Day 37

Happy, happy raw vegan ice cream... stay tuned!

My new blender is a thing of beauty. It's sleek and sexy with an entirely stainless steel base. It's quiet, yet powerful and has a smoothie button that whips greens into smithereens. In short, I love it (I have briefly paused to consider whether it is natural for a 23 year old to adore a blender so completely when it isn't making margaritas, but I suppose I was never one for convention anyway).

It sits on the counter next to the food processor now, occupying the space where the toaster and waffle maker used to reside. It arrived on Saturday, so after work, I unpacked it and immediately put it to use. So far I've made 4 green smoothies, Kristen's Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce (subbing the hemp with 1/2 c flax meal and adding more nutritional yeast), carrot, apple, ginger juice (pulp included), and butternut squash soup. Later, I'm going to make the ranch dressing from RFMEF1o2P.There probably would have been more blender usage, except Mad's been incredibly sick and really just starting eating a bit today, so I've mostly been cooking for myself.

She has been feeling better, though (and it was definitely a stomach virus), and tonight I orchestrated a delicious collaboration between my blender and food processor: chocolate, strawberry, cherry banana ice cream. Heh. At the end of last week, we had a bunch and a half of perfectly ripe bananas, so I froze them for later use. I also recently discovered Green and Crunchy, the blog of an amazing raw vegan mama of five (5!) raw vegan kids. Taking inspiration from her all fruit ice cream and having just stocked up on frozen fruit for smoothies, I made my own:

Cherry Berry Chocolate Ice Cream
4 frozen bananas
6 frozen strawberries
8 frozen cherries
4 TBS cocoa powder
Toppings (optional)

Pulse in blender until combined. Transfer to food processor and processes until smooth.

It was amazing. Madeline ate hers au naturale and I topped mine with dried coconut (and then I finished Mad's when she couldn't.... thanks, stomach bug!). This raw transition hasn't always been easy, but moments like this, the synergy between gastronomy and nutrition, are pure bliss.

-Eloise