Getting your just desserts...

I'm a big fan of dessert. Who isn't? Okay, I'm sure that out there somewhere is some Freak of Nature who doesn't like dessert, but I haven't met him. I assume it would be a him. Chicks like cake.

I'm also a fan of trying my best to eat well, and getting "my boys" as I refer to Mister and Moose to eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible. Here's the problem with Mister: he's not a picky eater at all, but he completely lacks the ability to make a good food choice. He is only able to choose the easiest food, the path of least resistance. So if he wants something sweet, he *could* be satisfied with an apple, but only if you first wash it and cut it up for him and make it easy to eat. If he walked up to the kitchen counter, and there was an apple and a Twinkie right next to each other, he'd take the Twinkie because it's easier. He will eat healthy food if I prepare it and set it in front of him, but he will not seek it out on his own.

Enter: The Sneaky Chef. This book, along with copycat Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious were two of my "Merry Christmas To Me, From Me" presents this year. I've only tried out a few of the recipes, but so far everything has been YUM and the ideas have provided me with a culinary springboard into trying my own new tricks.

One of the recipes in The Sneaky Chef is "Say Yes to Sorbet". Like that's difficult. I will say yes to any frozen dessert, won't you? This little gem of a trick is so yummy!

1/2 c fruit juice
1 1/2 c frozen fruit

Put in food processor, puree. It's rough going at first, but hang on tight and ride it out. Let your food processor earn its keep. It takes up a lot of space on the counter! Pour into serving dishes, serve.

Yeah, that easy. And here's what I found - if you process it long enough in the food processor, it incorporates sufficient air into the mix that you can actually freeze it and it comes out like store bought sorbet. Knowing this, tonight I substituted milk for the fruit juice and added frozen strawberries, a dash of vanilla and a sprinkle of stevia. Oh yeah, strawberry ice cream. So good! It's in the freezer for tomorrow's dessert...if it lasts that long. I mean, I am a SAHM. And a girl's gotta eat sometime. Next I'm going to do pineapple and coconut (pina coladas, anybody?). Or cherry "ice cream" with chocolate chips. Are you drooling yet?

What I love most about this recipe is that I control exactly what's in it. There is no added sugar (well, unless I do that chocolate chip one). There's no high fructose corn syrup and no FD&C red #40. The sorbet is all just fruit and juice. For my first sorbet, I used Odwalla Mango Tango juice/puree blend as liquid and frozen mango and pineapple chunks. No sugar, no emulsifiers, no fat. All just delicious fruity goodness. I can't see a reason for buying store bought ice cream, sherbet or sorbet again!

Mister thinks I should try to make spinach sorbet. I think I'll skip that idea, and save the spinach for his next batch of brownies. What he don't know won't hurt him! ;)