delicious strawberry shake

My kids loved a shake I made for supper yesterday. I really enjoyed it too; only thing I would do differently is less sugar. I think kids would disagree  : ) 

2 cups Coconut Dream Beverage*

About 4 cups whole frozen strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

Blend and enjoy fresh!

*look on shelf at grocery store - it is a Tetrapak shelf stable version

Homemade Popsicles

We enjoy having homemade popsicles stocked in our freezer. I don't care to buy popsicles from the store. At home, I can decide what goes in. When I have bought even popsicles that were whole fruit and all natural at the store, there was still more sugar than I care for. Besides, it can be much more cost effective to make popsicles at home, and more convenient if you've found a way of keeping your own freezer and pantry stocked with produce and food you payed a good price for. OK, even if you didn't get a sale price for your fruit, you still will probably come ahead over the cost of purchased whole fruit popsicles. (The water, sugar, food coloring ones of course are cheaper).

We enjoy popsicles made from fruit. Keeping popsicles in stock has been quite convenient- if we make smoothies often, I just fill up the popsicle molds with leftovers. Sometimes I may only have two popsicles worth, but that's okay, next smoothie I may have a couple more popsicles-worth. Then we get to choose between two or three flavors when we get out the popsicles.

Popsicle ideas:

-smoothie leftovers
-make smoothie solely for purpose of making popsicles
(I make it a little stronger than I would for a smoothie-more fruit or juice conc to water)
-mix juice from concentrate, and have it a bit stronger than you would for drinking
-freeze homemade pudding(we make coconut pudding)

Creating smoothies

Smoothies are something very adaptable to your own ideas and whatever you have on hand. I don't follow recipes when I make a smoothie, I just look at what I have in my freezer, think of what type of smoothie might go well with the meal(or what smoothie sounds good if it's a snack), and throw things together. I like to ask my 4 yr old if she'd like to help. She enjoys thinking of what to put in. I have listened to her ideas, and helped her with amounts, and she's made a couple of really good smoothies! Yes, one time there was something that I didn't think would go and I mentioned this to her, and she was fine with that. It's fun to see she likes to create in the kitchen.

Here is a smoothie she helped make that I really, really liked. Amounts are estimated.

Apple raspberry juice concentrate(1/2 cup)
water(add to desired consistency and taste)* maybe try 1/2 cup
Peaches, frozen(3/4 cup)
Blueberries, frozen(1/2 cup)
Pineapple(1/2 cup fresh)
You could add pineapple juice if you don't have fresh pineapple
sugar(1/8-1/4 cup)

When I make smoothies, I blend proportions together that look good, then look at consistency and taste test the smoothie. I then know whether to add more water, or more of a certain fruit, etc.

If you make a large batch of smoothie, you may get to freeze leftovers into popsicle molds. Sometimes we have just enough for two or three popsicles, but if we've been enjoying smoothies often, we have two or three kinds of popsicles to choose from when we get out our popsicle mold.


March 29, 2016

About equal amounts nectarine puree and * strawberries, (2 cups each?), 1 cup coconut dream beverage, maybe 1/2 cup pineapple juice, and raspberry jam- maybe 2 T. **

*from freezer with orange juice concentrate(and sugar I think) added, partially thawed in microwave for blending

**Rather than adding strawberries and raspberry jam separate, I actually used strawberry sauce I made for pancakes and had leftover. When making the sauce I had blended 4 cups frozen strawberries, 1 cup water, and added about 1/4 cup raspberry jam to add some flavor. Then maybe 1/4 cup more sugar? Dont' remember. I probably used about half of that portion in the smoothie. Use leftover pinapple juice from last opened can. We really like this one! One of our favorites. And my daughter that doesn't like strawberries or raspberries really enjoyed it.  I love utilizing successfully leftover food to make something we really like!

April 1, 2016

Another smoothie we really liked! Another favorite.

1 cup coconut dream beverage, nectarine puree.* strawberries from freezer, mango slices from freezer. 1/4 cup sugar.

*Froze with added orange juice concentrate to prevent from browning, and added sugar to taste. I prepared the strawberries from fresh, ripe- sliced and froze. I think 2 snack baggies, not full, maybe 2/3 cup. Mangos fresh, ripe, froze what didn't want to eat then in snack baggy. About 3/4 of snack baggy- about 1/3 cup? Nectarine puree, maybe 2 cups.

Honey Hot Fudge Sauce

LivingWithout.com has a good fudge sauce recipe that I use. If you visit their site, then enter "Honey Hot Fudge Sauce" in an advanced search, it should come up. This is really yummy on coconut ice cream! I make it ahead of time and have it in the fridge, not sure how long it really is supposed to last. We've used it before it has tasted spoiled. You can have it extra thick if you like to eat it like soft fudge. : )

Latest variation of coconut ice cream

My most recent version of coconut ice cream:

Freeze coconut cream ahead of time in ice cube trays. This is not cream of coconut, it is coconut cream. Mine I freeze in small cubes and always keep it on hand in a quart-sized bag in the freezer. Then I'm able to have any small amount to add to smoothies, even gravies or sauces for depth. And I'm always prepared to make ice cream at short notice.

Use a 1:1 ratio of coconut cream frozen and water frozen. I use about 1 cup coconut cream cubes and about 1 cup ice cubes. Add these to a powerful blender(I use a VitaMix).* Add some liquid- just enough for your blender to handle the frozen cubes. Try 1/8 cup of coconut milk, rice milk, or water. Or fruit juice. Whatever you have on hand that sounds good : ) Add 1 tsp. vanilla, and try 1/4 cup sugar. Blend until ice chunks are gone. Taste and adjust sugar if desired. Serve immediately, in small dishes, as it melts quickly. Whatever isn't served, freeze immediately in a small container. This can be set out ahead of time or gently thawed in the microwave the next time.
I like the flavor of this ice cream. Actually, often I like this better than regular dairy ice cream. I am happy with it, and of course my girls are. The one thing that would be nice to improve is to have an ice cream that doesn't melt so quickly. However, right now my girls are content turning their melted ice cream into chocolate milk(I often have dairy free chocolate fudge on hand that I've made, or they have added Hershey's syrup when I have that).

