Two Ways to a Healthy Cheesecake

Sometimes I get carried away with my love of dessert.  Running and biking can only undo so much decadence and I have to rein it in.  But I still want dessert - bad - so what do I do?  Well, first, I debate running a mile or so to undo the dessert I want, but more than often, I just think up something that fits the bill and doesn't require more exercise!

The night I made this up was just that kind of night.  I wanted cheesecake so badly and maybe even would have succumbed to the real deal if I'd had cream cheese in the house.  One plus of organic, whole food living is that there are fewer "bad" foods laying around, although whether or not that is a plus can be a point of contention at times.

Anyway, I wanted cheesecake.  But not the calories, fat or unhealthiness of it.  So, what's a girl to do?  On my third or so look into the fridge, I noticed the container of Fat free Greek Yogurt.  Hmm...this could work.  Couldn't it?  I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it.  You'll be glad I did - I know I was.

Delicious looking, isn't it???  I had originally decided on making mini fillo shells filled with cheesecake, but had a bit left over.  I didn't want to make a traditional crust, so decided that some leftover Mexican hot chocolate flavor from a local vendor, Nuts About Granola, would make a great crust!  Because it had chocolate chips in it, I opted to just put the granola on the bottom of a mini souffle container and not use any binder.  Great choice because the moistness of the cheesecake mix coupled with the chocolate chips made a great crust!

But, since the title of the post is Two Ways...here's the real star of the show...

These little cuties were the best treat!!  So few calories but tasted like they were the real thing.  How do I know?  The boy popped 3 in his mouth in the span of about 2 minutes and then he spied the granola bottom ones and was headed there in a hurry too.  And he's quite the critic of my "healthy" recipes.  Speaking of recipes...this is the best part.  4 ingredients plus whatever you're putting it on top of (or in)!!

Yogurt "Cheese"cake

Ingredients

• 1 16 oz cup greek yogurt, I used plain but vanilla would work too


• 1/2 c sugar


• 1/2 t vanilla


• 3 eggs

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350


2. Mix all ingredients until smooth


3. If you're using fillo shells, you'll need 5 boxes to fit all of the mix.  It should take about 20 minutes to cook through and set


4. If making a crust, follow a recipe for a graham crust, or think of something out of the box like my granola.  I'd love to hear what you come up with!!