Strawberry-Watermelon Frozen Yogurt

Strawberry-Watermelon Frozen Yogurt

I have been on a frozen yogurt kick recently. Partly because I bought a whole ton on sale. And partly because I dropped my ice cream maker and broke the cover. Which was a major tragedy and the week it has taken to get my replacement lid has been an eternity given the 95+ degree temperatures. Since my experiments with chocolate ice cream made without my beloved ice cream maker produced an ice cream that was OK, but not fantastic, frozen yogurt seemed like a good idea. You could probably toss this in an ice cream maker, but the resulting frozen yogurt has a great texture as is - as long as you eat it soft or semi-soft. If it freezes too long it becomes very hard and can be trickier to soften than ice cream. If you want to make it in advance, consider using some higher fat yogurt for a creamier consistency. If you do not have frozen fruit you can use several ice cubes with fresh fruit. I freeze my own fruit, but if you can find frozen melon and berries (without added sugar) you can certainly use them.

1/2 cup frozen watermelon cubes (23 calories, 0.5 grams protein)
1/3 cup frozen sliced strawberries (16 calories, 0.3 grams protein)
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt (120 calories, 21.25 grams protein)
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (for testing we used Unjury Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (50 calories, 10 grams protein)
1 tablespoon sugar substitute (for testing we used liquid Splenda and liquid Stevia) Dash salt

Add the watermelon and strawberries to a blender or food processor and whirl until the fruit is pulverized. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until the mixture is thick and smooth. Scoop into a bowl and serve immediately, or freeze for up to an hour before enjoying.

Makes 1 serving.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

209 calories, 32 grams protein

Chocolate "Super Fudge" Pudding

The first month post-op this pudding - or the frozen pudding pops - were a total lifesaver. When I mix up a batch of pudding I typically will package some of the mixed pudding in 1-ounce and 3-ounce containers and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you package the pudding in these smaller containers it will chill and set in 5-10 minutes. I make two sizes of pudding pops. The first is in a typical 3-ounce ice pop mold and the second is a "baby" 1-ounce mold. Before I purchased the molds I just used a 1-ounce medicine cup with a sturdy toothpick stuck in it, but I now make so many of pudding pops and ice pops that the plastic and silicone molds are much handier and environmentally friendlier. (They are also easier to handle and a lot less messy!)

1 4-serving package sugar free chocolate pudding (for testing we used Better Bowls Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding (160 calories, 12 grams protein)
1 scoop unflavored or chocolate protein powder (for testing we used Unjury Chocolate Splendor Whey Protein Powder (100 calories, 20 grams protein)
1/4 cup dry skim milk (60 calories, 6 grams protein)
2 cups skim milk (172 calories, 16.8 grams protein)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together the dry ingredients until well blended. Slowly whisk in the milk and stir until well mixed. Add the vanilla and mix until well-incorporated. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before serving. The mixture can also be poured into small cups or ice pop molds and froze for at least three hours before eating.

Makes 18 servings (about 1 ounce each)

492 calories, 54.8 grams protein
27.3 calories, 3 grams protein

Dark Chocolate Protein Ice Cream

Dark Chocolate Protein Ice Cream

This ice cream has a dark, rich, chocolate flavor and creamy consistency that I adore! I typically use the Chocolate Splendor protein powder by Unjury, but any chocolate protein powder that you like should work. You can use skim milk or low fat soy milk, but the ice cream will not be as rich and will be closer to ice milk in consistency. I use an ice cream maker for mine, but if you do not have one you can make it without an ice cream maker - it just will not be as creamy. And quite frankly, no where near as good! If you do not want to use an ice cream maker, make sure you mix it in a blender or with a mixer to get it light and fluffy and stir it every 20-30 minutes as it is freezing until it is too hard to stir. I use the Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa, but you can use any unsweetened cocoa you like. The Hershey's Dark unsweetened cocoa makes an even darker ice cream, but I like the flavor of the Ghiardelli better, personally. You can eat this right out of the ice cream maker for a very soft serve, place it in the freezer for a few minutes for a more traditional soft serve style, or for an hour for a hard ice cream. However, due to the lack of sugar this ice cream does become quite hard in the freezer due to the lack of sugar. You can take it out a little bit ahead of time to soften, or do so quickly by microwaving for 10-20 seconds at half power.

2 scoops chocolate protein powder (for testing we used Unjury Chocolate Splendor Whey Protein Powder (200 calories, 40 grams protein)
1 cup full fat vanilla or regular soy milk or 2% or regular milk (for testing we used soy milk) (131 calories, 8 grams of protein)
1 tablespoon Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa (15 calories, 1 gram protein)
2 packets Truvia or Splenda (or your favorite artificial sweetener) (5 calories)
2 tablespoons chocolate sugar free syrup (Torani or DaVinci)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash salt

Whisk together all of the ingredients well. Put the freezer bowl in the ice cream maker. Insert the beater and cover with the lid. Turn on the machine and slowly pour in the chocolate mixture. After fifteen minutes, scape the sides of the bowl and turn back on and stir for another 10-15 minutes, or until the ice cream is soft-serve style. Spoon out with a soft spatula or spoon. Eat immediately, or place in freezer-safe containers.

Makes 4 servings.
12.25 grams of protein, 88 calories per serving