Chocolate Covered Strawberry Bliss

Good Morning

I’m blogging today from my new favorite spot. I am in love with this place, I never want to leave.

Today I have a guest post for you all from Mercedes over at Cultivating Consciousness another great blogger I follow.  I love her positive viewpoint on health and her blog ties in spiritual, physical, and mental health as well as offering great tips and delicious recipes. Mercedes is definitely an inspiration and has a fabulous recipe to share with you all today!

Hello Healthy Passion readers! I’m so happy to be amongst you today. I come to you from Cultivating Consciousness and couldn’t be more excited to share with you what might be my favorite recipe ever. Ever!

Luna and Larry (Coconut Bliss) are going to come after me for sharing the keys to their kingdom. I’m probably going to have to change my number, dye my hair, and basically go into hiding after this post, but I don’t care.

This recipe changed my life! 

(only being slightly melodramatic)

Before we get going, there’s one thing you should know… I’m not a vegan (gasp). After growing up in a vegetarian family, I never really even considered the idea of eating meat. Except for a small set back when I was living in the college dorms (a culinary memory I have repressed…. dorm food, gag), I never ate meat. As I got older, I started paying more attention to my body and what it needed. Its still a work in progress, but I found that my body loves me the best when I eat a plant-based diet, avoid dairy, grains, and all things (refined) sugar…..and when I eat meat (dont hate me)… which happens about once a week. I’m very passionate about the vegan diet in terms of humanitarian and environmental issues, but for me, it doesn’t work for a health issue. Now that we got all that out on the table, lets move on to what we both love….. a GOOD dairy-free ice cream. Swoon.

Obviously I’m not the first one to come up with a dairy-free dessert, but this is THE closest recipe to Coconut Bliss I have ever had.  Sure, you can make your life simple by buying a carton of the original, but be prepared to eat guar gum or xantham gum (which is as natural as any other fermented corn sugar polysaccharide you can name. Corn syrup, anyone?)*. This is the real deal. Real food. Real good. Personally, the timing couldn’t be better. My local co-op (I’m literally hours from the closest Whole Foods or Trader Joes…. yes, feel bad for me) is discontinuing Coconut Bliss in lieu of Living Harvest Hemp Ice Cream. I’ve never had it, so I can’t say how it compares (have you? any good?), but at this point I dont even know if it matters. My ice cream maker is getting so much love! Plus, these are ingredients that I usually have on stock… and when the ice cream feening begins, there is just no time to run to the store (and I’m not even pregnant).

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Bliss

1 cup cashews, soaked overnight

1 can full fat unsweetened coconut milk

1/3 cup agave syrup

7-10 organic strawberries

2 tablespoons 100% dark cocoa

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life- dairy and soy free)

Blend everything except the chocolate chips in your blender (or food processor). Pour mixture into your ice cream maker, add chocolate chips Put leftovers in the freezer, but you’ll have to take them sit out for about 10 minutes to soften before scooping.

I dont know if you’ve been following the story of strawberries lately, but even if you’re not someone who buys organic regularly (yet), I would urge you to avoid non-organic strawberries. If you missed the article that Kate posted on A Healthy Passion’s Facebook page, please read it here: What you don’t know about strawberries could kill you.

Thanks Kate, and the awesome readers of A Healthy Passion for letting me guest post.

*Nothing against Coconut Bliss. Other than the two mentioned ingredients, I’m not aware of any other toxins they use. For the most part they seem to be an ethical company and I, for one, intend to indulge in their product more than once or twice (or three or four) this summer. But if you can make something yourself, using ONLY real food ingredients, then I say do it.  

Questions:

Do you want to try this recipe as bad as I do?

Have you ever made homemade ice cream? yesss can’t wait to get home and make this one

Favorite ice cream flavor? cookie dough or peanut butter!

Have you entered my giveaway?

Plans for the weekend? Heading home tomorrow cooking with my mom and Indians game with my dad.

Have a great Friday!