Tag Archives: ice cream

  1. Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Ice Cream {dairy-free}

    Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Ice Cream

    Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Ice Cream

    I broke the seal on this summer’s ice cream maker usage with this incredible Peach Raspberry Sorbet, earlier this month and now I can’t stop. When I get a craving for something, you best watch yourself. Get out of my way and let me do my thing. My current adoration of my ice cream maker plus a craving for a childhood favorite meant it was time to create!

    I had the realization that I have sadly been without cookie dough ice cream for longer than should be allowed. The store-bought ones, even when gluten-free or dairy-free, are still loaded with so much junk, tons of refined sugar, creepy lab experiment thickeners and I just can’t.

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  2. Cherry Chocolate Chunk Banana Soft Serve {gluten-free, paleo, vegan}

    Cherry Chocolate Chunk Banana Soft Serve {gluten-free, paleo, vegan}

    Cherry Chocolate Chunk Banana Soft Serve {gluten-free, paleo, vegan}

    With Memorial Day behind us, Summer has un-officially kicked off and I couldn’t be more ready! We’ve already managed to get in a picnic and a BBQ to celebrate. Also important to the commemorating of this lovely season. Ice cream! Am I right?

    With all the adjustments I have made to my diet and how great I feel these days, while I very much subscribe to the notion of balance and the occasional treat being part of maintaining a healthy and accessible lifestyle, I also always apt to first reach for healthier whole food options, when possible. This recipe celebrates fresh, in-seaon nutrient-dense whole foods – bringing the treat vibes of what usually would be loaded with dairy, refined sugar and gosh, who knows what else. Read the rest of this entry »

  3. Fresh Grape and Prosecco Sorbet

    Fresh Grape and Prosecco SorbetIf we could go back in time just for one day to visit our younger selves, I can tell you that there would be an early 20-something Beth, disappointed to know that most opened wine in the house of her mid-30-something self, usually just gets used in a recipe or worse yet, to know that there is any leftover wine at all.

    Fresh Grape and Prosecco Sorbet

    These days, I do such little drinking that I usually only open a bottle of wine if we have guests. On the rare occasion I imbibe just because, I have a glass, the bottle gets put in the fridge and usually it tastes bad before it ever gets finished. I know…. the shame, the horror. I love the way a good glass of wine tastes at the end of a busy day or with a delicious, robust home-cooked meal, but usually, the truth of it is most times I feel terrible before I ever even catch a buzz. My body just doesn’t like the stuff. It’s all “wait, this ain’t green juice. where’s my smoothie?” The other thing is, most mornings I get up so early, either for yoga or the gym, that a hangover, sans party, just never seems worth it. Yup, clearly I have rounded the corner to my mid-30s. These are all things, I swore I would never think or say.

    Fresh Grape and Prosecco Sorbet

    I was at Trader Joe’s last week picking up a few things and I saw the bubbly wines from the corner of my eye, as I pushed my cart full of veggies past the wine section. It just sounded so good. The summer time always has a way of making me crave chilled bubbly wines. So, I treated myself and I bought a bottle, I had a glass once it was chilled, then instantly knew the rest would go to waste, so I decided to get crafty this time. Waste not, want not.

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  4. Strawberry Lime Sorbet

    Strawberry Lime Sorbet

    It’s been a while since we’ve had a Foodie Friend Friday post, I can tell you this lapse in sharing definitely isn’t for lack of having incredibly talented friends put out incredibly talented books.

    Everyday Detox by Megan Gilmore

    Strawberry Lime Sorbet

    We are back at it today with this gem of a book, Everyday Detox, from Megan Gilmore, AKA The Detoxinista. I absolutely love Megan, her website and recipes and now this incredible book. She just “gets it”. Rather than the all-or-nothing approach of extreme short term detoxes, fasts and cleanses, diets that can set us up for failure, Megan is all about making healthy choices everyday, living life in a mindful way that we can maintain without intense deprivation followed by the post-diet binging.

