Vegan “Nice” Cream – Two Ways

Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day!!

If that doesn’t get you excited – then I’m not sure we should be friends…

(Just kidding! – but honestly…)

I LOVE ice cream – but really try to practice moderation in it’s presence. Lucky for me this ice cream is healthy enough to be consumed at breakfast, lunch and dinner (in my personal opinion)!

I clearly could not decide on just one flavor, so you’re getting two:

Strawberry Coconut Cream
&
PB Banana Chocolate

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Strawberry Coconut Cream
(2 servings)

Ingredients:
– 1 banana, sliced and frozen
– 8 strawberries, quartered and frozen
– 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
– 3 strawberries, finely diced
– 2 tbsp coconut flakes

Instructions:
– Add frozen banana, frozen strawberries, and coconut milk in a food processor and blend until smooth
– Combine ice cream mixture with diced strawberries and coconut flakes in a small bowl
– Freeze ice cream mixture overnight or until solid

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PB Banana Chocolate
(2 servings)

Ingredients:
– 2 bananas, sliced and frozen
– 2 tbsp peanut butter
– 2 tbsp chocolate chips
– 2 tbsp peanuts, chopped

Instructions:
– Add frozen banana and peanut butter in a food processor and blend until smooth
– Combine ice cream mixture with peanuts and chocolate chips in a small bowl
– Freeze ice cream mixture overnight or until solid

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Four Grain Pancakes

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this whole having a stat holiday on a Tuesday thing. The reason I least like Sunday’s is because the whole day is in anticipation of Monday – getting groceries, planning meals, doing laundry, cleaning the house, etc. By putting a stat holiday in the middle of the week it’s like getting two Sunday’s rather than two Saturday’s and that is definitely the lesser option. Anyways, to celebrate having an extra Sunday Stephanie came over and we watched Julie and Julia! Every time I watch that movie I get inspired to cook classics – not the fancy ‘superfoods’ cooked in coconut oil, crusted in chia seeds, and dipped in vegan cheese sauce kinda food. So what did I do? I downloaded “The Joy of Cooking” app and obsessively started going through it. I’m going to make a point of cooking something from it each week because I think it’s crazy that I have recipes for nut butters and chia seed puddings stored in my memory but I wouldn’t be able to make a loaf of bread without Google!

To celebrate sleeping in on a Tuesday I made Four Grain Pancakes with a few healthy substitutions because I just can’t help myself…

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Makes 18 pancakes (4″)

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup large flake oats
2 tbsp Splenda2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cup skim milk
2 tbsp margarine, melted
2 tbsp 0% greek yogurt
2 tbsp apple sauce
3 eggs

Instructions

Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, combine milk, margarine, yogurt, apple sauce, and eggs.

Mix the wet ingredients quickly into the dry ingredients. Don’t over beat. Use just enough strokes to moisten the dry ingredients.

Test your pan by dropping a small amount of cold water into it. If the water sputters the pan is ready to go! Spray the pan with a small amount of cooking spray.

Pour the batter into the pan and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. When the surface of the pancake begins to bubble check for brownness and flip the pancake. The second side will cook in half the time.

Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree oven on a baking sheet.

I topped mine with some homemade Nutella and fresh bananas but you can top it with syrup, fresh berries, PB, or whatever you have on hand!