Recipe – Maple Almond Ice Cream

Coco Palm

Coconut—is it a fruit? a nut? a seed? Coconut can be a fruit, a nut, and a seed. Scientifically, it is a fibrous, one-seeded drupe. Brown and hairy on the outside, white and creamy on the inside, coconut is a fruit which grows on coconut palm trees and is widely found in the tropics and subtropics.

Coconut is from the Arecaceae family, also known as the palm family. Theories of where the plant originated stretch from the Americas, the Indo-Pacific region, and Australia. The coconut tree grows up to 80 feet tall with large sweeping leaves about 19 feet long, producing the first fruit at about 6-10 years, but not producing its peak crop until 15-20 years old.

The coconut has four layers: the smooth, greenish, thin outermost “skin” of the drupe or the exocarp; the fibrous husk known as the mesocarp; the hard woody layer surrounding the flesh, called the endocarp; and the white, fleshy, edible meat or endosperm, which surrounds the hollow, fluid-filled, central cavity housing a translucent, sweetly flavored fluid.

Depending on the age of the coconut, the texture of the meat will vary. Younger coconuts produce a gelatinous, jelly-like meat with a light flavor that can easily be eaten from its shell with a spoon. More mature coconuts provide firmer, sweeter meat that is rigidly attached to the shell.

Most parts of the tree and fruit can be used for a range of culinary and non-culinary uses, earning it the Malayan title of “the tree of one thousand uses.” The fruit of the coconut yields milk, oil, water, flour and solids, making it an extremely versatile fruit for cooking and baking.

Recipe – Maple Almond Ice Cream

Ingredients

3 cups almond milk, unsweetened

1 can lite or full fat coconut milk (depending on preferred richness)

1 ½ cups cashews

¾ cup maple syrup (less, if desired)

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract, alcohol-free

pinch of salt

Process

  • Put all ingredients into a high-speed blender. Blend until creamy and smooth.
  • Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Churn for about 45 minutes or until solid.
  • Or freeze mixture in ice cube trays until solid. Place cubes in blender and blend lightly.
  • Sprinkle with crushed pistachios, roasted pecans or walnuts.
  • Enjoy this creamy, smooth, delectable dairy free dessert.

Recipe – Creamy Cantaloupe Ice Cream

Cantaloupe!

What a yummy summer fruit! “Cantaloupe is truly a high-volume food. An entire large melon has only 277 calories, way less than most desserts, and more than most people can eat at one sitting. About 90 percent of the melon is water. But that water in the melon goes a long way toward filling you up. Water in foods seems to do this more than water that you drink alongside foods. Hence melons and soups do a better job of appetite control than solid food plus a glass of water. No one really knows why.

“But cantaloupe is not a great food just because it’s high-volume and low-calorie. It is also a potassium and vitamin A heavyweight. One cup of melon cubes gives you a whopping 427 mg of potassium (not to mention a little calcium and magnesium).

“Many studies show that people who eat potassium-rich foods have lower rates of heart disease and stroke. Potassium is also a key component in maintaining healthy blood pressure. … There is vitamin A and beta-carotene, both of which are plentiful in cantaloupe. Though a lot of people know about the role of vitamin A in vision and growth and bone development, what is not as well known is how terrific it is for the immune system. I consider it one of the best immune-system boosters around.” Excerpts from The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, 103, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

Recipe – Creamy Cantaloupe Ice Cream

Ingredients

¼ of a whole cantaloupe

1 banana

Process

Cut the banana and the cantaloupe (remove the skin and seeds) in pieces and freeze overnight.

Pulse or blend frozen banana and cantaloupe pieces until completely smooth.

Enjoy the ice cream!

Food for Life – The Lord is Coming, are You Ready?

Last month we celebrated the beginning of our nation, the land of freedom! But just how long will we be able to enjoy this freedom? The signs are fast approaching and developing as we sit idly by enjoying our various hobbies and entertainment. Soon, very soon the Lord will decide that time will be no more. What then? Will you be able to “look in His face and say, ‘This is my Lord,’ are you ready for Jesus to come?”

We continue with our study, from Inspiration, concerning intemperance.

“The liquor interest is a power in the world. It has on its side the combined strength of money, habit, appetite. Its power is felt even in the church. Men whose money has been made directly or indirectly, in the liquor traffic, are members of churches, ‘in good and regular standing.’ Many of them give support to the church and sustain its ministers. They command the consideration shown to the money power. Churches that accept such members are virtually sustaining the liquor traffic. Too often the minister has not the courage to stand for the right. He does not declare to his people what God has said concerning the work of the liquor seller. To speak plainly would mean the offending of his congregation, the sacrifice of his popularity, the loss of his salary.

“But above the tribunal of the church is the tribunal of God. He declared to the first murderer, ‘The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground,” He will not accept for his altar the gifts of the liquor dealer. His anger is kindled against those who attempt to cover their guilt with a cloak of liberality. Their money is stained with blood. A curse is upon it.

“The drunkard is capable of better things. He has been entrusted with talents with which to honor God and bless the world; but his fellow men have laid a snare for his soul, and built themselves up by his degradation. They have lived in luxury, while the poor victims whom they have robbed, lived in poverty and wretchedness. But God will require for this at the hand of him who has helped to speed the drunkard on to ruin. He who rules in the heavens has not lost sight of the first cause or the last effect of drunkenness. He who has a care for the sparrow and clothes the grass of the field, will not pass by those who have been formed in His own image, purchased with His own blood, and pay no heed to their cries. God marks all this wickedness that perpetuates crime and misery.

“The world and the church may have approval for the man who has gained wealth by degrading the human soul. They may smile upon him by whom men are led down step by step in the path of shame and degradation. But God notes it all, and renders a just judgment. The liquor seller may be termed by the world a good business man; but the Lord says, ‘Woe unto him.’ He will be charged with the hopelessness, the misery, the suffering, brought into the world by the liquor traffic. He will have to answer for the want and woe of the mothers and children who have suffered for food and clothing and shelter, and who have buried all hope and joy. He will have to answer for the souls he has sent unprepared into eternity. And those who sustain the liquor-seller in his work are sharers in his guilt. To them God says, ‘Your hands are full of blood.’” Ministry of Healing, 340-342.

Recipe – Vanilla Ice Cream

Whiz thoroughly in blender:

2 cups water

1½ cups cashews

1 cup date rolls or pieces

2 bananas

½ teaspoon sea salt

1-2 tablespoons vanilla

Slowly add:

1 cup Pineapple Juice

Place in Freezer trays and when frozen drop cubes into a juicer or blender. This is especially good as a topping for any fruit pie or cobbler.

Recipe – Banana Recipes: Green Goddess & Banana-Honey Tofu Ice Cream

Green Goddess

3 large ripe kiwifruit

2 ripe bananas

½ cup plain soft tofu, drained

1 ½ cups water, chilled

1 cup seedless green grapes

½ cup vanilla soy milk

3 Tbsp. honey

In blender, combine all ingredients and process until smooth. Pour mixture into glasses and serve.

Banana-Honey Tofu Ice Cream

½ lb. firm tofu, drained

1 cup plain soy milk

¼ cup honey

3 ripe bananas

1 ½ Tbsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

In blender, puree all ingredients in 2 equal batches until very smooth. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve right away or transfer to airtight container and freeze up to 3 days.