Bailey's Nutella Mug Cake

Ready in less than 3 minutes, this Bailey's Nutella Mug Cake is a fudgy, yet fluffy chocolate cake for one that is drizzled with a simple Irish cream glaze...

For years, I have been celebrating St. Patrick's Day without giving it very little thought as to why. I mean, I am not Irish. (There may be a teeny fraction of a percent of Irish blood in me somewhere. ;) ) I am not Catholic. I have never even traveled to Ireland. But without fail it is a holiday that I gleefully and willingly take part in year after year. 

In my younger years, St. Patrick's Day was a blur of green beer, dancing to bands with Irish sounding names, and seeking out the nearest local "Irish" pub. In more recent times, it has become the perfect excuse to enjoy some of my favorite Irish-inspired foods. 

It wasn't until this past week that I actually asked myself why. Why do we- Americans who may be 100% Irish or 100% not Irish- celebrate St. Patrick's Day each and every year? The former history teacher in me got the better of me, and I did a little researching...

Cranberry Gingerbread Mug Cake

Soft gingerbread and tart cranberries come together in this low calories dessert for one... 

This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

I am picturing it all now... The busy holiday season is quickly approaching on the not so distant horizon.

I see lots of holiday cookie baking, and gift wrapping, and online shopping in my near future.

I see lots of wonderful memories about to be made. Cozy evenings snuggled up on the couch with my family and a warm mug of cocoa watching the twinkling of the lights of the Christmas tree.

But I am also seeing lots of extra calories and fat grams and not enough time for a good workout (ahem... time to #drinkTEN ). And a some stressful, frazzled evenings. And moments when all I want to do is hide in a distant room of the house and catch my breath for a moment... alone. 

Ahhhhhh... 'tis the season, folks! ;)

Before the hustle and bustle and wonderful craziness of the season are upon us, I decided to come up with a perfect little dessert for one that can be made in minutes, is low calorie and low fat (less guilt!), and has some of my favorite flavors of the season. 

And believe it or not, the recipe inspiration for my newest mug cake came from a little trip to my local Kroger to pick up some of my favorite TEN beverages...

Guilt-Free Snickerdoodle Mug Cake

This Guilt-Free Snickerdoodle Mug Cake is a comforting, low calorie, perfectly portioned for one microwave dessert!

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Pure Via®, but all my opinions are my own.

As I mentioned to you all in yesterday's recipe post, I am tackling the holiday sweets monster head-on now.  I figure a head start will give me somewhat of an advantage and hopefully help me keep the annual holiday weight gain in check.  

I do still plan to bake lots of the holiday goodies that my family loves, but I will also be keeping a few lower calorie, low fat dessert recipes in my arsenal to keep me from devouring half a pumpkin pie or a half dozen of frosted sugar cookies. 

I am a firm believer in not trying to dodge my sweet tooth cravings. That will eventually lead to a sugar and butter induced binge for me.

But what I can do is trick my sweet tooth into thinking that it is indulging in a sweet treat... ;)

On a recent shopping trip to my local Walmart, I picked up a box of Pure Via 40 Count Packets and knew right away that these would become a very important weapon in my arsenal against the holiday weight gain. Pure Via is made from the pure, sweet extract of the stevia leaf. That means no artificial processing or preservatives, folks. It is all natural, non-GMO, and the best part? ZERO calories! :)

Reese's Stuffed Peanut Butter Mug Cake

This moist, perfectly portioned peanut butter cake for one is ready in under 3 minutes and is the perfect excuse for stashing away a few of the Reese's cups from the kids' trick or treat loot...

Every Halloween there always seem to be a few different candies that I covet from the bowl we have been handing out to trick-or-treaters or from my kiddos' orange plastic pumpkins- Reese's peanut butter cups always make that short list for me.  Typically, I prefer them frozen.  I pop them in the freezer for at least 10 minutes, sometimes longer.  Then unwrap and enjoy...

Perfection. ;) 

There is only one other way that I really love eating them & that is all melty and ooey, gooey.  Yes, two extremes- frozen solid or messy melty.  There is no in-between with me when it comes to Reese's cups.