Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Well it seems like fall has officially come to Toronto. We woke up this morning huddling for body heat, since we usually sleep with the window open because this condo has this weird tendency to be warm. Not so great of an idea last night!

It's also our last few days here. Prepping for a move back to Ottawa for a few months, I haven't had plenty of time to cook meals more complex than potatoes and hummus. Or even think much about new ideas. So it's been back to comfort staples, which I really don't mind, since eating simply is what I love best!

It's pretty obvious how much produce we eat around here, when all the boxes that we've used to pack have been from the fruit that we've eaten over the last while. Banana boxes are my favorite to pack with since they seem to be the perfect size for basically anything, are super strong and have handles. Not to mention they stack perfectly. Just another benefit of eating tons of fruit.

Now to the ice cream.

Even though I am not so happy about the cold, it definitely did not stop me from indulging in this treat. After having made pumpkin puree from the awesome local sugar pumpkins my partner got me, I didn't really want to just make the usual pumpkin pie and soup. Also, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to make the pie yet, since I don't use flours of any kind, it's going to be a bit of a challenge unless I make a raw crust.

So this lovely dish came to life. A fat-free, whole food, no-processed-sugar delicacy that everyone can enjoy! It's loaded with sticky good for you ingredients that make this not only a decadent treat, but a healthy one too.

 Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Ingredients:

- 6 large bananas, peeled, cut and frozen.

- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree

- 10-14 dates, soaked,

- 1/2 cup coconut sugar

- 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I made my own, below)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. 

You can serve immediately which will be more of a soft serve, or you can put into a freezer safe glass container and freeze it for a few hours to scoop it like I did. 

Pumpkin Pie Spice:

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1 tsp ginger (I actually used fresh)

- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

- 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo 2013: Fruity Friday AND Rawkin Saturday Combo Post: What I eat.

Since my planned recipe for yesterday didn't work out, I figured I'd do a combo post that showcases what it is exactly that I eat, what defines my food philosophy and also defines what this blog is all about.

I became plant based as on January 1st 2010, starting off with a slightly pescatarian diet and quickly progressing to vegetarian to vegan to high raw in a matter of about 7 months. Since then my diet has varied a bit, but has fundamentally followed certain guidelines. I've had a ton of success on it and have regained my health as well as shed 70 pounds (so far). But that's a whole story for another post!

These days, my ideal day starts off with a liter of water, sometimes with lemon. Then I have a breakfast consisting of fruit, sometimes a smoothie, sometimes just a generous quantity of whole ripe fresh awesomeness. When I say generous, I mean 7-10 bananas blended with strawberries, or 2 liters of fresh pressed orange juice. I prefer to stick with what's in season, but bananas are always a staple since they are easy to find, consistent and affordable. For lunch, it's usually also fruit, but sometimes a large salad with tons of greens (my faves being romaine, spinach and baby lettuces). If I feel like a snack it's again fruit, or veggies but sometimes rice crackers, or a bowl of rice. Dinners are by far my most complex meal, which is what most of the recipes here consist of.

I like to keep my cooked meal on the whole food plant based side of things. My meals are generally high carb and low fat, although I do deviate from that. My goal is more to keep an average of 80% carbs, 10% protein and fats. I feel my best when I stick to it and have found so many other that have as well, including people that I've coached. I also love being gluten-free and oil-free, low salt and low processed anything. I do occasionally deviate from this, generally when I go out to restaurants I am a bit more lenient but still keep it vegan and gluten free.

So dinner is often also very simple, like baked potatoes with salsa, or rice with steamed veggies.

Seasonality means that I try to stick to what's in season at all times, preferably local but since the winters here don;t have much to offer, I keep in mind what is in season around the world at that time.  I love peaches, berries and melons in the summer; dates, apples and pomegranates in the fall; citrus of all kinds, papayas and persimmons in the winter, as well as mangoes; and last but not least mangos, pineapple and the last of the oranges in the spring. Of course my diet varies much more than that, but since those are the best quality fruits at that time, they usually consist of my main sources of calories at that time along with bananas.

There are days where I will eat completely raw, and others when I might only have one meal of fruit, rarely does it happen that I have a day without raw foods.

My goals for the day food wise also include drinking 3 liters of water and eating over 2500 calories a day. It may seem like a lot to many people who are so used to calorie restricting, which I am far too familiar with, but the reality is that low calorie meals do not work long term. They are unsustainable and honestly who wants to live on will power alone?

I want to live an abundant life, a healthy life and a life filled with adventure and projects. In order to have the energy to do so, you have to eat. Plain and simple. The whole calories in, calories out rubbish has been debunked. I've never felt better or had so little issues losing excess weight than when I chose to eat more of the right foods instead of less of everything.

So rejoice and fill yourself with the delicacies of nature!

Banana Ice Cream.

I had this for breakfast at least 5 times in the past week and a half. Yes, that's right, breakfast.

I laugh so much when people have those bewildered looks on their face when they find out I'm not only vegan, I stick to a whole food, high raw diet. I know they have images of endless salads popping up in their heads and while I love me a good salad, it's definitely not the bulk of my diet.

In my book, healthy still means delicious. Actually, when I started being more conscious of my food choices, the variety and quality of my food went way up. When you start exploring real food, there is no comparison to the richness and the amazing taste of what nature gives us.

Back to ice cream.

I discovered this amazingly simple and oh-so-decadent treat a few years ago when I started looking into raw foods. Having always been an ice cream lover, and it really not loving me back, eating a version that I could feel amazing about in so many ways made me jump for joy (literally. I even have a happy dance just for this).

On top f all the healthy benefits and amazing taste, this stuff won't actually spike blood sugar for those who are concerned about it. Coconut sugar (the topping) has a very low glycemic index. Tastes like caramel molasses with a hint of maple and has an abundance of nutrients. If you are looking for an alternative sweetener, this really is the beat available. It's actually all-natural and not full of chemicals, which beats the competition with ease.

It tastes like the "real deal", actually no, it's better! More like soft serve or frozen yogurt, it's melty, rich, healthy and well ,just make it. When you read the recipe, you won't believe me until you make it and eat it... Then make more so make sure to prepare extra ingredients from the start. I'm putting in enough ingredients for a batch that usually feeds 2 of us with hearty appetites, so feel free to adjust it to your needs.

Banana Ice Cream

- 12-14 ripe bananas.

(make sure they are spotty-ripe so that they are very sweet)

Toppings:

Choose as many as you like! These are my faves.

- Coconut sugar

- Strawberries

- Date sauce/bits

- Carob/Cacao

- Jam

- Maple Syrup

- Anything your heart desires. 

Peel and cut the bananas into fours and put into a freezer bag or glass tupperware container. Freeze it overnight or for at least 6 hours. 

Put the bananas in either a high powered blender, food processor or juicer with a blank insert and process with little to no added liquid. I prefer the food processor as my blender does sometimes overheat while making this. If all you have is a regular blender, defrost the bananas slightly to soften them. You might have to add liquid as well. 

Once it's all smooth, add toppings and enjoy!