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  5. 3-Ingredient Banana Matcha Ice Cream

    3-Ingredient Banana Matcha Ice Cream

    Here’s the deal, in the heat of the Summer, on those real, super duper hot days, I can sometimes become a bit of a lazy, wanna-do-nothing-monster. I legitimately always try to find the easy way out for meals on days like this. See also: all the salads, crock-pot meals and the throwing of any and all things onto the grill! As someone that likes a little something sweet now and again, this same logic applies. I cannot justify baking and I don’t always have the patience to wait for popsicles to freeze.

    I always consider it a small victory when I can create a recipe that not only tastes incredible and is healthy, but is super easy, too! I live for this actually! Eating well should not just be fun and tasty, but it should be simple and something we can all do. If it’s too difficult or challenging, this is when we revert back to the easy options, take out, processed foods, store bought ice cream loaded with god knows what.

    3-Ingredient Banana Matcha Ice Cream

    So let’s vow right here and now, to keep all the summer foods as simple as possible. Less steps, less ingredients, less equipment and tools, starting with this 3-Ingredient Banana Matcha Ice Cream. I know we’ve all seen the banana ice cream phenom that has swept the internet over the last few years! If you are no stranger to this, than you will know that this ice cream is simply a fancy variation on this classic, easy recipe. It seriously doesn’t get much easier than this. If you are like me, a smoothie addict, you always have a few bananas in the freezer, just waiting for smoothies or banana ice cream.

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  6. How-to Make Dairy-Free Ice Cream

    Tutorial Tuesdays // Tasty Yummies

    How-to Make Dairy-free Ice Cream

    I have to say, I have made and had dairy-free ice cream many times before, but it has never as good as this. I received a copy of Dairy-Free Ice Cream: 75 Recipes Made Without Eggs, Gluten, Soy, or Refined Sugar from Kelly Brozyna of The Spunky Coconut and it has forever changed my dairy-free ice cream eating ways! Not only is this book insanely beautiful, but Kelly has us covered on every ice cream and frozen treat you could ever dream of! This cookbook is loaded with 75 amazing recipes, each and every one totally dairy-free and gluten-free.

    How-to Make Dairy-free Ice Cream

    For this week’s Tutorial Tuesday post, I am teaming up with Kelly to give you a quick how-to on making the perfect dairy-free ice cream, plus a simple recipe for classic vanilla. In the Dairy-Free Ice Cream cookbook, Kelly uses her fool proof method to dairy-free ice cream – sharing her versions of classic favorite flavors like Vanilla, Chocolate, Rocky Road, Salted Caramel, Strawberry, Butter Pecan and more. But, the real treat is the collection of unique and innovative flavors, like White Chocolate Goji Berry, Gingerbread Cookie Dough, Saffron and Rose and so much more. As if all that wasn’t enough, you’ll also find frozen yogurt, sherbet and sorbet and she even shares incredible recipes for ice cream cakes, sandwiches and popsicles, plus there are grain-free cookie bowls, brownies, sauces and toppings and more! All made without eggs, dairy, gluten, soy or refined sugar. It’s incredible really. A summertime frozen miracle!

    How-to Make Dairy-free Ice Cream

    How-to Make Dairy-free Ice Cream

    Below you will find a brief tutorial to get you started making the best ever vanilla bean ice cream, my version of Kelly’s classic vanilla. I am keeping this tutorial super simple and to the point, but, for more in depth information about the various ingredients, notes and tips on freezing, storing, tools and lots more – check out Dairy-Free Ice Cream.

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  7. Cantaloupe Mint Sorbet (Gluten-free and Vegan)

    Cantaloupe Mint Sorbet (Gluten-free and Vegan)

    There is something about summertime and it’s fresh vibrant fruit that just makes me school-girl giddy!! Sitting in the sun, enjoying your favorite fruit, juice running down your face and your arms, that’s when you know it’s really summer!

