Orange-Pineapple-Coconut Frozen Yogurt

I was organizing my freezer today and found a forgotten quart size ziplock of frozen pineapple. I decided to experiment but didn't pay a lot of attention to amounts. I'm blogging this in hopes of refining the details in the future when I attempt to duplicate it. So, for now, weights and measurements are in the 'best guess' category.

1 whole Cutie mandarin

2-3T raw organic honey

8oz. frozen pineapple

2T lemon juice
1-2t pumpkin pie spice
1c± whole milk plain Greek yogurt

1/2c canned coconut milk or coconut cream

~ ~ the thick kind that has to be spooned -not poured- out of the can

Cut the orange into little chunks, with the peeling on, into your blender jar. Add everything else and blend until smooth. Freeze in a 16oz. container.

Homemade ice cream and frozen yogurt freeze rock hard. Put the container on the counter a half hour or so before serving to soften it enough to scoop. . .Mmmm, the bright flavors of this were just perfect and although this is frozen yogurt, it tastes more like a fruity sherbet-sorbet. . .Lin

Fruity Sorbet Ice Cream (dairy free)

Every so often I get a new idea for something healthy to replace ice cream. This one has a lot of flavor and texture. Not smooth like ice cream - more like a combination of that and sorbet.

Use perfect fruit!

Wash it all well and remove the strawberry leaves. Cut the tips and stem area off the lemon and mandarin, then cut them lengthwise to take out the center core area. Chop the lemon and mandarin into chunks to be sure there are no seeds, but leave the peel on.

Pour the coconut milk into your blender jar. Add 1/3 - 1/2 cup of Maple syrup, the chopped fruit and blend on high a couple minutes. Pour this into an ice cube tray, pint containers or a loaf pan. 

Freeze only until the whole mixture is solid before serving. Beyond that point, you'll have to leave it out on the counter before scooping since this freezes very hard.

One of my favorite ice creams is Häagen-Dazs Rum Raisin. I might try duplicating that using coconut milk, raisins, Maple Syrup and Mexican vanilla. LOTS of vanilla since I really don't want a big bottle of rum. If that turns out well, I'll post it here. . .Lin

Plum Orange Walnut Raisin Muffins

2c plum sauce (or applesauce)
~ I posted a recipe for this previously

1c plain whole milk Greek yogurt

2/3c single origin EVOO

2 lg. pasture raised eggs

2/3c pure Maple syrup

2T Mexican vanilla

just the skin of 2 Cutie mandarins
~ finely chopped

1c all purpose flour
1c buckwheat

1c rolled oats
1/2c rye flour

1t baking soda

2T baking powder

1T pumpkin pie spice

1t Himalayan pink salt

1c raisins
1c chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350°

Whisk together the first group of ingredients in a large glass bowl. Whisk the dry together then add, a little at a time, to the big bowl. Don't over mix and work quickly. Stir in the raisins and walnuts. Fill the muffin cups almost to the top and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. The loaf pan took about 15 minutes longer.

Cool, then transfer to a rack, or when completely cool, a big bowl or airtight container. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Fruit Salad

Often a new recipe creation just hits me when looking in the 'fridge, freezer, on my pantry shelf, or like today - in the fresh fruit corner of my countertop.

Also, as a bit of an aside, in the past - the recent past, like right before Whole 30 - I'd make a fruit bowl like this and top it with turbinado sugar, "for crunch." Lots of sugar provided lots of crunch, but it also negated a lot of natural benefits of the healthy fruit. So as I assembled this I thought of that and wondered how the flavors and texture would be in this new, healthier approach. Well, for a big surprise, read this post to the end!

1 lg. Envy apple

1 med. banana

1 yellow or green kiwi

1 Cutie mandarin + peel

Dark seedless grapes

5-7 dried dates

juice of one lime

Wash everything well.

Peel the kiwi, don't peel the Cutie, and juice the lime. Cut, slice or chop, each of these fruits, into a medium size bowl. Drizzle with the lime juice, gently combine and distribute, making sure everything is coated with the lime juice.

