After a long day of gardening and yard work during the sweltering summer days Faiza Khan and her husband Abdul Wasif of Woodale, IL, often find themselves hot, tired, and hungry. They typically crave something cold and sweet, and ice-cream usually does the trick.

“The first thing I used to reach for was the ice-cream tub in the freezer. I knew that it wasn’t the healthiest of options; however, it was something that was cold, tasty, and most of all ready for me to enjoy,” said Faiza.

That was then. Today, Faiza and Wasif have swapped high fat, high sugar and highly processed ice-cream for healthy desserts — an increasingly common trend across health conscious Middle America. Realizing that their eating habits were impacting their two year old daughter, Amaana, they saw room for re-evaluation.

“We knew that we needed to set a positive example for her and that more importantly, eating healthy is a major part of the Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet Muhammad)). I always remember the story of how the Prophet (PBUH) was requested to tell a child to cut back on eating too much sugar; however, before he went to preach that he first reduced how much sugar he himself consumed,” said Faiza.

Now that Faiza and Wasif had their mindset on living a healthier lifestyle, all they needed to do was find the means of doing it. They looked for healthy ice-creams in the grocery store aisle only to discover them with too many empty calories (high-caloric foods with little nutrients). So the couple decided to do some research on the internet which led them to the website Teaspoon of Spice, a blog containing many healthy dessert recipes created by a group of nutritionists.

One particular recipe that caught the eye of Faiza was that of the Avocado Lime Popsicles. These cool tasty treats are made with real avocados and just a few other pantry ingredients. “They have a tangy sweet flavor and they are easy to grab out of the freezer on any hot summer day and best of all, Amaana also loves them too.”

Before making this dessert swap, Faiza wanted to speak to a food and nutrition expert to get some advice on how to make the transition seamless for her family. She spoke with Plainfield, IL based registered dietitian; Nausheen Karim on whether consuming the popsicles was a better choice than the grocery store bought ice-cream. Dietitian Karim explained that the popsicles are definitely a health-conscious choice. She said that “these popsicles are made from avocados which contain significant amounts of MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids). MUFAs helps to build up the good cholesterol-HDL (high density lipoprotein) which in turn helps fight the bad cholesterol triglycerides. Having lower amounts of triglycerides means less fat in the blood stream all eventually leading to good heart-health.” Dietitian Karim continued to stress the importance of introducing new foods such as healthy desserts slowly rather than making sweeping changes. She stated “stick to using ingredients that your family is already familiar with. This will allow them to be open-minded about trying new foods.”

Now Faiza feels confident that what her family consumes is not only yummy but also healthy and easy to make. She usually prepares the popsicle-batter at night and puts it into the freezer to let it set after pouring it into the individual molds. By mid-morning the next day they are ready for them to enjoy.

 

3 Options for Satisfying your Sweet-Tooth

Good

If choosing a packaged dessert, select one in which the first ingredient listed on the panel is not sugar or high-fructose corn-syrup.

 

Better

If you need something a bit more sugary then try minimally preparing a fruit dessert. Use a couple of fresh cut apples. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of honey and a pinch of cinnamon over it. Bake for about 20 minutes for an easy apple-pie filling taste!

 

Best

Fulfill your sweet-tooth naturally by picking up a sweet fruit. We don’t often realize that God has created desserts for us that really don’t need to be altered. A date and fig are both sweet and satisfying. Plus they provide nutrients!
 

Avocado Lime Popsicles