Easy, Healthy Summer Yum!

Whole Fruit Popsicles!

 Yes, these popsicles are 100% fruit, no added sugar, colors, water, or anything!  What a great way to use up fruit or juice before it goes bad!  If you're a fan of juicing, don't waste it, put it in some reusable popsicle trays and have it later.  As for these multi-color popsicles, they are simply a layer of pureed strawberries, cantelope, kiwi, and blueberries.  (I would have used mango instead of cantelope, but it wasn't ripe quite yet.)

Here's how I did it...  Using a food processor or blender, puree about 1/2 cup of the fruit you want on the bottom (mine, strawberries.)  Leave it a bit chunky so the top layers don't mix as easily.  I used a food processor for easier cleaning.

Use a spatula to wipe the food off the sides and into the popsicle trays.  If there's extra fruit, put it in a cup to make a smoothie later.

Puree the next fruit, and carefully pour over the bottom layer.  Continue until you have all the layers you want.

Freeze overnight (or a few hours if during the day), and whalaahh!

Use a little warm water to soak the outsides of the trays to loosen the popsicles.  Twisting also helps get them out.

I hope you enjoy!  Have a wonderful summer!

Guilt-Free Cookie Making

Or mostly. ;)  Yeah, I know, what is a personal trainer doing writing about cookies?  The way I look at it, since nobody wants to give up cookies completely, and everybody needs SOME fat, why not compromise with smaller serving sizes of home-made natural, nutrient-dense cookies instead of purchasing an over-plasticy packaged tub of over-sized, garbage-filled, nutrient-poor cookies?

Now, how we keep guilt to a minimum: make SMALL cookies.  As soon as the cookies cool, put them into several reusable bags that you can put in the freezer or give away to friends.

 The guilt comes when cookies are in plain view, and magically disappear.  So, keep them out of sight, out of mind.  Also the small freezer bags are perfect for grabbing on the go for the beach, hikes, etc.  I don't recommend cookie jars as they're also in plain view.  This cookie jar, on the other hand, plays the "Jaws" shark tune when you open it.  So at least your family can catch you red handed. ;)

Okay, I know you want to know, here's the recipe for the cookies I just made.  No flour, butter or oil! (Of course I used Natural peanut butter and dark chocolate.)  Delicious!

Planet-friendly tip: Buy buy natural peanut butter in glass jars rather than plastic.