    We’ve been fortunate that for a few weeks now we’ve been getting some of the freshest, sweetest fruit in our weekly CSA box. Peaches, nectarines, watermelons, cantaloupes and so much more. I decided this year that rather than just cutting up the fruit and stuffing it into our faces, that I would get creative with some of it. Treat it like I do all of the many veggies we get.

    Cantaloupe Mint Sorbet (Gluten-free and Vegan)

    I was dreaming up frozen summery desserts when I realized that I hadn’t pulled my ice cream maker out once since we moved to California last year. That feels like a MAJOR sin, considering I basically live in perpetual summer, here in Southern California. In discovering my terrible neglect of my ice cream maker, I also realized that I had never made a sorbet! Sacrilege isn’t it?

    Cantaloupe Mint Sorbet (Gluten-free and Vegan)

    Read the rest of this entry »

  8. Pooch Friendly Ice Cream

    Our sweet baby, Seri.

    Pooch Friendly Ice Cream

    This is a little bit different of a post. It is still gluten-free, unprocessed and healthy, but this one isn’t for humans, it’s for our little furry baby, Seri, who turned one yesterday! I decided as a little treat, I had to make her something special to celebrate. In the past I used to bake different goodies for our last dog, Derby, like whole wheat peanut butter treats and one time I even made her a special dog-friendly birthday carrot cake. I decided to do something a little different this time because Seri is on a grain-free diet. Yes, even my dog is gluten-free. Also like me, she doesn’t eat any processed foods. In addition, she eats a fully raw meat diet all of the time. Seri has had some minor itchy-skin/allergy issues in the past, nothing major at all, but enough for us to want to make sure she was eating THE very best. After consulting with a holistic vet and our breeder and some trial and error with different foods and ingredients, we have found the things that work for Seri and those that don’t. We always make sure to avoid anything that could upset her little body, whether it be her daily food, an unnecessary medication or even a little treat. It’s incredible how much unnecessary processed junk is in most dry kibbles and biscuits, even the best brands are loaded with useless fillers and crap that they just don’t need. Just like us, it’s so bad for their health. Dogs are carnivores and they need meat.

    Since Seri eats raw bison for breakfast and dinner every day and her treats are usually some other type of dehydrated raw meat, it was really hard to think of something super special for her birthday as a treat. Since I couldn’t really bake any treat from grain, I decided to experiment with ingredients that I knew were safe for her.

    I didn’t want her to get a large portion of whatever special treat I was going to make, so I made small little muffin-cup sized portions, so I could control how much fat she would consume, since we all know what can happen if a dog gets a lot more fat than usual.

    Since dog’s are unable to process the lactose in milk, I made the base of the ice cream from almond milk. (If you know your dog has a sensitivity to nuts, or you aren’t sure, you can just go with a simple chicken or beef broth.) I included the coconut oil because in moderation, it is so great for your dog’s health. There have been many studies and countless articles written about the healthy benefits of coconut oil, for both humans and dogs. Additionally, it is great for dogs with allergies and itchy skin. It can also be used topically on any hot spots they may develop. We alternate the coconut oil with salmon oil on Seri’s food each night. If your dog is sensitive to fats, consider skipping the oil or going with a very small amount. Seri goes absolutely nuts for coconut oil, she loves it! That and peanut butter. She rarely gets peanut butter so it was another nice treat for her birthday ice cream.

    Seri absolutely loved her birthday ice cream. She couldn’t eat it fast enough! I love now that with having the individual servings, ready in the freezer, whenever I want to give her a little treat, they are ready.

    I realize this post may make me seem like a crazy dog person, but in our family, our pets are our life, we would do anything for them and we are willing to make sure they get the very best. I know not everyone is like that, so you may think I am insane. I am pretty ok with that.

