Yonanas Fruit Only Soft Ice Cream Maker

I love ice cream, but I've been a diet-controlled diabetic for 20 years. I keep looking for great treats that:

1. don't mess up my blood sugar,

2. taste great and

3. are not loaded with any chemicals or artificial sweeteners.

Ice cream has always been a favorite of mine but I have never been able to find one that meets all of the above criteria until now.

I have found a soft ice cream maker, the Yonanas Ice Cream Treat Maker, that uses only fruit to make a rich, sweet, creamy soft ice cream that everyone I have made it for, has loved.

It is not only great for diabetics as a fruit exchange, but contains no dairy products so people with lactose intolerance can eat and enjoy it. Children can have it and be assured that they are not eating ingredients that you can't even pronounce, or artificial sweeteners that are not good for them or most adults.

So what is it that makes such great ice cream without all the "bad" stuff? .....FROZEN BANANAS.

When frozen bananas and other frozen fruit are put in a food processor or into the soft ice cream maker, they come out as a creamy, sweet, soft ice cream that is to die for. I've made chocolate chip, strawberry, pineapple, cherry, pumpkin and chocolate/avocado ice cream so far.

When freezing the bananas, wait until the skin has started to speckle and then peel them before putting them into a sealed container. I made the mistake of freezing some with the skins on and boy was that a pain when I went to use them. Take my word and don't try it. You'll regret it and waste a couple of good banana.

For two or three servings, take two frozen bananas and a cup of other frozen fruit or two cubes of the pumpkin or chocolate/avocado and put them in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Place them all in the food processor and blend until it is a thick, smooth consistency.

Place the ice cream in the freezer for 15 or 20 minutes, serve it up and enjoy.

For the chocolate chip ice cream, fold the chips into the ice cream after you blend it and before you put it in the freezer.

These directions are specifically for the Yonanas Soft Ice Cream Maker which you can find out more about from the links below.

You take the two frozen bananas and frozen fruit or two frozen cubes and defrost them for 20 seconds.

Place a bowl in the front curve of the base to catch the ice cream

Feed one banana into the shoot and push it slowly down the tube.

Add the other ingredients and feed them down the shoot.

Add the second banana and push it through.

Fold the ice cream together to blend the flavors and to add cocoa, chocolate chips, nuts or any other things you want to add.

Quite a bit of ice cream remains in the Yonanas even when it appears to have finished coming out, so I unplug it, open it and spoon out any ice cream that remains inside.

Your options are only limited by your imagination.

All of the recipes in this cookbook contain only whole fruit, seeds and nuts.

You can buy frozen fruit of many different types that are ready to use to make the ice cream. Make sure you only buy frozen fruit that is only fruit...no sugar or other things added to it.

For flavors such as the pumpkin, I used plain canned pumpkin without anything added. I put in some cinnamon and a little pumpkin spice. I spooned the mixture into some ice cube trays and froze them.

For the chocolate/avocado, I did the same thing. I mixed them and froze them in ice cube trays.

For the chocolate chip, I put several ounces of unsweetened baker's chocolate into a mini-food chopper and pulsed it until I had small chips or flecks of the unsweetened chocolate.

To make my favorite chocolate ice cream, I just put about 2 Tbs. of cocoa powder in the bottom of the container the ice cream is being put into. Then I fold the cocoa into the soft ice cream until blended.

Two Warnings

1. Don't put the cocoa directly into the Yonanas machine. You'll have cocoa powder flying all over the room.

2. Fold rather than Stir. Otherwise the ice cream gets syrupy.

I eliminate wheat totally from my diet almost 2 years ago. When I noticed that some ice creams had wheat in them, I was really kind of depressed.Thankfully, I discovered Yonanas and this makes ice cream that fits right into my diet. If you would like to follow my journey in improving my health without wheat, please go to my Hub:

My Wheat Belly Journal

When I make this, I usually make more than one serving. If I have made a small batch, I put the extra into freezer-pop forms for a treat later on.

I got one for my grandchildren, ages 10 and 8, and they have fun making the ice cream while Mom or I supervise. My granddaughter took it to girl scouts and made a batch up for the 10 girls in the group. Even the parents were impressed, especially since there were no additives. My grandchildren have severe nut and seed allergies, so this has been perfect for them.

At Thanksgiving I made three half-gallon batches of different flavors to bring to my son's house for dinner. I froze each container and then when it was time to serve it, I microwaved it for 10 to 20 seconds and this made it very scoop-able. It was a big success and everybody wants one for Christmas. One of the women is lactose intolerant and she savored the flavor of two helpings enjoying the taste of creamy ice cream without any dairy in it.

As for me, this is such a great find for satisfying my ice cream craving while enjoying my fruit allowance in a very tasty alternative form. What a great way to keep my diabetes under control. The natural sugar in the fruit makes you satisfied with a single serving rather than craving a second like I would with regular ice cream.

One comment I thought I would share. My granddaughter said that the ice cream was really healthy except for the sugar in the chocolate. She couldn't believe it when I told her that the chocolate was unsweetened baker's chocolate. The bananas make you think that the chocolate is sweet.

Let me know which flavor you like best. If it is not listed, you can add it to the comment section just below this.