Banana Mango “Ice Cream”

As a kid the one sound that let you know it was officially summertime was the unmistakable jingle of the ice cream truck. The variety of frozen treats was enough to make me feel as though the choice would have long-lasting implications; would I really be OK if I went for a drumstick? Would I leave regretting my decision, wishing I had chosen a cyclone instead? It seems an eternity since that was the biggest decision I had to make in a day.

Now, apparently, I’m an adult, though still look forward to summertime ice cream eating. As it’s not exactly high on the nutritionally-sound list, I have to be sure to actual serve myself some in a bowl, not eat it right out of the container. It always ends in disaster if it’s a spoon and a tub of ice cream. So, in order to rectify this out-of-the-tub eating I avoided the frozen treats section in the grocery store and came home to make my own. I’ve made homemade ice cream before, but I wanted to avoid the copious amounts of cream and sugar most recipes call for.

I usually have keep stash of frozen bananas in my freezer as they make for excellent additions to smoothies and are readily available whenever I need to procrastibake. This time though, they were being called upon for “ice cream”. As easy as 1-2-3, just take whatever frozen fruit you desire, add any other flavour enhancers, and blend it all up. Instantly you have a healthy frozen treat. It’s changed my world, and I’ve barely begun to experiment different flavours.

Banana Mango “Ice Cream”

Serves: 2-4 people (depending on how much you want to eat!)

Total time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 frozen bananas [Note: it’s easier to freeze the bananas once they’ve been peeled]
• 1 mango (peeled, sliced & frozen)

Directions:

1. Cut the frozen fruit into bite-sized pieces. This makes it easier for them to blend into a smooth texture. You might need to leave the fruit out of the freezer for a couple minutes to thaw slightly so it’s easier to chop.
2. Add all the ingredients into a food processor/blender/nutribullet and puree it until it resembles the texture of soft-serve ice cream.

Serve and garnish as desired!