Better Than Ice Cream

School's not even out for the summer yet, but the heat is starting to become unbearable! I know, it's really tempting to grab a cool treat like ice cream, halo-halo, and frozen yogurt, but...as I am trying to limit myself to one dessert a week (by which I actually mean one cake/pastry/ice cream a week), I found a novel way of enjoying bananas.

I found this article on making ice cream simply out of freezing bananas and putting them in a food processor...except that I was too lazy to use the mini-food processor at home. I did the reverse by mashing the banana with a fork and putting it in the freezer. But before I froze it, I added cocoa powder, because chocolate goes well with banana...and, voila, a healthy frozen dessert or cool snack that's under 100 calories (1 banana = 70 calories; 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder = 25 calories).

It tastes better than it looks. Trust me.

Can you share any other ideas to flavor this "banana ice cream"?



Friday's exercise
- 40-minute brisk run/walk

Sunday's exercise
- 3,000 on the jump rope (Yay! Finally!)
- 3 x 15 tricep curls (on each arm) with 5 lb dumbbell
- 3 x 15 bicep curls with 2 x 5 lb dumbbells
- 3 x 15 shoulder presses with 2 x 5 lb dumbbells

Thursday's meals
Breakfast: Old-fashioned oatmeal with peanut butter, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: (at Oliver's) Almond cajun chicken with honey mustard on wheat bread, Starbucks brewed coffee with low-fat milk
Dinner: (BPI freebies from Chowking) Breaded fish fillet, 2 pieces fried wanton, kangkong with Chinese bagoong, a few pieces Chicharap

Friday's meals
Breakfast: French toast with fresh strawberries, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: Salmon cream pasta (UCC leftovers), Goolai mixed greens with mandarin oranges, grapes, honey almonds, breaded chicken, apricot vinaigrette
Dinner: Chicken with toyo-calamansi sauce, vegetable lumpia, brown rice

Saturday's meals
Breakfast: Ube hopia, whole wheat pan de sal with peanut butter, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: Chili with beef and brown rice, Tostitos blue corn tortilla chips, banana, Goolai mixed greens with mandarin oranges, grapes, honey almonds, breaded chicken, apricot vinaigrette
Snack: Coffee with low-fat milk
Dinner: Daing na bangus, tomato with salted egg, grilled eggplant, brown rice

Sunday's meals
Breakfast: Double chocolate chip muffin, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: Tapa, vegetable lumpia, brown rice, ham, broiled lamb chop
Snack: Chocolate banana "ice cream", 3 pieces Fita crackers with herb cream cheese, coffee with low-fat milk
Dinner: Chili garlic shrimp and scallops, Chinese chorizo fried rice, sweet and sour pork, a few bites of sansrival and brownie