Simple but delicious Smoothie (Phase 2 treat)

[recipelover]

Yesterday I made a type of smoothie that turned out to be sinfully delicious. It was very thick and I ate half of it with a spoon and froze the rest. My husband took the frozen one last night and let it soften a while. He couldn't believe how good it was. He said it tasted like ice cream (ate it too fast and got his "ice cream headache" from it). I really didn't measure the milk or syrup so my amounts are estimates.

In a blender:

1 medium frozen banana (I freeze them when they are getting too ripe)
4-5 frozen strawberries [or any berry or combination of berries]
about 2/3 c. milk (or more) [can also add yogurt, plain or flavored]
about 2 T. chocolate syrup (I used Waldens chocolate syrup or some Torano sugar-free, which is like DaVinci)
1 pkg. Splenda

It got very thick and I even had to add a little more milk to get the blender blending it again.

Try it--ooooom good!

[Gabby]

Sounds delicious. I will have to try it ASAP. Thanks

[recipelover]

I am bumping this up because I make this all the time. I always use bananas, but I vary the berries. I always use frozen strawberries and sometimes add frozen blueberries. I have decided that I like using Walden Farms 0 calories chocolate syrup the best, but Davinci/Torano chocolate would be okay too. I don't always use frozen bananas, sometimes I use the fresh ones. It still works great.

It is like drinking a chocolate fruit shake. It gets thick and cold and we love them. They key to the thick texture is the frozen fruit.

It definitely satisfies our sweet tooth and it is a healthy chocolate shake.

[CarrieW]

Sounds yummy! And I never even thought of freezing bananas when they start getting too ripe. Can you use them for anything when you do that? Besides just plain eating them I mean. Smoothies, baking, etc?

[LisaB]

I freeze them when they are too ripe, also. We use them for smoothies and banana bread.

Lisa

[Ziploxx]

I use frozen bananas for making WW banana bread and muffins or smoothies. They work just fine when baking. The only time you need them really fresh is when they are presented as fresh desserts/snacks. Otherwise the more brown they get, the more banana flavor they have.

[Yosh]

How funny! I just posted Santosha's smoothie the other day. She started putting in spinach and it got rave reviews on how you couldn't taste the spinach - but you get in your veggies!!

She also adds tofu, but I leave that out. Try yogurt, soy milk, mixed frozen berries and spinach. I have that almost every day for breakfast!

[saralynn143]

When you freeze your bananas, are they peel on or off?

[recipelover]

Peel off. I also break them into smaller sections and freeze them in a plastic freezer bag.

[caterpillar]

Mmmm! This Walden Farms syrup: is it brown and gooey like traditional Hershey's syrup, or it just chocolate flavored like a Torani syrup?

Thanks, recipelover!

[recipelover]

It is thick and gooey like chocolate syrup that you would put on ice cream.

[IndianaLuv]

I freeze banana's in the peel or out..whichever I have time for. If you're really efficient you'll cut them into pieces and mark the container with how many banana's are in there. That way when a recipe calls for a certain quantity of banana's you can just grab what you need.

Save those banana peels to fertilize your outdoor flowering shrubs! Just chop them up.. let them steep in some boiling water until it's cooled and then dig the whole mess into the ground around your shrubs.

[scattergold]

OMG I am so happy to see this thread...

I was so upset when I bought $6 worth of strawberries and 6 bananas for smoothies only to find out I cant eat them in ph1!! I never thought to freeze them!! And putting frozen fruit in the blender is genius! No more worrying about wasting all that wonderful fruit! =D

[A-Rod]

Sounds yummy! And I never even thought of freezing bananas when they start getting too ripe. Can you use them for anything when you do that? Besides just plain eating them I mean. Smoothies, baking, etc?

I mash them up and put them in waffle/pancake batter - they help to sweeten things without sugar. They make a great banana-nut pancake if you add some chopped oatmeal, cinnamon, vanilla, and walnuts/pecans. I recommend the "Harvest Grain & Nut" pancake mix recipe posted by Vickil - just add a mashed banana or two [the riper the better] and about 1/4-1/2 cup of nuts.

[Phatty Duke]

Can you buy Walden Farms chocolate syrup in a regular grocery store?