Nutella Gelato

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 heaping cup Nutella
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed, for garnish, mini chocolate chips, or chocolate covered pretzels

Directions

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves and the milk is warm (around 175 degrees), about 5 minutes. Be sure not to burn it.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes. Keep temperature around 165-180 degrees.
Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and hazelnut spread until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with hazelnuts.
Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chocolate-hazelnut-gelato-recipe.html

Sorbet

5 Minute Paleo Sorbet

Author: The Lean Clean Eating Machine

Prep time:  5 mins

Total time:  5 mins

 

No need for an ice cream maker on this one. This 5 minute Paleo friendly ‘sorbet’ is dairy free, gluten free and vegan friendly. Oh, and its’ delicious.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup regular coconut milk. Don’t get the ‘light’ version as it won’t work the same.
• 2.5 cups unsweetened frozen fruit (pineapple and mango work great)
• 5 drops liquid stevia

Instructions

1. Place coconut milk and frozen fruit into blender, and blend on high until frozen fruit is completely blended. Add in a little more coconut milk if mixture seems far too thick.
2. Add in 5 drops liquid stevia and blend once again until well mixed.
3. Enjoy!

Notes

Feel free to use any frozen fruit you want, just make sure it is unsweetened.Top with additional fruit, raw coconut shreds or any toppings of your choosing.

http://theleancleaneatingmachine.com/2013/11/04/5-minute-paleo-sorbet/

5 minute Strawberry FroYo

4 cups frozen strawberries
3 Tablespoons honey
1 cup plain yogurt
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Add the frozen strawberries, honey, yogurt, and lemon juice to the bowl of a food processor. Process until creamy, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately!

*I used nonfat greek yogurt. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup, so you may want to add more honey and lemon juice than this. I divided it into 4 servings (not small either!) and each serving had 96 calories, 16 carbs, 12.5 g sugar, and 6.5 g protein!

*I tried this with raspeberry/lemon and another time with mango and they were amazing!! Mango may have been my favorite. 

Strawberry Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4-1 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp mint extract
• 2-3 whole Large Egg Yolks
• 2 cups Heavy Cream
• 1 pound Strawberries, Hulled
• 1 Tablespoons Sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate

Preparation Instructions

Stir together the milk and 1 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat the mixture until it's hot but not simmering or boiling.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks vigorously with a whisk until they start to lighten in color, about 2 minutes.

Next, grab a ladle of the hot milk mixture and very slowly drizzle it into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking the whole time. (The purpose of this is to temper the egg yolks and bring them to a good temperature before adding them to the pan.) Repeat with a second ladle of hot milk mixture, making sure to whisk the whole time.

Pour the tempered yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the milk mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon for 2 to 4 minutes, cooking it slowly until it's thick enough to coat the spoon.

Pour the thick liquid through a fine mesh strainer and into a clean bowl. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and stir gently to combine. Refrigerate this mixture for 2 hours, or until chilled.

Meanwhile, combine the strawberries and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a blender. Puree until smooth (or you can stop just short of smooth if you want a little texture.) Pour the pureed strawberries into the chilled custard mixture and stir (I like to use a strainer to avoid getting the seeds in the ice cream). Stir in mint extract. Taste. 

Now pour this mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze it according to its directions. After it's been about 10 minutes add the chopped chocolate. After it freezes, transfer it to a freezer-safe container and freeze it for at least 4 hours, or until frozen firm.

Eggless Strawberry Ice Cream

1.5 cups whole milk

1.5 cups cream

1 cup white sugar

2 cups pureed strawberries

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients and freeze in an ice cream maker.  This is a little too much for my ice cream maker, but you can use the rest for popsicles or pretend it's a milkshake and drink it like I did. 

Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

2 cans of unsweetened coconut milk (3 cups)
2/3 cup of cocoa powder
6 tablespoons agave syrup or sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk cocoa powder in a small amount of coconut milk, until smooth. Then add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until well combined. Or dump all ingredients together and blend with a blender. Make according to your machines instructions.

