Just in time for the weekend, we have this delicious and healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe from our sweet recipe contributor Stephanie Spring!



This recipe will be your family's new favorite meal to rise and shine to on the weekends! It is the perfect complement to your morning cup of joe.





Check out the full recipe here.

Very Berry Smoothie Bowl with Stephanie Spring

There is nothing more tempting than a yummy smoothie bowl! Our friend Stephanie whipped up this super simple, super tasty, and super healthy Very Berry Smoothie Bowl and topped it with homemade granola!


Of course, there is no better way to dig in to your healthy start to the day than with a jessicaNdesigns Eat Clean spoon! This spoon is also the best for stirring up your regular smoothie and getting those last bites from the bottom of the glass ;)

Raspberry Brownie Triffles.

How perfect are these Raspberry Brownie Triffles our friend Stephanie whipped up for Valentine's Day?! I imagine sitting down with my love, snuggling on the couch, netflix & these sweet treats! That is my kind of Valentine's date! 

How perfect do these treats pair with our stamped spoons?! Makes the dessert just a little more special when you have a custom spoon to eat it with!

Mini Maple Pecan Pies- Thanksgiving Recipe

Holy Fall y'all!!

It's finally time to bust out my boots and scarves and stand in line for a good 30 minutes for that pumpkin spiced latte I've been craving since last year (yes I know I said I hate coffee, but c'mon...exceptions must made).  And what better way to kick off this gorgeous season than with some pecan pie??

Little guilt-free pecan pies I should note.

They're quick, effortless and at only 42 calories per serving, I promise your waistline will thank you!     

I absolutely love these mini pies for the pure fact that they make great party treats and cute desserts!  If you're anything like me, when you go to parties, you probably stick to appetizers and desserts that are bite-sized and simple to eat.  Well lucky for you, these fall nicely into that category and would look amazing on any Thanksgiving table!

Hope you enjoy them!

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Servings: 15

Serving Size: 1 mini pecan pie

Calories: 42

Fat: 3 g

Carbs: 5.3 g

Fiber: 1.4 g

Protein: 2 g

Old Points: 0.8 pts

Points+: 1 pt

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Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Dashing Dish

1/4 cup egg beaters (or 1 egg)

1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup (or agave nectar)

1/4 cup Stevia baking blend

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 box mini fillo shells (15 shells)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place fillo shells on prepared baking sheet and fill evenly with chopped pecans.  In a small bowl, whisk together egg beaters, maple syrup and Stevia and pour over tarts, filling just to the top.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and enjoy! 

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

Hi! I'm Kelly! 

"I'm a 20-something foodie with a true passion for cooking and a love for photography.  My blog "Eat Yourself Skinny" started because I wanted to show that eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle could actually be fun!  I love to put a spin on classic favorites by substituting calorie-loaded ingredients with healthier alternatives that still taste delicious.   

I'm super excited to be a recipe contributor for Jessica N' Designs!"

Kiwi Pineapple & Chia Seed Smoothie.

Ok confession.

I've been afraid of spinach for a long time.

Like a looong time.

Sure I eat spinach and other greens in my salads all the time, but in something I'm going to drink??  Never.  So the fact that I even tried this should shock and amaze you.  And what is even more amazing is that I actually loved it!  You literally cannot taste any spinach or leafy green remnant in this smoothie and it tastes super sweet without adding any additional sugar or sweetener!

I was floored.

This is the perfect way to get an extra dose of vegetables into your morning breakfast without even knowing they're there.  It only takes 10 minutes out of your morning (and even less if you pre-chop everything the night before) and you get a delicious healthy drink packed with nutrients that I promise will change the way you start your day.  The combination of kiwi, pineapple, banana and orange completely mask the flavor of the spinach, while the Greek yogurt and chia seeds give this a creamy yet great texture.

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Servings: 2

Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories: 219

Fat: 5 g

Carbs: 41 g

Fiber: 8 g

Protein: 8 g

Old Points: 4 pts

Points+: 6 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

2 cups fresh baby spinach

1 cup sliced kiwi 

1 banana, cut up

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup chopped fresh pineapple

1/4 cup orange juice

2 Tbsp. chia seeds

In a blender, combine spinach, kiwi, banana, yogurt, pineapple, orange juice and chia seeds.  Cover and blend until nearly smooth, scraping sides of blender if necessary.  Divide smoothie into two glasses and top with additional berries if desired.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe 

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
It may just surprise you!

Hi! I'm Kelly! 

"I'm a 20-something foodie with a true passion for cooking and a love for photography.  My blog "Eat Yourself Skinny" started because I wanted to show that eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle could actually be fun!  I love to put a spin on classic favorites by substituting calorie-loaded ingredients with healthier alternatives that still taste delicious.   

