Two things...I can't believe how long it has been since I posted to Foodolicious and I can't believe
how much I love all things bananas. Banana ice cream, banana pudding, banana cream pie, banana bread, banana cheesecake, banana cake with banana frosting...Okay I think I made my point.
Ironically in the past, due to my extreme affinity for those yellow potassium filled morsels, listing that many scrumptious desserts would make me get right into the kitchen and concoct one of them immediately. But thankfully and healthfully, my partner and I have given up processed white sugar. Sure wasn't easy for this pair of sugarholics, but two months down the line, the cravings are gone and we feel great. The weirdest part about giving up those sinful empty non nutritional delights, is that if you decide to, so to speak, "treat yourself" and have something sugary you have given up, you immediately notice not only a rush from the sugar, but your body just doesn't like it the way it did before and you know it pretty quickly...amazing what our body tries to tell us if and when we are ready to listen.
I try to live by the nutritional rule that says; If it's low fat, no fat, no salt, low salt, no sugar, low sugar, low calorie, no calorie, etc....then it was given it's "qualities" in a laboratory of sorts and if that's the case my body would rather have stuff not altered by a man or woman or even perhaps an automaton in a white coat among all of those petri dishes...so to speak. Just sayin...
I was excited to discover that there are lots of healthy baked goods you can sweeten with bananas, raisins, applesauce, etc. instead of white sugar. After I "got" it, and realized that you could use alternative natural sweeteners in baking, I began creating a few really good sweet desserts that are truly good and good for you. We aren't staying clear of items made with cane sugar. The other day I purchased some Kashi Cereal sweetened with cane juice that is really good tasting. By the way talking about sweeteners; beware of all that marketing around Agave Nectar...it's just as bad as white sugar...just sayin...(google it)
We really appreciate the naturally sweet flavor of fruit now more than ever. So twelve pounds lighter and feeling absolutely fantastic...with the help of cardio exercise of course, allow me to share the easy and noisy recipe for banana soft serve. By the way, when Rachel Ray made this on her show, she topped it off with chocolate syrup and peanuts. You may opt to do that, but if you use really ripe bananas that are beginning to get the black spots on the peels, you really don't need anything else. It's the perfect dessert for the palate in our hotter month ahead.
Here is one time when it's okay to go bananas.....
rv
Banana soft serve
3 very ripe bananas (3 serve 3 people so plan this accordingly)
milk of your choice; whole, low fat (I use sweetened and unsweetened almond milk)
Food processor or high end blender
Peel the bananas and chop them into 1 inch long slices. Place into a ziploc bag and freeze.
Here is the noisy part:
Remove the completely frozen banana pieces from the freezer and drop into a food processor. To make it an easier process, break up the frozen mass carefully with a small sharp knife.
Begin to pulse the bananas and then fully turn on power as soon as they begin to puree and blend.
Drizzle in milk of your choice a little at a time just till it looks like ice cream. You may need to do some additional pulsing if the frozen chunks are not separating.
You will not believe the fluffy soft serve consistency. Enjoy.
