UN-ICE CREAM

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! I love ice cream, I mean who doesn’t? Every single night, my children ask for dessert and they would rather have ice cream than anything. It’s usually fresh fruit but when it’s hot outside, there’s nothing more satisfying than cold, creamy ice cream.

However, there’s a problem with consuming milk on the reg. It’s an animal protein, it’s a mucus, it’s inflammatory. I don’t care what anyone says, I don’t think it is a good source of calcium! If it’s pasteurized, it’s inorganic calcium! Calcium comes from green vegetables, not farmed cattle. If they eat grass (which most don’t) you might get calcium from the grass. The pasteurizing process just wrecks that. Besides, let’s face it, milk is for baby cows, not humans. I mean really — what other mammal drinks another mammal’s milk? Weird!

So how can you make ice cream without milk??

Bananas! They are creamy, healthy and sweet. Being the health freak that I am, I love that you can make an un-ice cream that so is close to ice cream that no one really knows you’re eating fruit as a base!

Depending on what type of flavors you add, you can totally hide the banana flavor, or if you like bananas then go naked! I love frozen cherries and dark chocolate! This time I was experimenting with a peppermint extract I had been wanting to use, so I added a little to some cacao chocolate chip un-ice cream and POW! Mint chocolate chip! WOW! Refreshing and delish! More importantly, totally healthy!

There are many ways to make this type of ice cream or sorbet depending on ingredients but you will need frozen bananas and other frozen fruits if you want sorbets. My mother-in-law bought me a “Yonanas” machine for Christmas which we use regularly, but you don’t need a machine if you have a food processor or Vitamix. Anything that can process and “cream” the frozen banana. The key is to take it out of the freezer for 10 minutes to soften a little. I would also suggest that you freeze bananas that are very ripe, so your ice cream is sweet!

You can add peanut butter, nutella, coconut, almonds, chocolate, cacao, frozen fruit, cinnamon and other spices…Pretty much whatever you like. 

I usually use 1 to 2 bananas depending on how many people I’m serving. You can add 3/4 to 1 cup of fruit for the “ice cream” and 1 and 1/2 cups fruit for a sorbet to 2 bananas. You can also mix in toppings after you have processed it, like chocolate chips or nuts. Just drop into the bowl and stir, but I’ve also added a chopped chocolate bar into the “Yonanas” machine or Vitamix.

We love having a fruit-based dessert, and it is very easy and fun to customize your un-ice cream, so get creative and enjoy some healthy ice cream this summer!

Enjoy!

Laura

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