I like to add about half a cup of shaved/chopped up dark chocolate. 

Chris's Green Smoothie

Per Brie's recommendation, here are my smoothie ingredients.  I also do not measure, but I will give you approximate amounts.  I use a Vitamix blender.  I kind of wish I'd bought a Blendtec.

My smoothies recipes make 1 liter of green smoothie which I drink for one meal.

1.  I FILL my blender with Kale and chard OR Kale and spinach OR all three, BUT about 3/4 of the green is Kale.

2.  I pour in probably about a 3/4 - 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk that I buy at Trader Joe's in a half gallon box for $1.99.

3.  For a 1 litre smoothie, I make sure there is at least 3 cups of just this green mixture of greens and coconut milk.  Usually I have to add more green stuff after my initial blending to get it up to 3 cups.

4.  Next I add frozen fruit...about 1 cup (overflowing) or 1 large, peeled orange.  I also usually add some ice cubes and sometimes some water .  I usually end up with slightly more than 1 liter.  Here are my 3 different fruit combinations so far:

• Costco frozen organic combo of mango, pineapple, peaches
• 1 whole large orange (with the vanilla this taste a little like an orange julius)(thanks, Josh, for this recipe.)
• Costco frozen berry mix...blueberries, blackberries, raspberries

5.    I also add some vanilla.  I add a lot.  I've never measured, but I'd guess at least 2 tsp. 

6.  1 packet of Truvia which is a stevia based sweetener with erythritol.

7.  I have, on occasion, added some freshly ground flaxseed or some salba, but both thicken it, so you have to drink it all immediately, or it becomes a little too think and icky.  I don't usually add either anymore.

That's it.  They are VERY good.  It's important that you add enough liquid, because when it is too thick, it doesn't taste as good.  You will be shocked at how much green stuff you can get in one serving.  Good stuff.  

xoxo

Brie's Smoothie Recipes

Since several of us have gotten into green smoothies lately, I thought we should post our recipes so others can try them out. I don't measure anything do I'm just going to put down the ingredients.

Green:
Equal amounts Kale and Spinach
Vanilla Coconut Milk (or regular, or cow milk)
Ground Flaxseed
Sometimes a few clippings of wheat grass

Lately, I've been adding a little wedge of lemon (with the rind), really good, you just need a little.

Fruit Added (I usually use frozen, but have started using some fresh):

Mixed Berries (the Costco bag)
Pear

Mango
Peaches

Banana
Strawberry
Oranges
Pineapple
Mango

Banana
Strawberry
Pineapple
Mango

Peanut Butter
Banana
Blueberries

Raspberries
Pear
Banana (little bit)


I'll add more as I find variations that are good. I like to make a big batch and put the extra in a jar in the fridge. Still tastes great at lunch!

Frozen Chocolate Velvet Pie

Frozen pie crust

3/8 c white corn syrup

1 1/2 T water

1 1/2 T vanilla (yes, Tbs)

1 bag semi-sweet choco chips (use the best you can find....I like Guittard)

1 c chilled sweetened condensed milk (don't forget to put in fridge ahead of time)

1 pint heavy whipping cream

Cook pie crust and set aside. (I found that the cheap thin crust works better for this pie than the better thicker crusts) Barely boil corn syrup and remove from heat. Add choco chips, water, and vanilla and stir till melted. Let cool for a few minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add milk and cream. Blend on low until well mixed and then on med/high until soft peaks form. Pour into pie crust and stick in the freezer. Take it out a few minutes before you cut it.

There ya go!

EASY homemade Mint chip ice cream

No raw eggs, no cooking, no complicated ingredients. Just YUM!

2 cups whole milk (or half and half if you prefer)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1 ice cream maker

Pour the milk (or half and half) into a bowl and whisk in the sugar until well blended.

