Healthful frozen summer treats

Making your own version of a healthy summer treat can be fun and cost effective. You know exactly what you put in and can mix in natural sweetness and nutritional value to your snacks. Use combinations of any type of fruit and any type of milk (yogurt and kefir included). Add chopped nuts, dark chocolate, oats and granola to the inside, outside or bottoms. 

Here's a simple, one-ingredient homemade frozen treat to try. You can also view a video of my recent visit to the KARE 11 studio, and this Star Tribune article by Daniel Neman for more ideas.

Banana Ice Cream

1 ripe banana

Cut the banana into equal size coins. Place in an air-tight sealable bag and freeze for at least two hours, but ideally overnight. Put frozen banana coins into food processor and mix until crumbly. Scrape the bowl with a spatula. Repeat a few times. Mix until soft and creamy. At this point, if you like, you can add peanut butter or Nutella and blend. You can eat this right away (it will be soft) or transfer to an airtight container and freeze, making it more like ice cream.

Makes 1 serving: 105 calories, 27 grams carbohydrate, 8 grams fat, 3 grams fiber

Optional add-ons:

1 tbsp. peanut butter, adds about 90 calories and 4 grams protein
1 tbsp. slivered almonds, adds 40 calories, 2 grams protein, 1 gram fiber, 4 grams unsaturated fat

Tropical sherbet  

2 1/2 cups frozen mango chunks
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1/2 cup frozen papaya chunks
3/4 cup low-fat Greek lemon yogurt

Combine frozen fruits in a large bowl. Allow to thaw for 10 minutes. Place partially thawed fruit and yogurt in a blender. Blend until smooth. For soft serve, serve immediately. For a firmer sherbet, place in freezer for 90 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional information