Is your tongue twisted? Well then soothe it with some of this frozen goodness… OMG. I invented this recipe, based on a recipe that came with my VitaMix. (Have I told you how much I love my VitaMix? Well, in case you hadn’t heard… I LOVE.MY.VITAMIX! *giggle*)

The one that came with the book is called Mixed Nut Freeze, and I’ve made it a couple times, with different nuts (so far have liked it best with 1/2 cashews and 1/2 almonds), and it’s SO good… best homemade – SUGAR FREE – ice cream. Mind you, the recipe actually calls for “real” sweetener, but I just use stevia. SO, I was thinkin, I’d make another batch tonight… and I was thinking, how can I make this creamier?

So, I played a little. Actually, the Beebits and I played a little together The result was amazing! I love this stuff… and of course the Beebits was thrilled because when we were done, he got to eat some! Lol… so here it is, for the daring to try

Creamy Vanilla-Nut Freeze

• 90 g raw cashews (mine had been soaked and dried)
• 90 g. raw walnuts
• 2 c plain soymilk (if you use vanilla milk you could probably cut back the sweetener, I didn’t have any to try.)
• 150 g frozen banana
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 10 ‘scoops’ stevia extract powder (the tiny miniscule scoop that comes with it)**
• 4 Tbsp safflower (or other mild vegetable) oil
• 4-6 c. ice (I used cubes, I don’t think crushed would work as well, but it might)

Pour the milk, nuts, vanilla, banana and sweetener into your Vita. Start on 1 variable, go quickly to 10 and then to high. Blend for about 30 seconds and turn it off.  While the nuts, milk, etc are blending, during that 30 seconds, pour the oil in through the top and let it blend in too. Add your ice, and then – again- turn it on at 1 variable, quickly move to 10 and then to high. Blend for 30-60 seconds, using the tamper to push the ice into the blades. You should hear the machine’s sound change and notice the mixture thicken (kind of abruptly I’ve noticed lol). It’s done, turn it off of it’ll start working against you and melt the stuff! Mmmmmm vanilla-ey goodness.

Mmmmm good. Into the freezer for you!

In case you’re wondering about the oil…. I mentioned i was trying to make the recipe creamier… well, the nut freeze is VERY good right out of the vitamix, BUT, once you freeze the leftovers it gets hard as a rock and kind of icy. Now, I still like it ok and have eaten it, but was hoping to make something that wont’ freeze quite so hard. And if you look at your store-bought ice creams, (mayo? dressing?) oils are added to lend creaminess AND, in ice cream’s sake, to help it stay somewhat soft in the freezer So this is an experiment for that reason. I’m hoping it will help. (Of course, you can always add some rum or vodka or something to your ice cream also, cause that will also keep it from freezing solid, but I have to share with the Beebits, so kinda figured that wasn’t a very good choice!)

**Note: I use stevia extract, so if you have something like sweetleaf or nunaturals packets-type stevia, you will need more. Those are cut with ‘filler’, so are not as sweet. ALSO. This came out quite sweet, probably 8 or 9 scoops would have been fine. SO f you like things not quite as sweet, try the lower amount!

Lovin his treat - even asked for some carob chips sprinkled on top

Makin stuff together is fun!

**************************

Now for some more food news… and mostly because I think the picture looks cool and I want to share it with everyone… lol! YET ANOTHER SMOOTHIE! Y’all tired of these yet? I’m not! OMG I LOVE my VitaMix! (Did I mention that yet today?) Here’s this mornings green yumminess

• 2 c pure water
• 135 g organic baby spinach (I usually use 100 g but had some spinach to use up, so this was a super green one!)
• 250 g frozen strawberries
• 123 g. fresh pear
• 3 ‘scoops’ stevia extract powder
• 110 g. (1 medium) fresh banana

Put all ingredients into the VitaMix and blend for about 30 seconds. Voila! Green Goodness. The Beebits and I shared this for breakfast today.

Before...

After!

And very tasty.

**************************

Ok now to share with you some of my recent total toddler embarassment. You really have never truly lived until you’ve been in public with a toddler who shouts something that turns you absolutely crimson. Well, let me tell you, I recently lived.

The other night I was in Henry’s with the Beebits, walkin through the produce section and suddenly he stops, turns, and says (NOT quietly) “She’s black, Mommy!” I could feel the heat filling my face as I turned to see who he was looking at, and sure enough there was a very black young woman just 5 feet or so from us.

(Now, I get that he’s 2, and they’re quite literal, so really, I have to say that saying someone is ‘black’ must really  confuse them. Because really, ‘black’ is usually a varying shade of brown. I know he thinks that way. But this young lady really was pretty ‘black’, which is the only reaon I can think that he had to point it out so publicly. She was the first quite dark ‘black’ person he’d ever seen.)

So I agreed with him, “Yes, honey, she is black.” BUT she’d heard us and turned around (smiling, to her credit) and said “She’s what?” Oh dear. So, as quietly as I could, I told her what he’d said. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done! She was very cool about it, though, and she laughed and went on her way… but Omigawd was I embarassed! Because, you know, she wasn’t the only one who heard either. Yeah – sure – people give leeway to tiny little kids but still. I was mortified! Ack!

I know for a fact, and I keep telling myself over and over, that this will NOT be the last time (by any stretch of the imagination) that he embarrasses me in public. Knowing that… it’s helping.

A little.

**************************

Ok, well, I am off to actually enjoy some of my vanilla-nut freeze, and veg out for a little while before I head to bed. Hope you enjoy our adventures in yumminess as much as we do!!! Tell me, have you ever had a child (Your own or someone else’s) blurt one of those kinds of comments in your presence? Please, do share!

