Simple Frozen Decadence

Since the beginning of my weight-loss journey over two years ago, I became a huge fan of smoothies. I had my basic recipe:

• 1/4 cup frozen fruit/berries
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup liquid (soy milk, almond milk, or some kind of fruit juice)

Easy peasy, but sometimes I'd add "eyeball" the amounts incorrectly and end up with a smoothie that was way too thick. It would sometimes just get stuck around the edges of my blender and I'd have to add more liquid to it just to make it pour-able!

Little did I know, what I was actually doing was making a frozen yogurt-like dessert! I've read on many blogs and websites of dairy-free "frozen yogurt" that uses frozen bananas, however I never tried it until Saturday. In the past three days I've made two versions of it (each amazing in their own way) and plan on making more!

The base of the recipe is simple:

• 1 frozen banana
• a splash (approx. 2 tablespoons) of liquid, such as soy milk, almond milk, or juice

To make it into your own custom creation, just add some mix-ins!

Here's my Tropical Freeze version:

• 1 frozen banana
• 8 pieces Trader Joe's Frozen Mango Chunks (approx. 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• a splash Trader Joe's Unsweetened Soy Milk

Blend it all together until it's nice and smooth!

For something a bit more decadent, I also made an Almond Cocoa Freeze:

• 1 frozen banana
• a splash of Trader Joe's Unsweetened Soy Milk
• 1 heaping teaspoon almond butter
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• slivered almonds, optional (as a topping)

This one was so rich and chocolatey, I could barely taste the banana flavor.

My boyfriend absolutely despises bananas (and, believe it or not, he doesn't like any fruit *gasp!*) to the point that he can't even see them without thinking the room smells foul. I've read many places that this banana frozen treat doesn't taste much like bananas, but I definitely can taste it. I hope to find a way to camouflage the flavor so my boyfriend can enjoy this healthy alternative to ice cream! I'm also hoping to make ice pops out of this stuff, and maybe even swirl some kind of syrup, jam, jelly, or honey in it to make it more like the confections in shoppes and supermarkets!

What combinations or varieties would you like to see? I will try to make some of them and feature the recipe in future blog posts!

Cleaning the Pantry

I'm moving to a new apartment in less than two weeks. Despite it only being 8 miles away, I still want to consume the foods that I have on hand so I don't have to rush perishables and frozen goods from here to there and worry about it going bad! (Maybe that's just an excuse to eat my kitchen clean, haha.)


So, for the past few weeks I've been food shopping very very little, only getting things like spinach or soy milk - things I go through quickly and eat regularly. Some stuff I still have yet to consume that I really need to are:

• Frozen veggies
• Trader Joe's Chili Lime Chicken Burgers (frozen, though I may try to pack those in a cooler because I doubt I can eat all 6 in the next week!)
• Tofu
• Carrots
• Eggs
• Carton of egg whites
• Soy milk
• Orange juice
• Tofurky sausages
• Greek yogurt

...and probably other stuff that I can't think of right now that's been sitting in my fridge/freezer for a while.


In an attempt to begin the pantry-purging, I made some vegetarian pot-pies earlier this week using some of the things from the aforementioned list (frozen veggies, tofu, soy milk).

Vegetarian Pot Pie

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition info here.

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 2/5 block of extra firm tofu
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tbsp unsweetened soy milk
• 1 package Bird's Eye Steamfresh Mixed Vegetables

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 4 ramekins with non-stick spray and set aside.

Cook Bird's Eye vegetables according to instructions. Cut tofu into small cubes and toss with paprika until coated. Add remaining veggies and remaining ingredients (except puff pastry) and mix until combined.

Evenly distribute the mixture into the ramekins. Cut puff pastry into quarters (4 squares) and top each ramekin with one square. Cut a few slits (be creative how they look!) into the top of each puff pastry. Brush some egg white on top of each puff pastry (this isn't shown in the nutrition info).

Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Now, I think I need to get back to cleaning and packing. Luckily my mom is arriving on Tuesday (my dad arrives on Saturday) to help me finish up my packing and cleaning and to provide much-needed assistance with the move itself! Maybe they'll help me eat my food, too...!

An Exchange of Goods

A coworker of mine has a fun little agreement with me that began in April. I made a butterscotch cake for the Keeneland horse race for a group of people I barely knew (as I was invited by a friend, yet knew nobody else!). One guy in particular was commenting on how great the cake was and told me that his mother makes her own apple sauce and has been doing so for years.

Since then he has brought me a jar of his mom's apple sauce with one catch: I have to make something with it, and as payment I get to keep the rest of the jar of apple sauce for my own enjoyment. I happily agreed!

I've baked muffins for him the first time around but because of our schedules never really working out with one another, it wasn't until last week that he could get another batch for me. The muffins I made last time weren't that great, so I decided to take a different route: bars.

Apple Oat Bars

Makes 20 bite-sized bars.

Based on this recipe.

Filling:

3/4 cup apple sauce

1 cup dried apple rings, chopped roughly

Base/Topping:

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar Splenda blend

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla

2 egg whites

1/4 cup melted margarine

1/4 cup apple sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 baking dish.

Mix together filling ingredients and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix remaining dry ingredients. Add melted butter, followed by all remaining wet ingredients.

Press half of the oat mixture into the bottom of the pan, as evenly as possible. Spread filling over crust. Top with remaining oat mixture, pressing evenly so it covers all of the filling.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool before cutting.