I was going to post about my trip to San Francisco last week, detailing all the great food I ate and what I learned about my stomach’s reactions to certain things, but the heatwave in SoCal this weekend has totally trumped that post.
It’s been a long, hot summer here in Orange County. Which is fine, but we don’t usually get hit with any temps over 80 degrees F here on the coast. I mean, it’s part of the price we pay to live here, I thought, our payback for dealing with all the tourists leaving garbage in front of our house. (Really, people? Were you raised by wolves?)
And this year it’s been record highs at the beach, and so packed we can’t even stick a toe in the water. The Husband hasn’t let me turn on the oven since June. Thank goodness for the food processor and the trusty new Vitamix, or I’d be going stir crazy.
So here’s one that goes out to all my readers and fellow bloggers dealing with what will be 95°F-and-up weather tomorrow (and for Lauren who’s probably dealing with Carmageddon 2 on top of the heat). It’s vegan, it’s paleo, it’s sugar-free, it’s gluten-free and it’s downright delicious. I’m sure if you don’t have a Vitamix, you can defrost the fruit, blend everything together, then stick it in the freezer or an ice-cream maker.
But after slaving for hours in August to make ice cream, and it was so friggin’ hot that the ice-cream maker couldn’t freeze the damn ice cream—yes, there was some serious swearing and maybe a few tears—this shocked me with its simplicity. And deliciousness.
Adapted from the Vitamix “getting started” book, I bring you:
Peach, Mango and Banana Ice Cream
1 lb. (16 oz.) of frozen peach slices and mango chunks
1 1/2 frozen bananas
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup light coconut milk
Pile everything in the Vitamix. Start out on the low setting, turn it up and then throw it up to high for about 30 seconds, until four lumps form. STOP HERE or you’ll get a smoothie.
You can see I couldn’t help myself from tasting it…
I put mine in the freezer and it was still soft-servey later when we wanted to eat it. Well, I wanted to eat it right after I made it, but I was a good girl and just ate two bowls later after dinner. It’s sugar-free, right?
