By Sruly Meyer for COLlive.com
There is a lot to say when it comes to eating right, and everyone has their own struggles. One of the most common struggles is to find a treat that’s healthy and you will actually want to eat. Too often we find ourselves buying packaged “diet” snacks. They are often either not actually healthy, or worse are tasteless and don’t satisfy your cravings.
When you have a good recipe that you actually like, this will make a huge impact on your overall success in healthy living.
Here are a few recipes we’ve collected for you to try. We’ve tested and tasted them all and trust us, they are delicious AND healthy. They are very easy to make.
Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookie Sticks
Melinda teaches healthy habits, while coaching clients to reach their weight loss goals! She is a popular foodie and healthy lifestyle blogger at melindastrauss.com.
“I literally threw together some of the ingredients from my tahini brownies into a bowl and thought, maybe this will work. Maybe I can make a cookie from a brownie,” Melinda writes.
“Well, it WORKED! They are gluten free, grain free, nut free, dairy free, flour free, refined sugar free no stand mixer cookies!“
Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw/pure tahini (only ingredient should be sesame seeds)
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips (plus extra for the top of the cookies)
coarse sea salt, optional topping
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the tahini, maple syrup, egg, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour into a long log on the baking sheet and use a spatula to shape the dough.
The dough will seem flat but it will puff up! If you want to bake it in a tin for thicker cookie sticks, that works too but bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and some coarse sea salt.
Slice into sticks on the baking sheet and set aside to cool.
Protein Power Balls
Rivkah is a health coach helping to guide you to balanced and healthy living. She has helped countless people re-learn their approach to food, while guiding and encouraging them to succeed. Check out her work at revivewithrivkah.com
When we spoke to Rivkah she told us “The greatest gift you can give your family is a healthy you.” This recipe is another way to keep healthy while snacking.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup almond butter
3/4 cup oats
1 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup cacao powder
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
Dash of cinnamon
Instructions:
Blend all ingredients in a food processor, shape into 1 inch round balls & store in the fridge or freezer.
The combination of almonds and hemp seeds are an excellent source of protein, omega 3’s & minerals. Oats and cacao are a great source of fiber and a nutritious, delicious snack!
Maintenance/weight-loss tip: enjoy three balls per snack. Once you form the power balls, place them in individual zip lock bags, 3 per bag in the fridge/freezer.
Take a bag out when you want a snack to avoid overeating them and to prep in advance so you have them on hand for the whole family!
No-Bake Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars
By Sruly Meyer
I guess since my name is on the byline, I can speak in the first person. I’ve been working on living a healthy life, and losing weight for a while now. I’ve had tremendous success, in a natural way. I lost 135 pounds through a detailed list of tips, hacks and committing to exercise.
One of the most important factors in any diet is to have treats you actually like, and are easy to make. Cause, we all know if it takes too long, we won’t do it. It’s a busy day.
These granola bars, which can also be made into cookie shape are a cold, delicious, creamy and sweet treat. What I like the most is, you put them all into a mixing bowl, put into a baking sheet, and stick it in the freezer! It’s no bake, which means less time, and you can make a lot at the beginning of the week.
Ingredients:
⅓ cup creamy almond butter or sub other nut butter
¼ cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup coconut sugar
1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup almond flour
⅓ cup dark chocolate chunks
Instructions:
Mix everything together, if it seems like too little, don’t worry. You can also double the recipe if you want to make more of them, or when your kids eat them all up in one day!
Sruly Meyer owns and operates a marketing firm, SMG. On the side, he enjoys cooking, baking and discussing his weight loss journey and tips on healthy living, as @SrulyCooks
Made these countless times. They are SO GOOD!!
Thank you for posting healthy uncomplicated recipes!!