I ate half of the fruit in the little bowl and was so surprised at the flavors the lime juice brought out! However, I had an idea. . .

I went back to the kitchen and sprinkled the rest of the fruit in my bowl with pink Himalayan salt and some of my black+cayenne pepper mix.

Wow!! You need to give this a try! . .Lin

Whole 30* - Orange-Berry-Banana — Coconut-Almond Ice Cream

Ohhh, Boy!

This Whole 30 recipe creating has really stirred my interest!

Someone in one of my Whole 30 Facebook groups mentioned ice cream and was sad she couldn't have it for a while. I thought, hmmm, yeah, 'I'm on it!' I used to make frozen yogurt quite often, but since dairy is off the table right now, I started thinking of cream and whole milk Greek yogurt alternatives. I've heard of coconut based yogurt, but I already grocery shopped twice this week, and I never go to the store for just one or two items. Then I remembered the coconut-almond milk I put together for a dairy-free coffee creamer and also used it in mashed potatoes a few days ago, so I needed to make more. Just in time to experiment! *I just discovered that Whole 30 says 'no treats' yet. . .the coconut-almond milk and all the fruit is compliant, so. . .I guess proceed at your own risk.

For the 'Ice Cream'. . .

Fill a blender container half way with frozen fruit. 1½ big bananas (or 2 sm.-med.), 1½-2c frozen strawberries and blueberries and after I took the picture, I also cut up a Cutie mandarin orange, including the skin, and added that. ( I thought about adding a handful of chopped dates for sweetness but decided against that.)

I then poured in about 10oz. of the coconut-almond milk and blended. I actually had to let it just sit there and thaw 15 minutes or so before it would blend - so be patient - don't add any more liquid! Blend this well, then pour into a 32oz. container and freeze.

Adding bananas helps to keep it a bit softer and *easier to scoop, not to mention all the nutrients they add to this type of ice cream. I'll be making varieties of this recipe far into the future!! . . . Lin

EDIT: *The bananas might keep this soft if they were the main ingredient, but sadly, this froze hard as a rock. The flavor and health aspects of it however, make working with this worthwhile. Put the container on your counter, at least a half hour before scooping.

Tropical Fruit Smoothie

1/2 frozen banana

1c frozen pineapple chunks

1 Cutie mandarin, cut in half

2/3c-1c whole milk plain Greek Yogurt

some healthy juice for the right viscosity 

Today was feeling like a bad, low energy day. I was catching up on emails and almost fell asleep typing. 

These always help with that, as well as giving me some much needed Vitamin C, calcium, potassium and all the other good nutrients found in these foods.

Blend everything until smooth, pour and drink. Down The Hatch! . .Lin

Pink Green Juice Smoothie

2/3c full fat plain Greek yogurt

2/3 to 1c green juice smoothie

1 'Cutie' Mandarin orange

1/2 lg. banana

1 to 1-1/2c frozen berries

1/2 - 1t ground cinnamon

Blend everything together well, using the entire unpeeled orange.

If necessary, add some cold filtered water to get it to a thinner consistency. Fruit (vegetable) and yogurt smoothies are a great alternative to eating something that might derail your healthy food goals. Such as half a big container of ice cream . . 🙃 . .

This made almost 20oz. . .Lin

Chicken and Carrots a l'Orange

Marinate 2 skinless-boneless cut-up, chicken thighs, an hour or more, before cooking, in:

1/2c good quality EVOO
1/2c white balsamic vinegar
a squeeze of fresh lemon
3-6 cloves of minced garlic
salt, pepper and Old Bay Garlic and Herb

Sauté the chicken in the marinade for 10 minutes, adding more EVOO or a little water, if needed. Next, add the sliced fruit and vegetables. Cover, simmer on low heat to bring out the juices and flavors, for 20-30 minutes or when the carrots are the way you like them.

3 big carrots
1/2 med. Vidalia onion
1 Cutie type mandarin orange

Plate and serve with some crusty bread and a simple green salad. Makes 2 servings. . .Lin