Healthy Recipes | Walnut Cauliflower Pasta

To the majority of Americans, a pasta dinner means a comforting plate full of refined spaghetti noodles,  drenched in tomato sauce and topped with processed Parmesan cheese. Simple, delicious, and inexpensive, it's the classic standby meal. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide much nutritional value, other than the lycopene in tomato sauce and the minimal fiber and vitamins found in the noodles.

Rest assured, pasta can be a nutritious meal if you only make a few adjustments to your normal recipe. Start off by making small changes to your next pasta dinner. Try adding some diced onions, peppers, mushrooms, or zucchini to your next spaghetti meal. Once you get a little more adventurous, start experimenting with new pasta dishes with a larger variety of ingredients.

The following recipe is one I highly recommend if you are looking to expand your pasta dinner repertoire.

Healthy Recipes | Dark Chocolate Orange Peels

I have a huge sweet tooth. For me to stay on track with my diet, it's important for me to have a lot of healthy, wholesome dessert options available to eat. Dark chocolate, either alone or with fruit, is one of my favorites.

Besides being incredibly delicious, it offers many health benefits including antioxidants to fight cancer and unsaturated fats to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Chocolates also stimulates endorphin production and contains serotonin which elevates mood.

The higher the cocoa content, the better the health benefit, so I recommend 75% or 85% cocoa. And don't wash down your chocolate with milk-- studies have shown that milk prevents the antioxidants present in chocolate from being absorbed properly by the stomach.

If you have a little extra time on your hands and want a super natural dark chocolate treat, try these candied orange peels. By boiling fresh orange peels in sweetened water, you can turn what is normally thrown away in the garbage into a sweet and chewy jelly, which is delicious when covered in melted dark chocolate.