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Old 12-14-2011, 01:59 PM   #1  
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Smile Has anyone tried Yonanas?

I'm seriously not trying to spam the place with a commercial product, but OMG, have any of you ever tried Yonanas? It's a kitchen appliance that sort of grinds frozen fruit into a yummy, creamy texture similar to soft serve ice cream. Most of the recipes require frozen bananas as a base in order to provide that creamy texture, but I've found that frozen peaches work pretty well too. You can add berries, dates, grapes, melon, pineapple, whatever sounds good. I'm pretty new with this so I'm still experimenting. This morning I made some with bananas, peaches, and strawberries, and when it was done I stirred in some plain greek yogurt and walnuts. The best part is that your using all natural, nutritious whole foods with no need to add sugar for it to taste great.

I love my smoothies but this has been a great change of pace, it's almost like getting to eat guilt-free ice cream! I'm still watching my portions though.
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Old 12-14-2011, 02:06 PM   #2  
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If you take a frozen banana and put it into a food processor it does the same thing.
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Old 12-14-2011, 05:07 PM   #3  
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I just saw this the other day for the first time. I was intrigued. But at the same time, like munchie said, you could do it at home in a food processor or magic bullet. But if you like it and it helps you, that is all that matters.
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Old 12-14-2011, 05:24 PM   #4  
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I just saw this in the store the other week. Had never heard of it. I was quite tempted to buy one. Didn't but am still thinking about it. Does it make the fruit smooth and creamy, like a soft-serve ice cream? I know it says it does but I was skeptical about it . . .

I don't have a food processor so this might be a good idea to help curb the sweet tooth. I freeze bananas all the time and use a blender to make smoothies but to get that 'creamy' texture I usually have to add yogurt and/or protein powder. It'd be great to get that texture using fruit alone.
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Old 12-14-2011, 06:20 PM   #5  
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I personally love the Bullet style blenders, because your blender cup is also your serving cup. Much less mess. Before that, I used the food processor attachment that came with my immersion blender.

I puree all sorts of frozen fruit into soft-serve style treats all the time. My favorite is strawberry sorbet with frozen strawberries and a splash of sugar free soft drink (Crystal Light lemonade, diet Mountain Dew or Sprite, or my favorite - the lime margarita sugar free drink mix at Target).

Depending on how much liquid I add (almost none to about half-way up the glass), and how long I blend it, the texture can vary from silky sorbet to slushy frozen drink.

If I want an ice-cream texture I use a splash of milk, coconut milk, greek yogurt, or almond milk (add more liquid and it's more like a milk-shake).

Last edited by kaplods; 12-14-2011 at 06:22 PM.
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Old 12-14-2011, 07:09 PM   #6  
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Had not heard of it but I just googled and just very well may run right out and buy one this weekend. Sounds wonderful
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Old 12-15-2011, 08:42 PM   #7  
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Okay, I did it! I ran to Target today and bought a Yonanas, bought a bag of frozen bananas and strawberries, and raced back to work and made a bowl of it, on my lunch break! WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW this stuff is fantastic, and I know there are lots more yummy things to try. I felt guilty eating it and had to remind myself it was okay. Went to the store tonight and got some bananas, and they are in the freezer.

I think I will chip up a piece or two of candy cane almond roca and add it to the banana with a little vanilla.
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Old 12-16-2011, 07:54 AM   #8  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Misti in Seattle View Post
Okay, I did it! I ran to Target today and bought a Yonanas, bought a bag of frozen bananas and strawberries, and raced back to work and made a bowl of it, on my lunch break! WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW this stuff is fantastic, and I know there are lots more yummy things to try. I felt guilty eating it and had to remind myself it was okay. Went to the store tonight and got some bananas, and they are in the freezer.

I think I will chip up a piece or two of candy cane almond roca and add it to the banana with a little vanilla.
Hey thanks so much for posting a review on this. Maybe I'll hint around about it and someone will get me one for Christmas.

When I buy bananas only so many get eaten . . . two in the house are allergic to them and I can only eat so many before they turn too ripe for my tastes so I end up freezing them all the time. Stick them in a zip-lock freezer bag, they won't suffer from any freezer burn. You can also add a 1/2 scoop or whole scoop of protein powder and make a low-cal protein smoothie. Add just a tiny bit of peanut butter to a banana and that's way yummy. Oooo, I want one of these machines!
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Old 12-16-2011, 08:20 AM   #9  
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I am the same way about bananas... I only like them almost green. So now I know what to do with the browner ones. Yah the peanut butter will be good, especially if you throw in a few strawberries. I don't personally "do" the powders but for those who do yes, this would be another great option.

The machine was worth $50 for me because I love ice cream and nothing packs on the pounds faster.
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Old 12-16-2011, 08:26 AM   #10  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Misti in Seattle View Post
I am the same way about bananas... I only like them almost green. So now I know what to do with the browner ones. Yah the peanut butter will be good, especially if you throw in a few strawberries. I don't personally "do" the powders but for those who do yes, this would be another great option.

The machine was worth $50 for me because I love ice cream and nothing packs on the pounds faster.
$50?? The one I saw at Sears was around $25 I think. Of course that was a week ago. Probably just a limited-time sale price. Dang.
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Old 12-16-2011, 08:15 PM   #11  
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$50?? The one I saw at Sears was around $25 I think. Of course that was a week ago. Probably just a limited-time sale price. Dang.
Wow! Must have been a deal because when I googled the cheapest I saw them at was $50.
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Old 12-16-2011, 09:29 PM   #12  
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I was curious to see if the end result looked any better or faster than what I achieve with my personal blender (a knock off of the Bullet Blender that my mother bought me for my birthday for about $25 including shipping from QVC), so I went on to Youtube, and watched the videos.

