Saturday, December 22, 2012

Soft Serve Pumpkin Ice Cream - Sugar Free


I love pumpkin...if you haven't noticed yet.  ;-)

Even though it is so cold outside, I was still craving ice cream.  My husband and kids can't have dairy so I was wondering what I could do to satisfy my ice cream craving.  I rummaged the pantry and decided on pumpkin ice cream.  And best of all, it's sugar free.  

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Lite Coconut Milk (in the can)

  • 15 oz pumpkin puree

  • 1 packet stevia

  • 1 tsp ground cinnnamon

  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger

  • 1 tsp vanilla (alcohol free)

  • 4 cups ice

  • Maple flavored agave nectar

 

Directions:

Put all ingredients in the Vitamix in the order listed.  On variable speed, turn on the blade and go from 1 to 10 very quickly.  Use the tamper to work all the ingredients down and blend for about 90 seconds.  Don't blend longer than that or it starts to melt.  Serve immediately. If you wait very long it gets very soft like my picture, but it still tastes amazing!  I top with just a tiny bit of maple agave nectar.

 

I love that agave nectar is coming in so many flavors now!  I even bought blueberry to put on top of berry cobbler.  Can't wait to try that.



Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (aka Nutella)


I grew up absolutely loving Nutella.  It was something that we only had as an occasional treat since back then you had to get it at an import store.  Now I have the pleasure of having little ones who love it too.  

And who wouldn't?  Nuts.  Chocolate.  Um, YUM!

Best part, I can make it at home with just a handful of ingredients. 




Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (aka Nutella)

2 cups raw hazelnuts
3 tbsp raw coconut oil
2 tbsp walnut oil
2 tbsp baking cocoa
2-4 tbsp honey (sweeten to your preference)
½ tsp sea salt

Put all ingredients in your blender or food processor.  Start on a low speed and work your way up to med-high.  Blend until smooth. 

I used a blend of coconut and walnut oil because it helped to keep a somewhat nutty flavor.  If I would have used all coconut oil, it would have taken it too far from the Nutella flavor.

I started with 3 tbsp of coconut oil and it was really thick, but if you added a few ingredients, it could be rolled into balls for an energetic tasty treat.  Ideas would be coconut flakes, dried cranberries, nut pieces.  Be creative.

I added the 2 tbsp of walnut oil to make it smoother and more nutty.  At this consistency, you could easily use this as frosting for a cake.  I like to stay away from refined sugars and most frosting doesn’t offer much for nutrition and since this is mostly nuts and coconut oil, I feel like it would be a healthy way to add some nutrition to a cake.  

Enjoy, and come back and tell me how you use it.






Jessica Wyman is the Author of Girlfriends Organic Kitchen.  Available now for only $9.95!
Founder of Slim & Vibrant Nutrition School, currently running individual programs.

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