Bananas are rather popular in our home. However, I think my husband buys too many at one time. We always end up with a few that get way too ripe, get those cheetah spots on them, and the kids won’t touch them……nor will I. I have to admit, I hate wasting them, but I’m not much of a cook, nor do I want to bake, so what the heck do I do with them?
I FREEZE THEM, and make ice cream with them. I know, you’re thinking, “big whoop, you add frozen bananas to your ice cream maker, make banana flavored ice cream, who cares?” You’d be wrong. I don’t add them to any such thing, they are the ice cream!
Have I blown your mind yet? Bananas….Ice Cream….HUH?
I thought the same thing when I read about Yonanas in a magazine. A mother needed an answer to having ice cream, without the dairy. The result? You got it, Yonanas.
If you’re an avid reader of my blog, which let’s be serious, why wouldn’t you be an avid reader, right? Right?!!! You would know that I’m also eating healthier, and so are the kids. Making ice cream out of bananas is healthier than dairy based ice cream.
What do Bananas have that ice cream doesn’t?
- less calories
- potassium, which helps you build muscles and helps with protein synthesis
- all natural energy from the NATURAL sugars: sucrose, fructose, and glucose
- no sodium
- no fat
- no cholesterol
- high fiber (the kind that helps you lower your cholesterol)
- Vitamin B6
- natural source of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, panthothenic acid, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper, and PROTEIN
Heck yeah that sounds good to me!
The Yonanas machine is dishwasher safe, and easy to assemble, as well as disassemble. Oh, and it’s super easy to use, which is important for me. I’m not so good in the kitchen…..burn myself every time I use the toaster oven. It’s sad, really.
The first thing you have to do is peel the overripe bananas, then stick them in the freezer. Give them at least a day to freeze, then get your favorite healthy “extras” to add into the machine. You can add fruit, you can grind up nuts into a dust, and add that, and you can even add your favorite cookies (the ones that don’t have tons of artificial crap in them, of course.)
Get all your goodies together, and if you want, you can use the recipes in the book it comes with. Basically, you just plug the machine in, get your first banana into it, push it down with the little handle piece, add some other fruit, or cookie, then another banana, etc. Super easy, simple, and straight forward.
Now, listen, it comes out the same consistency as soft serve ice cream. My daughter loved it, because she likes bananas, and the cookies worked to make it taste like cookies and cream. However, we still tasted banana……..however, I don’t think our bananas were ripe enough. My husband liked it, I loved it, and The Boy…..well, he’s a pain in the royal icing when it comes to ice cream.
However, that was easy to fix, because you can also make sorbets with it, which require no bananas at all. So it worked out. One machine, four happy family members! Oh, healthy and happy family members.
If you’ve got anyone in your family suffering from high cholesterol, who can’t have dairy based ice cream, this would be fantastic for them. Perhaps you’ve got someone with a dairy allergy, or intolerance, it would be great for them. Just want to find a healthier alternative for ice cream, and frozen yogurt, it’s perfect for anyone trying to get healthy, but still wants to enjoy some treats!
Big fan of the machine, the fact that a mom invented it, and the company is a pleasure to deal with!
*I received the Yonanas machine at no cost in order to do this review. The opinions are mine, and that of my family.
