didn’t think to . . .

Last week I posted a recipe for my “Minnie” Zucchini Christmas trees, and since they were so much fun and it’s almost Christmas, I decided to serve up some sweetness to go with that savory treat.  I love baking and decorating cookies this time of year—I feel like it’s just good for the soul… So I thought about breaking out the flour and sugar and baking up some holiday goodies, but after some thinking, I figured . . .

We always have a lot of bananas around at our house, at all stages of ripeness.  I like to eat mine when they're still completely yellow with a little bit of green near the stem.  Zoey likes hers when they just start forming brown spots.  And we always like to have really ripe ones around for smoothies and banana nice cream.  But some always get to a certain point—that dark, mushy stage when they'll fall right off the stem when you pick them up—the point right when they're about to go from being overripe to rotten.  At that point we usually peel and freeze them.  But the other day we had . . . 

Just one more Thanksgiving-inspired dessert idea that can be made just in time for Thanksgiving (so get on it right now!)!  The last couple of days, I’ve been wanting to make some variation of pumpkin pie that was simple, cruelty-free and healthy (at least healthier than a traditional pumpkin pie).  I dabbled with some ideas and ultimately decided to stay away from a vegan version of a baked pie.  Instead I made something that was a little bit cleaner, made with simpler ingredients, that wasn’t too sweet and could double as a breakfast option and dessert.  

Okay, so I could have just made some of my Pumpkin Pie Green Smoothie Bowls and called it a day, but I wanted something that . . .

Who doesn’t dive into a warm slice of apple pie on Thanksgiving?  Sorry, if that sounds like a raunchy reference to American Pie—that was totally not my intention. 😜  But seriously, isn’t apple pie a staple at Thanksgiving?  It is at ours anyway.  This Thanksgiving will actually be my first Thanksgiving since giving up meat and dairy, so this time around I’ll be saying“no thank you” to a slice of apple pie baked into a rich, buttery crust.  So instead of coming up with an alternative baked dessert for me to enjoy on the big day, I decided to try something a little bit healthier.  Since my Carrot Cake Balls . . .

Ok, so I know I’m not the only one who has at some point marked the start of fall based on when Starbucks would release the PSL.  To be honest, I’ve never even been much of a Starbucks fan.  Sure when I was in high school I used to enjoy a frozen Frapuccino every now and then, but those poor excuses for coffee impersonators would hardly do the trick in satisfying my grown up coffee needs.  In college I started drinking my coffee black and there’s almost nothing worse to me than the taste of black Starbucks coffee on its own—I imagine gasoline mixed with mud would taste very similar.  No shade.  But because of my lifelong love for all things pumpkin and my earlier fondness of their frozen concoctions . . . 

Guava-Glazed Guava Donuts people… Need I say more?  The past couple of weeks I’ve been working on some guava recipes with the most delicious Guava Marmalade that PG Bakery so generously supplied for me.  PG Bakery is a local South Florida bakery that makes guava preserves and pastries from locally grown and handpicked Florida Guava.  Their strong commitment to quality—avoiding artificial coloring, artificial flavor and preservatives—shines through in flavor.  The deliciousness of the guava marmalade has inspired me to try it in a number of different ideas.  The other day I made some . . . 

These healthy, raw, vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free cake balls are a taste of carrot cake heaven in a bite sized portion! 

Carrot cake has always been one of my favorite desserts—a moist, fluffy, sweet, and spicy cake smothered in a rich, sweet, and slightly tangy cream cheese frosting… Not many sweets hold a candle to carrot cake in my book.  When I was a kid . . .