Confessions of a Bake-a-holic!

Talk about Birthday parties,if it is ours its fun,if its our friends it all the more fun,what if it?s a small kido?s birthday?
After moving here,I have been attending Kids Birthday Parties more than ever before.While P doesn?t miss any of it,more so for the free meal(as always):-D,I often wonder how much he actually enjoys being a part of it.Initially,I used to feel a li?l out of place during these parties as most people had kids leaving the newly weds as minorities.However over a period of time I?ve started getting used to these, reminding myself that I wud be in the same boat sooner or later hosting my kids party.It also makes me realize the amount of patience and responsibility that I need to have before I become a parent.The birthday babies all decked up are blissfully unaware of the colorful surrounding ,clapping hands and multitude of new faces.They look extremely adorable and hog the limelight for the entire evening.Thanks to the technology - Digital Camera,Camcorders etc,these precious moments are captured and can be treasured lifelong.Shopping for gifts isn?t easy either,with tons of cute options available .I wish I were a kid here celebrating birthdays and receiving gifts:). How I wish?

The Birthday cakes again are so colorful and fascinating.Having a cake in the shape of Garfields,Barbie or Dora is so common these days.Its jes not the taste of the cake,the presentation and decoration makes it even more appealing to the taste buds.I realized after coming back from my vacation,I haven?t baked a cake/a pie/tart.Since I wanted to make something different,some thing simple and low on calories I made this yummy looking dessert.The recipe was from the book Smoothies and desserts,but I have tweaked it to suit my taste buds and yes it is a Low Cal Dessert,aint that good enuf to indulge on?:-P

Prep Time ? 20min
Start to Finish ? 3.5 hrs(including freezing time)
Servings ? 10-12

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crumbs ? 1 cup
Butter ? 2 tbsp (Melted)
Pecans ? 2 tbsp (very small pieces)
Sugar ? 2 tbsp

For the topping:

White Chocolate/Vanilla Instant Pudding & Pie filing mix ? 1 pkt
Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt ? 2 cups
Milk ? ? cup( I used 1% milk)
Low Fat Whipped topping ? 1 ? cups ? Frozen(thawed)
Bananas ? 2 ripe and firm (chopped into cubes)
1 tbsp ? chocolate syrup

Method:

Grease an 8 inch square baking tray,with fork mix crumbs,melted butter,Pecans and sugar until crumbs are evenly moistened.With hands,press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the plate.Bake at 375F for 10mins.Cool it well.This is the usual recipe I follow to make the crust.
In a bowl,mix the pudding mix,yogurt and milk,whisk for a minute until smooth(I used an electric blender for a min in low speed).Fold in the whipped topping,don?t try beating it.Drop the Bananas and stir in slowly.Spread this mixture onto the crust(Crust should be at room temperature or cold).Cover and freeze at least for 3 hours or until firm.

Remove from the freezer , let it stand for 10min and then cut into squares and top each squares with chocolate syrup. Always store the remaining covered in the freezer.

The second time I tried this,I didn?t bake the crust.I went by the original recipe - I spread the crumbs and placed it in the freezer for 10mins,did the topping and it was jes perfect.

Verdict:

Looks can kill,don?t they?During each bite, I could feel the banana chunks,it was very well coated with the cream and yogurt.In between l’il pecans made it crunchy.I could eat this guilt free not thinking much of calories.230 cals per serving for this wonderful dessert?.ain?t that great?:P