15 Nov Pumpkin Spice Banana “Ice Cream”

I’m sharing my first cleanse approved recipe with y’all today! Exciting right?!

…I know, I know. Eh, not really. We all know that I prefer to bombard you with indulgent sugar & butter filled confections.

But I’ve got to deal with the hand I’ve been dealt… I’m making no sense. What I mean is, I’m doing this cleanse BY CHOICE and while it’s refreshing and good and all that, I’m seriously jonesing for some dessert. A girl can’t be expected to just quit cold turkey, can she?

In reality, dessert isn’t even what I miss most. I’ve managed to quell my sugar cravings with a variety of fresh fruits. What I truly long for is cheese. Cheese on baguette, cheese on crackers, cheese on cheese. You don’t realize the satisfaction that sprinkling a little goat cheese on a salad brings until you’ve gone without it.

Ohhhh and the red wine daydreams. There is something about the cool weather and the early sunsets that makes me crave red wine. Or maybe it’s the “forbidden fruit” effect. Who knows. All I know is I want some right meow!

Then there is the Longhorn Football game this weekend. My first ever tailgate without beer. It’s borderline sacrilegious. What was I thinking?!

Complaining aside, the cleanse is going really well. I’ve gotten past the slump of the first week and have tons of energy. I’ve lost about 4lbs so far, and I’ve been enjoying experimenting with cleanse-friendly recipes. It’s a  real challenge putting together dishes that have enough flavor to be satisfying. Tuesday night I had roasted eggplant with marinara. I’ve also made spaghetti squash with marinara, garlic chili broccolini and asian stir fried vegetables. All surprisingly satisfying-I owe it all to garlic. Three to four cloves minimum have gone into every dish I’ve made. For the sake of the people around me, I’m avoiding sweating at all costs.

Let’s talk Pumpkin Spice Banana “Ice Cream”, shall we?

“Ice cream” is in quotes because, obviously, it’s not the real thing. With the recent Paleo craze, I’ve seen a lot of recipes for 1 ingredient banana ice cream floating around the web. I’m not usually a huge banana fan, but since they’re more substantial than most fruits I’ve been eating them quite a bit on the cleanse. And I’m actually starting to enjoy them. Since I’ve been missing post-dinner sweets, I decided to take the plunge and try it.

To make this treat feel a little more like dessert (and also since I’m obsessed as of late), I added pumpkin and plenty of fall spices. The result is a creamy(ish), spicy frozen treat that makes me almost not miss ice cream. Note that the comments on Pinterest, etc. that say it “tastes just like vanilla ice cream” are false. It definitely tastes like bananas. But for anybody who is looking for a healthy alternative to the typical decadent Thanksgiving dessert, this is perfect. You could even freeze it into a graham cracker crust for a nutritious Thanksgiving frozen pie, of sorts.

Did I mention it’s super easy and takes like 5 minutes to throw together? AND you can take the frozen banana base and customize to make your favorite flavor. Instead of pumpkin throw in some strawberries, cocoa powder or even (swoon) salted caramel.

I would recommend using very ripe bananas and eating immediately after blending for a soft-serve type treat. If you like a firmer ice cream place in the freezer for an hour or two before consuming. Note that if you leave it in the freezer long-term (I made this mistake) it will freeze very hard and cannot be scooped like normal ice cream. You can throw it in the microwave to thaw it out a bit but I find it’s not as creamy post freezing.

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