Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Yonanas: A Healthier Substitute for Ice-Cream?



You have a sweet tooth and can't dream of given up ice cream, yet you know you want to eat right and stay healthy. Or you are lactose intolerant, but really really love your frozen dairy goodies and find yourself tolerating the pain just to have a taste. Well, there might be a solution for you.

I stumbled upon this tool called Yonanas that, as the name implies, is used to make frozen treats out of bananas. I know you're skeptical, but read a little about it first.

Why bananas?
The great thing about the banana is that it contains a lot of potassium to help replenish the body and prevent muscle cramping after exercise. And it is a fruit with only about 100 calories (depending on the size of the banana) so it is great for you. Additionally, the banana is pretty sweet so it can serve as a base for any dessert. The texture of the banana is thick and creamy when mashed, which means it sounds like it would be a great base. I already use it as a base for smoothies and shakes.

How does it work?
The bad part about the tool is it is not multi-use. So you can really only use it to make yonanas, and nothing else.

You would need ripe frozen bananas. Not black over-soggy bananas, but ripe enough to just have a dab of black. When the bananas are ripe, peel and cut them, and freeze them for about 24 hours. I would say this probably means you would need a constant supply of bananas in your freezer. If you want to mix it with other flavors, like strawberries, you'd have to freeze those too.

The tool looks like some sort of plunger. Insert a frozen banana down the chute, and push down using the plunger. Put in other frozen fruits or flavors like peanut butter or chocolate, and then plunge down as well. Make sure you have a bowl beneath the Yonana machine so that it collects the creamy goodness. Remove the chute to collect any cream that might have settled in there and scrape. That's it! Here is a video that shows how to use the tool:


Just like shakes or juices, I think this a healthy way to feel like you're eating sweet desserts without all the sugar and cream. As long as you are not putting in a large number of bananas, you would be safe with the number of calories in the yonana. I would suggest using just one banana and mixing in a few low calorie fruits as well.

Other than all that, from reviews I've read, using the plunger actually requires some work. So I would say that if you are not particularly concerned with whether it is an ice-cream or a shake,you could easily use the blender I reviewed here and make a smoothie with less effort. However, if you really do love the consistency of ice-cream or yogurt, definitely try the Yonana machine out.

You can order the Yonana machine on Amazon or at Target.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: kitchenappliancetech.com

2 comments:

  1. Interesting! I wonder if the Vitamix could do the same thing, as it can be used as an ice-cream maker, not that I own one! Or a good smoothie maker or blenders as you mentioned.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmm... Don't know either. Maybe we should buy them and try it out :)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...