I'm super excited to be a recipe contributor for Jessica N' Designs!"

HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS!

Recipe: Mini Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecakes!

Ok so THIS is seriously one of my favorite Fall desserts!  And with the cool weather quickly approaching and the fact that I've been dusting off my boots and scarves, I think it's about time to whip out some yummy pumpkin recipes!

Not only are these delicious, but they are guilt-free too people.

Yes you heard me correctly.

 This is actually a recipe I came up with by modifying my original skinny cheesecake recipe and then incorporated the pumpkin mixture and graham cracker crust.  Mmmm, they turned out so delicious!!  The perfect little treat to satisfy that sweet tooth without having to stress over the unnecessary calories a typical slice of cheesecake would give you.  Oh and did I mention??  This is super easy to whip up and absolutely no baking required!

Zip. Zero. Zilch.

These little desserts would make the perfect addition to any fall party or you could even use the same recipe and make a FULL sized cheesecake to bring to your Thanksgiving feast!  The possibilities are endless and I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Just try not to eat all of them at once.

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Servings: 12

Serving Size: 1 mini cheesecake

Calories: 106

Fat: 3.8 g

Carbs: 12.1 g

Fiber: 0.3 g

Protein: 2.8 g

Old Points: 2.4 pts

Points+: 3 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Gingerbread Bagels

Crust

7 graham cracker sheets
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Mixture

8 oz. Cool Whip Free
1 (8 oz) package fat-free cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar (or 6 Splenda packets)
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Pumpkin Mixture

1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. allspice

In a food processor, grind up the graham cracker sheets into fine crumbs.  {If you don’t have a food processor or blender, place the graham crackers into a bag and crush them with a rolling pan or a cup.}  Place the graham cracker crumbs into a bowl and add in the ground cinnamon and sugar.  Melt the butter and add it to the graham cracker crumbs.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and put one tablespoon of the graham cracker crumb mixture in the bottom of each liner.  Press down the crumbs with your hand.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese, vanilla extract and sugar (or Splenda) for a few minutes until fluffy.  Add the Cool Whip and whip until smooth.  To make the pumpkin mixture, combine the pumpkin puree, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and allspice.  Add 2/3 cup of the cheesecake mixture to the pumpkin mixture.  Stir with a spatula until the two batters are completely combined and there are no lumps.

Using a cookie dough scooper (or spoon), fill each cupcake liner with 1 1/2 scoop fulls of the cheesecake mixture.  Each liner should be filled almost to the top.  Now place three dots of pumpkin batter onto the cheesecake batter in the liner.  I used a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop the pumpkin batter.  Use a toothpick to swirl the two batters.

Once each cheesecake cup is swirled, placed the cupcake pans into the fridge to chill for a few hours (I chose to keep mine in overnight) until firm.  Serve and enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

 Salivating yet??

Happy Fall!!

Hi! I'm Kelly! 

"I'm a 20-something foodie with a true passion for cooking and a love for photography.  My blog "Eat Yourself Skinny" started because I wanted to show that eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle could actually be fun!  I love to put a spin on classic favorites by substituting calorie-loaded ingredients with healthier alternatives that still taste delicious.   

I'm super excited to be a recipe contributor for Jessica N' Designs!"

 

Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

Last week I introduced you to Kelly, my new recipe contributor & she is back today with another yummy treat! Seriously, her food looks so amazing...every single recipe makes me want to invite myself over to her house for dinner! See for yourself:

Hi! I'm Kelly! 

"I'm a 20-something foodie with a true passion for cooking and a love for photography.  My blog "Eat Yourself Skinny" started because I wanted to show that eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle could actually be fun!  I love to put a spin on classic favorites by substituting calorie-loaded ingredients with healthier alternatives that still taste delicious.   I'm super excited to be a recipe contributor for Jessica N' Designs!"

Do you ever have one of those days when you just want to snack? I do pretty.much.every.friggin.day a lot and so this weekend I decided to just veg out on yummy bruschetta.  I of course ate most of the bread rather than the tomato, but who are we kidding...sometimes you just need some carbs!  

I didn't get this recipe out of a cookbook or magazine, I just decided to whip together what I had on hand and what I thought would taste good. Let me just say success. Oh and that random yellow thing in the back of the picture...yeah that's supposed to be olive oil.  Hmm.

So to make this, I chopped up some fresh tomatoes I had, threw a handful (or two) of basil, added some salt and pepper, drizzled a bit of olive oil and a added a splash of balsamic vinegar.  Voila!  

The easiest bruschetta recipe you'll ever make! I love the simplicity of this and wish more delicious recipes good be this easy.  But of course where would the challenge be then??

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Servings: 16

Serving Size: 1 baguette slice 

Calories: 125

Fat: 8.7 g

Carbs: 11 g

Fiber: 1.3 g

Protein: 1.9 g

Old Points: 3 pts

Points+: 4 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

1 French baguette, cut into 16 slices

4 ripe tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup basil, chopped (or more if desired)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Dice your tomatoes and place in a bowl, mix in your chopped basil, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and set aside.  Slice your baguette into about 16 slices (or however many it yields) and place on a baking pan to bake for about 10 minutes.   
 

Feel free to drizzle a bit of olive oil on the bread before you bake it, but that will of course add extra calories.  Spoon your bruschetta mixture onto your baguette slices while your bread is warm and enjoy!

Store your excess tomato and basil mixture in an airtight container in the fridge, tastes amazing over grilled chicken! Click here for a printable version of this recipe 

Watermelon Ice Pops + Meet my New Recipe Contributor

Even though I'm longing for fall & the sweaters, scarves & boots that come with it, summer is still here.  And since this is a holiday weekend, and you might need a yummy snack to serve at your family get together, I thought today would be the perfect day to introduce you to my NEW recipe contributor Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny! 

I have drooled over Kelly's blog for a while now & we have chatted back and forth many a time (she is seriously just the sweetest!) I love eating, but I am not so keen on the cooking part. So I decided it was time to bring in an expert as a weekly recipe contributor!  

The first person on my list was Kelly, she makes the most amazing dishes, she is the sweetest person and her food photography makes me want to lick my screen. (TMI?!) 

On that note, I am SO excited Kelly decided to jump on board as my recipe contributor! So without further ado, here she is:

Hi! I'm Kelly! 

"I'm a 20-something foodie with a true passion for cooking and a love for photography.  My blog "Eat Yourself Skinny" started because I wanted to show that eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle could actually be fun!  I love to put a spin on classic favorites by substituting calorie-loaded ingredients with healthier alternatives that still taste delicious.   I'm super excited to be a recipe contributor for Jessica N' Designs!"

Ok so confession, sometimes my inner kid is screaming to come out and I decide to make things like this.

Yes summer is slowly coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean we should say goodbye to this bikini-wearing, sunshine-filled season.  And nothing is more refreshing to me on a hot summer's day than fresh cut watermelon, especially at cookouts.  It's healthy, delicious and ridiculously low in calories, so why not freeze it up and put it on a stick??  I didn't use any fancy expensive popsicle makers either, just paper cups, wooden sticks and went to town.  Your kids will absolutely love making these and you'll love eating them!

   

I used lime sherbet for the rind of the watermelon and mini chocolate chips for the "seeds".  This will probably be the easiest thing you'll make all summer and for only 2 points per pop, go ahead and indulge!  This is the perfect snack to have ready in your freezer to grab when you want something sweet, but don't want to kill yourself with calories.  Oh and feel free to go crazy and add a shot or two of vodka to make these pops really fun, I'm sure your friends will thank you.

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Servings: 12

Serving Size: 1 ice pop

Calories: 78

Fat: 1.4 g

Carbs: 16.5 g

Fiber: 0.3 g

Protein: 0.5 g

Old Points: 1.6 pts

Points+: 2 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

5 cups seedless watermelon pulp

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1 pint lime sherbet, softened

Puree watermelon and sugar in batches in your blender or food processor until smooth and strain into a medium bowl.  Cover and freeze until puree is slightly slushy, but not quite solid, about 2 to 3 hours.  Remove from freezer, stir well and add in chocolate chips.

Place twelve 5-ounce disposable cups in a shallow baking pan and spoon watermelon puree into cups, leaving about a 1/2 inch left from the rim.  Place pan in freezer for 2 hours, or until puree is solid, but not rock hard.

Allow lime sherbet to soften a bit, then spread over top of each portion of watermelon puree so that it comes up to the edge of the cup.  Smooth sherbet with the back of a spoon and cover each cup with plastic wrap.  Cut a small slit in the center of each cup and insert a popsicle stick into each pop so that it almost reaches the bottom of the cups.  Freeze overnight (or until solid) and can be frozen for up to two days.

Allow pops to sit at room temperature for about a minute, then gently pull out from the cups.  Serve and enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe 

Hungry for more? Here are a few more must try recipes: 

Lemon Curb with Mixed Berries //Caramelized peaches // Skinny beer-garitas

Do I have your mouth watering? Good! Because Kelly will be back each week to share a new, delicious recipe with us! Can you say YUM?!

In the mean time, go say Hi to Kelly on her blog, facebook or twitter! Tell her I sent ya & that you can't wait for more!