    Pooch Friendly Ice Cream

    Pooch Friendly Ice Cream
    makes approximately 8 muffin-sized frozen dog treats

    2 cups organic unsweetened unflavored almond milk (you can certainly use homemade here, just skip the sugar and vanilla when you make it)
    1 tablespoon organic unrefined virgin coconut oil
    2 tablespoons organic natural creamy peanut butter
    (you could have fun with other dog-safe ingredients like shredded carrots, beef or chicken broth, pieces of their favorite unflavored/unspiced meat, etc)

    Line a regular sized muffin tin with foil or paper muffin cup liners. Depending on how full you fill them, you can make more or less than this recipe calls for.

    Combine all of your ingredients in a large mixing bowl. If the peanut butter was in the refrigerator and is a bit solid, microwave it for about 10-15 seconds to soften it up a bit, to make mixing easier. Using a hand mixer or stand-up mixer, thoroughly combine the three ingredients. Ladle the ice cream mixture into each muffin cup, filling to about 3/4 of the way full. (Again, if you want more, smaller treats, fill them up less or use a mini-muffin tin. If you want less, larger treats, fill them up more.) Place the entire muffin tin in the freezer and allow the mixture to freeze until solid, about 8 hours or so.

    When the ice cream treats are frozen solid, you can pop one of out of the tin, peel of the paper muffin cup and give it to your dog. You can remove the remaining treats from the muffin tin and put them in a freezer safe ziplock bag or plastic container.

    ** Obviously I am not a veterinarian, so please don’t take any of what I am feeding our own dog as a medical advice for your pooch. We just know what works and what doesn’t with Seri. Every dog’s sensitivities are different. If you know your dog cannot have one of these ingredients, go with something else **

  9. Vegan Peppermint Stick and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

    Vegan Peppermint Stick and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

    Ice cream isn’t typically something I think of during the cold of winter, especially with how cold it has been here. However, I have been thinking about an ice cream that features candy canes, they are a Christmas classic and I knew not only would it taste amazing, it would look so beautiful. I am in love with vegan ice creams and how easy they are to make. I made the Pumpkin Spice ice cream a while back and it was so incredible that I wanted to go that route again this time. I especially love how much more light it is, you aren’t left with that terrible feeling in your stomach from eating a massive bowl of dairy.

    I added in the peppermint extract in addition to vanilla, to really highlight the mint flavor, but if you want it to be a bit more subtle and just highlight the mint flavor from the candy, just leave it out and simply go with the vanilla. If you are wanting to be certain this is totally vegan, as I did, make sure to choose a vegan dark chocolate such as Green and Black’s, many chocolates contain dairy. You can also skip the chocolate all together, if you wish.

    I love how this ice cream just tastes like the holidays and though it is cold out, couldn’t be any more perfect for dessert this time of year.

    Vegan Peppermint Stick and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

     

    Vegan Peppermint Stick and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

    1 14 ounce can organic coconut milk
    1 1/4 cups almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
    1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
    3/4 cup crushed peppermint stick (you can just bash any ‘ol kind of candy cane)
    1 3.5 ounce bar of good quality dark chocolate, cut into small pieces (choose a vegan chocolate like Green & Black’s Organic)

    In a large bowl, combine coconut milk, almond milk, cane sugar, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract, whisk together well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Once chilled, make according to your ice cream maker‘s instructions. Add in peppermint pieces and chocolate chunks just before your machine’s freezing cycle is finished and allow to incorporate thoroughly. I find that putting the ice cream in the freezer for at least an hour after to allow it to get a bit harder is best. Pull it out a few minutes before serving, scoop and top with a little candy cane or a few crushed candy cane pieces. Enjoy!

    Vegan Peppermint Stick and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

    Even though the ice cream is very blurry in this photo, I couldn’t help but share this photo. That is our little girl, Seri. She is going to be 4 months old this weekend! I am sure you’ll see a ton of photos with her little face in them.

