HEALTHY, LOW-CALORIE COCONUT CREAM MERINGUE PARFAIT!

Happy New Year, Friends!…For some reason no other holiday rises as many emotions in me as the New Years Celebrations! I guess it’s because it feels like some sort of a threshold: the time when we close one “page” in our lives to move to to the next one.

And with that we leave something behind (which can be a little sad or, maybe, OK, not sad, nostalgic)… But at the same time our hearts fill up with expectations of something new, which is super-exciting and joyful! And I just love it!

And… oh yes, the resolutions! They’re a part of the tradition, aren’t they? Which resolutions are you going to make?

Well, let me tell you about mine:

1. Stress less! Yes! I think that I’ve been pretty good with my healthy eating and exercise 🙂 (Um… not bragging, but I’ve been sticking to my healthy holidays strategies and ended up actually LOOSING a pound over the holidays this year because… when I go to a party and don’t see that many healthy things, I then eat very little and drink a lot of healthy liquids to fill myself up without overfilling myself with something that I’ll regret about later. 🙂 But the stress… It’s a tough one! Being a mom of two little boys I can’t avoid all the stress completely! But… I need to stop taking everything so close to heart!
2. This one is tied to #1 because by eliminating it I may eliminate a PART of my stress (which is VERY unhealthy! Yes. The STRESS is SUPER-UNHEALTHY!) It’s my poor time-management… By trying to do too many things at once and rushing around I end up sometimes running late and feeling very bad about it. I certainly have to get better in this!
3. Well, this one’s actually tied to #1 and #2, I guess…:)  And it’s also affecting you, my dear readers… I need to start planning my posts better! Yes, I promise that I’ll be trying my best to schedule things out!

…But whatever it is that we’re planning to change or are wishing to come our way in the next year…

One thing is certain: most of us will most likely stay up late tonight… Right? 🙂With this situation in mind I decided to come up with a dessert that won’t add yet another resolution to our lists…

…Um… I’m referring to that “extra-pounds guilt”… And it’s not like it’s something to stress so much about (Because there are so many ways to get back on track…) But… why not have that “piece of cake” (umm… dessert) and eat it at the same time (without experiencing any bad physical or emotional sensations afterwards)?Uh, well… this post’s been kind of heavy on soul-searching, huh? 🙂

Anyway! Let me stop messing around with you and just tell you that I really love these beautiful, healthy, guilt-free Parfaits!

Healthy, Fat-Free, Low-Calorie Coconut Cream Meringue Parfait! (Paleo Version Included!)

• They are SO EASY to prepare! You don’t need to do any whipping, cooking or heavy mixing! Pronto! (Once again, it’s nice to get that post holiday-baking break, huh?)

•  It is super-healthy! With the meringue subbing for the usual cake pieces or candy, this dessert is essentially pure protein in its most natural form: the yogurt and the egg whites from the meringue! (And a little bit of sugar… But, don’t worry! It is NOT a load of sugar!)
•  It is low-calorie! Well, again, what can you expect from a fat-free dessert?
•  It is Super-Pretty! All white and majestically airy, with those crunchy meringue pieces and that creamy, silky mousse… Om-nom-nom! Can’t wait to dig in! 🙂 And if you pay attention to such little details as decorating the rims of your glasses with some coconut and sprinkling a few natural color nonpareils on top – this simple treat’ll look super-impressive!
  And so for that late-night… or an early afternoon, or… a healthy New Years Day (or any day) Breakfast? 🙂 this dessert is one of my all-time favorite choices!

Happy New Year, my friends! Looking forward to staying in touch with you in 2017 (And I promise, I’ll try scheduling my posts better to keep you updated more consistently!) 🙂

Wishing you all the best of Love, Joy, Peace and Healthiness! 🙂

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Healthy Coconut Meringue Parfait

Prep Time

5 mins

Total Time

5 mins

 

Healthy Low-Calorie, Fat-Free Coconut Meringue Parfait recipe! Perfect light, guilt-free treat for a late-night celebration, as a healthy snack or a protein-rich breakfast! Yummy, silky and decadent, it's also very easy to prepare!

Course: Dessert, Mousse

Cuisine: French

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Liza

Ingredients

• 2 cups fat-free greek yogurt* see the Paleo adjustments in the Notes
• 1 3.4 oz packet vanilla or coconut instant pudding mix*
• 4 meringue cookies
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 2 tbsp ground coconut I used unsweetened
• 2 tbsp white or silver nonpareils*
• 1 tsp honey or maple syrup

Instructions

1. Brush some honey or syrup around the edges of your four parfait glasses. Sprinkle some coconut flakes on a flat dish and then dip the glasses into the coconut swirling a little so that the coconut flakes stick to the syrup.
2. Put the greek yogurt and the pudding mix in a bowl and whip until thoroughly incorporated and the mousse is light and fluffy.
3. Break the meringue cookies into little, bite-size chunks.
4. Pipe about 2 oz of the mousse into each parfait glass. Top with the meringue pieces and some grated coconut. Repeat by piping more mousse into each glass distributing it equally between the four glasses. Once again top with the meringue pieces, grated coconut and, if desired (it'll make it look really festive!), with a few nonpareils.

Recipe Notes

*I used the coconut instant yogurt, but if you can't find it in the store (vanilla is far more common!), just use the vanilla pudding and add some coconut extract and some additional grated coconut to the pudding to make it super-coconutty!

*I used these all-natural nonpareils.

* For THE PALEO VERSION just substitute the regular yogurt with the coconut yogurt! It'll actually add even more coconut-ty flavor to your Parfaits!