C turned four a couple of weeks ago and we celebrated in a real way. And by real, I mean real sugary. We did our best to stick to our "no processed" way of life, but low sugar became something of a joke. We indulged in everything from brownies to rice krispie treats to cookies and cakes, and besides gaining two pounds in the course of 10 days (no exaggeration, it happened), I felt TERRIBLE after eating like that! It might taste good on the front end, but it definitely showed us that desserts in moderation are the way to go and we will not be returning to our sneaky snacking way of life. Except for birthday weeks. Because everyone deserves to celebrate their birthday with a little sugar. :)
We have spent the last week or so gradually getting back into the swing of things, and I must say I'm really enjoying the re-discovery process. My energy levels are up (last week I was exhausted, and I am totally blaming sugar for that!) and overall I just feel healthier. Plus C's behavior is back on track (lots of sugar leads to lots of energy...and lots of misbehavior).
Our newest tasty discovery comes to us courtesy of one of my favorite blog finds of 2014, Chocolate Covered Katie. Katie takes delicious recipes, cuts out sugar and replaces them with healthy alternatives, and makes them taste equally as yummy...it's fabulous. I was perusing her blog one day and came across her recipe for a modified version of Disney's famous Dole Whip. Trey and I both LOVE these but I'm quite sure the original version isn't nearly as healthy as Katie's. As is always the case, I modified it slightly to accommodate what I had on hand, and I must say this will definitely become a standby on our menu. Best part: it's healthy and I have no problem giving the girls some when they want a treat.
Frozen Pineapple Perfection (original recipe found here)
Makes 2 mug-sized servings
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (you can use any milk you have on hand)
1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt
2 cups frozen pineapple
Throw all the ingredients into your blender (in the order listed if you're using a Vitamix or other high-powered blender). Blend until smooth, using your tamper to push ingredients into the blades if needed.
We ate it straight out of the blender and it was the perfect consistency, but if you don't have a high-powered blender you may need to increase the amount of liquid and/or freeze it for 20 minutes or so before eating.
A few helpful tips on the preparation process:
- Make sure you are using frozen pineapple in order to get the "ice cream" consistency. Not sure where to get frozen pineapple? Costco sells fresh pineapples for $2.99 each and it takes about 15 minutes to slice one up into chunks. Lay the chunks out on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and flash freeze them for about 45 minutes, then throw the chunks into a ziplock bag and let them freeze the rest of the way. Flash freezing keeps them from freezing together in one large pineapple ice cube.
- Don't keep almond milk on hand? Substitute with whatever you have! Katie suggested using coconut milk for a pina colada type of flavor. I prefer unsweetened vanilla almond milk simply because there aren't any added sugars and it only has 30 calories in one cup.
Hope you enjoy these as much as we have!
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