Step-by-Step Instructions for One-Ingredient Ice Cream

Creamy ice cream from just one ingredient.

Pick a couple of ripe bananas. They should be sweet and soft but not too mushy.

Peel the bananas.

Cut them into coins.

Freeze the banana pieces for at least an hour or two.

Frozen hard!

Put the pieces into a food processor or blender.

Blend on high. Initially they will look crumbly and piecemeal.

The mixture will probably get stuck a lot. Keep scraping down the bowl.

Suddenly, as you keep blending, you will see a change.

The bananas turn creamy!

Now is the time to add a scoop of peanut butter or anything else you care to mix in.

The ice cream will be the texture of soft-serve, but if you freeze again in an airtight container,
it will get harder and more like regular ice cream.

Remember this amazingly creamy ice cream with just one ingredient? Well, in our eagerness to tell you all about it, we didn't give you very detailed instructions. Here, for those of you asked, are step-by-step instructions for making super-creamy, super-easy ice cream from just one thing.

That mystery ingredient, of course, is banana! The smidgen of fat in bananas makes a magic trick when they are frozen and blended up. They turn creamy instead of crumbly, with a smooth texture any home ice cream chef would love to have in their frozen treats.

How to make 1-ingredient ice cream...
Here's a step-by-step slideshow of how to do it. The major tips can be summed up as:

• Peel your bananas first.
• Cut them into small pieces.
• Freeze for just 1-2 hours on a plate.
• Blend, blend, blend - scraping down the bowl when they stick.
• Enjoy the magic moment when they turn into ice cream!

Now try more flavors...

>> Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More

How To Make Creamy Ice Cream with Just One Ingredient!

Yes, that's right; you heard us. Creamy, soft-serve style ice cream with just one ingredient — and no ice cream maker needed! What is this one magic ingredient that can be whipped into perfectly rich and silky ice cream, with no additional dairy, sweeteners, or ingredients needed whatsoever?

If you guessed BANANA, congratulations! You're right!

What? You didn't know that bananas can make some of the best ice cream? Well, I didn't either until last week, when my sister called me up and mentioned that she's been freezing bananas and then pureeing them into ice cream.

"That's the sort of thing you discover," she sighed, "when all your friends are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-allergic, and you're on a sugar-free diet." I'd deal with a list of dietary restrictions twice as long, though, if it meant discovering more treats like this one.

It turns out that frozen bananas are good for more than just dipping in chocolate. If you freeze a banana until solid, then whiz it up in a blender or food processor, it gets creamy and a little gooey, just like good custard ice cream. I was surprised at this bit of kitchen wizardry; I assumed that a blended banana would be flaky or icy. But no — it makes creamy, rich ice cream.

Some bananas, depending on their ripeness, have a bit of that green aftertaste. My sister has been experimenting with adding in another ingredient or two, like a tablespoon of peanut butter and another of honey. Delicious!

Have you ever tried frozen-banana ice cream? Try it! It's an easy way to stay cool and use up over-ripe bananas at the same time.

Want more detailed instructions and step-by-step photos?

 

Step-by-Step Instructions for One-Ingredient Ice Cream

Quinoa Gives the Perfect Protein Source to Vegetarians and Vegans Learn

Quinoa is perhaps one of the most perfect non-animal sources of protein on the planet. What makes quinoa (pronounce keen-wah) unique is that it is the only plant based source of complete protein. "Complete" means that it contains all 9 of the essential amino acids that are crucial to human function and health.

Quinoa is a favorite of vegans for this reason. The vegan diet often can fall short of protein, especially complete protein sources, and quinoa fills this void quite nicely. Not only is quinoa excellent for vegans, but it is also a wonderful option for those that follow a gluten free diet, since it is completely gluten free.

While quinoa is considered by most people to be a grain because it cooks up much like a grain would, it is actually a seed. When cooked, it has a wonderful nutty sort of flavor and is noted for the fine white string-like casing that is visible only when fully cooked.

