Simple, clean ingredient sweet treat.
Did you know eating cleaner doesn’t mean you have to give up all sweet treats? Our bodies have been trained to crave processed sugar. It’s like a drug; it gives a temporary high with a steep crash at the end. It’s also terrible for your overall health. Processed sugars actually feed bacteria, infections and parasites too!
I totally get the craving. There are all kinds of hidden processed sugars in our foods, even foods that aren’t considered “sweet”, so of course we crave them.
We live in such an immediate satisfaction society that we often reach for convenience rather that nutritious. We make the best choice we can with what we have, but let’s be honest, the pre-packaged stuff just isn’t great anymore.
I’ve been cleaning up our diet and lifestyle more because I finally hit a point where something had to change. Low energy, inflammation, brain fog, and overall not feeling like myself were taking over my life and something had to change. I refused to accept the narrative that I’m just getting older, or that I should be grateful that my husband doesn’t mind (yes, one Doctor told me this). I refuse to accept that this is just part of aging, being an entrepreneur and a Mom. So I’m getting back to more homemade foods with cleaner ingredients. It does take more effort and planning, but the long term affect is so much better. It’s like that saying “choose your hard”. You can choose the “harder” thing now, preparing your food with cleaner ingredients, or you can choose the harder thing later which is health conditions, inflammation, low energy, etc.
One way I’ve been trying to help the “sweet tooth” is by making homemade treats instead. This peanut butter “snickers” type bar was a great option. I LOVE peanut butter and chocolate, and then add in the date for the caramel like taste and texture was a perfect addition. These little treats are full of fiber and protein too.
I get all of my ingredients at Costco, but I’ve included links for clean options from Amazon if you don’t have a Costco membership.
Ingredients:
1 lb of Medjool Dates
1 cup of Peanut Butter
1 cup of Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
1 Tbsp grass fed butter- Kerry Gold can be found at your local grocery store, even Aldi
Instructions:
Remove the seeds from the dates and split the dates open. Lay them out onto parchment paper. Cover the top with parchment paper and flatten the dates with rolling pin, or a cup. Fill each date with a spoonful of the peanut butter. Refrigerate to let set.
Melt the sugar free chocolate chips with the tbsp of grass fed butter. Remove the peanut butter filled dates from the fridge and dip each into the chocolate to coat. Return to pan with parchment paper. Once all the dates have been chocolate covered, return to the fridge to let set.
Once set, remove from the fridge and enjoy!
*Store any leftovers in the refrigerator to keep from melting.
That’s it! Such a simple recipe. They’re so good and guilt free. If you make them, let me know what you think!