Dark and Delicious Hot Cocoa

1 cup of skim milk
1 heaping tablespoon Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened Cocoa
Couple shakes of cinnamon
1 pinch salt
Sweetener to taste (for this, I use Whey Low
as it tastes better in this application than stevia)

Pour a small amount of milk into a mug (about 1/8 cup). Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the cocoa, the salt, the cinnamon and the sweetener. With a fork or small whisk, whisk this mixture really well until smooth (no lumps). Slowly pour in the rest of the milk and whisk. Put back in the microwave and heat for another minute or so.

(150 calories)

Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas

Ingredients:

Ripe (but still firm, not overly ripe) bananas
Dark chocolate chips
Crushed nuts (optional)
popsicle sticks

Peel the bananas and cut them in half. Insert a popsicle stick into the end of each banana. Place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen, you may place the banana popsicles in a zip lock bag and keep them in the freezer.

Melt the dark chocolate chips in a small bowl over a small pot of boiling water. Once the chocolate is completely melted, take one of the frozen banana pops and dip into the chocolate, coating it evenly.

If desired, immediately roll the popsicle in crushed peanuts.

These pops range from 160 - 220 calories each.

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How to calculate the exact calories for your pops:

Before you insert the stick into the banana half, weigh it and calculate it's calories. Then insert the stick and write the calories of the plain banana on the stick for future reference.

When ready to dip, first put the plain (undipped) frozen banana on the scale and find out how many grams it weighs. Then dip the banana in chocolate and weigh it after dipping. The difference in grams is the weight of the chocolate. Use the nutritional info on the chocolate chip package to determine the amount of calories in the chocolate. Add the chocolate calories to the banana calories you had previously written on the stick and you have the total calories for the pop!

If rolling in peanuts as well, use the same technique. After you calculate the calories for the banana and chocolate, weigh the pop again (prior to rolling in nuts) and then roll in nuts and weigh again. The difference is the weight of the nuts. Again, use the nutritional info on the package of nuts to calculate the number of calories in the nuts, and then add that figure to the calories of the chocolate and banana.

Sassy's Veggie Pita Pizza (435 Calories)

1 round 8" pita bread (I like the Greek type)
1/4 cup jarred marinara sauce
A handful of chopped veggies (I like onions, mushrooms and peppers)
1 tbs grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 ounces grated part-skim mozzarella
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a piece of aluminum foil or a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and lay the pita bread on top. Spread the marinara evenly over the pita bread. Sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian seasoning to taste. Spread the chopped veggies evenly over the sauce and sprinkle the tablespoon of parmesan evenly over the pizza. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over top. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges of pita are golden brown.

(435 calories)

Sassy's Virtually Calorie-Free Lemon/Lime Soda (5 calories)

Seltzer
1 large lemon or 2 limes (or one of each!)
Powdered Stevia
Ice

Fill a large glass about 2/3 full with seltzer. Make sure lemon or limes are at room temperature (if they were in the refrigerator, nuke them for about 8 seconds each). Roll the lemon or limes on the countertop, pressing with your palms as you roll to soften them (they will release more juice this way). Slice into quarters and squeeze the juice into the glass of seltzer, straining the seeds in your palm.

Stir in Stevia to taste, add ice and enjoy! This entire recipe has only 5 calories!

Bean, Cheese & Shrimp Burrito (490 calories)

1 large soft flour tortilla
1/2 c black beans (canned), drained and rinsed
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, thinly sliced
chili powder
cilantro (fresh chopped is best, or you can use dried)
salt & pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 tbs salsa
2 oz pre-cooked shrimp, tails removed (optional)
1 1/2 oz. reduced fat cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Spread out a large piece of aluminum foil and spray it with non-stick spray. Lay the soft tortilla on top. Dump the beans on top of the tortilla in a pile, to one end. Sprinkle the sliced jalapeno over top of the beans. Sprinkle with chili powder, cilantro and salt & pepper (to taste). Squeeze the lime over top, sprinkling the juice evenly over the pile of beans. Spoon the salsa over top and spread evenly. Lay the shrimps evenly over the pile and sprinkle the cheddar over.

Fold the sides in and at the same time, roll the tortilla into a wrap. It will be large, so roll it tightly, trying to keep all the ingredients from falling out. Place seam-side down on baking sheet, spray the outside of the tortilla lightly with non-stick spray, and bake at 325 for 30 minutes (flip the burrito over half way through baking time to make sure the crust gets baked evenly).

Alternately, you can take this burrito with you and bake at work (that's what I do) if you have a toaster oven at work. The only difference is, when you roll the burrito, just roll the alumimum foil tightly around it and bake it rolled in the alluminum foil - same temperature 325 and flip it over half way through baking time.

(490 calories)

Sassy's Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Protein Shake (300 calories)

In a blender:

1 c skim milk
1 scoop protein powder (I like the Whey Gourmet brand, especially the chocolate peanut butter flavor)
2 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark brand)
Few sprinkles of cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 frozen ripe banana
1 ice cube

Blend and enjoy! (300 calories)