Banana Ice Cream

No it's not summer, but you know what? The cold never bothered me anyway... Okay, sorry not sorry about the frozen quotes, I'm still kind of in love with that movie. And it's not true, the cold does bug me. Quite a lot actually. I seem to be continually wearing warm sweaters, wrapping up in fuzzy blankets, sitting in front of fireplaces and complaining about the cold. I really am a summer person, and yet I live in Oregon... Oh wait, I don't anymore actually. I live in Washington now. :/ Still in denial about that. I'll just keep telling myself I'm in Oregon, it's close enough. ;)

But the other day, I found myself craving something yummy, sweet, healthy and cold (yes, I crave healthy things, weird right?). I knew I didn't want ice cream and that is just too sweet and much too much dairy. I never feel too great after eating that much sugar and dairy together. Which is quite sad as I love, love, love ice cream. So that got me thinking, there's got to be a non diary, no added sugar substitute for ice cream. And sure enough there is!

The secret? Bananas. No seriously, just bananas, nothing else. The great thing about this is it can count as your fruit for the day, not have a bunch of added sugar, and still be quite yummy.

All you do is slice a banana into thin slices, freeze it over night and than puree it all together in a food processor. And voila! All done! That simple. Is it as sweet, creamy, and mouthwatering as real ice cream. No, not quite, but is anything? Is it a quite good substitute for vegan, dairy free, and/or no added sugar people? Yes!

I must admit I was actually quite surprised at the texture. It was surprisingly like ice cream. If you want it a little more solid and frozen (haha, frozen pun again XP) you can put it back in the freezer for a while, but when I made it I wanted to eat it then, not later. And it was quite good just like that. :)

~Alyssa <3

My New Obsession

Guys I want to introduce you to my latest obsession: coconut water. This stuff is amazing I'm telling you. It's even better than coconut milk. If you don't know the difference, coconut milk is made from pressing the juice out of the coconut meat while coconut water is found in the center of the green coconuts.

I'm kinda majorly obsessing over this stuff. Why? Because it's hydrating, good for you and tastes amazing. Also since I don't drink soda, energy drinks, sports drinks or sweetened tea, and only drink minimal coffee I often miss having something besides water (or tea) to drink. Will this satisfy your sugar craving? No. Is that a bad thing? No. It is slightly sweet but far, far from the overly sickeningly sweet taste of most "mainstream" drinks.

Health benefits? Yes. Coconut water is much more effective at hydrating than sports drinks or energy drinks as it has high levels of potassium and electrolytes.

Down sides? It's kind of expensive.  And some people may not like the taste. I was told it was an acquired taste, I acquired it very quickly...before I even drank any actually. But I can't promise everyone will like it. I can only say you should give it a try. It's oh so tasty and satisfying.

~Alyssa <3

"No Ingredient" Cookies

Okay, okay, they have some ingredients just not most of the 'normal' cookie ingredients. No wheat, dairy, eggs, sugar, chocolate. Okay not all cookies have chocolate, just the best ones do. ;) But yes, these cookies are really made without any of these ingredients. Wow, right? I agree.

I've tried several different recipes and I wasn't really pleased with them. They never tasted good enough. The first ones I tried were mainly oats and just didn't taste good enough. They were okay, but more like granola bars not cookies.

So after much trial and error I finally found a recipe that was pretty good, changed it a little bit and than it was perfectly splendidly wonderful. The first batch I made I ate in like two days. Bad, I know, but oh so good.

Because of the oats these cookies may or may not be gluten free. If you want them gluten free just make sure you are using gluten free oats. I didn't bother as they were all for me and I'm not gluten free, I just tend to shy away from eating lots of wheat.

Yes, they are also vegan. No, I am not going vegan but I do find the idea fascinating. I find most weird diets/foodstyles fascinating though.

"No Ingredient" Cookie Recipe (Yes, I'm finally remembering to actually give you a recipe XP)

1 cup peanut butter
2 bananas
1/3 cup ground flaxseed
1/3-1/2 cup oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons coconut sugar (optional)
1/3 cup dried fruit (cherries, cranberries, raisins, basically whatever you want)

~Alyssa <3