End of Summer Treats!

Wow, is summer already coming to an end!!? Kids are going back to school, I am getting magazines full of Halloween costumes and dare I say…I see Christmas and Holiday decor in them too!! Ah! Well, I am holding on to the last few weeks of summer with some of our favorites and some of the favorites that helped SCD’ers feel a part of all the summer fun. I was going to only show recipes for Henry’s favorite ice cream, mint chip and waffle cones in this post, but due to a wonderful request!, I am also going to squeeze in fruit syrups to top off the always loved shaved ice to make a well deserved snow cone.

Mint chip or in our case, mint without the chip recipe is again thanks to our ‘food bible’ Against All Grain.

This recipe is extremely easy and quite the healthy treat! I make it weekly and it is really the best with fresh mint. If you don’t have fresh, don’t panic, it will be good with pacakaged mint too. Ingredients are fairly easy to find in most grocery stores: 1 can of full fat coconut milk, remember Trader Joe’s does not have the gums… 1/3 cup avocado (cut it up and measure 1/3 cup…hey you never know some people may try to squish it in like guacamole) 1/2 cup of mint (take the leaves off and chop them up to measure) 1/2 cup of honey (I like Pacifica Sage Honey, but any raw honey that is of good quality will work) 1 Tablespoon of melted coconut oil (heat in the microwave for around 30 seconds) 2 cups of cold almond milk – either homemade, Three Trees, or MALK unsweetened to be SCD legal 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract – good quality, check legal ingredients http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/legal/listing/ I leave out the coloring as the avocado and mint leaves will give it a nice light green color. But the recipe does call for chlorophyll if you choose to add it. Please refer to https://againstallgrain.com/ The chip part of this recipe is hard to leave out, we have had it both ways and honestly, I mean truly, it is amazing even without it. If you would like to add it (for those not following SCD strictly) and it be sugar free and REAL chocolate we have used the chocolate bar – PURE 7 https://pure7chocolate.com/  . It’s ingredients are 80% cacao, organic cacao powder, Himalayan pink salt, organic cacao butter and cacao liquor, can’t get much better than that!! I would chop the entire bar and stick it in. To answer the question of – I thought chocolate was illegal!?? – – It absolutely is, however many people test things out after around a year on the diet while monitoring calprotectin inflammatory markers and blood work-ups to see how the body accepts certain foods. Chocolate (cacao) is one that many try to add in and some have successfully added it. Unfortunately for Henry, it does not seem to be safe for him for now. The process to make the ice cream is just amazingly simple, just make sure you have an ice cream maker, as it would be difficult without one! Put your full fat coconut milk in a sauce pan with your chopped mint leaves on medium heat letting the mixture boil slightly for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Take off heat and pour your mixture into a mixing bowl. Mix your honey in with the coconut milk and let dissolve. Add your almond milk and peppermint extract, give it a few stirs and stick it in the fridge, covered for at least 4 hours. I have left it in longer and it has turned out fine. After 4 hours (or more) pour into a blender and add your avocado and melted coconut oil. Blend well. Place in your ice cream maker and let it go to work. Mine usually takes around 25 minutes. After it is done making your mixture into ice cream, my opinion is, this is the best time to eat it, as it is SO creamy and fresh. If you don’t eat it all in one sitting, it will hold well in the freezer, just make sure and take it out a good 20 minutes or so before trying to scoop it out. If you are not following SCD and want to add the chocolate, stir that in after the ice cream maker is done mixing. You can find the ice cream maker I use often here.

  The waffle cones are fairly simple to make they just take some practice. You will need a waffle cone maker and a cone roller.

  Waffle cone maker I use! The recipe is found through comfy belly. An amazing resource for those not only on SCD, but also for those that want specific recipes without eggs, or almond flour for example. The taste and ease of the recipes used are really pretty fantastic! The waffle cone recipe is found here – scroll down for the SCD legal recipe, the first one she is showing as a recipe with sugar as a comparison:  https://comfybelly.com/2014/03/waffle-cones-using-almond-flour/ I use the tablespoon option when scooping the mixture into the waffle maker, it gives a thinner waffle cone, which in turn makes for a crispier waffle cone. You will have to play with the heat setting as you want it high enough to crisp it up, but not too much to burn it. Blah, can’t have ice cream in a burnt cone! When taking the cone out to form, work quickly because it is very hot. You may want to use cooking gloves. Just wrap around the cone roller and then place the wrapped side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to hold in place for about a minute or two. You can put the next tablespoon mixture in the waffle cone maker while each is cooling. Lastly, I was asked to post a very simple fruit syrup recipe I ran across which I turned into using as a snow cone syrup when Henry and his class had a party. His class and 2 others were having a “Kona Ice Truck” celebration that they won and I just couldn’t have Henry left out!! The “syrup” is made from 1 cup water, 1 1/2 cups of fruit of choice and about 1/4 cup of honey..depending on how sweet you want it. This is really sweet (like the real thing!!) so play around with your honey to taste. Put all ingredients in a sauce pan, let it come to a boil and then turn to let it simmer for about 20 to 25 min. Cool and Strain through cheese cloth or really fine mesh. You can squeeze all the juice through by bundling up the cheese cloth and squeezing. Be sure to not get seeds or chunks in your syrup…No Bueno eating a chunky, seedy snow cone. From there I took a food dropper and let Henry go to town. These pictures show raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, and pineapple!!

Lastly, would love to give a shout out to Tiki Mama. After I made this for Henry, I remembered a mom at our school who started a shaved ice business and asked her if she would come and serve the fruit syrup with honey at Henry’s birthday party. SHE DID!!! It was so amazing and we recently had her once again at the end of the year party at school!! It was such a treat, it really just takes asking to find these wonderful people. So many people are willing to help if you reach out. ❤️  Here is her link http://www.tikimomma.net/

Have a great school year! And enjoy those TREATS!!!