Strawberry Ice Cream (Just Get a Blender)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup honey

½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice

16 ounces goat or coconut kefir

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ ripe banana, frozen

4 cups frozen strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

Put all ingredients in blender and blend.

Pour mixture into a medium size glass baking dish, cover and put in freezer for at least 3 hours.

Take out about 10 minutes before you plan to serve it and blend again.

This guilt free Strawberry Ice Cream recipe is healthy, free of refined sugars and deliciously refreshing!

By Jordan Rubin – published in Maker’s Diet Meals

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes Recipe Total Time: 20 minutes Serves: 12 INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup coconut flour 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp sea salt 5 eggs 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted 1/4 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened 1 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla extract 12 whole strawberries 2 cups whipped coconut cream DIRECTIONS: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place 12 cupcake liners in a muffin pan. Sift dry ingredients together into a bowl. Add the coconut separately. Separate the yolk from the whites of 2 of the eggs. Set the egg whites aside. Combine 3 whole eggs, two egg yolks, coconut oil, honey, vanilla and lemon juice with a hand mixer. Be careful that you don’t over mix. Turn the mixer to low and add the dry mixture and wet mixture in alternate batches until the batter has no lumps. In a small bowl beat the egg whites until thick, soft peaks form. (Using a hand mixer works best.) Fold into the batter very gently. Pour or spoon batter evenly into the 12 cupcake liners. Bake for about 20 minutes or until done. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then carefully remove cupcakes from the pan. Cool completely. When the cupcakes are cool, cut a small circle off the top and scoop out a little of the cupcake and put one whole strawberry in the cupcake. Frost the cupcakes with the whipped coconut cream.

Strawberry Side Effects & Interactions

Although strawberries are extremely healthy for the average person, they may pose a risk for anyone who has allergies to different types of histamine-containing fruits or berries in general. A food allergy is a type of autoimmune system response that can result in itching around the mouth, skin inflammation, and digestive problems including diarrhea and vomiting. Strawberries contain histamines, organic compounds in the body that help regulate the immune response. When the body is unable to digest or process the food, pollen or substance, the histamines can trigger the alarm that causes the body to react to the “invader.” Mild to strong symptoms can occur such as itching, wheezing and hives in certain people are prone to food allergies, so if you experience any issues eating strawberries, you may want to have an allergy test conducted at a doctor’s office.

The second biggest threat to eating strawberries has to do with pesticide and chemical exposure, so again remember to only buy organic strawberries to avoid any toxic elements.

All berries in general are normally heavily sprayed with chemicals during harvesting because they are prone to being eaten by bugs and rodents, since they grow low to the ground and have soft, sweet skin.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, in 2014, strawberries ranked No. 2 for their pesticide content. Therefore to reduce your risk to chemical exposure and to get the most strawberry nutrition benefits, always look for organic berries- whether they are fresh or frozen.