New Favorite Frozen Treats

I now live in a place that is hot at lot of the year, and where most don`t have a lot of extra money to spare. So cheap frozen treats, many of which can be made at home, are very popular here. In fact, lots of people make them at home and stick a sign in their front window announcing that they are selling them, from anywhere from 20 to 50 cents. One of the nice things about making these yourself is that you can control portion size and how healthy it is (or not).

So, I thought I`d share a few of my favorites with you, in the order I tried them.

Bollos (pronounced boy-ohs)
Ok, so the idea here is to use your blender to basically make a smoothie, and then freeze it in a plastic baggie that has been knotted closed. Any fruit, mixed with a little water and sugar to taste. Or you can make milk-based ones - chocolate flavored or with fruit and a bit of sugar to taste. I happen to enjoy the milk-based banana flavor. Like I said, pour it in a plastic baggie and knot it closed. A few hours later, take it out, bite or cut off one corner, and eat it kind of like you would a freeze pop.
One time, I really wanted a bollo, but didn`t have baggies. So I made chocolate milk (with a little vanilla yogurt to thicken my skim milk a bit) in a coffee mug, and stuck it in the feezer. An hour or 2 later, due in part to my impatience and in part to wanting to be sure I could eat it out of the coffee mug, I took it out partially frozen. It was remarkable like a W`s Frosty! Yumm! And I am pretty sure much healthier.

Chocobananas
This is simply a frozen, chocolate covered banana. They sell chocolate here expressly for this purpose - it kind of reminds me the kind of chololate you would use for chocolate fondue or a chocolate fountain. But I think basically any easy to melt chocolate would work. Ususally these are made with half a banana, cuz it is easier to work with and generally satisfies you. So, simply cut your bananas in half, and stick a popsicle/craft stick or fork or something similar in the cut end to hold it by. Then spoon the chocolate over it (it seems to stick to the banana better if you spoon it over than if you dip the banana in it), and freeze. Ready to eat in about an hour. Tip : Freeze on a plastic plate or top of a Tupperware or something similarly flexible, as it is easier to get them off the plate afterwards.

Frozen Yogurt
Ok, so here they say paleta, but that basically means any variety of popsicle. So I thought I`d be more specific. Don`t know why it never occurred to me to simply freeze yogurt before, but it is a new favorite of mine. I follow my sister-in-laws advice and just mix in a little milk before pouring into old but washed individual yogurt containers (you could any small plastic cup), and sticking in a popsicle stick or spoon (plastic works). Freeze a few hours and enjoy! Tip: to get it out of the plastic cup, you want to warm the outside of the cup until the frozen yogurt slides out.