Happy Friday Eve all! Before I jump into today’s delectable eats, I have to tell you about the AWESOME Healthy Banana Sundae I made last night. I first learned about making Banana Soft Serve ice cream from Gena last year in her, This Post Will Change Your Life. She is completely right ~ it’s so easy to make and honestly tastes just like ice cream ~ super creamy, super rich and fluffy like whipped cream. It melts in your mouth.
It only takes 3 simple steps to make a Healthy Banana Sundae.
1. SLICE and FREEZE your super right bananas. It’s really important to slice your bananas BEFORE you freeze them or you can burn out the motor in your blender, chopper, food processor, etc. I didn’t feel like busting out my Food Processor, so I pulled out the next best thing ~ My Black & Decker Mini Chopper.
2. Add a splash of vanilla extract and 1 Tbsp of Fat Free Milk, ,Almond Milk or Chocolate Almond milk and blend away until smooth and creamy. You may have to add 1 additional Tbsp of milk if it’s too thick. Looks just like ice cream, huh?
3. Heat 1 Tbsp of your favorite caramel sauce (it spreads further if it’s hot) and drizzle with a little whipped cream. A 1/2 cup serving is only TWO POINTS (1/2 c banana = 1 pt, caramel = 1 pt, whipped cream = 0 pts)
I “almost” thought of starting my day off today with some more BANANA ICE CREAM, but, I refrained. Instead I broke out my Trader Joe’s FF Organic Cottage Cheese.
1/2 c FF Organic Cottage Cheese over 1 cup Strawberries with the best side ever ~ GRITS! (4 pts)
I honestly didn’t “need” a mid morning snack, but, I wanted another one of those 1 point WW Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel bars. I am totally convinced these are just candy bars in disguise 😀 just sayin’….they are THAT good!
Can I just say our weather here is HOT? We have been in the 80’s this past week and I LOVE it. It was just too nice to stay inside so my co-worker and I headed out to TR2 to dine al fresco! I LOVE their patio…..
I gobbled down and savored 12 chips with gobs of salsa (3 pts).
Then, dug into TWO Chicken Tacos Mexican Style. I honestly think every place should offer up Mexican Style ~ cilantro, onions, cabbage, HOT SAUCE, guacamole and cojito cheese.
I ate both tacos (8 pts) and had a couple of bites of rice plus that chip in my beans.
Lunch did a fantastic job at holding me over all afternoon. I knew I wanted to save up the rest of my points for the dinner I picked out tonight. I was originally planning something else, but, when my Dinner Tonight Email arrived from Cookinglight.com, I quickly changed my mind. I LOVE these emails ~ I always get such great ideas and it gives me a reason to go to Trader Joe’s to pick up what I need to make them ;)!
Since I can pretty much NEVER stick to a recipe, I am posting the recipe as I modified it below. However, here is the original recipe online for Pasta with Asparagus, Pancetta, and Pine Nuts or in the March Issue of the Cooking Light Magazine too.
SUN DRIED TOMATO PASTA WITH BACON, ASPARAGUS AND WALNUTS
INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces uncooked vegetable ratatouille pasta
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1 1/2-inch pieces
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons toasted chopped walnuts
2 ounces cooked and crumbled center cut bacon
1 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup drained, rinsed and chopped sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil, optional
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; add asparagus to pan during last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain. Sprinkle pasta mixture with garlic; return to pan, and toss well.
3. Add mushrooms to a pan sprayed with nonstick spray and sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Add mushrooms to pasta mixture. Stir in sun dried tomatoes.
4. Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400° for 3 minutes or until golden and fragrant, stirring occasionally. Place in a small bowl.
5. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over pasta mixture; toss well to coat. Stir in basil, bacon and sprinkle with walnuts and cheese.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 2 cups)
This recipe fit right in with my goal to find ways to use these delicious Meyer Lemons my Grandma gave us.
I used my Eat Right Precision Pro Scale to measure out 8 oz of TJ’s Organic Veggie Pasta.
While the pasta cooked, I prepped all the remaining ingredients.
Basically, just dump everything in big bowl, drizzle your lemon sauce and toss!
Topped with a little shaved parmesan. TWO CUPS = 11 POINTS+!
I saw a NEW Trader Joe’s Product when I was there ~ GARLIC BREAD!
Eh, I can resist eating 1/4 of a loaf of Garlic Bread.
It smelled AMAZING cooking ~ cheesy, garlicky, buttery….wow, my mouth is watering just looking at it again. I cut out loaf into 8 pieces and had 1 slice for 3 pts.
I STILL haven’t met a garlic bread I don’t like! This bread is pretty greasy, but, it’s crunchy and the parmesan/asiago give it an AWESOME flavor with the roasted garlic.
I HEART BIG BOWLS of pasta with bread. I really LOVED all the different flavors in this pasta dish. It was super rich from the toasted walnuts and bacon with sweet hints from the sun dried tomatoes and salty parmesan. I highly recommend it ~ you will LOVE It!
