Easy and Healthy Chocolate-Peanut Butter Dip

I have seen recipes for this dip circulating around Pinterest for some time...but when I saw the original recipe for this dip on Nicole's blog, I knew it was something I wanted to make.  While her recipe was for a Peanut Butter Dip... I thought how easy would it be to turn it into a Chocolate Peanut Butter Dip with the addition of a few ingredients.

I wasn't disappointed by the changes I made.  Both the original version and this variation are delicious though.  Especially good with some cut up fruit of the fall season...apples, pears, and bananas.



With only 4 ingredients, it couldn't be easier to throw together and did I mention it's healthy too? 

Easy and Healthy Chocolate-Peanut Butter Dip

adapted from PreventionRD

Printable Recipe

Servings - approx. 5   Serving Size - approx. 1/4 cup   Points Plus per Serving - 5 Points+

Calories - 163.5,   Total Fat - 9g,   Carb. - 14.9g,   Fiber - 1.7g,   Protein - 9g

1 cup nonfat, vanilla, Greek yogurt ( I used Chobani)

1/3 cup smooth, natural peanut butter ( I used Skippy)

2 TBS. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 - 2 TBS honey

Combine all ingredients.  Enjoy with fruit dippers of your choice. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. 

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I was amazed at the texture the yogurt and the peanut butter made when it was mixed.  Honestly, it was like a nice thick frosting.  Nothing bad about that!  It was a nice change from eating fruit plain. You might even be tempted to eat this with a spoon, it's that good.  

Sometimes the simplest recipes make the most outstanding dishes!  

Raspberry-Nectarine Crisp

Yum.

Double yum with a scoop of low fat vanilla bean ice cream.

This dessert was proclaimed as one of the best things I have ever made by my son.

While I don't know if that is really true...this dessert really is delicious.  Nectarines are still available and abundant.  The ones I used were juicy and sweet and just perfect in this dish.  The addition of raspberries made a really nice flavor combo, as raspberries can sometimes be a bit tart.  A perfect match for the sweet nectarines.

You could really substitute any fruit combo you like here.  Imagine the possibilities!   

Raspberry-Nectarine Crisp

loosely adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Printable Recipe

Servings - 8   Serving Size - 1/8th of recipe    Points Plus per serving - 7 Points+

Calories - 248.3,   Total Fat - 6.9g,   Carb. - 51.2g,   Protein - 3.7g,   Fiber - 3.6g

6 ripe nectarines, pitted and thinly sliced ( do not peel )

1/2 cup raspberries

1/2 cup + 2 TBS brown sugar, packed ( divided )

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 TBS cornstarch

pinch of kosher salt

1 cup old fashioned oats

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 8 inch square baking dish or 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray.  

2.  In large bowl, combine nectarine slices, 2 TBS brown sugar, lemon juice, pinch of salt and cornstarch.  Toss in raspberries and stir gently to combine.  

3.  Pour fruit into even layer into prepared baking dish.  In same bowl you mixed fruit ( it's ok if some of the juice is clinging to the sides), combine oats,  flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar.  Pour in the melted butter and mix until crumbly.  Spread oat mixture evenly over the top of the fruit.  

4.  Bake in 350 degree F oven for approx. 40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly and top looks crisp.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes before enjoying warm.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.  

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This dessert is a little higher in the points, but well worth the splurge.  Like I mentioned above, the raspberry ( tart ) with the nectarines ( sweet ) was an excellent combo.  It really was born out of what I had on hand.  Sometimes the best combinations can be found this way...don't ya think?  Have you ever discovered a great flavor combo because you needed to substitute an ingredient in your dish because of what you had available to you?  

Other fall fruit desserts that might interest you:

Crockpot Gingered Apple/Pear Sauce

Skillet Apple Walnut Galette

Warm Pear Cobbler

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken

My only regret in making this dish is I wish I would have taken more time to get a really nice shot of this delicious chicken! These boneless, skinless chicken breasts are marinated in a tequila-lime-orange-cilantro mix, grilled to perfection then topped with melted low-fat Mexican blend cheese and freshly made pico de gallo and they were a hit the other night for dinner.

The marinate was a combination of Pioneer Woman's blend and Ina Garten's blend.  I LOVED the added sweetness of the orange juice! I used my Magic Bullet to make the marinade quickly and easily with little clean up.  The bright green color is from cilantro.   If you aren't a fan of cilantro, you can leave it out...but ME....I LOVE the stuff! 

The directions for both recipes I used say you can marinade over night.  I mixed the marinade in the early afternoon, and then grilled that evening.  I really don't think I would marinade over night.  There is quite a bit of acid from the orange and lime juices, and I could already see the chicken had actually begun to cook.  ( Chicken ceviche anyone?, um....no thanks! )  Marinating for about 6 hours was sufficient to impart the chicken with plenty of flavor. 

For the pico, I just used my mini chopper to make quick work of it.  It was a simple meal to put on the table for the weeknight, with a little time planning for the marinade. 

Try it while we still have a few weeks left to enjoy foods cooked outdoor on the grill!

Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken

adapted from Pioneer Woman and Ina Garten

Printable Recipe

Servings - 6   Serving size - 1- 4 oz. chicken breast w/cheese and 2 TBS Pico   Points Plus -  5 Points+*

Calories - 202.5,   Total Fat - 6.8g,   Carb. - 5.9g,   Protein - 30.9g,   Fiber - 1.6g
*(I did not account for any of the nutritional info for the marinade, as I ended up with just about the same amount I started with after it marinaded)

For the Marinade:
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup orange juice
5 cloves of garlic
1 whole jalapeno, seeds and veins removed for less heat
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup tequila
1/4 cup oil ( canola, olive, rice bran)
small handful of cilantro ( optional)

For the Pico de Gallo:
3 ripe, plum tomatoes (they have less juice than other varieties), small diced
1 small onion, small diced
1 small jalapeno, veins and seeds removed, small diced
1 clove garlic, minced ( I use my microplane)
small handful of cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
salt, to taste

6 - 4oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thin cut)
1 1/2 cups shredded Reduced Fat Mexican Blend Cheese


1.  To make marinade:  Combine all marinade ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  ( I used my handy magic bullet).  Place chicken breasts in a zipper plastic bag and pour marinade over chicken, coating all pieces.  Place in refrigerator and allow to marinade for at least 4 hours up to 6 hours. 

2.  While chicken is marinating, make the pico de gallo.  Mix all ingredients. I used my mini chopper to make quick work of it.  Place in fridge and allow flavors to meld.

3.  When chicken is done marinading, heat grill to med-hot.  Remove chicken from marinade and discard leftover marinade.  Grill chicken until done.  Place grilled chicken on flat sheet pan and top each piece with 1/4 cup reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese.  Place under broiler for a few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Top the cheese with 2 TBS Pico de gallo. 

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As I said, this was delicious.  My hubby wasn't thrilled with it, but then again, he isn't a huge fan of cilantro.  The marinade really does give the chicken so much flavor and makes it very tender.  I will definitely be making this again ( maybe I will leave the cilantro out of the marinade to please my husband next time.)  We'll see.  Youngest son and I adore the stuff, so he is outnumbered.  lol 

I found myself with a miserable cold/sinus thing going on yesterday...still here today.  At first I thought it might be allergies ( mine have been awful this September) but no, it's more than that.  It's a crappy time to feel crappy, as the weather has just been spectacular the last few days.  From your comments on my last post, I see fall is many people's favorite time of year!  

I have started to organize some of my recipe categories on PINTEREST for those of you who use it.  I hope to finish them all up within the month.  It really is kind of a nice place to go to see pictures of all the recipes in one spot.  I will probably add a Pinterest Index tab at the top when I am done.  Right now it is kind of a mess of all sorts of different things as I wasn't sure what direction I was going to go when I joined a while back...but I have seen other bloggers use it as an index and I like it.    Do you use pinterest?

Crockpot Gingered Apple/Pear Sauce

Yup, fall has appeared here in NE Ohio this week.  Cooler temps, falling leaves, and APPLES!  I have said before, summer is really my favorite season, but I will concede, there are some great things about fall too!

Like apples.

I get really excited when the local apples start showing up at the grocery stores.

One of my very favorite things to make with fresh apples is Crockpot Chunky Gingered Applesauce.  It's incredibly easy and super delicious....and VERY diet friendly.  This version is a bit of a variation on that recipe.  The addition of pears to the sauce gives it amazing flavor and texture.  I used Ginger Gold apples and Bartlett pears for this sauce.  We all loved it!  But feel free to substitute any variety of apple/pear you prefer.

The ratio of apples to pears I used was 8 apples to 4 pears.  It produced a nice thick, chunky sauce which is delicious eaten warm or cold, alone or as a side dish to pork or chicken, or one of my favorite ways to enjoy it, over some Greek yogurt.  In the original recipe, I used apple cider, but this time I elected to not add any and it worked out fine. I did, however, add the juice of half a lemon.  This was not an ingredient in the original recipe.  I also didn't have any fresh ginger on hand, so I used what I had in my spice cabinet.  This also worked out fine.  But you could use fresh grated ginger if you prefer. 

Make this delicious treat today!  Or as soon as you can!  You won't be sorry....nope, you'll be happy you did! 

Crockpot Gingered Apple/Pear Sauce

Printable Recipe

Servings - approx. 16 ( about a quart of sauce)   Serving Size - 1/2 cup   Points Plus per Serving - 2 Points+ or 0 Point+*

Calories - 71.7,   Total Fat - 0.3g,   Carb. - 19.1g,   Protein - 0.3g,   Fiber - 2.9g

( *this is a recipe that falls into the gray area of computing points plus values for.  If you input the info into recipe builder and assume each serving is approx. 1/2 cup each with a total of approx. 16 servings, you get a point+ value of 2, whether you use the sugar or not.  So it is up to you whether you decide to count this as 2 points+ or zero point+. )

8 medium sized (2 3/4" dia) fresh apples, peeled, cored and diced 

4 medium sized (approx. 2 1/2 per pound) fresh pears, peeled, cored and diced 

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 - 2 TBSP brown sugar

Juice of half a lemon

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1.  Combine all ingredients in a slowcooker and stir to combine.  Cook on LOW for 6 - 8 hrs or on HIGH for 4 - 5 hours or until the apples and pears are soft and break apart when stirred.  You can mash up the fruit with a potato masher or a fork or wooden spoon to your desired chunkiness.  

2.  Serve warm or cold.  Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator.   

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Even I had to admit, yesterday was a spectacular fall day here.  The sun was shining bright and the air was cool.  If every fall day could be like yesterday, I might be won over!  lol  There really is nothing like apples and pumpkins and pears to get you into the spirit of fall.  

I have made the original version of this sauce dozens of times after discovering it.  It is absolutely delicious.  The ginger gives it just a bit of heat...so good.  I think I might even like this new version even better though.  Such a great texture and flavor with the two fruit combo.  And really?  Can it get much healthier than this?  

Now that I am seeing some benefits to this season....like cooler days for walking in the woods, vibrant colors and the tastes of fall...I'd like to know what are your favorite things about fall?