  10. Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

    Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream
    Ever since I got my ice cream maker, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making a vegan ice cream. This ice cream is so creamy you would never ever know it is dairy free. Mark didn’t believe me. I liked it better than most ice creams I have ever had, because it was a bit lighter and didn’t give my stomach that heavy feeling after I ate it, like many ice creams can. I also really loved how easy this was to make. Basically no work at all. A lot of people are hesitant to bake and cook with coconut milk for fear the coconut flavor will outshine the other ingredients. There is relatively no coconut flavor from the milk, so it doesn’t over power the taste of the pumpkin or the spices.

    Each spoonful of this ice cream actually tastes just like a perfect bite of crustless pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on top. I can’t recommend enough using fresh pumpkin puree if you can. If you can’t some good quality canned organic pumpkin puree will do.

    Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

    1 – 14 ounce can organic coconut milk (full fat, not light)
    1 cup unsweetened organic almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
    3/4 cup organic pure cane sugar (coconut sugar, palm sugar or sucanat, also work great)
    1 1/4 cup fresh pumpkin puree (you can use canned if you don’t have fresh, but fresh is much tastier)

    Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk to combine well. Let chill for about an hour in your fridge. Once it is thoroughly chilled, follow instructions for your ice cream maker.

  11. Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

    IMG_9930

    I have never been a huge fan of ice cream, until I tasted fresh homemade ice cream made from scratch with fresh ingredients. It is so insanely delicious and it has so much more flavor than the store-bought stuff. I had been talking about buying the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer for some time now and finally got around to it last week. I knew before I even bought the attachment what flavor my first batch was gonna be. Mint Chocolate Chunk! We have so much mint growing wild in our yard that I couldn’t wait to snip some off and bring it in to make fresh ice cream. If you can’t get your hands on fresh mint you can use mint extract, but there is no comparing to the fresh mint. So much so that I added chopped fresh mint back in at the end, since I love the little bits of flavor.

    Making ice cream from scratch, cooking down and making the custard first definitely is a lot of work, but it is absolutely worth it and is so gratifying in the end. The only thing I wished is that I could have found some place locally to buy fresh milk and cream, instead I bought organic milk and cream from the grocery store. I have searched high and low to find somewhere locally to buy dairy (preferably pasture-fed), but with no results yet, so if you know of a place in the Western New York area, please share.

    This ice cream really is to die for. So rich, a small scoop is all you need. I cannot wait to experiment with other flavors.

    Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
    yields 1 quart
    adapted from Simply Recipes

    3 cups of fresh mint leaves (not stems), rinsed, drained, packed
    extra fresh mint leaves, chopped
    1 cup organic whole milk
    2 cups organic heavy cream (divided, 1 cup and 1 cup)
    2/3 cup organic pure cane sugar
    A pinch of salt
    6 egg yolks (we prefer brown eggs from local, organic, free-range chickens)
    1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
    6 ounces semisweet chocolate or dark chocolate, chopped fine, keep in the freezer until used

    1. Put the mint leaves in a heavy saucepan with the 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of the cream. Heat until just steaming (do not let boil), remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Reheat the mixture until steaming, remove from heat and let stand for 15 more minutes.

    2.While the mint is infusing in step 1, prepare the remaining cream over an ice bath. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set in ice water (with lots of ice) over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.

    3. Strain the milk cream mixture into a separate bowl, pressing against the mint leaves with a rubber spatula in the sieve to get the most liquid out of them. Return the milk cream mixture to the saucepan. Add sugar and salt to the mixture. Heat until just steaming again, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

    4. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl. Slowly pour the heated milk cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm mixture, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

    5. Return the saucepan to the stove, stirring the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take about 10 minutes.

    6. Pour the custard through the strainer (from step 2) and stir into the cold cream to stop the cooking, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

    7. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (at least a couple of hours) or stir the mixture in the bowl placed over the ice bath until thoroughly chilled (20 minutes or so). Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

    8. Once the ice cream has been made in the ice cream maker it should be pretty soft. Gently fold in the finely chopped chocolate and chopped fresh mint. Put in an airtight container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours. If it has been frozen for more than a day, you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften it before serving.

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