Since I didn’t do enough cooking this week, I thought I’d whip up a batch of BanaBerry Muffins to have for breakfast tomorrow. I will post the recipe for them when I review them to see if it is worth typing up 🙂
Have a great Friday all ~ I cannot wait for the weekend to begin! I have a feeling tomorrow will fly by because we are having Whole Foods Friday where our lunch is catered by Whole Foods…..Ummmm, Yeah, I can’t wait for that either!!!
Night all!
we had similar nights! sun dried pasta lovin and some baking! but all your stuff looks way better 😛
Wow, your Mexican Taco meal looks SOOOO good. How funny, I was just eating chips and salsa…yes, at 12:05am. lol I went to the farm today to pick up some fruits/veggies (first time there) and they were selling these tortilla chips – the only ingredients were “corn, vegitable oil, salt, lime” so I figured I had to get them. I had some fam over and ended up getting rid of most of them – they ate them – but of course, I had to dig into them at this hour. It was worth it.
Is that banana ice cream really that good? It sure LOOKS good. I visited the girls website – the raw, vegan one – pretty interesting creations. I am going to have to try this ice cream!
I was just looking for a recipe like this! You read my mind. It looks incredible. Thanks for sharing hun and hope you have a wonderful Friday! 🙂
Take care and be well.
I have made the frozen banana ice cream with just banana’s but that looks so good. I have to make it!
I got the recipe in my e-mail for that pasta dish yesterday as well it looked good but I made some mexican deal instead. I have to know make that pasta dish because it looks so great.
I am jealous its 80 degrees there I live for the warm weather.
I love making banana ice cream! It is truly amazing how fluffy and creamy it gets. I like the idea of making it into a sundae too. 🙂
Danica, that pasta dish looks great.. I want to try that for sure.. and 1 cup only being 4 points? wowza…. i’m a carb loving girl all the way and that garlic bread looks heavenly.. i should try to make my own garlic bread and see if i can make it ‘healthier.’
Just how big is that 1 point W/W bar? It looks DEEE-LISH… but I usually avoid buying ww bars because they tend to be so tiny and don’t do much for my ravenous appetite!
OH! and I’m sure your muffins are weight watchers friendly as well.. I’d love to get that recipe. They look so big too. I’m always looking for a change for breakfast rather than the same old oats!
I saw another blogger make a frozen banana “ice cream” dish too…I gotta make that soon! Yours looked VERY pretty too! 🙂 hehe
That pasta salad looked good!! Im all about a BIG portion form as little points as possible. SO 2 C for 8 pts is a WINNER! lol Sad, but I like to feel like I have a LOT of food on my plate.
YUM! The pasta and garlic bread look awesome! Loving the banana “ice cream”. I totally need to make some! Everyone’s doing it…. 😉
Can’t wait to hear about the muffins, they look delish!
OH GOD i’m am totally bouncing up and down in my chair at work right now…i looooove this post!! (Why the hell do i keeps saying this?? I swear I only say it to you all the time without even realizing it. I think this means i found the right blog to follow. hahahaha
FIRST Of all, you are the only blogger who has made me LITERALLY want to try banana soft serve. I know everyone talks about it, but you just made it seem to easy and so delicious!!
And…dang. Dinner is awesome!!! I didn’t know TJ’s had veggie pasta in multi-colors. i love eating colorful food, I feel like a kid again. heheh I’ll be certainly looking out for those this weekend!!!
P.s. THANK YOU so much for your tips on signing up for races. I so appreciate your email and it gave me A LOT to think about. I actually had a big discussion with my bf that night. hehehe My conclusion is that i’ll definitely start with a 5k or 8k before jumping on anything more!!
danica! your mexican meals always look so flipping tasty……i am starving so i am trying to lick the computer screen. um, ok, not really but too bad we dont have at least scratch and sniff screens…..ha! now theres a concept.
the banana ice cream looks heavenly. i have seen this recipe but have yet to try…..and nobody ever said banana icecream was bad for breakfast!!!! lol……
enjoy your weekend. :o)
Healthy banana sundae!! Ahhh so yummy!
And I love pasta- that recipe looks incredible! As does the garlic bread- TJ’s never fails to please, does it??
xo
K
Wow, that healthy banana sundae sounds delicious! I must try that ASAP!
Definitely saving that recipe, it looks and sounds delicious!
Cojito cheese – drool! I couldn’t agree with you more — I’m all about the authentic tacos and not the Tex Mex stuff – bleck!
That banana soft serve/ice cream looks amazing! I’m definitely trying that!
yummmm the muffins look deeeeeeelicious…Will keep looking for the receipe and see how point friendly they may be…I definitely would make them
Thanks
Carol
Hi Carol,
Here is the recipe and I updated it for the points+ values too 🙂
http://danicasdaily.com/banana-berry-muffins-wf-friday-fun/
Danica
After seeing that banana ice cream, I went into my freezer & found frozen bananas! I sliced one up & whipped it up into a delicious dessert!!! OMG I have a new favorite & I had it plain I can not believe it is zero points plus! Thanks for sharing!!!