Healthy Chocolate Pudding

Just four more days till you can shower the people you love with love…hugs and kisses and all sorts of cuter-than-cute pink and red creations will be flying around on the 14th. I, for one, can’t wait. I’m not so big on the drippy overwrought romantic side of Valentine’s Day but how can you resist a homemade valentine card from a 4 year old? In our house, there will be heart-shaped pancakes with strawberries for breakfast, love notes in the lunchboxes, and an after-school treat like this one.  Sounds like the recipe for a picture-perfect Valentine’s Day to me!

Making this all natural homemade pudding is barely more difficult than making pudding from a box but the results are so much better. Besides, when is the last time you tasted warm chocolate pudding? Wow. Top this with a dollop of whipped cream and you’ll be the sweetest part of Valentine’s Day!

 

Healthy Chocolate Pudding

adapted from Oprah.com

 

serves 4

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 ounce dark chocolate, cut into small pieces

2 1/2 cups fat-free milk

Fresh raspberries for garnish

 

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan combine cornstarch, sugar, cocoa, and dark chocolate. Heat over medium heat.

2. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil.

3. Let boil for one minute, stirring constantly.

4. Remove from heat and transfer to small dessert cups. Refrigerate until firm (if you can stand the wait), top with raspberries, and serve.

 

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Don’t panic….just cook!

Several years ago, a gardening workshop I attended with some girlfriends nearly sent me to the floor of my closet with a blanket pulled over my head. The very sweet presenter spent an hour chatting merrily about planting bulbs and potting soil and the merits of various fertilizers. She showed us stunning arrangements of vibrant annuals and extolled the benefits of planting various perennials for a lush and colorful backyard. I sat there smiling and nodding and taking copious notes. I bought tools. And gardening clogs. And bulbs. And potting soil. And  I never planted a thing.

I left that workshop so completely overwhelmed by information and so intimidated by the prospect of failure that I just gave up altogether. That adorable lady who ran the workshop would be so disappointed if she knew this. She’d be sad. She’d wonder where she went wrong!

When you’re already good at something, it seems so easy. You excitedly share your passion – be it gardening or fashion or quilting or scrapbooking – with anyone who will listen. You could go on for hours sharing all sorts of inside information that any self-respecting friend of yours would be lucky to learn.

When you’re the one trying to learn, however, it’s anything but easy. You yearn for someone to tell you just what you need to know and nothing more. You wish everyone would stop throwing around complicated terms that you don’t understand and acting like it was a piece of cake. It’s not a piece of cake to you. Far from it.

This is what used to happen when I started to talk to someone about cooking. People nodded politely. If they were a client, they took notes. They enthusiastically oohed and ahhed over suggestions I made. They said things like “That sounds delicious!” and “I can’t wait to try it!” But more often than I’d like, when they got in their car and drove home, they never turned on the stove.

Once I caught on to this, and got over my sadness and merciless self-criticism, I was bound and determined to change the outcome. I don’t want people to listen to me talk about cooking – I want them to actually cook! The research is so clear that cooking for yourself at home is one of the very best things you can do to improve your health and well-being. It’s why Nourish places such an emphasis on healthy eating out of all the healthy lifestyle habits out there for you to adopt!  Being able to turn a few simple ingredients into a nourishing meal makes it far easier to control your weight and your overall health.

So now, when I get into a conversation about cooking, especially with a novice, I try to remember that gardening class. I don’t throw around fancy cooking terms like braise  and simmer and blanch. I don’t spout off ten adaptations she could make to the simple recipe I’m sharing – I just share the recipe. I write it down. I tell her to call me if she gets confused in the middle of making it. I send her pictures or videos if I have them. Or, better yet,  I offer to cook with her.

If you’re one of the sweet followers who has read the Nourish blog for a while but who hasn’t actually gotten up the nerve to cook anything, will you reach out to me? Post a question in comments below this post or any recipe post in our archives. Drop me an email.  Send me a message via Facebook. I am here for you, and so are the hundreds of people reading this blog or in our Facebook community, many of whom are accomplished home cooks who would be delighted to demystify healthy cooking for you. We’re all here to help. So please, don’t panic….just cook!

 

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Light Buffalo Chicken Dip

With the Superbowl just two days away, you may be trying to decide what to bring to the Superbowl Party you’ll attend. That is, of course, unless you’re lucky enough to be ATTENDING the game like our friend Chris. (Cross that one off the bucket list!) For the rest of us normal folks, here’s a lightened up version of Buffalo Chicken Dip that will keep you feeling light as a feather as you cheer on your team or analyze those million-dollar-a-minute commercials airing during the game.

Personally, I like the recipe below exactly as written, but when we tested this with some friends recently they had some suggestions. And since they’re practically Buffalo Chicken Dip connoisseurs I wanted to share those with you as well. First up, this version is a little less gooey than the original recipe – if you want it to be a little more gooey you can use 1/3 cup ranch dressing (liquid) instead of the powdered dip mix and add some extra cheese before baking (listed as optional in the recipe). Second,  if you’re accustomed to bleu cheese with your buffalo chicken, you can sub 1/3 cup of bleu cheese dressing (liquid) for the ranch.  Both of these substitutions will increase the calories and fat a bit but the dish will still be far healthier than the original, and you may love it even more!

Enjoy the game…

 

Light Buffalo Chicken Dip

adapted from Nourish and Flourish blog

 

serves 8

 

Ingredients:

2 – 4 oz. chicken breasts, cooked and shredded into small pieces

1 – 6 oz. container non-fat plain Greek yogurt

4-6 oz.  low-fat cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise (omit if you use 6 oz. cream cheese)

1/4 – 1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (use to desired spiciness)

1-2 tablespoons Ranch dip mix (use organic if you can find it)

3 oz.  2% shredded sharp cheddar cheese

 

Directions:

1. Mix yogurt, cream cheese, mayonnaise (if using), hot sauce, and ranch dressing mix in a bowl until smooth. Stir in cheese and chicken.

2. Spoon mixture into an 8×8-inch baking dish or pie plate. Top with extra cheddar if desired.

3. Microwave for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through. You can also bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

4. Serve warm with celery sticks, blanched broccoli, pita chips or whatever you prefer.

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