That's Fit

Cat Cora, star of the Food Network's Iron Chef America and author of Cooking From the Hip writes in Parade magazine about her love for desserts and her lack of love for what desserts do to her hips.

So that she can have the best of both worlds -- decadent desserts and happy hips -- Cora has learned to create healthy dishes that still taste like the original sin. Her secret? Substituting lighter ingredients like yogurts, light puddings, soy, or light ice creams. Less fat and calories are the end result, with taste and flavor still intact.

Check out these four delights -- Kiwi Parfait, Affogato, Baked Apples, and Clafouti -- by clicking here. Read the recipes word for word or watch video clips of Cora as she prepares each one.

Want to have your cake and eat it too? Cora says it's possible. Just follow her lead.

I just took a spin through Fitzness.com, the website belonging to my friend and fellow That's Fit blogger, Fitz. While there, touring all the hot spots, a scrolling news listing caught my eye. Today's featured news includes a notice from Fitz that she has one training vacancy available, a reminder to a check out her low-fat desserts and for those seeking quick and easy exercise tricks, a fitness tip for the day.

"Do 50 push-ups throughout the day," writes Fitz. "All at once, or ten at a time. It will tone your entire upper body!"

Simple, isn't it? If you want a fit upper body, drop and do 50. Every day. I'm game. Are you?

I definitely have a sweet tooth that I fight on an almost a daily basis, so any article that promises a healthier way to satisfy it always has my immediate attention. And this one had something I didn't really think of before: figs.

Figs have been around for centuries, and amazingly there are over 150 different kinds. They are a good source of dietary fiber, and when used in dessert recipes can be just as satisfying and decadent as more traditional sweets like chocolate and ice cream.

Want to give 'em a shot? Try this recipe for Figs with Port and Toasted Almonds. Sounds good to me!

Tis the season for baking and sweets, that's for sure. Unfortunately, typical white table sugar most commonly used in cooking, along with corn syrup usually found in store-bought sweets, is stripped of its few nutrients during the refinement process. In the quest for healthier alternatives without sacrificing flavor or the indulgent spirit of the holidays, you might want to consider some natural and slightly more nutritious sugar substitutes in a few of your baking recipes this year. Naturally milled sugar, for example, goes through a much simpler refinement process -- therefore several of the trace nutrients from the cane sugar are still present. Molasses is a byproduct of making sugar and can make for rich flavor in desserts and entrees alike. It's rich in potassium and also has calcium, iron, and magnesium. And of course there's honey, the most common and versatile sugar substitute with antibacterial and enzyme properties.

I don't know that I'll try molasses instead of sugar in my next batch of chocolate chip cookies, but the idea of a more nutritious sweet dessert inspired me to look up a new recipe to try this year. There were lots out there, but one easy looking one that caught my eye was honey brownies, I'll have to give it a try!