Sure looks like the same stuff, and the time even seems about the same as what I can make in my frood processor or my personal blender, except that the Yonana doesn't seem to have an easy way to adjust the consistency.

In that regard, the food processor or personal blenders (like the Magic Bullet) have the advantage, because you don't have to thaw the fruit at all, and you can adjust the consistency depending on whether or not and how much liquid you add, and how long you blend the fruit.

For price and versatility, I'd recommend the Magic Bullet style blenders. I use mine all the time, because there are a zillion ways to use it, from making sorbet and ice creams from frozen fruit, to chopping veggies, to making homemade mayonaise.

Even if you don't count the defrosting time, it seems to me that the Bullet is just as fast or faster (and with the Bullet, there's much less to clean up, because the cup you blend the fruit in, is also the serving cup).
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Old 12-17-2011, 05:16 AM   #13  
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Kaplods, you had me wishing I had bought a Magic Bullet instead of the Yonanas. But then I was Skyping with a friend and she told me they had a Magic Bullet and it did not work well at all so they gave it away. She thought I was wise to buy the Yonanas.

So I guess it's all just a matter of preference and what works best. Anyway I have the Yonanas now so will experiment with it and enjoy what I have.
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Old 12-17-2011, 06:33 AM   #14  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Misti in Seattle View Post
Kaplods, you had me wishing I had bought a Magic Bullet instead of the Yonanas. But then I was Skyping with a friend and she told me they had a Magic Bullet and it did not work well at all so they gave it away. She thought I was wise to buy the Yonanas.

So I guess it's all just a matter of preference and what works best. Anyway I have the Yonanas now so will experiment with it and enjoy what I have.

You're right, it could be a matter of preference, but it also depends on the brand of personal blender you buy. If you want to pulverize frozen foods or ice cubes, you need a personal blender with a powerful motor, and not all of them stand up to such hard work. From what I've read in the product reviews on amazon.com, I wouldn't recommend the Magic Bullet brand, because I found a lot of negative reviews related to design flaws and customer service. This seems to be one of the cases where the knock-offs seem to work better than the original (and I'm not sure the Magic Bullet actually is the original, it just may be the first to get famous because of the informercials).

To be honest, I didn't expect mine to work nearly as well as it did, because I also heard a lot of complaints about the Magic Bullet, and so I wasn't really interested in buying one (or any of the knock offs) for myself. But one day my mom called and told me she had bought the Cooks Essentials Rocket Blender by Bella Cucina from QVC for herself and for my sister and they loved theirs so when Mom asked me if I wanted one, I told her I heard the personal blenders didn't work very well and asked her to tell me what they used theirs for, and it sounded like I would use it.

As luck would have it, QVC was discontinuing the model that my mom had bought, so it was on sale for nearly half of what my mother had paid for the other two (She asked me if I wanted the newer model, but I didn't want her to waste the money, so I told her I wanted to make sure I got exactly what they got, and didn't care that it cost less than what she usually spends on my birthday).

I didn't have high hopes for it, and figured it wouldn't last very long - but my Mom was so enthusiastic about it, I was happy to make her happy (she finds me hard to buy for. I ask her not to buy me anything, but she doesn't consider that an option).

I loved it imediately, and became paranoid about mine breaking down. So I started doing the product research (which if I had bought it myself I would have done m before buying it - but I wasn't going to tell my mother which brand to buy).

I went to amazon - and started reading the poor (1 and 2 star) reviews. I always read the poor reviews, because some companies actually pay people to write good reviews. With the bad reviews I get a better idea of the potential problems. Then I read the 3 and 4 star reviews (I tend to ignore the 5 star reviews), then I go to youtube and watch demonstrations of the product (check out the "eggies" review - so NOT easier than peeling eggs. The secret BTW of easy peeling boiled eggs is to use eggs that are a little bit older - just past the sell-by date - it's ok they're still good).

What's funny is that I actually found recommendations for different products in the Magic Bullet reviews (I started with my own brand and the reviews were pretty good, so I went to other brands to compare). I don't remember how all the brands stacked up, except that I'm not sure I would buy the exact same model or brand again - there were products that got better reviews (but were more expensive), and mine does have a flaw that some of the reviews mentioned (although I'm not sure it's a design flaw as much as a user flaw) - if you don't have the lid screwed down really tightly, it can get "stuck" in the base. I haven't had a problem since realizing and preventing the cause.



When it dies, I'm going to face a dillema - buy the brand I know works reasonably well for the way I use it, or consider the brands that got even higher reviews (but are also more expensive).

I definitely have been converted to high-powered, personal blenders though. I won't ever again buy any blender that doesn't pulverize ice into a fine, snowy texture within a minute or so.

Last edited by kaplods; 12-17-2011 at 06:54 AM.
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Old 12-17-2011, 08:39 AM   #15  
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Good info, Kaplods! I admit I usually do more research before making a purchase like this but in this case I really wanted something right away so just ran right out and bought it. I guess time will tell whether it was a wise idea. The thing I do NOT like about the Yonanas is that it does not blend the stuff up well.

Also, the instructions say to use whole bananas but the first batch I made using frozen *sliced* bananas was much better because I mixed them in among the fruit as I put it through so it was more well blended.

Live and learn I guess.
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