Ice Cream Just Got Healthy

I am an ice cream addict.

                                   

Almost every night, I scoop myself a few dollops of ice cream. I hold the blame, but I have to say some of it is due to my upbringing. When I was little, I was a little underweight. I went to the doctor for a physical and she prescribed whole milk and ice cream. My parents took this to heart and I grew up thinking that ice cream was actually good for me.

 When I was old enough to realize that ice cream is not a health food, it was too late. I was addicted. But this story has a happy ending, not just for me, but for all you ice cream addicts out there! You don't have to stifle your cravings! You don't have to eat an apple and pretend it's dessert! (Although that's good, too). You don't even have to spend hours (and money) making homemade ice cream (okay, you could). There is an easier, better, and healthier way to get your ice cream fix without having to do a hundred jumping jacks to make up for it!

 The solution?


Nice Cream*

 
You may have heard of it before, but you won't believe it till you try it. The first time I made it, I gave a bowl of it to my dad to try.

"This," he said, pointing to the custard-like dessert with his spoon, "Is good. What's in it?"
"Bananas," I said.
"And?"
"Um..vanilla?"
"And?"
"That's all!"
He couldn't believe it, and neither will you.

 
Nice Cream, in a nutshell, is ice cream made out of fruit. Most nice cream is made out of bananas, but I have heard of people using peaches and other fruits. But bananas are the most popular, and you'll see why.

 First off, bananas are cheap, they have a subtle flavor, and the texture of the nice cream is like frozen custard. Some people don't like the idea of using bananas because of the fat, but really, I'm sure it's a lot better than ice cream! If you are not a fan of banana-flavor, you can always flavor it with any flavorings you would use in regular ice cream. I suggest using organic chocolate nut spread or cocoa. I normally add just a few drops of vanilla and it's heavenly. You can also pop in some strawberries, or you can add a spoonful of peanut butter. I have been wanting to make it a pina-collada flavor by adding a few drops of coconut milk and some pineapple. Whatever flavor you like, go for it!

 
The directions are simple.

 
1. Slice a few ripe bananas. They can be over-ripe as well. I'm not picky about how big the slices should be, just divide each banana into at least four pieces for easy blending.

 
2. Put the slices in the freezer until they're frozen, maybe an hour or so.

 
3.Take out the pieces, put them in a blender/food processor (NOT a smoothie-maker) and blend. I typically use one-and-half bananas per serving.  If the bananas are very frozen, this may take some time. At first, you will end up with a dipp'n dots texture. Just keep blending and occasionally stirring and watch the magic happen as it suddenly turns silky smooth before your eyes. Once it's smooth, it is ready to eat.

 
These simple steps may change your life. Any time you have some extra bananas you don't think you'll eat, or Kroger is having a sale on over-ripe bananas, just stick them in the freezer for later and "indulge" on them as nice cream later.

 
Enjoy!

 
P.S. Save your banana peels in some foil with a little lemon juice. You’ll want to use them after my next post. Trust me!

 
-Emily 

 
*I don't know you decided to name it "nice cream." Shouldn't you replace the "cream" since there is no cream, and not the "ice" since there is, in a way, ice? I wanted to call it "Ice Dream," but supposedly Chick-fi-la has given that name to their ice cream. It's a shame really. "Ice Dream" has a pleasant connotation to it. Besides, one little-known fact about bananas is that they make your dreams more vivid, so it makes sense to associate it with dreaming.

 

Up in the Woods Part 1: For Dreamers

A few weeks ago, my family and I left our five-acre hobby farm to spend a few days in the mountains. Our temporary home was in North Carolina. I had my own room with a huge bed, and at night it was so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face (I tried). When you step away from your life, when you jump out of the stream and sit on the bank for a moment, there is a clearing of the mind that is refreshing and inspiring. For me, this phenomena was nurtured even more by my reading choice for the week—a copy of Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau. When I opened the book, my dad looked over my shoulder and said, “That book will mess with your mind.” He added, “in a good way, that is." And it did. I got out my leather journal and a pen and began to write. These are a few of my mountain musings.

 

                                                                               *  *  *
 As I sit in a rocking chair on the front porch of a cabin hidden from society in the North Carolinian mountains, my mind is turning over new visions for my future. A few chapters of Walden by Henry David Thoreau and a light, mountain breeze kissing my cheek are enough to awaken the dreamer in me that had turned to stone—a stone etched with plans of society and this culture, rigidly marked in my generation’s Facebook statuses and Pinterest boards. It seems like everyone has the same vision, and so it is not an individual’s ideal but the ideal that the media has portrayed and made acceptable for us. Wouldn’t it be wonderful—revolutionary—if we all had our own dream?

My dream changes every day. I give myself time and space and atmosphere to contemplate it, tweak it, and play it back and forth in my mind. In my “plans", I leave myself open to God’s will. I pray that God would give me grace to desire what he desires, and not just for my life—His desires go beyond my meager existence. .

 

My dreams for my future go from broad to specific, but even the specific can change directions. An answer to prayer, a conversation, a closed door, a verse in scripture can change my course. The push-pin on my atlas can shift with a touch of God’s hands. Whatever I do, wherever I go, God is my destination and my ultimate desire. If that is my pursuit in life, then I know I can be content in all circumstances, because God grants me that desire every day.

And so the dreams I have laid out are not fixed. They are the mountain musings of today that may descend as I traverse to level ground in the morning. But ultimately what I desire is to love God and enjoy Him forever, to follow where He leads, to admire His creation, to love His people, to grow in wisdom, and to live simply and humbly on this earth.

 

This desire is the Christian desire, and it is one that many people share. My dreams for how I do this are unique. John Wesley said, "Love God and do whatever you want." If you love God--I mean truly love God with all your heart--then your desires will be His desires. Then what God wants will be what you want. I'll keep my dreams to myself for now, because I hope everyone can have their own. Sometimes it takes getting away from the world to realize what it is you really want.

 

-Emily