Amazing Banana Ice Cream

I just have to write a quick post about this delicious, delightful, delectable thing I just made. I've been doing a lot of reading and research on raw food living, and in turn that leads to quite a bit of vegan reading and recipes. I've heard of this before, and have been reintroduced to the idea through a variety of raw and vegan blogs. It's banana ice cream. Not just banana flavored ice cream, but ice cream made from nothing but bananas. It's divine and it really made me pause in my thinking. THIS is something I could make and have around ALL the time and get my cold, sweet fix and not feel guilty. I LOVE this idea.

Yesterday was a last day of school for the week, since we had parent/teacher conferences today and on the way home from school, Sophia asked if we could please make a batch of the infamous black bean brownies. I said yes, but not until tomorrow, which is now today. We whipped up a batch of brownies, but in the back of my mind, I couldn't shake the idea of the banana ice cream. So, I whipped out the food processor and took 4 of my freezer stashed bananas and made up a batch of peanut butter banana ice cream. For me, doing this frequently is never going to be a problem, since bananas tend to start to go brown fast around here, and I just toss them in the freezer, skin and all. I ALWAYS have frozen banana on hand, and that is a good thing.

So, by now you're sitting there thinking "give me the damn recipe already" and, now I will tell you there is no recipe other than frozen, chunked banana, a food processor and patience. I added a huge blob of peanut butter to mine and I highly recommend this addition. I use the natural, oil in, creamy (still has good texture) peanut butter and I had 4 bananas to put in the processor. You toss smallish chunks of banana in, and turn the machine on. You have to stop it often to mash the sides down and wait for it to get really whipped into a smooth, creamy, airy consistency. Then, when it's smooth and looks like soft serve ice cream, get a spoon and taste this amazing, natural, easy treat. Chocolate syrup never hurt anything either.

Spirals

We're well into the harvest season, my favorite time of year. The leaves crunch under foot, the air is rich with the scent of a season coming to it's close. Typically the garden is ripe with abundance. (Not true for me this year, as I had the worst growing season to date) I find myself reflecting more during this time, often inspired to spend more time getting creative in the kitchen. Even though I've been digging deep to find a spark of visionary enthusiasm, this particular "harvest" seems as barren as my actual garden's this year.

Instead of finding myself immersed in a creative stew, as had been my intention as I began the school year, I have found myself in service to others. It's been satisfying to be of use and much needed help to those I love, and in doing so, I have also picked up a neat little gadget that has been a delight to use, and will continue to reveal new and creative ways to prepare vegetables. What is this gadget, you ask? Why, it's the spiral slicer!! It allows you to make vegetable noodles, to prepare thin, crisp oven chips and so much more. (I haven't explored the "so much more" aspect, but I find the possibilities exciting.)

Here are some lovely zucchini "noodles" that we made

Fun for the whole family. Here's my lovely girl helping to crank the noodles out. I sure wish that adage that kids are going to eat what they make was true. She loves to make the noodles, but gives me a "no thanks" when I ask her to try them.

Here we have a lovely Asian inspired meal using the zucchini noodles, grilled beef kabobs and spicy sauce. It was pretty dang delicious if I don't say so myself.

The reason I came across the spiral slicer was researching raw living, or in other words how to begin a raw food diet, for a friend. I was so intrigued by the healthful possibilities of this gadget, that I just had to have one. One of my absolute favorite things to make with this is zucchini noodles (I DO love zucchini and it's so abundant right now) with home made basil pesto. Mmm, so good, and you can eat til you're absolutely satiated and feel none of that starchy bloat and guilt. It's lovely.

There are a three blade attachments that come with my particular model, which allow you to make wide, chip type spirals out of apples, potatoes, basically anything that will fit. It makes delightfully crisp hash brown type potatoes in the oven. My daughter LOVES for me to make her apple chips with it. I haven't even touched on all the possibilities. I think that a spiral slicer is a great addition to any cook's kitchen. It is available for purchase here: Spiral Slicer

Popcorn!

I LOVE popcorn. I eat a lot of popcorn throughout year, and my daughter loves it too. I used to be firmly committed to making popcorn on the stove in my popcorn pan, but eventually I was unable to look at that pan. It became unusable after years and years of baked on oil and constant use and I was struggling to either throw it away, or start up a new pan that would be dedicated to popcorn. Then I read a blurb in Cooking Light about how to make your own microwave popcorn!!! Woot! Now this is the only way I make popcorn and it's wonderful. The thing that I love most about it is how it eliminates unnecessary fat, allowing me to use butter or margarine on the corn without feeling doubly guilty about having added the fat to the cooking oil that I popped the corn in.

So, in an attempt to get back to writing, get back to sharing what I think is helpful or interesting, here is the technique to make your own microwave popcorn bags...As well as being far healthier, you'll be saving a lot of money if you're accustomed to purchasing microwave popcorn bags.

Home Made Microwave Popcorn

What you will need:
1 brown paper lunch sack
clear (Scotch) tape
1/2 cup un-popped popcorn kernels

Directions:
Place 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels in paper bag (be sure to keep it folded), then fold the opening of the bag once about 1/4-1/2 inch and then fold again. Seal the fold with the clear tape. Put the bag in the microwave with the folded bottom side up. Set the time to about 2 minutes 40 seconds on high. Do NOT walk away from the microwave; stand by and listen as the popcorn popping slows. As it slows down to a pop or two every couple seconds, stop the microwave and remove bag. Carefully removed the tape as steam will immediately be released. You can either eat it plain straight from the bag, or pour into a bowl and melt some butter, margarine or other spritz topping, etc...that you prefer. Enjoy!!!