Kitchen Tip Tuesdays

Everyone has a sweet tooth that needs to be "filled" on a consistent basis. During the cooler outside temps it is easy to just turn on the oven and heat the house up and bake our favorite chocolate concoctions. :) However, during the summer months turning on the oven makes the house turn into a sauna....so here are some no bake summer treats!


Lemonade Ice Cream Sandwiches

1-1/2 cups reduced-fat vanilla ice cream, softened

1-3/4 teaspoons sugar-free lemonade soft drink mix

2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup reduced-fat whipped topping

8 whole graham crackers, halved

Place the ice cream in a bowl. Dissolve lemonade mix in water; stir into ice cream. Fold in whipped topping. Freeze for 20 minutes or until mixture reaches desired consistency. Spread about 3 tablespoonfuls onto eight graham cracker halves; top with remaining crackers. Wrap individually in foil or plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 1 hour. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1 ice cream sandwich equals 106 calories, 3 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 3 mg cholesterol, 106 mg sodium, 17 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 2 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fat.


Banana Pops (I found this one at Living On A Dime a while ago, and I don't remember exactly but I think it was in one of their e-books or newsletters that I received.)

Slice bananas into disks

Roll banana discs into PLAIN yogurt (you can use vanilla yogurt, but I used plain because that's what the recipe said, and that was back in my super healthy days)

Add any kind of topping you wish. We rolled our disks in chopped pecans. I know that's expensive, but we love pecans so much. After freezing these we ate them AND YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE THE TASTE! It was like eating a frozen candy bar. Okay, maybe not that good, but they were sweet and refreshing, and I didn't have to put a limit on how many the kids could eat.

Other toppings that work well: chopped raisins, granola, any kind of nut (cashew, peanuts, almonds), peanut butter (this would be without the yogurt), and of course, melted chocolate or chocolate chips.

My son is not a fan of bananas, but he really liked this treat. You can even eat them plain. Oh, yeah, another topping we did was a cinnamon/sugar mixture. Believe it or not, it was good too! I will warn you that it's messy because of the yogurt. And super messy if the kids help! But you don't have the guilt of giving them something unhealthy, and it's a cheap "popsicle."


Peanut Butter "Toffee"
This is a recipe that I concocted using up some things I had in my pantry for a quick treat for my kids!

I melted some Hershey's chocolate bars. While the bars were melting in the microwave, I take saltines and lined a plate with them and then spread them with peanut butter and then took my melted chocolate and poured it over them and then set them in the freezer til the chocolate was firm. Then I broke them apart and ate! Yummy!

What are your favorite summer time desserts??

Feeling like being a little more adventurous, you can try my No-Bake Cheesecake or my Lunch Box Dessert--Layered Pudding Cups!

For more kitchen tips, ideas or resources---head over to Tammy's Recipes!!!