Banana Soft Serve Ice Cream

In the hot summer months, cold treats are perfect for cooling down in a tasty way! Not only is making your own ice cream easy and delicious, it is a great way to avoid refined sugars and processed ingredients in store-bought ice cream. Using frozen fruit and plant-based milk, you can make a frozen treat that is satisfying and nourishing to your body.

This banana soft serve ice cream is the perfect way to enjoy a refreshing and delicious frozen dessert while also getting important nutrients like potassium, vitamin B6, and omega-3 fats. The bananas give the ice cream a natural sweetness that doesn’t require any added sugar whatsoever. Add toppings such as shredded coconut, dried fruit, or chopped nuts for an extra pop of flavor or just devour by itself!

Ingredients:

Serves 2

• ½ cup of raw or dry roasted nuts (almonds or walnuts)

• 3 bananas (chopped and frozen)

• Almond or coconut milk

• Shredded coconut (optional topping)

Instructions

1) Thaw frozen bananas for about 10 minutes.

2) Put frozen bananas and nuts in a high-speed blender or food processor. Add ½ cup of nut milk and start blending.

3) Continue to blend ingredients, adding more milk to reach desired consistency.

Tropical Granola Cereal

Making breakfast in the mornings can be a hassle, especially on busy days. Having a healthy breakfast prepped makes mornings run smoother and also helps you feel more relaxed. Granola is a delicious breakfast or snack and is easy to prepare!

This tropical granola uses the natural sweetness of fruit instead of processed sugars like many granolas, and it gives you a boost of protein and fiber to keep you full all morning! It also provides healthy fats that are important for cell growth and provide energy to start your day. I love granola because it allows some freedom in what you add, different nuts or fruits work well depending on what you prefer. It is also very versatile, you can eat it as cereal, just by itself, in smoothie bowls, or however you wish to enjoy it! It is a light and easy snack or meal that is filling and nutritious. As another plus to this recipe, your entire house smells delicious while it is baking!

Ingredients:

• 6 medjool dates, pitted and chopped

• 1 cup cubed pineapple

• 2.5 cups raw almonds (can be whole, chopped, or slivered)

• 3 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

• 1 cup macadamia nuts (chopped)

• 1 cup raw sunflower seeds

• 2 tablespoons 100% orange juice (not from concentrate)

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1.5 teaspoon cinnamon

• ½ cup coconut oil, melted

Instructions

1) Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2) In a large bowl combine macadamia nuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, and mix well.

3) In a food processor, combine cubed pineapple, orange juice, vanilla extract, and dates. Add cinnamon to taste. Blend until the ingredients are liquified. Add melted coconut oil to food processor ingredients and blend until smooth.

4) Pour food processor contents into the large bowl with nuts and seeds and mix well.

5) Evenly lay mixture on two baking sheets, bake in the oven for 2 hours. Toss granola every 20 minutes, watching to make sure the granola doesn’t burn. Once baked, remove baking trays from oven and allow granola to cool before serving. Enjoy!

Mason Jar Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

There is nothing like the taste of fresh crisp lettuce with summer vegetables tossed in my homemade balsamic vinaigrette. I’ll admit it, I am an absolute salad lover. While we all need to get a nice variety of vegetables into our diet, it’s important that we consume vegetables in both the raw and cooked forms. When vegetables are consumed raw, Mother Nature’s digestive enzymes are retained, which give our pancreas a break from having to make its own. This is one of the major reasons eating salads makes us feel light and refreshed. Cooking certain vegetables, on the other hand, (such as carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, asparagus, and cabbage) increases certain antioxidants such as lycopene, which helps lower inflammation in the body by fighting free radicals. In addition, cooking vegetables pre-digests the fiber for our gut, allowing us to consume more vegetables without getting too full.

While salads are a great meal option, many patients are not willing to make them if they need a quick grab and go lunch or dinner. This is why my mason jar salad (which is made the night before) is a great choice for busy patients who still want to maintain a healthy diet!

Ingredients:

Mason Jar Salad (serves 1)

• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa

• 1/4 cup steamed broccoli

• 1/4 cup fresh mango, cubed

• 1/4 cup of freshly sliced cherry tomatoes

• 1/4 cup walnuts (raw or dry roasted)

• 2 cups baby spinach

• Homemade balsamic vinaigrette (see ingredients below)

Balsamic Vinaigrette (makes 6 servings, 2 tbsp each)

• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• 5 tbsp water

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

• 2 dashes sea salt & pepper

Instructions

1) Add all ingredients (except balsamic vinaigrette) to large mason jar, layering in same order as listed above.

2) Put balsamic vinaigrette ingredients into a bottle with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously until well combined.

3) When ready to eat, pour salad into large bowl and toss with homemade dressing. Enjoy!

Homemade Rosemary Popcorn

One of the best cooking fragrances by far is the scent of corn kernels cooking in coconut oil and rosemary. This is an aroma that has become quite common in my household, since I come from a family of fanatic popcorn lovers. This recipe was created to provide my family members and patients with a much healthier (and tastier) alternative to microwave popcorn, which typically contains genetically modified corn kernels, homogenized dairy, and diacetyl (which is a butter flavoring associated with inflammation and scarring of the airways). If you are a heavy microwave user, now is the time to start using your stovetop, since the radiation from microwave cooking destroys the nutritional quality of the food and is harmful to the human body. In fact, I recommend all patients start heavily weaning down on their dependance of microwave cooking for this very reason.

The three standout ingredients that make this recipe so delicious are nutritional yeast, coconut oil, and rosemary. Nutritional yeast is created by allowing a naturally occurring yeast called Saccharomyces Cerevisiae to ferment and grow using a natural sweetener such as molasses or cane sugar. Once the yeast has grown in sufficient amounts, it is deactivated with heat to stop it from further growing. The yeast is then fragmented into flakes that provide a delicious cheesy flavor that is dairy-free. Nutritional yeast is an excellent source of B Vitamins (which play a major role in metabolism and energy production) and a trace element called molybdenum (which is necessary in aiding the body’s removal of waste products including sulfites). When purchasing nutritional yeast, it is very important that you buy the “non fortified” version, since many nutritional yeast products on the market are fortified with synthetic vitamins. The nutty flavor from the coconut oil and the lemon-pine flavor from rosemary combine to create a wonderful aroma as your popcorn is cooking. In addition, they provide a delicious complementary taste to your new favorite crunchy treat. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Serves 2

• 1/2 cup non-GMO popcorn kernels

• 3 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp dried rosemary

• Sea Salt to taste

• Nutritional Yeast for topping

Instructions (stovetop)

1) Put coconut oil, rosemary, and kernels in a large soup pot that has a tight-fitting lid. Put heat on medium-high.

2) Frequently (careful - hot!) pick up pot (with lid tightly fastened) and swirl contents around to prevent kernels from burning.

3) When popping stops, remove from heat and keep lid on for another minute (in case a kernel is about to pop).

4) Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and sea salt. Enjoy!