No-bake, Healthy Treats and Satisfying your Sweet Tooth
Back in the day, Paleo meant no sweets, treats or concoctions.
It took a lot of creativity and kitchen savvy to doctor a recipe that may have contained flour, white sugar and butter and turn it into a special something to serve a friend or family member that had Celiac Disease or Autism, or who was following some crazy, ‘new’ diet called Paleo.
In those days, nearly no one had heard about the Paleo diet and it seemed a radical way to approach eating by eschewing all grains, beans and dairy.
The idea of being able to pop into a Whole Foods and pick up some Paleo ‘granola’ made, of course, with bacon, or protein powder or even baked goods was nothing more than a brief foray into Fantasy Land at best!
Fast-forward to today and we actually can procure all of the above, but at what cost?
Keeping things in context, having a piece of raw, dark chocolate now and again, or baking a flourless torte for a birthday makes sense.
Consuming processed foods labeled Paleo day in and day out? Not so much.
By changing the angle of how you’re thinking about never having a dessert again or how to address a sweet tooth from caving (oh, dear…pun intended!) into sweets and treats that despite being made from honey, dates and almonds are still very high in sugar to looking a bit deeper both for cause and remedy, you can reap significantly more benefits from a real Paleo diet.
As far as the sweet tooth component it concerned, rather than finding a Paleoista food to eat at that dangerous 3pm hour when you’re about to crash at the office, how about not letting your blood sugar drop that low in the first place?
How?
Easy peasy:
- Wake up and workout
- Eat food when you’re hungry: ample fat with some fresh leafy greens and your favorite protein
- Drink enough water (how much? You’ll know if you’re hydrated based on the colour of your urine)
- Repeat steps two and three again as directed by your body
And now, how to conquer those special occasions?
No need to focus on revamping recipes that happen to direct you to bake Paleo goods when you can rely on simple, time-saving options that are fresh, delicious and far healthier for you than an almond flour crusted, agave-laden pie.
What about the simple decadence of fruit?
If you choose what’s in season where you live, fruit that’s been picked when it was ready to be picked and eaten right away, there’s simply no comparison.
And now, during the height of the summer, the options are tremendous!
How about a rich, juicy Georgia Peach? Or an organic Florida navel orange? Freshly picked blackberries from the Pacific Northwest perhaps?
Oh, the possibilities!
If you’re thinking a piece of fruit on its own is too boring, try some of the following tip for an extremely minimal route to a great end:
- Freeze it. Have you tried a frozen grape?
- Spice it up. Slice a mango and sprinkle on a dash of cayenne and a twist of lime.
- Blend it. Throw some blueberries you’ve frozen into your Vitamix and whiz to combine, adding some chilled herbal ginger tea and create a Blueberry Ginger Granita.
Want something a little more? Check out my recipe for Frozen Banana Coconut Purée!
As cliché as it may sound, fruit truly is nature’s dessert!
