Yonanas!

I joined Weight Watchers (WW) online a week ago and am down 7.4 Ibs in my first week.  As a belated Christmas gift to myself, and incentive to stay on plan (fruits are 0 points), I ran out and bought the Yonanas Frozen Dessert Maker, for the post holiday sale price of $39.00 (regular $69).

Here's my Yonanas machine, still in the box, with the Christmas tree in the background. The machine is made by Dole, and it advertises that it uses frozen fruit to make a soft serve ice cream like dessert.

Yonanas Frozen Desert Maker

 I love icecream, and I love banana ice cream so I couldn't wait to try it.  I could only find green bananas though, so had to resort to buying frozen bags of fruit.  I decided to start with frozen bananas and strawberries, as the booklet that came with the machine recommends using bananas to get the creamy consistency.

Yonans and frozen fruit.

 The directions said to let the frozen fruit thaw for 5-15 minutes.  I chose 5 minutes, lol.

Yonanas "ice cream"

 You basically toss the fruit into the chute, turn the machine on, and depress the plunger, pushing down until the fruit comes out of the bottom.

Yonanas creamy goodness.

The result; a creamy, fruity dessert that looks and feels like icecream, and tastes great, but not sugary or sweet like icecream.  The first spoonful was a shock because my brain was expecting sugar and fat and got fruit.  After a few spoons, it was heavenly, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I bowl of frozen fruit made enough for two servings, so I gave half to my dad (my half is pictured in the bowl above).

The machine is really easy to use, and it's tempting to eat the fruit cream as soon as you make it, but I learned it's important to take the machine apart before eating, because a good half serving of icecream gets left behind in the grinder area.  It's super simple to scoop that creamy goodness into your bowl before rinsing the parts in hot water.  Clean up takes seconds, a definite plus.

I've had Yonanas frozen desserts 4 times this past week, and enjoyed every time.  I tried just frozen bananas (didn't care for the taste but it was super creamy), bananas and strawberries (love), bananas and mixed berries (love), and bananas and strawberries with a spoon of hot chocolate mix swirled in (love).  The yonanas website has loads of recipes that I can't wait to try.

You can get your own machine at Walmart, or online if anyone is interested:
Yonanas Frozen Desert Maker on Amazon

I really love mine and would recommend it to anyone who loves icecream, and bananas.  If you don't love bananas you can still use frozen fruit without bananas.  The result is less creamy, but still good.  If you're on WW...it's zero points for a yummy, healthy dessert!

Holiday Crochet

I crocheted a LOT this holiday season, lol.

My brother's girlfriend...now fiance...asked me to crochet two white owls, so I made these little can cozies for her.  Her color scheme was red and white so I used red eyes; otherwise i would have used black eyes.

Crocheted owl can cozies.

 I love the way these crocheted guinea pigs came out. I ended up keeping them.  I was going to give the tan and white one to Mac, who stole it 3 times, but I ended up buying him a stuffed dog instead. I  figured it would be sturdier because the yarn on the crocheted piggies is very thin after brushing them to get this furry effect.

Crocheted guinea pigs.

 I made these mug hug cup cozies for just about everyone I know.  I put herbal teas in some, chocolates in others, and diabetic candies in several. They were bright and cheery and everyone loved them.

Crocheted mug hugs.

 My aunt was diagnosed with a brain tumor suddenly, right before Christmas, so I made her this cape in her favorite color, to take to the hospital.  My Mom is modeling it for me in these pics.

Crocheted cape.

 I used special soft yarn that I found at Michaels, and a sparkly broach at the top, because my aunt loves sparkles. I told her when she wears it, to imagine she's getting a warm hug from me.

Crocheted cape.

 I made the cape quite large; large enough to be used as a throw when it's open.

Crocheted cape.

 It looks like something Elvis would wear when my Mom extends her arms like that, lol.

Crocheted cape.

Belated Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Weight loss!

Happy 2015!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and the New Year is treating you well.

I joined Weight Watchers online last week, and today was my first weigh in.  I'm down 7.4 Ibs!  I have a LOT more to go, but I"m off to a good start.

We had a nice Christmas here.  The dogs and birds were very happy with their gifts, and so were my parents (for once, lol).

Mac helping Ben with his gift, lol.

Mom, Mac, and Ben.

Mom and Dad by the tree.

Dad opening his new Keurig, Mom holding her gift (ipod).

Smokey opening her gift.

Noel with his gift behind him (yellow and red).

My Dad loved his new Keurig 3000.  He set it up in the basement recroom, next to his recliner by the fireplace, and he is happily making single serve coffees every night without having to come upstairs, lol. 

Mom said she liked her new ipod but she still insisted on listening to the old radio rather than the 400 songs she picked out for me to download.  Today I had to literally shut the radio off and put the ipod on her and she's been listening happily for 4 hours...with one ear.  The other earbud is tucked down her shirt, lol.  Turns out she was worried about having music directly in her ear and not being able to hear other things.

Smokey loves her new musical toy, and the button she presses the most plays a song with these lyrics: "The birds sing tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet.  It sounds really neat, tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet. She chuckles every time she hears that, lol, and sometimes says, "tweet-tweet" herself.  She's so funny.  Noel is still afraid of his new toy but it always takes him awhile to get used to new things.  He's enjoying his bird food treats though. 

The dogs were happy to have 2 gift bags each under the tree, as well as 1 gift bag each by the fireplace, in lieu of stockings (the stockings usually get ripped to shreds).