Healthy “Ice Cream” Social – A Guiltless Frozen Treat to Beat the Summer Heat

There are two things I have learned from tuning in to Disney Junior:

1. The words and dance gestures to Roll Up the Map, by the Pirate Rock Band
2. How to make healthy “ice cream”

One afternoon while Jax napped, I found myself engaged in an episode of Gaspar and Lisa. After the show ended a promotional segment came on featuring a woman and a boy making “helado” using frozen bananas. And that got me thinking of endless flavor possibilities…and so I decided to freeze some bananas and put my own twist on this version of healthy ice cream. “Triumph!”

Oh, and you don’t need a YoNana machine for this banana-y awesomeness. I got sucked into that infomercial a few years back and paid $49.99 on a piece of junk with a motor that burned out before it spewed out one drop of creamy, banana goodness. And as far as customer service in replacing the faulty machine…let’s just say there was none.

But I digress…

For my guilt-free “ice cream” I experimented with strawberry first and although I needed to ripen the bananas more before freezing for maximum sweetness, it was delicious.

Today I went all out with my super ripe, frozen bananas and created three fantastic flavors of healthy helado (as they call it in the segment) that has forever replaced the Hagen Daaz in our freezer – banana chocolate, banana mango and my favorite – banana pineapple. YUMMY! And ready in the same amount of time it would take to spoon three scoops from a carton.

I started with 12 bananas that I peeled, and cut into 1″ pieces. I froze them a few days in an airtight, freezer-safe glass bowl. Here is what you do:

Chocolate Banana “Ice Cream”

4 Frozen Bananas, peeled and chopped before freezing
1 Package Chocolate Instant Pudding (I used sugar free)
1/4 Cup Cold Milk

Add all ingredients in to a food processor and blend until smooth. That’s it!

Pineapple Banana “Ice Cream”

4 Frozen Banana, peeled and chopped before freezing
2 Cups Frozen Pineapple Chunks
1/4 Cup Cold Milk

Add all ingredients in to a food processor and blend until smooth. Voila! I used regular old moo juice for this but how good with this be with a splash of coconut milk instead…and maybe a tablespoon or two of shredded coconut flakes pulsed in for taste and texture, Pina Colada style.

Mango Banana “Ice Cream”

4 Frozen Banana, peeled and chopped before freezing
1 Pouch of Mango Puree (I used a baby food pouch)

Add all ingredients in to a food processor and blend until smooth. You won’t need any milk for this one because the puree is liquid-y enough to smooth everything out.

I know what you are thinking, “ugh..baby food?” And to that I say “YES, baby food.” The ingredients on the pouch say it’s 100% fruit with nothing else added so it worked fine. I have seen recipes for mango margaritas using these pouches. I gotta try that out.

For the strawberry ice cream I made before I used four frozen bananas, two cups of frozen strawberry halves and 1/4 cup milk.

Each of these recipes makes about four 2 scoop servings of delightful and surprisingly creamy “ice cream.”  The banana taste is very subtle, especially in the pineapple version, it really just serves as a creamy base for the other flavors.

The possibilities are endless with this stuff – I already have ideas to concoct a few mind-blowing flavor combos: banana chocolate peanut butter, anyone? Or how about an orange creamsicle flavor made with frozen banana and orange segments, a splash of OJ and a few drops of vanilla extract.

Try these out, experiment with other flavors and enjoy! Jax certainly did!