I’m a picky eater, and most of the foods I don’t like are ones that shock people, such as ice cream and chocolate. When I look for cold summer treats, I look to either popsicles or sherbet most of the time, but both can be really expensive when buying them at the grocery store. If you’re looking for natural or healthier alternatives such as 100% fruit bars, they easily go for $4 per box and you only get a handful of treats, so we rarely buy those.
The Yonanas Machine is a great alternative to the expensive options I mentioned above. To use the Yonanas machine you simply freeze the fruit of your choice (bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc) and then melt them a little bit (either let them sit on the counter for 5 minutes or pop them in the microwave for a few seconds) then you turn on the Yonanas machine and push the fruit through the spout. If you use bananas alone or mixed with other foods, then you get a soft service ice-cream like texture. This isn’t to say that the product tastes like ice cream, though as it doesn’t. The booklet that comes with Yonanas says to microwave foods for 20 seconds to thaw them enough but we found that for our microwave this was too long and we have since put them in for just 10 seconds but this will vary depending on your microwave.
Just bananas yonanas
It’s recommended that you use two bananas for an adult serving, but we found that this was a bit much for us and we have instead used 3 bananas for 2 people or roughly 1.5 bananas per person. For me, I felt that the “just bananas” yonanas is yummy, but it’s basically cold banana baby food, which is a little bland when eating a small bowl full. However, by adding a few strawberries with the banana, I thought it tasted great. Ryan prefers just bananas, though.
Strawberry & Banana Yonanas
I also tried using just strawberries without bananas to see how it would be, and was surprised that the texture isn’t much different than the straight bananas. It definitely has a bit more of a rough texture, but it’s quite similar and I really enjoyed them as well.
There are only two improvements that I could think of. One downside is that you lose a lot of the food because it gets stuck in the machine. The first time you put a banana through, roughly half of it gets stuck inside the machine and then after that, most of what you put in will come back out. Also, because of this you will want to clean the machine as soon as you’re done making yonanas, because if you let it sit, the bananas will melt and then drip out onto the counter. However, It’s a fairly easy fix because you can disassemble the machine, remove the rubber ring and then scrape the inside with a spoon to get the rest of the food out. The other downside is the machine is quite loud, even 3-4 rooms away you can clearly hear the machine when it’s going and it’s impossible to talk to someone while the machine is on in the same room.
The machine is really easy to assemble and disassemble, and everything except for the main portion of the machine is able to go in the dishwasher.
As a couponer and deal seeker, I love how cost effective the Yonanas machine is. My local supermarket has a discount produce rack that often has yellow or “speckled” bananas, strawberries for 1.50 or less per pound, as well as other fruits at clearance prices. Seems how the yonanas machine uses frozen fruit, I can buy these “completely ripe” or perhaps slightly overripe fruits and as long as I freeze them once we get home, they work great for the yonanas machine. So if you’re in the habit of buying pre-made frozen treats, and can switch to using cheap produce and the yonanas machine, it could save you money over time. We’ve found ourselves using the machine at least once a week and are really pleased with it overall. I’m excited to try other fruits in it as I find other things on sale.
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Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
This post currently has 4 responses.
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That looks really cool! I’m always trying to get my older son to eat more fruit and this would give me a great way to make it a treat for him! Thanks for sharing – I’m going to have to go check it out!
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That is so awesome! I make banana ice cream in the blender all the time, but this would definitely make it a lot easier:)
That looks like it would really come in handy in the summer! Buying frozen treats can be expensive & this way you can make your own all natural frozen snacks.