I remember back when my sisters and I were young girls. We would drive a short distance to go and visit my Dad's parents. And every so often we would be angling for a trip to Dairy Queen! This was in the little town of St. Marys, PA where DQ is still only open certain months of the year. Back in those days my parents were not in a position to spring for DQ every time one of us girls (or our Dad!) wanted a treat. And that was probably for the best! But we knew that if we asked our Grandpa Neizmik (our dad's dad), the answer was pretty much always YES to DQ. We had it all figured out that the key was to send our youngest sister Rachel (she is 6+ years younger than me!) over to where Grandpa was sitting on the couch. She would sidle up in between his wheelchair and the coach (he had been paralyzed in a construction accident while in his 40's) and would ask him THE question... "Grandpa, is your sweet tooth bothering you?" And then he would reply that it was indeed and why not send our Dad out to DQ for ice cream? He would ask Grandma to go and get some cash from his wallet which was kept in a kitchen drawer. And off to DQ we would go! Cherished family memories and a frozen treat! Everyone had their favorites and ordering was quite simple!
Fast forward through the years and ice cream has ALWAYS been a part of our family gatherings and celebrations! When our family (sparked by my sister Rachel and extending out through my other sister Bethany plus myself and our parents!) began eating clean, the ice cream had to go! Not that we couldn't still enjoy a bit once in awhile, but the frequency needed to be significantly reduced. But how would we replace it? And with a young nephew of mine who experienced migraines whenever consuming dairy, "Yonanas" entered the family picture somewhere in there! Now less than a year later and the five of us adults are somewhere around 170 pounds less in total weight and we are just not really missing the ice cream very often these days! We just feel better while staying on track with our healthy new lifestyle! And this is where something like Yonanas is just the thing!
Within my own household, we had borrowed my parents' Yonanas machine after a family get-together. The kids were hooked! But it was eventually time to return their machine and around that time my 8 year old (very basic!) blender broke. Correction, it had been "breaking" for a couple of years and was now completely DONE. I had never had a food processor and was very interested in adding one to my kitchen. So when I came across a great deal on a Ninja system similar to this one, it was a simple enough decision. But what about the Yonanas?? A friend had told me that she made something similar in her food processor and so we decided to give it a try here at our place. Success!
To make the simple Cocoa Bananas pictured in this entry, here is what you would do:
1) Slice five (peeled) ripe bananas into quarters and freeze them. They do not need to be overly-ripe but the peel should be spotted in appearance. They should be in the freezer for at least 3-4 hours but could also be kept in there for a month or more!
2) Place these bananas in the bowl of your food processor. Sprinkle with 3-4 tablespoons of baking cocoa and allow to sit for 12 minutes. This will allow the bananas to thaw to a consistency that will be perfect for blending/whipping.
3) Pulse and then whip the banana/cocoa combination. At first you are just going to see what appears to be finely chopped bits of banana flying about the bowl. Turn off your machine and scrape down the sides and blend again. Before long you will see a creamy swirl begin to circle around the bowl of your processor. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides again. The entire process takes only a minute or two from start to finish!
4) Scoop this treat into serving dishes and enjoy with whatever topping you like! My own favorites are chopped walnuts and unsweetened flaked coconut.
Looks yummy. Thanks for sharing
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