The problem for someone like me (and Joe, I would add) trying to do a healthy eating plan such as “Eat to Live” is that we are dessert people!  No, we’re not “dessert, people!” Dessert-people.

The hardest part of this plan for me has been the committment to not eat typical desserts which are high in sugar and fat, and sometimes other funky addititives if they’re store bought. The first 2 weeks I decided the thing that would break me would be chocolate-dipped oreos. Then J-Max brought home (from Nursery, at church) a little treat of…(drum roll)…chocolate dipped oreos!  Seriously!  What are the chances? It was supposed to be a Father’s Day gift for the daddies of the nursery children.

(By the way, I’m not opposed to these kinds of tokens. I don’t think I’ll ever be one of those people who feel upset that most things gifted as a token of love or appreciation are food items, usually sweets. It’s a part of our culture, and I totally understand the desire and intent of the gift. I think it’s nice, even if it’s something I’ve decided not to eat.)

All of this is to say that without something indulgent to eat, I’m sure I would have failed with this diet the first week.

I’ve always had a hard time thinking of fruit as dessert. Come on!  Really? Chocolate is dessert. Ice cream is dessert. A baked good that is made with butter and brown sugar is a dessert. Fruit? Not a dessert.

So I decided that I wasn’t going to look at fruit as a dessert replacement, because it was too poor of a replacement for me. Same thing for me with tofu. I’ve never been able to look at tofu as a meat replacement, because it is NOTHING like meat. And I love tofu! I’ve cooked with tofu for the last 12 years, while also eating lots of meat. Tofu is tofu, not meat. Fruit is fruit, not a decadent chocolate dessert.

Here’s what I decided: fruit would not necessarily be a dessert, but it would be something sweet and juicy and yummy, and for that purpose it was satisfying. It wouldn’t satisfy my craving for chocolate by having the same taste and texture as chocolate desserts, but it would deliver a quick rush of sweetness and wholesomeness to my body, and that was good too.

In Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live book, there is a recipe for “Banana Fluff”. I scoffed at this. It sounded totally lame.

LAME.

It is not lame. I was wrong.

It. is. amazing.

I think I am officially a dork who now thinks that fruit is like dessert. Do you hate me? I almost hate myself. Except I don’t, because I feel so healthy and happy!

Here is how you make it (perfect for overly ripe bananas that look disgusting to eat plain, but regular bananas are excellent too).

Banana Fluff (from Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman)

Peel bananas, put them in the freezer for at least one day (I stuff them into a zip lock baggie, often breaking them into halves).

One banana per serving:

1/4 cup almond milk (or soy, or whatever you have)

1 frozen banana, sliced in to smaller slices (easy to slice while it’s frozen!)

a dash of vanilla extract

Using a food processor with the S blade (and I think a blender would work fine too), blend milk and drop in frozen banana slices one at a time. Add vanilla. Blend until smooth, not too long, but long enough to get most of the frozen pieces blended.

Eat up!

Sometimes if I’m having a bad craving day, I’ll have this twice: in the middle of the day, and again after the kids are in bed. Yep, I’m a total dork, because this tastes indulgent to me!