Gently whisk in the whipping cream and peppermint. Don't whisk the whipping cream too much or it will turn into weird butter stuff.

Take the canister of your ice cream maker out of the freezer, assemble and turn the maker on.

Pour the mixture into the canister as it's spinning.

While it's going, roughly chop up the chocolate chips.

After 15 or 20 minutes, pour the ice cream into a bigger bowl and stir in the chocolate chips.

Try to refrain from eating the whole thing so you can freeze overnight because it's even better the 2nd day.


*Note: You can also make cookies and cream ice cream with this recipe. Just substitute a teaspoon of vanilla instead of the peppermint and chop up a bunch of oreos instead of chocolate chips. Equally yummy!

Healthy "Ice cream"

Wait until you have banana's that are about to go bad. Very spotted and black. Peel them, dice them into chunks and freeze them. Then blend them in a food processor until it looks creamy! I "dice" first and then "grind" until it looks like ice cream. And I LOVE ice cream, so this is an awesome treat for me and Claire that I don't feel guilty about. You have to eat it right away, because once it starts to melt a little, it gets sticky and gooey.

Feed your kids ice cream for breakfast, they'll never know!

In the 1st pic, I added fresh strawberries.
In the 2nd pic, I chopped up some chocolate chips, and added a little bit of cocoa.
In the 3rd pic, I threw some frozen blueberries in.

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/01/mini-series-with-our-best-bites-healthy.html

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1 whole Vanilla Bean, Split And Scraped
• 3 cups Half-and-half
• 2 cups Sugar
• 8 whole (up To 9) Large Egg Yolks
• 3 cups Heavy Cream

Preparation Instructions

Heat half-and-half and 2 cups sugar in a saucepan over low heat, adding vanilla "caviar" to the mixture. (You can also drop in the scraped vanilla bean, just to extract all the flavor. Make sure to discard the bean before moving to the next step.) Turn off heat when mixture is totally heated.
Beat egg yolks by hand or with an electric mixer until yolks are pale yellow and slightly thick. Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling into the 1 1/2 cups of hot half-and-half mixture, whisking constantly. After that, pour the egg yolk/half-and-half mixture into the pan containing the rest of the half-and-half mixture. Cook over low to medium-low heat (depending on how hot your stove gets) until quite thick, stirring constantly. Drain custard using a fine mesh strainer (not necessary, I didn't do this, though I could see it being a good idea if you're giving it to kids as the specks are quite noticeable), then pour into a bowl with the heavy cream. Stir to combine.
Chill mixture completely, then freeze in an ice cream maker until thick. Place container in freezer to harden for at least eight hours.
 

Found here.

I halved the recipe because my ice cream maker is too small for the whole thing, but I still used a whole vanilla bean.  It's so amazing!  It tastes like custard and doesn't get too hard in the freezer (which I love, all my other ice creams have gotten very hard in the freezer). 

Pink Cloud

1 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. softened butter
1/2 c. chopped nuts (I like pecans)

Combine well (I mixed it with my hands) and pat into a 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 min. Stir after 10 minutes.  When cool, take a hand full and set aside to sprinkle on top later.

2 egg whites
1 pint Cool Whip or 1 pint real whipped cream
1 10-oz. pkg. strawberries, chopped
2/3 c. sugar
2 T. lemon juice

Beat egg whites till stiff, add strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice; beat. Fold in Cool Whip.

Make sure the baking dish and crust is cool before pouring in the strawberry mixture.  Freeze.

I also tried it with blueberries (one pint).  I had to mash them down a lot (an electric mixer just threw them around the bowl) and I added the same amount of sugar as with the strawberries, but I think it was too much.  However, I didn't add as much lemon juice, and I think it would have been better if I'd added the whole amount of lemon juice.  It was still good, just too sweet for me!  If anyone else tries it feel free to edit this.  Also, it didn't really come out blue, it was a little brownish after it was all mixed together.