dark & minty coconut ice cream

are you ready for this!?  i don't think you are.  

i'm super excited about this ice cream recipe.  here is the original recipe inspo here.  i have that written in my little cooking journal.  do you have a cooking journal?  i write in pencil and i love it so...all my notes, recipe tweaks...i paste things into it too...it's fun watching it grow.  i have since added tons of notes with mullies magic (it's gettin more powerful these days)...must be all that harry potter watching and reading with mac.  

dark & minty coconut ice cream

additive, artificial color and dairy free!!!

1 c homemade almond milk (i still love the hemp milk & you can sub whatever milk you please)

1 c full fat coconut milk

1 T flaxseed oil (oh yea omega 3's!!!)

1/2 c honey

1 T vanilla

20 trader joe's pepperment candies - no artificial color in these puppies (crushed)

3 discs of the trader joe's organic stone ground extra dark chocolate (i think any dark, stone ground type would work here) (pulsed in a food processor till pieces resembled small chocolate chips).

dump it all in a blender, give it a whirl.  transfer it to your ice cream maker and mix for 25 minutes.  

go to heaven.

we tried cutting the chocolate up by hand...didn't work so well.  probably the butter knife action...so into the processor the chocolate goes...you can see my little journal with a sticky note behind her:)

abbie is cleaning up all by herself here...i was so surprised i took a pic.

i got this mortar and pestle for our wedding 12 years ago and it was rarely, if ever used.  it has been re-knighted onto my countertops for i have used it twice in the last three days.  boo-yah.

one pint of the a dairy free coconut ice cream brand will cost you $5+ depending on where you buy it.  

i have over two pints here babycakies and you bettah believe it cost me less than $5.  

get in my belly!    

ps

remember this post about mac and his magnesium levels?  well, here's an update:  i got a little "lax" with his magnesium supplements for his eye tics.  and guess what?  chris and i started noticing them a little more and he actually told me the other day that he noticed them more...so, i think there's definitely something here...  we ramped back up and they are on the downswing again.  abbie helped me mix in some cal-mag powder in all of the kids' ice cream bowls last night.  

this food thing never ceases to amaze me...

snacks snacks snacks - and a new smoothie & ice cream recipe

my pantry was completely stripped of snacks when we went clean for abbie.

my kids were devastated about the snack change more than anything else.  i didn't realize how much junk was easily accessible to the kids and how much they were sneaking!!!  abbie was the worse of the bunch.  i would actually find wrappers on the ground under the shelves:)

have i mentioned that i used to have an entire target grocery cart full of boxes of various snacks? crackers, fruit snacks, cookies, breakfast bars, 100 calorie snack packs, gummy bears...you name it, i bought it.  all boxed, all processed.

now, before you get your panties in a bunch and think that i don't buy anything in a box, i still do...i am just v.e.r.y particular in what i buy.  here is what i have been buying/rotating in the pantry as of late:

granola bars:
kind bars (target, trader joes)
kid z cliff bars (target, trader joes)
bunny bars (costco)
homemade 4 ingredient oat bars

fruit, veggies and such:
fresh fruit (as much as possible!)
dried fruit pouches - apple/apple cinnamon/strawberry banana (costco)
go go squeeze apple sauce pouches (target, costco and trader joe's has a brand too)
carrots and organicville's non-dairy & gf ranch (target sells the dressing now!)
apples/celery and peanut butter (sometimes with raisins)

randoms:
skinny popcorn and angie's delightfully different kettle corn (costco)
organic & gmo brown rice cakes (trader joes) w/ peanut butter
homemade muffins, cookies and such
homemade icecream (da bomb)
applegate farms salametti slices (target)


there are so many more options for snacks...this is simply the mullies current go-to list we've been using and I wanted to share it with you.  i'd love to hear about your clean snacks!

here is the link that got me thinking about writing this post:

snacking the unprocessed, clean way

and now for the smoothie and ice cream goodness!!!  we all really needed a calcium magnesium supplement and here's my sneaky method of getting into our little bods:

cal-mag banana berry smoothie

(i split this serving between my 3 kiddos)

in your nutri-blender (or whatevs you have) add:

1 broken up banana

handful of frozen strawberries

handful of mixed frozen berries (blue, raz and black)

6 country life cal-mag tablet powder (each kid should be taking two tablets twice a day)

organic agave nectar (i squirt in about a tablespoon)

some ice

organic rice milk to the fill line + a little water

BAM!  

...i have to say i feel like a dealer every time i break open a capful...

my rule is they have to finish their breakfast smoothie first...works like a charm:)

vegan vanilla chocolate chip icecream

find the insp here!

1/2 c hemp seed

1 c water

1 can trader joe's light coconut milk

1/3 c organic agave nectar or honey

1 T vanilla

1 T coconut oil (melted)

1/4 c enjoy life semi-sweet mini chips

below is hemp seed.  i add this to my nutri-blender with the milling blade and it pulverizes even the smallest of seeds...sweetness.

see what i mean...it looks like milk...it is!  hemp milk!!!

1.  mill the hemp seed for 30 sec.

2.  add the milk, agave, vanilla and melted oil (add chips here if you want them pulverized).

3.  pour into ice cream maker and add chips here if you want them whole.

4.  process for 25 minutes in ice cream maker.  

5.  transfer to freezer safe container and just TRY and keep it in your fridge for more than a few days...

btw, last night, i mixed in another serving of cal-mag to it and got in their twice a day requirement!  

ps

been thinking about how to deal with the holiday crap overload coming...and here's a lovely post to help us with that!!!

how to help your kids deal with holiday snacks & sweets overload

1st dinner with gwyn's cookbook

let's start with the best part...the homemade peanut butter dark chocolate icecream.

the only substitution I made was sucanat for the brown sugar.  

i will be using my ice cream maker probably every other week now.  

thank you carol, bern, emilie and erika!!!

the little processor has chopped up dark chocolate and my blender worked perfectly for the rest.

i wanted to get sucked down into it...and drown in the yumminess.

best.ice.cream.ever.

my kids went bonkers and bananas for it, no way am i spending $$$ on the pint size, crazy ass expensive coconut milk ice cream or any other for that matter.

my father's daughter cookbook by gwyneth paltrow.

i seriously am in love with it.

salmon with homemade teriyaki sauce

the teriyaki sauce is unbelievable and i thawed out some frozen salmon.  

mac gobbled it up, tommy and abbie had a bite of fish and spit it out...first time for salmon.  oh well.  

there was none left though, chris and i finished it off.  followed the recipe to a T.    

first time i've ever worked with ginger and had no idea what mirin is...evaporated sake!

bombs anyone!?

those carrot looking things!?  

yea, had noooooo idea what the what they were when i saw them in my produce box.  

had to call the store to ask like an idiot.

parsnips!  

i assume i have had them before at a fancy pancy restaurant  but seriously... clueless on this veggie. 

roasted parsnips

hahahahahahahaha

notes on the parsnips: 

kids didn't really like them.  all had a bite though.

if i had heeded the recipe warning and cut out the middle tough part, they would have been way better.  but oh, that's a lot of cutting my friend.  

sauce was awesome - i substituted vegenaise horseradish and nature's balance in the sauce.  

and just use dried herbs for freaks sake.   

we also cut up some mangos, i forgot to put them out for dinner...so dumb, and come to find out, the kids don't even like mangos!!!  can you believe it?  

at least now i know how to cut a mango.

and funny thing, i just had a bowl full for lunch and my tummy hurts.  guess i don't like mango either?