*If you do not have a powerful blender, you can use water instead of ice. You could even just combine coconut cream, water, sugar, and vanilla, and then freeze in a container 3-4 hours or until slightly firm. Then stir, or whisk with a fork to break up ice crystals. Refreeze, and repeat process if you desire even smoother ice cream. As far as smoothness goes, I've seen recipes where you heat ingredients on the stove until sugar is dissolved. Then you freeze as mentioned above. I would guess that dissolving the sugar helps the ice cream to be more smooth.

If you're searching to try other recipes or learn more about homemade dairy-free ice cream, Living Without has had some ice cream recipes- you could see what is available online. "The Ice Dream Cookbook" by Rachel Albert-Matesz is something you could look for as well- check your library. I haven't seen it myself, but have seen an ice cream recipe or two at Living Without that was adapted from this cookbook.

April 2016

Use Silk coconut milk. Freeze in ice cube trays. Use boxed or canned coconut cream as bit of liquid needed to add to the frozen cubes. Sugar will depend on if Silk is unsweetened or sweetened...

Strawberry Rhubarb Non-Dairy Shake

This creamy dessert is delicious and has a beautiful pink color. My husband who generally doesn't like rhubarb, loves this treat! It's healthy, too. The coconut milk makes it taste like it's a shake made with dairy ice cream- it's rich and flavorful. I don't follow any one recipe when I make this. I just got the idea of a rhubarb shake from a rhubarb sorbet recipe I saw(Alice Sherwood's "Allergy Cookbook.") Generally, I combine chopped, cooked and sweetened rhubarb(frozen), strawberries, coconut milk, and ice and/or water. Peaches are also good. I have used strawberry-rhubarb sauce from my freezer that I made with cinnamon and lemon juice. This is delicious to use with the coconut milk and ice. Here's a basic recipe I put together with estimations:

1 can coconut milk
2 cups cooked, sweetened to taste, and frozen rhubarb(meaning 2 cups after it is cooked down)
-while cooking, you can add 1-2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and sugar to taste
1 pint strawberries, frozen
1 qt. home bottled peaches, or frozen peaches, opt.
ice and water to desired thickness and taste

Experiment with different amounts and components. Each time I have made this, I've had people wowed and very satisfied. In the rhubarb sorbet recipe I saw from Alice Sherwood's book(Allergy-Free Cookbook), she said that people who don't like rhubarb love her sorbet! Same goes with this "shake."

Coconut Cream Popsicles

I have posted coconut ice cream recipes previously. Here is a variation that's really good: freeze coconut "ice cream" into popsicles! Make the ice cream according to the previous post, dish it into popsicle molds, and freeze. I don't have popsicle molds right now, so I used little plastic cups, partially froze the mixture, then pulled out the cups and placed plastic toddler spoons inside, filled the cracks carefully with a slight amount of water, and refroze the dessert.

You can make these extra-special by swirling in a fruit puree- it makes beautiful, delicious popsicles! I pureed some plums and sweetened the puree with sugar. I also added 1 T. orange juice concentrate to the batch of puree that I made(about 1 quart yield). It made a beautiful deep reddish-purple sauce. The extra sauce can be frozen in freezer bags or containers for future use(for small amounts, you can use baby food jars). I poured the coconut "ice cream" mixture into plastic cups, then swirled in the plum puree. These are delightful and refreshing! I don't care to buy another popsicle from the store again! : )

Coconut "Ice Cream"

My girls are loving their first experience with ice cream. Last summer I made fruit sorbets for my daughter. She loved "pink sorbet," made from strawberries. This summer I have experimented with "coconut ice cream." I think it's technically a sorbet. But I call it ice cream because it is so much like the vanilla ice cream I know.

Here are a few variations. The girls love it with Enjoy Life chocolate chips(non-dairy) and cookie crumbs(gluten-free sugar cookies) or fruit crisp crumbles(oats, oat flour, brown sugar and oil) that are stored in the freezer. Blueberries are another favorite with this dish.

Variation #1:

1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut cream
2 trays ice cubes
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Blend in VitaMix. Or if using blender, add ice cubes one at a time. I haven't tried this in a regular blender. If it's too thick for your blender, you can omit ice(and add some water in its place unless you want really creamy ice cream) and then place in freezer 3-4 hours until edges firm; break up crystals with fork, refreeze again until firm. If you're freezing a liquid instead of using a high-powered blender and ice, you can dissolve the sugar and liquid together in a saucepan before freezing. I've seen recipes with instructions to dissolve sugar, and figure it helps with smoothness.

This has a delicious balance of flavor. It is a bit runny, though, with the method I've tried in the VitaMix. I might try 2 1/2 ice cube trays(though that might dilute it too much). Or I might try the method leaving out ice and simply freezing, stirring, freezing. As is, we dish it up immediately as soft-serve, store the remaining in the freezer, and the remaining is thick enough for latter use. (It does require some thaw time before enjoying again- in refrigerator or very low power in microwave). Or, we spoon it into popsicle molds(or use plastic cups and anything you can find for handles- plastic spoons, popsicle sticks if you have them). Either way my kids love this stuff!

Variation #2:

This is for those who desire more of a coconut ice milk treat- less sweet. Follow directions above, but omit coconut cream.