Is your tongue twisted? Well then soothe it with some of this frozen goodness… OMG. I invented this recipe, based on a recipe that came with my VitaMix. (Have I told you how much I love my VitaMix? Well, in case you hadn’t heard… I LOVE.MY.VITAMIX! *giggle*)

The one that came with the book is called Mixed Nut Freeze, and I’ve made it a couple times, with different nuts (so far have liked it best with 1/2 cashews and 1/2 almonds), and it’s SO good… best homemade – SUGAR FREE – ice cream. Mind you, the recipe actually calls for “real” sweetener, but I just use stevia. SO, I was thinkin, I’d make another batch tonight… and I was thinking, how can I make this creamier?

So, I played a little. Actually, the Beebits and I played a little together The result was amazing! I love this stuff… and of course the Beebits was thrilled because when we were done, he got to eat some! Lol… so here it is, for the daring to try

Creamy Vanilla-Nut Freeze

• 90 g raw cashews (mine had been soaked and dried)
• 90 g. raw walnuts
• 2 c plain soymilk (if you use vanilla milk you could probably cut back the sweetener, I didn’t have any to try.)
• 150 g frozen banana
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 10 ‘scoops’ stevia extract powder (the tiny miniscule scoop that comes with it)**
• 4 Tbsp safflower (or other mild vegetable) oil
• 4-6 c. ice (I used cubes, I don’t think crushed would work as well, but it might)

Pour the milk, nuts, vanilla, banana and sweetener into your Vita. Start on 1 variable, go quickly to 10 and then to high. Blend for about 30 seconds and turn it off.  While the nuts, milk, etc are blending, during that 30 seconds, pour the oil in through the top and let it blend in too. Add your ice, and then – again- turn it on at 1 variable, quickly move to 10 and then to high. Blend for 30-60 seconds, using the tamper to push the ice into the blades. You should hear the machine’s sound change and notice the mixture thicken (kind of abruptly I’ve noticed lol). It’s done, turn it off of it’ll start working against you and melt the stuff! Mmmmmm vanilla-ey goodness.

Mmmmm good. Into the freezer for you!

In case you’re wondering about the oil…. I mentioned i was trying to make the recipe creamier… well, the nut freeze is VERY good right out of the vitamix, BUT, once you freeze the leftovers it gets hard as a rock and kind of icy. Now, I still like it ok and have eaten it, but was hoping to make something that wont’ freeze quite so hard. And if you look at your store-bought ice creams, (mayo? dressing?) oils are added to lend creaminess AND, in ice cream’s sake, to help it stay somewhat soft in the freezer So this is an experiment for that reason. I’m hoping it will help. (Of course, you can always add some rum or vodka or something to your ice cream also, cause that will also keep it from freezing solid, but I have to share with the Beebits, so kinda figured that wasn’t a very good choice!)

**Note: I use stevia extract, so if you have something like sweetleaf or nunaturals packets-type stevia, you will need more. Those are cut with ‘filler’, so are not as sweet. ALSO. This came out quite sweet, probably 8 or 9 scoops would have been fine. SO f you like things not quite as sweet, try the lower amount!

Lovin his treat - even asked for some carob chips sprinkled on top

Makin stuff together is fun!

**************************

Now for some more food news… and mostly because I think the picture looks cool and I want to share it with everyone… lol! YET ANOTHER SMOOTHIE! Y’all tired of these yet? I’m not! OMG I LOVE my VitaMix! (Did I mention that yet today?) Here’s this mornings green yumminess

• 2 c pure water
• 135 g organic baby spinach (I usually use 100 g but had some spinach to use up, so this was a super green one!)
• 250 g frozen strawberries
• 123 g. fresh pear
• 3 ‘scoops’ stevia extract powder
• 110 g. (1 medium) fresh banana

Put all ingredients into the VitaMix and blend for about 30 seconds. Voila! Green Goodness. The Beebits and I shared this for breakfast today.

Before...

After!

And very tasty.

**************************

Ok now to share with you some of my recent total toddler embarassment. You really have never truly lived until you’ve been in public with a toddler who shouts something that turns you absolutely crimson. Well, let me tell you, I recently lived.

The other night I was in Henry’s with the Beebits, walkin through the produce section and suddenly he stops, turns, and says (NOT quietly) “She’s black, Mommy!” I could feel the heat filling my face as I turned to see who he was looking at, and sure enough there was a very black young woman just 5 feet or so from us.

(Now, I get that he’s 2, and they’re quite literal, so really, I have to say that saying someone is ‘black’ must really  confuse them. Because really, ‘black’ is usually a varying shade of brown. I know he thinks that way. But this young lady really was pretty ‘black’, which is the only reaon I can think that he had to point it out so publicly. She was the first quite dark ‘black’ person he’d ever seen.)

So I agreed with him, “Yes, honey, she is black.” BUT she’d heard us and turned around (smiling, to her credit) and said “She’s what?” Oh dear. So I told her what he’d said. She was very cool about it, she laughed and went on her way… but Omigawd was I embarassed! Because, you know, she wasn’t the only one who heard either. Yeah – sure – people give leeway to tiny little kids but still. I was mortified! Ack!

I know for a fact, and I keep telling myself, that it will NOT be the last time (by any stretch of the imagination) that he embarrasses me in public. It’s helping… a little.

Well children, I am off to actually enjoy some of my vanilla-nut freeze, and veg out for a little while before I head to bed. Hope you enjoy our adventures in yumminess as much as we do!!!