Roasted Banana PB&J Pops (Only 41 Calories!)

It was a rainy, gloomy day here in dirty Jersey. Nothing but fog and mist in the air along with excitement and gratefulness in my heart. The intense training session this morning left my mind feeling stronger, but my body feeling sore. Not sore enough to keep me from my first day volunteering at a church in a veryy long time. For a long time I felt I had no positive energy to share, or maybe I was just being plain selfish, but the "woe is me" period is over. Making positive changes in my life included sharing my happiness and helping those around me. I'm not sure how I feel about sharing my experience today, although it was an amazing experience that filled a small part of me that felt like it had been missing since I last volunteered, I do it because it feels right, not to brag about on the web. I think I would feel more comfortable sharing the details when I am officially part of their family =]

Last night I had my usual sweet tooth cravings. Although it isn't Spring yet, I have always loved popsicles at any time of the year. Most "paleta" (Spanish for popsicles) recipes contain crazy amounts of sugar, or are low calorie thanks to the artificial sweetening. But I wasn't exactly in the mood to pump any extra chemicals into my body. I have experimented with using raspberry tea to sweeten dessert recipes before, and thought it might be interesting to reduce blueberries and combine both flavors. As much as I didn't want to incorporate any additional calories, the mixture did lack sweetness. So in the agave nectar went, much better alternative than sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Now the banana part was tricky. How could I make it taste unique without becoming too overpowering. Why roast it of course! A bit of organic peanut butter and there you have it. Roasted Banana PB&J Pops, or you can just call them the most mind blowing PB&J pops you've ever had! Now my popsicle mold makes 4 large popsicles, but I had some left over blueberry juice, not much but enough to make one whole blueberry raspberry tea pop, or you may choose to reduce the mixture some more for a dessert topping. Best part is... only 41 calories per popsicle! Use a smaller mold to make them even more guilt free. Enjoy! =]
P.S. Took some work out photos this week to add to the "Fitness Routine" page, stay tuned!

Roasted Banana PB&J Pops

41 calories

1.1 grams of fat

8 grams of carbs

.9 grams of fiber

.7 grams of protein

Vitamin B-6  7.4%

Vitamin C  5.6%

• 1 1/2 cups of boiled water
• 2 individual bags of raspberry tea
• 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries
• 2/3 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of agave nectar
• 1 banana
• .5 tablespoon of organic peanut butter

1. Pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Take the 1 1/2 cups of boiled water, place in a bowl with the 2 raspberry tea bags and allow to absorb for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. In a small pot boil 2/3 cups of water with blueberries on high heat, mashing as soon as they become soft. Boil for about 15-20 minutes until it becomes a thicker consistency. Remove from heat, add agave nectar and set aside to cool.
4. Once it has cooled, combine the raspberry tea and blueberry reduction and fill each popsicle mold 1/3 of the way, place in freezer 
5. Now you may place a whole banana (still in it's skin) on a small sheet tray in the oven for 20 minutes. You may choose to do this while you are making the blueberry reduction.
6. When the banana is cool enough to open, remove the skin and place the banana into a bowl, mash it as much as you can, then mix in the peanut butter until combined. 
7. Keep the molds in the freezer for 45-60 minutes so that they harden enough but don't freeze entirely. Then add the banana, filling about another 1/3 of each mold, and let freeze for 30-45 minutes.
8. Now the final layer, add the remaining blueberry reduction, and freeze for at least 3 hours or until completely frozen before consuming. You will have left over blueberry reduction (which you can reduce more for a dessert topping) but who says that's a bad thing? =]