Healthy Low Carb Ice Cream for Hot , Hot Days

It is so hot in my part of the world. I absolutely loathe the Oklahoma summers. The thermometer near my house read 103 degrees as we drove past at five p.m. The weather guys claim it was only 98 degrees, but I think I believe the other guys! I was so glad that our Multiply Meals dinner needed only to be popped in the microwave, and voila! Amazing Aztec Meatloaf --Great man food for my warriors, but easy on the overheated cook. All I did was steam a little broccoli, and grab the salad from the fridge.

I decided to venture out again, still mindful with the calisthenics I went through last time with my ice cream maker, and try a batch of super healthy ice cream. Somehow the old diet mentality of eating a bowl of cream still sends chills down my spine. What I came up with tonight is quite creative, even if I do brag. It does, however, break with some of my usual procedures. Generally, I shy away from specialty ingredients. It seems like this ice cream is full of them. Granted, I like to keep things simple, but sometimes nutrition and taste win out. I have been incorporating chia seeds in many foods, and tonight I used my new blender to make a slurry with them. I thought about chia ice cream, looked it up online, and behold, someone HAD thought of it before I did. Theirs, however, tends to be made as a raw food, and I am not into soaking cashews to replace the cream. I gathered my vast food knowledge, and came up with this. To up the protein, I added a scoop of vanilla protein powder. Use your favorite. When I made my order with Capella for flavoring drops, I chose Cookies and Cream because it was half price. I also got Boston Cream Pie, Chocolate Butternut Crunch and Pumpkin Pie Spice.

Cookies and cream. We low carbers don't eat too many cookies. But then, the black chia seeds I have would look like the oreo crumbs in the original stuff. I blended up my chia slurry so it didn't look like frog spawn, and it did begin to look remarkably similar to a cookies and cream milkshake. Add the other ingredients, blend and pour into the freezer.

Yes, it did it to me again. The ice cream freezer from hell almost won again. Lesson number 2. Never try to do this alone. Three to five hands are definitely required.

Here is the recipe at last!


Cookies and Cream Superfood Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups water
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
1 cup cream
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 cup Splenda or equivalent sweetener
1/2 cup ice
10 drops cookies and cream flavoring
dash of salt

Hydrate the chia seeds for 20 minutes in the water. Stir every five minutes while jelling. In a blender, add chia gel and process until the seeds are ground and evenly distributed. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.

I wasn't too impressed with the cookies and cream flavoring; it tasted rather artificial, but this would make a wonderful base for other flavorings. Maybe I will just add more plain vanilla and call it "Vanilla Bean." The texture beats that of the coconut milk ice cream, and the protein boost is a huge nutrition plus. If you try it, I would love to hear about your variations. Until then, it is a great summertime treat, and I will experiment further!