How Do You Cook Quinoa?

You cook quinoa exactly as you would cook brown rice. The measurements are two parts water to one part quinoa. For instance, if you were cooking 1 cup of dry quinoa, you would cook it in 2 liquid cups of water. It usually takes about twenty minutes to fully cook once the water comes to a boil.

You want to be careful not to overcook it, as it can become soft and lose its shape if cooked for too long. The flavor also suffers if it is overcooked.

Quinoa is wonderful when paired with lightly steamed broccoli and some cubed avocado, and a bit of sea salt. You can also serve it cold with diced fresh organic tomatoes and some natural southwestern or Mexican-style seasoning for a south of the border taste.

What Are Some of the Other Health Benefits of Quinoa?

Aside from being an excellent non-animal source of protein, quinoa contains many essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients. It is rich in manganese, which is pivotal in activating enzymes vital to efficiently metabolizing carbohydrates, and cholesterol. It is also vital to bone development and maintenance.

Quinoa is also rich in lysine. Lysine is one of the essential amino acids of the nine, and it plays an important role in the absorption of calcium and the formation of collagen. It is also thought to be useful for the prevention of herpes breakouts and cold sores in some people.

Quinoa is considered to be an excellent alternative to other grain foods that contribute to the growth of candida. Candida is a "bad bacteria" that causes or contributes to a range of health problems, most notably digestion and elimination issues in the human body. Quinoa is thought to be a "good bacteria" for the gut, the intestines and the colon.

It is also a food that is on the low end of the glycemic index. This makes it a great choice for those with blood sugar issues, and if you're watching you're weight, it's a great addition to a balanced diet.

Source : Natural News

Humans Are Born Herbivores

By Terri Lynn Merritts

Many times vegans hear the argument from omnivores that humans need meat, dairy and eggs to be healthy because we are born to be omnivores. Does a careful examination of the human body bear this out? No, it does not.

True carnivores are able to consume meat without health problems while humans develop life-threatening conditions such as coronary artery disease, colon and other digestive system cancers, heart attacks, and strokes due to the consumption of meat, dairy, and eggs. Our teeth are close to the teeth of other herbivores and are nothing like that of carnivores. To see this for yourself, check out your teeth in a mirror then look at photos of wolves, lions, and tigers to to see the difference.

This link can offer much more information on why humans should eat a plant-based diet and live the healthy life we were meant to enjoy.

http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.html

Fish Can't Feel Pain? Don't Be So Sure

“But why not at least eat fish? They can’t feel pain anyway”.

Growing up vegetarian, this was an argument I encountered on a regular basis. I always balked at it, for a couple of different reasons. First, was the implication that the inability to feel pain somehow caused a life to be of lesser value. The other was, perhaps, a bit more complicated. How, I would ask, can we be sure that fish really don’t feel pain?

It seems that I was not the only one asking this question.

It has long been denied that fish are capable of feeling pain, a conclusion drawn from the idea that they do not have the brain matter required to recognize it. Yet studies done over recent years have done a great deal to challenge these long-held beliefs.

In 2003, a report from the BBC described research conducted at the University of Edinburgh. This research team identified, for the first time, receptors in fish similar to those found in other species, including mammals. Furthermore, when the fish were injected with such substances as venom and acid, they wiggled and showed reactions that both went further than reflex and were comparable to reactions one might see in other creatures.

Last year, American and Norwegian scientists took things further. A group of fish, as in the British experiment, were introduced to painful substances; however, part of the group had been given morphine. After the test, those who had received morphine acted normally. Those who had not became fearful, just as would be expected from a creature who had experienced the pain. (It is interesting to note, when reviewing the studies, that fish were subjected to cruelty in an effort to determine whether fish may be subjected to cruelty. But perhaps I digress.)

