Skinny Girl Danish

This is one of my favorite mid-morning snacks! It's super easy to make and a great combo of protein and carbs, plus the perfect bit of sweet. 

1 unsalted brown rice cake

2 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce (mixed berry-apple in the photo)

1 heaping tablespoon low-fat cottage cheese

Cinnamon to taste 

Not much to it-add the applesauce and cottage cheese to the rice cake then sprinkle cinnamon on top! One of my friends swore off sweets and after trying this, called me raving about her "skinny girl danish"-hence how it got its name. 

Dairy (ie: cottage cheese) and meat products: In my opinion, added hormones and GMOs (genetically modified organisms) should not be consumed so I always try to buy "free-range" or organic. You want to make sure what you're putting into your body is the best thing for your body and in its purest form, but of course within reason for your lifestyle. A lot of my friends cannot afford to buy all organic (nor can I all the time-though I tend to put food quality before buying clothes, shoes or anything extra, we all splurge on different things!); I always tell friends to start with limiting conventional meat and dairy first (including eggs). 

Conventional (nonorganic) meat and poultry are fed conventional food, most often grains and GMO soy to fatten animals up (bigger animals equals more of them to sell). Just like humans, animals store fat and in this case, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers found in the grains are stored as toxins in that fat. In confined areas without much room to roam (and a greater chance for sickness to spread), conventionally raised animals and poultry do not get much exercise and we all know how important exercise is for optimal health! In attempt to keep animals healthy, antibiotics and other drugs are used and in the United States, one know as "Posilac" (banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the EU and in Japan) is used to increase milk production. These drugs often cause udder infection and with that occurs pus (hate that word), the pus then gets into the milk (ewy!). Growth promoting hormones are also injected into meat cattle (natural and synthetic), many of the synthetic hormones used in the U.S. have been banned from Europe. 

Most Americans are not spending the extra money on natural/organic meats and poultry and cost can surely be a huge reason for that. Though, I try to think of shopping as voting-everytime I buy a product that lacks quality I am voting for it and telling farmers and government that I am okay with them producing foods which lack quality. Nope-I don't think so! 

Certified organic meat, poultry, dairy and eggs have been fed certified organic food, also they have not been medicated which limits a consumers toxic intake. Though, just because something is "certified organic," it doesn't mean those animals have exercised nor does it tell you exactly what they have eaten (even organic is not perfect, confusing I know!). We all learned in elementary school that cows eat grass, not grain (their digestive systems are not meant to handle it); don't stress or get confused, organic is still very important but if you see "grass-fed" that is obviously the ideal option-just take it back to what you learned in elementary school and you may surprise yourself with just how much you really know! 

Grab some tea and indulge in our 'skinny girl' no-oven needed 'danish!' xo