Guilt-Free

I’m sure we’ve all heard of the “one-ingredient ice cream” idea going around. The one where you freeze banana slices and process them into a smooth, ice cream consistency. I actually love it, and have also made it with peanut butter and Nutella, and loved it even more. But looking at the variety of frozen fruit I had in the freezer this afternoon (I purposely buy more fresh fruit than we can eat, and when it gets past it’s prime, I freeze it for smoothies, smoothie pancakes, etc.), I thought I’d add a little pizazz to this easy treat. I turned it into a four ingredient ice cream, and I'm very happy with the results. If you want to do what I did, just go like this: Put a couple sliced, frozen bananas, one cubed, frozen mango, and one sliced, frozen peach in a food processor. Pulse a few times, until it looks a little crumbly. Add a little skim milk and turn it on low until it comes together into a nice, smooth consistency. Scrape down the sides as needed, and if you need to add more milk, go right ahead. I think I used 1/4-1/2 cup. It’s amazing how smooth and creamy it becomes. Eat it immediately, or let it sit in the freezer for an hour or so before you scoop. Freezing it longer than that makes it a bit hard without any fat to keep it soft.

It’s little more satisfying than a smoothie, when you are in the mood for a guilt-free dessert. And I might add that the kids looooved it. After his first bite, Alex smiled and said “Ah cwean!” (ice cream). I guess I could put this in their mini cones from now on, and they wouldn’t know the difference. Next time I might try adding a few toppings, or try a new fruit combo altogether. But I think the bananas are key for the creaminess though, so I’ll always keep those in the mix. Give it a try. I think you’ll like it.

While we’re on the topic of food, this weekend, the kids had their first taste of German Pancakes, aka Hootenannies at our house, (a not so guilt-free food). I think Ruby liked them.