Recipe: Cherry Banana N-ice Cream (Dairy free, Vegan, Paleo)

So I was super sad when I was told that I was allergic to dairy.  Like, suuuuuper sad.  

No butter, cheese, yogurt, milk, chocolate, cream, sour cream, creamy dressings, cream sauces, chowder, bisque, pizza, mac n cheese....and worst of all...no ice cream!  Whaaaa???  How would I ever survive?  Especially during the summer!

Well, where there's a will, there's a way!  And here's the way!  I started making my own...sans milk/cream of course.  And it's easy breezy.

I even have a favorite flavor already.  It's cherry banana.  So here's my recipe for 
Cherry Banana N-Ice Cream.  (If you're wondering, the "N" stands for "Not". You can say it out loud like, "Nnnnice Cream".  Isn't that fun to say?)

PLANNING AHEAD:  

• Making this N-ice Cream requires frozen bananas. SOOOOO....When you buy bananas and they get to that stage where they're starting to get little brown spots on their gorgeous yellow peels, don't grumble and toss them out in a couple days.  Instead, peel them, cut them into bite-sized chunks and freeze them.  

EQUIPMENT:

• I use a Magic Bullet (with only a slight struggle...it's just on the edge of being not powerful enough!), but I'll bet you could use anything whirly--blender, food processor, Nutribullet, Vitamix, Ninja, etc.  
• BTW, you may be wondering, if my Magic Bullet isn't quite powerful enough then why do I use it?  Well, it's sooo darn easy to clean...and I'm super lazy about washing dishes...true story.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2  frozen banana (sliced)--you can guesstimate here as to how many slices make up 1/2 a banana
• Frozen cherries (no sugar added, organic--after all, cherries are on the EWG's 2018 Dirty Dozen list)
• Splash of liquid--water, almond milk, coconut milk, coconut cream, etc. (I use canned coconut cream from Trader Joe's.  Why?  Cuz it's organic and there are no weird ingredients like carageenan, guar gum, soy lecithin, or xanthan gum.)

DIRECTIONS:

• Stick all the ingredients into your whirly thing and blend until it's the consistency you like (ie. Liquid-y like a shake or creamy like soft serve).  
• Eat slowly!  Avoid brain freeze at all costs!

See?  Easy breezy!  Now, the fun part!  You can add stuff or take stuff out.  Like what, you ask?

• To your Cherry N-ice Cream (AFTER blending) you can stir in cacao nibs, tiny chunks of Montezuma's Absolute Black 100% Cocoa (you can get it at Trader Joe's at the moment), and/or roasted salted pecans.
• Swap out cherries for blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, power berry mix or whatever you like!  Just make sure there isn't any added sugar or other crap...cuz who needs that?
• Add in other fun things like cocoa powder, PB,  cinnamon, or vanilla BEFORE blending.... or stir in nuts, toasted coconut, or similar fun stuff AFTER blending.
• Maybe go totally crazy and add in mint leaves and chocolate chips, or pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice if you wanna go all Fall-like. (Please note...chocolate chips are most often not vegan or paleo if you're sticking to one of those ways of eating.)
• Really, the possibilities are endless!  Have fun with it!

HUGS!

Dorothy