Healthy desserts

Not all sweet things are bad for you. Here I suggest two levels of dessert treats. The first level is actually good for you - you can eat these without any guilt at all. The second level have some reasonable nutritional value and would be okay to eat occasionally in small amounts, allowing you to join in the festivities at public and family events.

Eat any time!!

Berries and Mango
50 g of blackberries, raspberries and/or blueberries (raspberries are the prettiest!)
50g of diced fresh or thawed frozen mango

57 calories, lots of A, C, and folate, more than 10% of the RDA on average

Pumpkin custard
1 lb. can of cooked pumpkin (420g)
3 eggs
3 oz of soy, rice or oat milk
1 oz of maple syrup
15g of plain whey powder
spices and salt as directed on the pumpkin can (cinnamon, ginger, etc.)
2 T of ground flax seed

Combine all the ingredients except the flax seed and mix until smooth. Pour into 4 oz. individual custard cups. Sprinkle with the flax seed. Put filled custard cups into a large rectangular pan filled with water an inch deep (a water bath) and bake at 400 degrees for 60 minutes.

4 oz of this is 92 calories and provides 46% on average of the RDA! Lots of A, B vitamins and minerals AND it's almost zone - P/C/F is 25/45/30. This makes a great breakfast.

Strawberries and Chocolate Dip

120g of fresh strawberries (3-5 whole strawberries)
T of cocoa powder
package of Splenda or equivalent in sucralose
1 1/2 T of water

Mix cocoa, water and sucralose, stirring until it's a syrup. Dip the strawberries in the chocolate!
If this sauce is too weird for you, half an ounce of chocolate syrup is really not going to hurt you.

With regular chocolate syrup this is 92 calories and 10% of the RDA, with the homemade no-sugar version of the syrup, this is 70 calories and 14% of the RDA. This is high in C and minerals.

Eat Rarely in Small Amounts

Commercial Pumpkin Pie - Actually pretty good for you, but a little too caloric for everyday eating. A small 3 oz piece is 180 calories, 26% of the RDA, high in A, B vitamins and minerals. Too high in saturated fat to be really healthy.

Carrot Cake with Icing - Skip the icing and it will be much better. A 3 oz. piece is unfortunately 343 calories, and 17% of the RDA. Outside of pumpkin pie, this is actually the most nutritious dessert in the USDA database. This is too high in calories to eat more than rarely.

Cheesecake - Though high in fat, the eggs and cheese in cheesecake have more nutritional value than other cookies, cakes and pies. A 3 oz piece is 266 calories and 8% of the RDA. Its 7.5 g of protein makes it a relatively high protein dessert.

Baked Apples -
Peel and cut raw apples into slices. Put them in a microwave-proof bowl. Add a tablespoon of maple syrup per apple. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and add a dash of salt. Stir. Microwave for five minutes or more until apples are soft. You may like this cooked a little less so that apples have a little bite to them. Top with 10g of chopped walnuts per apple. 5 oz has 175 calories and 6% of the RDA. This is pretty delicious and reasonably low calories, but it does not provide enough nutrition to make it a healthy dessert.