‘Tis the season for exchanging cookies! Around the holiday season cookie exchange parties have become an exciting tradition. Each person takes one cookie from another person’s cookie tray, and the idea is to walk out with a variety of delicious treats. The only downside is they aren’t usually too good for us. Cookies can be packed in calories, fat, and sugar and certainly a culprit in the holiday weight gain game.

We love a good cookie and a good cookie exchange too, so we hope you’ll share some of these healthier cookie recipes that we’ve found. Ingredients like whole grain flour, dried fruits, applesauce, fresh vegetables, and even chocolate make for some pretty splendid desserts!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our healthy chocolate cookie is not only tasty but vegan friendly, too. The recipe calls for bananas, maple syrup, and dark chocolate. There is no butter and barely any added sugar. Also, the Vegan Chocolate Cookies taste delicious with a tiny scoop of light vanilla ice cream!
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We usually hear about the crazy diets celebrities are on like the Baby Food Diet or the Master Cleanse Diet. Every now and then we’ll hear that a celebrity is actually on a healthy diet like the vegetarian or vegan diet. Many a star has stepped forward to denounce meat, fewer have denounced vegetarianism, putting two celebs in a unique hot seat.

Earlier this year, Justin Bieber tried to follow in his mentor’s footsteps (Usher) by eating an animal-free diet. When Bieber said that he would try a vegan diet, some of his devoted fans, known as “beliebers,” vowed to do the same. Well, Bieber is shocking the world today by ditching his vegan diet. According to Examiner.com, an insider said “Justin ordered a tofu steak and tempeh tacos from Real Food Daily in L.A. and was really grossed out. He made a big show of spitting out the food and making gagging noises.” Apparently friends and family of the pop star wanted him to start eating meat again because he started to become unpleasant to be around. Since Justin ditched his vegan diet, his ‘beliebers’ are following suit.

Coming a vegetarian now. I made an oath only if @justinbieber or any @onedirection member makes the food with meat yeah I’ll eat it.be jelly

— Lexi Silva (@silva_lexi) November 24, 2012

Or maybe, Bieber will make fans who are vegetarians go back to eating meat?
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By Abra Pappa for Nutritious America

There is one serious food rule in my family: if my Grandpa asks you to pass the mashed potatoes do not serve yourself on the way over to him. He called that a “mashed potato short stop” and proclaimed if you “short stopped” in the Army the penalty was a scoop of mashed potatoes in your face.

My family takes mashed potatoes very seriously, and even though my Grandpa passed years ago we still uphold his “no mashed potato short stop” rule and have a deep respect for the honorable dish at our Thanksgiving table.

I made a dedication to embark on this makeover with an equally serious devotion. You can remake a mash, but you better be sure it is delicious and worthy of its own set of beloved table rules.

As far as I’m concerned if you start a vegetable mash with extremely fresh ingredients you will end up with something delicious. It seemed only logical then to begin this makeover with a trip to my local farmers market.

Off I went without specific recipes in mind. I allowed the seasonal bounty to inspire. I came home with veggie loot to brag about and knew I was well on my way to a delicious party of mashes.

What resulted were three thanksgiving table-worthy mashes: a twist on the traditional, a Paleo mash, and a whizz-bang-boom masterpiece!
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By Abra Pappa for Nutritious America

If I had a dollar for every time Fettuccine Alfredo came up in a nutrition session with a client I would be a very wealthy woman. It seems to be the dish that is the ultimate counterpoint to healthy eating, the sin that must be confessed. That steamy bowl of rich creamy pasta is not sensible – it is evil, ridiculous, void of common sense, and completely and utterly delicious!

Unfortunately, one bowl piles in about a day’s worth of calories and fat. ONE BOWL has approximately 1200 calories and 75 grams of fat!

The original recipe for Fettuccine Alfredo was created nearly 100 years ago by a man named Alfredo di Lelio in Rome. He created the recipe to please his very pregnant wife who struggled with morning sickness. Butter, heavy cream, cheese, and pasta to the rescue!

This morning sickness cure can now be purchased jarred or frozen and is on nearly every Italian restaurant menu across the country. Fettuccine Alfredo is an indulgence that we tend to “indulge” in way too often.

Now you can have your Alfredo and eat it too. Just make it at home. The Abra Pimped way.
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By Abra Pappa for Nutritious America

Tis’ the season to consume many, many, many pumpkin spice lattes. A now ubiquitous beverage of fall, this Starbucks flavored java is loved the world over.

Last month there was a reported pumpkin spice syrup shortage at hundreds of Starbucks around the country; lovers of this beverage were outraged! It was the Pumpkin Spice LattePOCALYPYSE! Happily for the PSL fans (that’s what they affectionately call this fall beverage) the syrup was replenished and drinking resumed.

But wait! I am so sorry to burst your pumpkin bubble, but do you know really know what you are drinking? Espresso, steamed milk, and pumpkin spice syrup, yes, but what is in that pumpkin spice syrup? I for one, wanted to know. Starbucks isn’t terribly forthcoming about ingredients. Their website is extremely helpful with fat and calorie counts, but when it comes to actual ingredients one must dig deeper to come up with the truth.

I emailed them (which quite honestly, is very simple to do on their website) and asked for the ingredient breakdown. I received this:

Sugar, Condensed Nonfat Milk, Sweetened Condensed Nonfat Milk, Annatto (E160b, Colour), Natural and Artificial Flavours, Caramel Colour (E150D), Salt, Potassium Sorbate (E202, a preservative).

This list did not make a holistic nutritionist very happy. The first ingredient is sugar, then more sugar in the form of sweetened condensed milk, and numerous coloring agents and preservatives. Then the big whammy, under the guise of “natural and artificial flavors” are hidden health disastrous ingredients that legally do not have to be listed. Ingredients like Vanillin instead of Vanilla (synthetic vanillin primarily comes from wood pulp, a bi-product of the sulphite process. Yum!) are considered “natural ingredients.”

Well fear not pumpkin addicts, this is a truly simple and luscious drink to make at home. You will save calories, fat, and yucky franken-food ingredients, AND save yourself a pretty penny!

Consider the Pumpkin Spice Latte Pimped!
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