Growing up, we never had a cookie jar. Actually, I never heard of one until I was visiting my friend and saw this large jar on her counter marked “Cookies”. I was so surprised to see that they ate cookies on a daily basis. The only time we had cookies were on holidays, and even those cookies were filled with fruit!

Instead, my mom always kept a “fruit bowl”- that was our dessert. Many times she would create individual, beautiful, fruit plates for each of us to enjoy while watching a movie. Not only did it look beautiful with all of the pretty colors from the various fruits, but it tasted delicious too, and all made with love. And I am very grateful that she did.

I have also always kept a fruit bowl on my counter. When it gets low on fruit, I just restock with some more. And let’s face it, there are so many more choices in fruit than in cookies.

When it gets really hot outside and you want a refreshing drink, why not make a fruit drink in your blender? Just grab whatever fruit you enjoy, add some ice and a little bit of water and blend until smooth. If you want to be a bit creative, you can use the outer shell of a pineapple as your juice holder, add some fresh mint, a straw and voila! If you scroll up to the upper left corner, there is a photo of my fruit drink I made today.

Now, I’m not saying to ban cookies from your life, just not to eat them everyday. Cookies are packed with so much sugar and many with so many artificial ingredients that it’s no wonder our middles are starting to look more like we ate the cookies instead of Santa!

People may argue that fruit also contains a lot of sugar, but when you eat it whole, you also eat the important fiber it provides. The fiber will keep you fuller and not give you the sugar spikes. Plus, eating whole fruit increases your nutritional intake of vitamins, combats cancer and other illnesses and increases your energy level. Sorry, cookies.

So next time you are feeling a sweet tooth craving, reach for some fruit and put down that cookie. You’ll be happy that you did and so will your waistline. Enjoy!