Frozen Dessert

Frozen Dessert

WOULD YOU BELIEVE: A cup of a typical ice  cream has 14 grams of fat and a premium ice cream has 23 grams of fat.

SOME FACTS: Desserts can be festive and healthy if you use just a little bit of imagination. One of the best desserts I ever tasted was frozen bananas run through a Champion® juicer. This produces a consistency very much like soft-serve ice cream. If you add just a hint of vanilla you'll actually get a very tasty ice creamy product, though it's really not necessary. In fact, you can use frozen bananas as a base and then add frozen strawberries, or any other flavor by adding a frozen version of the fruit to the banana mixture.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Try the following, slightly simpler recipe with your kids, they'll love it. Try it on your adult friends. They'll love it too.

Iced Fruit Cream

4C Bananas, frozen 
¼C Water or juice

Put 4" segments of frozen bananas pieces in the blender with ¼ cup water or juice. Add more liquid if needed. Blend smooth. Serve immediately. Makes 8 portions. (1 portion = 111.5 calories, 0.581 grams fat, 4% protein, 92% carbohydrates, 4% fat)

Top with fresh banana slices, nuts, or cherries. Add other fruits as desired, or no-sugar- added extracts such as strawberries, blueberries, pears, vanilla, maple, and almond.

Strawberry-Banana Pudding 

1½ C Low-fat firm tofu (Mori Nu firm tofu is suggested)
1½ C Fresh strawberries, sliced 
1 Banana
1 tsp. Vanilla 
1 Tbsp. Lemon juice 
¼ tsp. Salt 
2 Tbsp. Honey

Blend all ingredients together in blender or food processor until creamy and smooth. Pour into individual serving dishes, or pour into individual-sized Grape Nuts® pie shells (make by putting muffin cups in muffin pan then pouring in Grape Nuts®). Chill overnight. Makes 4 to 6 portions. (1 portion = 109.4 calories, 1.886 grams fat, 23% protein, 62% carbohydrates, 15% fat)