I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

I love ice cream! I love frozen yogurt! I miss them both. Perusing through this month's Sunset magazine with pictures of ice cream sandwhiches from CoolHaus my standard low-level hankering for the sweet stuff went through the roof. I mean, c'mon - how delicious do these look!?!?!?

So, I decided to give Dr. Gundry's Protein-Powered Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Dream a try. To my delight, it was a delicious, creamy, sweet treat! My blender is a smidge tired and old, so it did not power through the ice like I hoped. I had to add about 1/4 cup of soymilk just to get my "ice cream" to blend, so the final product was a little softer than intended, but it still hit the spot. I imagine an ice cream maker would have turned my blended concoction into a treat narrowly distinguishable from the real deal.

I should note that Dr. Gundry teaches us to retreat from sweet (DGDE, page 85). Even no-calorie artificial sweeteners that taste sweet trigger an insulin response and send the message to our genes to store fat (DGDE, page 33). So, this treat should be reserved for those times when you have a serious hankering.

Here is Dr. G's Recipe from page 263 of Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution (DGDE):

1 unripe banana, peeled and unfrozen (see Note)

1 Tbsp unsalted tahini

1 Tbsp non-Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

3 fresh mint leave or 4 drops extract

2 packets stevia

3 Cups ice cubes (approx.)

Unsweetened soymilk

1 Tbsp cocoa nibs

Place the banana, tahini, cocoa powder, protein powder, mint, sweetener and 1 cup of ice cubes in a blender. Use ice-crushing mode or slow speed to pulse until the ice begins to fragment and then gradually increase speed, adding more ice cubes to make a very thick consistency. Add a bit of soymilk, a tablespoon at a time if it's too thick to mix well. Blend at high speed until the mixture reaches a creamy consistency. Add the cocoa nibs and blend briefly to distribute but do not grind.

Note: Buy bananas green, peel them, and freeze them in resealable plastic bags so you can use them one at a time.