A sweet and healthy treat to start the new year right

Wednesday, 11 January 2012 00:00

“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, its a new life and we are feelin’ fine.”

We cannot stop singing that song — Happy New Year, everyone.

With a brand new year ahead of us, people strive hard to have a good beginning, and eating healthy is always a great start.

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is finally over, and for most people so is the overindulging of just about everything. We have been testing recipes and eating everything since Nov. 1.

We have made hundreds of cookies, pounds of sugared nuts, platters of creamy chocolate fudge and several roasts. But now it is time to get serious and put that resolution of making better food choices to the test. It is time to eat healthy.

We promise to switch the usual egg sandwich at the local drive-thru for the yogurt parfait or the fruit topped oatmeal; eat lean, protein-rich salads full of veggies and fresh fruit, maybe even try some new fish recipes.

Don’t forget that the winter farm markets are still open, a bit more inland, but definitely worth the trip. Desserts, however, will be very hard for us to change. We just need a little nosh; we cannot see ourselves eating a sugar-free fudgicle. Besides, it does not dunk well in our coffee.

Instead of suffering a sugar shock, and not consume any sweets, we have a scrumptious no-bake cookie recipe that we made with crunchy peanut butter, protein powder, whole grain cereal and some great local honey. The peanut butter gives it a very satisfying consistency while the cereal adds the right amount of crunch.

We added dried cranberries, but you can add anything you like. Nuts would be great, raisins or chopped dates; you can’t ruin it. So clean up after dinner, make that pot of coffee and enjoy a little piece of healthy deliciousness.

A healthy treat

1 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy*

2/3 cup honey

1/3 cup dried cranberries or any dried fruit

2 cups Kashi 7 Whole Grain Honey Puffs**

1/2 to 3/4 cup your favorite protein powder***

1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted for drizzle

Warm the honey and the butter in microwave for one minute and blend together. Mix the rest of the ingredients with this mixture together and form into cookies, about two inches in diameter. Drizzle with melted white chocolate chips (optional). Can be put into an 8x8-inch pan. Put in fridge until hardened. Enjoy.

** Soy based or almond butter works well also

** Any puffed cereal works well or a gluten free cereal

*** We used a whole food based drink mix

Watch us on WFSB Channel 3 Better Connecticut as we show you just how easy it is to make this treat. Feel free to contact us at TwiceBakedTwins@aol, and visit our website TwiceBaked Twins.com.