Interview with Healthy Desserts Baker: Sam Al-Nahi

Q: What do you generally bake?
A: I bake everything from cakes to casseroles. I have three young ones that constantly keep me on the go. I try my best to help them make healthy choices, but at the same time, I don't want them to be deprived of any food. For this reason, I bake a lot of things, especially desserts, and try my best to duplicate (or improve) the taste. 


Q: As a Mom, what kind of desserts do your kids prefer?
A: Anything that involves chocolate. They can have some now and then. Usually, I substitute all of their sweets with fruits, brown sugar, and honey.


Q: What is your favorite dessert to make?
A: Why cherry cobbler, of course! 


Q: What made you to start cooking healthy?
A: I've always eaten healthy food growing up, so I have always been cooking healthy foods. 


Q: What advice would you give people who have a sweet tooth, but want to stay healthy?
A: Substitutes. It's all about the substitutes. Also, using organic foods makes a huge difference. The more you practice making healthy choices, the better you become at it. It gets so much easier after a few weeks, and by a month, you wouldn't even notice. Just keep your head in the game, have your goals set, and shoot for the target. 


Q: Do you have a key ingredient that you use in desserts that help its healthiness?
A: You can replace regular sugar with brown sugar, and I actually prefer the taste of brown sugar. A lot of people also use Splenda, but I can always taste the difference, and I really don't like it. But for people that do, go crazy. Frozen yogurt can always replace ice cream. And like I said before, condensed milk instead of cream.  


Q: What desserts do you chose when you eat out?
A: Oh, when I eat out, which is rare, I don't really eat healthy desserts. But on some occasions, I mostly eat desserts that involve fruit, berries, yogurt, nuts, and/or honey.