As we cannot truly experience the world as a fish does (swimming a mile in their fins?), we may not, at least yet, be able to say for certain whether fish feel pain as we understand it. However there is a great deal of evidence indicating that fish are at least more complex beings than people have been willing to recognize, and there can be little doubt that something is going on when a fish displays behaviors that indicate pain.

So, maybe I could succumb to peer pressure and chow down on a fish filet. Yet when it comes to a question of cruelty, I like to give the victim the benefit of the doubt.

Source : http://news.change.org

Why Vegetarians Are More Intelligent than Meat Eaters

Another evolutionarily novel value is vegetarianism.  It is exceedingly unnatural for humans to be vegetarian.

Humans are naturally omnivorous.  We are evolutionarily designed to eat both animal meat and plants.  Anyone who eschewed animal protein and ate only vegetables in the ancestral environment, in the face of constant food scarcity and precariousness of its supply, was not likely to have survived long enough and stayed healthy enough to have left many offspring.  So such a person is not likely to have become our ancestors.  On the other hand, anyone who preferentially ate animal protein and fat in the ancestral environment would have been much more likely to live longer and stay healthier.  They are therefore much more likely to have become our ancestors.

Vegetarianism would therefore be an evolutionarily novel value and lifestyle, as well as a luxury of abundance.  The Hypothesis would predict that more intelligent individuals are more likely to choose to become a vegetarian than less intelligent individuals.

This indeed appears to be the case.  Among the British respondents in the National Child Development Study, those who are vegetarian at age 42 have significantly higher childhood general intelligence than those who are not vegetarian at age 42.  (Childhood general intelligence was measured with 11 different cognitive tests at three ages before 16.)  Vegetarians have the mean childhood IQ of 109.1 whereas meat eaters have the mean childhood IQ of 100.9.  The difference is large and highly statistically significant.

The relationship holds both among women and men separately.  Among women, vegetarians have the mean childhood IQ of 108.0 while meat eaters have the mean childhood IQ of 100.7.  Among men, vegetarians have the mean childhood IQ of 111.0 and meat eaters have the mean childhood IQ of 101.1, a 10-point difference!

Read more : Psychology Today

Vegetarian Diet Can Reduce Chemicals in the Body

A research study conducted in Korea at a Buddhist Temple has generated some potentially beneficial insights. The study title is: “Influence of a five-day vegetarian diet on urinary levels of antibiotics and phthalate metabolites: A pilot study with ‘Temple Stay’ participants.”

A “temple stay” in this study means five days in a Buddhist temple, living like monks. Twenty five study participants ate vegetarian food during their stay. They were queried before entering the temple about their dietary habits, and urine samples were also taken at that time. High levels of antibiotics and phthalates were observed in the study participants before their temple stay. Presumably the antibiotic levels were due mainly to meat consumption. Phthalates were also high before entry, and they can  also be absorbed through meat consumption. However, they are also found in abundant supply in the manmade environment. They are mainly found in plastics, like food containers, shower curtains, floor tiles, personal care products, sex toys, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and many other applications. (Research about the potential health effects of phthalates on humans is ongoing.)

The researchers found antibiotic and phthalate urinary levels dropped very much after the study participants completed their vegetarian retreat. One, because they were no longer consuming foods high in those chemicals, but also because the body apparently can release some of its ingested, accumulated chemical residues. The results may come as little surprise for people already mindful of exposure to industrial chemicals through food and interacting with plastic products. It also provides some insight into how “detoxing” might work and could confirm there is some hope in the fact the body can release unnatural chemicals to some degree. The study also indicates a vegetarian diet limits exposure to potentially damaging chemicals from our environment. The issue of the impact of a synergy of antibiotics and phthalates in the body was not addressed.

If you are interested in trying such a retreat on your own, there are a number in the US and in other countries. For example, Tassajara in California.

Image Credit: Azwebear

If you are curious about what that very appetizing food is in the photo, Azwebear wrote: “Portobellos, fried tempeh, red onion, and fresh avocado with lemon-tahini dressing on sourdough French bread.”

Source : Care2