After Dinner Snacks.
This may come as a shock, but there is not an endless supply of cookies, cakes and treats in this house. Trust me, you would be disappointed. Most people are.
This is probably a good thing since there is a lot of one thing in this house: snacking. You might think I’m exaggerating when I tell you that Mr. How Sweet eats 8 or 10 meals a day… but I’m not. I wish I was. Oh… I so wish I was. But that guy never stops eating.
Unless we eat a very filling dinner, there is always room for dessert or a snack. For Mr. How Sweet, this usually happens precisely 7 seconds after he has taken his last bite of steak. And his snacks are boring. They usually consist of a few handfuls of these:
Because according to Mr. How Sweet, pretzels are “like air and don’t have calories.” Fair enough. I also think that snack is quite age appropriate for him, since my dad snacks on them too.
Pretzels are not my snack of choice. In fact, I really don’t ever eat pretzels because they are dry and plain and not my thing unless doused in chocolate and toffee bits. Then I’ll fight you for them.
So when it comes to after-dinner snacks for me, I need something fun. I really am not the kind of girl who likes to eat one small square of chocolate and go on my merry way. Â I prefer something with more texture and flavor, even if it means adding a piece of fruit. Â Something like… a big banana blizzard.
This is the one blog trend where I jumped on the bandwagon and absolutely refuse to get off. Perhaps it’s my love for bananas. Or my love for making Mr. How Sweet clean the ginormous food processor each night.
But I love banana soft serve. This is odd, because I don’t like ice cream. I mean, it’s okay. It’s far down on the list of desserts I’d choose. I don’t like ice cream from a carton at all. I like it freshly scooped, but even then I need it to have tons of goodies swirled throughout with lots of chunks and crunchiness. And I also don’t like foods at extreme temperatures. Except for this. Oh, and mudslides and margaritas.
I get bored pretty quickly, but have been eating this for over a year and am not sick of it yet. Hallelujah!
For my favorite combination, all of this goes into the food processor:
- frozen bananas, obviously
- chocolate chips
- peanut butter chips
- coconut
- sea salt
- vanilla extract
- salted pecans
And I chop the heck out of it so everything is in small bits, but still crunchy.
Doesn’t it look good?
And doesn’t this look better?
Yes, I cover it with melted White Chocolate Wonderful (and more chocolate chips) and go to town. It’s filling and I get to eat a lot. And it’s fruit, which means it’s super healthy. Sort of like chocolate-covered strawberries or apple pie.
That is just a peek at what goes on after dinner most nights. And in case you’re wondering, tonight we had stromboli that exploded in the oven and it was fabulous.
What are your go-to after dinner snacks? And if it includes vegetables, I don’t want to know.
76 Comments on “After Dinner Snacks.”
When I was training for the Chicago marathon, I was addicted to pretzels. I don’t know if my body was craving the salt or what, it was weird. Now if I’m wanting salt I try to make popcorn on the stove. The fiber fills me UP!
Your banana soft serve looks way prettier than mine ever did. I liked it when I made it (just plain), but real ice cream still rules…I can’t trick myself :)
Oh my goodness Jessica this looks phenomenal. I HAVE to try this sometime !
I need volume in dessert too. I usually do yogurt, pudding, fresh fruit, cereal, chocolate chips, and cool whip….mmmmm cool whip
but yours? wow…much better
I definitely do the banana, nut butter and chocolate chip thing, now I see that I really really need a food processor! But my go-to after dinner sweet snack is sorbet with chocolate chips. My favorite flavors are passion fruit, lemon, and blackberry cabernet, which really and truly tastes like wine and is heavenly. I love the soft melty sorbet mixed with the crunch of dark chocolate chips.
Oh, I’ve been a night-time snacker my whole life! My mom and I have always loved enjoying a delicious meal together…then digging into something else while watching our favorite tv shows just a few hours later! Going to bed on an empty stomach is not our thang :)
When home, “baked apples” are a definite go-to (for both of us!)…we’ll just toss a chopped, cinnamon-sprinkled apple in the microwave for 90 seconds or so, then top it with tj’s sunflower seed butter and granola or crushed graham crackers. So freaking good! And at school, tj’s popcorn w/ cinnamon and carob chips is always easy, orrr lately–kashi crackers spread with some peanut butter & honey, or laughing cow cheese and pumpkin butter. Love.
Ps, your softserve creation DOES look delicious. I would have jumped on that bandwagon a looong time ago if I had a food processor!!
Meeker eats a bowl of cereal after every.single.meal. Usually fruity pebbles, but sometimes coco puffs – he’s 5. I like to eat fruit after dinner…
This looks really good! Where did you get your cute bowls? Love those too! Now I need to get some bananas in the freezer so that I can try it! Thanks!
That bowl is from Anthropologie.
Holy crap this is delicious! Eating it right now . . . heaven!!! Thanks :)
Isn’t it?! Glad you like it!
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