quick, cheap and healthy ice cream substitute

Peel and break ripe one to one and a half bananas per person into chunks and freeze until solid in freezer bags. The bananas MUST be frozen; they create a creamy texture. Put them in a blender with your choice of cream, half and half, milk, hazelnut milk, coffee, plum juice, orange juice or water. Add a little cinnamon, carob or cocoa powder. In a regular blender you will need more liquid than in a high speed commercial blender, and the result will be more like a shake. In a good high speed blender you can approximate soft serve.

Everyone likes this! If you're on the raw food diet, this is something you can share with friends (unlike green smoothies) that will make them envious!

There are endless variations: Banana and blueberries, raspberries, blackberries - all those taste good alone or with ginger or cocoa. You can substitute a flavorful herbal tea for the liquid. You can add raw coconut butter and pineapple juice to make a virgin pina colada. You can even add raw cacao butter, but it tends to freeze fast and stick to the sides of the blender. It's so expensive I will spend way too much time trying to scrape every last bit off the blender wall so I can eat it and not waste any.

I might as well admit it - all these are so good I slurp up every drop I make and then wipe the blender walls clean with my hand (which I then lick) before washing the blender. My mom did teach me to be a lady, but I forget when it comes to banana ice cream!