Chocolate "Ice Cream" - Raw and Clean!!

I am a chocolate fiend.  It is something that I crave and something that comforts me~ and ice cream?  Well, yeah, I can do ice cream.  I DON'T do ice cream very often, but that doesn't mean it is out of the question.  So- what can you have that is very much like ice cream, but without all the unnecessary "stuff"? 

Why, some banana chocolate ice cream!!  Before you pooh pooh this, you need to try it!  It is SO good!!  I got this recipe from Tanya at The Sunday Baker- if I hadn't gotten sick, I would have made it the day she posted, but I just couldn't.  I'm glad I did later, though, because it is GREAT.  You will find her post way prettier!  I was photographing my rendition under duress- construction duress!  

Banana, peanut butter, cinnamon, vanilla and cocoa- that's IT!  YUM!!!!  If you get natural peanut butter, it is raw and clean.

The ingredients are very simple, the only thing you need to do is slice up 2 bananas and put them in the freezer!  Takes an hour or so for them to freeze solidly.

Process the bananas for a while- until they get all smooth and creamy...

Add in the other ingredients- peanut butter, cinnamon, cocoa and vanilla.  If you don't want chocolate, you can just put in the vanilla, or you could switch to almond butter or cashew butter, or maybe add in a few mini chocolate chips when it is done being processed..... oh the possibilities are endless!

If you don't stop all the time to take pix, you can do this really fast and have a frosty, frozen, very ice creamy treat!

If you eat the whole thing- it is approximately 300 calories, depending on the size of the bananas- if you split it with someone, though the word "why?" springs to mind, it would be less than that!  :)

Creamy Banana Chocolate "Ice Cream"

2 frozen sliced bananas

1 Tablespoon natural peanut butter

1 Tablespoon cocoa

1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla

1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon

Process bananas in food processor until smooth and creamy- this takes a few minutes.  Keep scraping down the bowl.

Add PB, cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla.  Process a little more, until combined.

Eat it and enjoy or return to freezer for a while, though you won't be able to stop yourself.....

And it will give you a lot of JOY!

Kayak anyone?

In my quest to do something AWESOME as frequently as possible, I went kayaking the other day!  It was a gorgeous afternoon, I was lucky enough to have a friend from school who has a kayak and the ability to transport them around!  Thanks, girl!!

We started off our day by renting a kayak for me at Chequamegon Adventure Company, where I got this lovely vibrant yellow kayak for lake paddling.  Next was a stop at High Voltage Food Company, which serves rocking good vegetarian, vegan, raw and just plain awesome food!  We had wraps and smoothies, which was just the ticket for the day.  

We went to Minocqua Lake which is where Torpy Park is located, and followed the lake around the Island, under a road, near some islands and back again.  It was a little windy, and there were tons of boats and jet skis, so the water was pretty rough.  It was fine, I never really felt too tippy!  Well not from the water at least!

I look far more confident than I actually was!

After kayaking around and trying to not paddle it like a canoe (which was hard), we may have gotten thirsty and we may have stopped at the Yacht club, where there are no yachts.....

MMMMM, fruity!!

Gorgeous afternoon

Of course we did!

So, even though I did not tip the kayak- that might have been ill advised considering the refreshments we had indulged in- we did indeed go swimming afterwards!  

And of course I took pictures.  Look at this awesome potted arrangement at Torpy Park.  It has a gorgeous cherry tomato plant in it. Sucker was huge!!!

It was such a nice day, and kayaking is a hoot!  Summer, you need to slow down!

Did you know there is an ice cream place in Minocqua, too???  MMMMM, Java Chocolate chunk!

Until next time, be a joy giver!