{create} ice cream!

What's a girl to do when it's 100 degrees in her house? Make ice cream, of course!

Last week it was brutally hot in the NW. We don't have AC. Frowny. So, we spent a lot of time in our underground cave basement. And our favorite treat in the hot weather? This bowl of deliciousness.

I actually can't believe I haven't posted this before. We lived on this stuff last summer. So I guess you're lucky -- I've had a year to perfect it! The recipe is originally from Choosing Raw, and it could not be easier. The secret ingredient is frozen bananas. Yes, you read that correctly, and please don't run just yet. This ice cream is smooth, creamy, and above all, really healthy! Even if you don't like bananas I urge you to give it a try ... it'll change your life. Seriously.

Banana Soft Serve

Ingredients:

• Frozen banana*

That's it! But, this recipe it so adaptable. So, into the above bowl I added:

• Almond butter
• Dark chocolate powder
• Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (recipe to come)

*Quantity is completely up to you. For this recipe, I used 1.5 bananas, 1 tbsp. almond butter, 1 txp. dark chocolate and 2 small cookies.

Method:

1. Throw frozen bananas* into your handy-dandy food processor.
2. Let process. Scrape down the sides once or twice, as necessary. This will take a couple minutes. It will go through a process of crumbling, forming one big ball, and then it will smooth out into soft serve consistency. Make sure it's all smooth, but don't over mix.
3. At this point it is ready to eat! Easy peasy. Does it taste like bananas? Uh, yeah. Is it cool and refreshing like ice cream. Absolutely! So, if you want to lose a little of the banana flavor, continue to step 4. 
4. Mix-ins! I'm not sure I've made the same bowl of ice cream twice. It's so much fun to play with mix-ins! For chocolate powder or pb, almond butter, etc., add to food processor and give it a couple pulses to incorporate. For cookies and the like, mix in with a spoon after you've removed the ice cream from the processor. 

*Frozen banana tip: unpeel before freezing. Yes, I learned this from experience. Also, I like to break my bananas up into halves or thirds for better portion control.

MMMM. Easy and completely delicious. Go home and try this today ... and of course, let me know what you think!