Coconut Milk "Ice Cream"

The other day I bought myself some coconut milk/liquid to use in coffee, with the hope that reducing cow milk would make my cold better. There was one minor though crucial problem. I just couldn't stand the taste. The coconut milk was creamy and sweet, no need to add any sugar at all, but it totally overwhelmed my very strong French Press coffee bought in Power Coffeeworks.

The coconut milk cost too much money to waste/dump, so I needed to figure out something useful to do with it. Since I remembered from a previous purchase of the "milk" that you can freeze it and make a sort of ice cream, that's what I did. I decided to combine the coconut milk with a couple of perfectly ripe bananas, chocolate chips and some of my coffee and then mix them up in the food processor.

I used the plastic "dough hook blade," hoping that the bananas would get a bit mashed, but the chocolate chips would stay whole.

To thicken the mixture, I added some coconut flakes. I let it whirl until the most of the bananas were mashed. Then I poured the mixture into a plastic container and put it in the freezer.

I plan on serving it Friday night for Shabbat dinner dessert. Coffee liquor will be offered as a topping. If I had some chocolate liquor that would be good, too. I'll look for that in the grocers today, Gd willing I should remember.

Gd willing, bli neder, I'll report on the success of this ice cream after Shabbat.

I highly suggest using coconut milk/liquid for vegan,  parve, non-dairy dairy-like, lactose free desserts. It is much better and far healthier than the totally synthetic factory-made stuff most people use. So many times I've felt sick after eating tempting desserts people have made with Rich's*. Many of the same people who won't let soybean oil in their houses, insisting it's unhealthy and cook with canola oil instead, have no compunction about serving desserts made with the soybean oil based Rich's.

* non-dairy whipped topping based on soybean oil. Wikipedia 

Back to Almond "Milk" for...

I decided to go back to my "no lactose" experiment for at least a few days. Last night when I bought milk for us, I saw that they had almond milk/drink in the dairy section/refrigerator of the local supermarket. Tnuva, the large veteran dairy company in Israel now produces a whole range of non-dairy "milks." They are marketed as משקה mashkeh, "drink," rather than "milk." I believe that is because milk must come from an animal, not some vegetarian recipe.

I've experimented with drinking a number of different "milks," including goats milk, the past few months, and I prefer this almond concoction. In terms of product purity and simplicity, nothing beats the old cow milk, even though I prefer it with some sugar. I haven't tried the rice milk, since it's based on a very starchy grain, rather than a protein.

They do have the no sugar almond milk here, which isn't fresh and refrigerated, but I didn't like it. I found myself adding sugar to it, so there wasn't much point in using it. Also, I don't drink milk as a drink and don't add it to anything other than my morning coffee, so there is no need for me to grind/blend almonds or cashews to make a homemade drink or milk substitute. I've checked out lots of labels and discovered that the fresh "milks" in the refrigerator section of the stores have much less additives than the ones you'll find on the shelf.

Tnuva markets this almond drink as:

• rich in calcium
• low in salts
• low in fat
• enriched with vitamins
• no gluton
• no colesteral
• no preservatives
• no lactose

Israel has a large and profitable food export industry, so they must adhere to international standards. The labeling is pretty reliable. Actually I consider Israeli dairy and other products to be healthier than the equivalent American ones.  

There are two factors that make it easier to find non-dairy, no lactose products here in Israel. One is the Laws of Kashrut, which mandates strict supervision and labeling of all dairy products. And the other is the fact that a relatively high proportion of the Israeli population has trouble digesting lactose. 

Frozen Coconut Liquid in Coffee

You may remember my post about Easy to Make Non-Dairy Ice Cream. I had discovered that the coconut cream I had been using as a "non-dairy creamer" in my coffee had seriously separated. Part was solid enough to make "instant ice cream," but the rest was just a weak liquid. I froze the liquid in an icecube tray, later putting the cubes into a bag.

This morning I decided to try being non-cow-dairy for a few days, again. Last week I went back to eating cow dairy and found myself getting bloated. I wasn't uncomfortable, like many who are lactose intolerant. I just looked worse, all the extra pounds/kilograms in my stomach. Since I was all out of non-dairy milk, I remembered the cubes in the freezer and added them to my coffee.

Since the frozen coconut liquid's white color is deceptive, I ended up needing all the ice cubes for the three cups/mugs I drank. It added a sweet coconutty flavor to the coffee. It wasn't fantastic, but it certainly tasted a gazillion times better than the goat milk I had a couple of weeks ago. I still love natural goat yogurt, but the milk totally killed the coffee.

I've been warned off of soy milk because it mimics estrogen in the body, but I don't know if it's all that bad in small quantities for a woman of my age. I'm not interested in rice or oat milk, since they're both carbohydrates. So that leaves me with either almond or coconut milks.

Today I must go shopping for a non-dairy milk.

Easy to Make Non-Dairy Ice Cream

When I discovered that the coconut cream had separated into a pale liquid and a very solid "mass," I decided to experiment. I made Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.

It was amazingly easy to make. All I did was mash up a very ripe banana, added the coconut cream to it.

Then for extra flavor I added some vanilla and cinnamon. I mashed all that up with a fork and then added chocolate chips. You may have noticed that I didn't add any sugar to this ice cream.

I served it on Succot, so there's no photo of it served in the pretty little glass bowls decorated with more chocolate chips. We all, my husband plus a guest and myself, finished our portions to the very last drop. I didn't hear any complaints about my latest creation.

IMHO this easy to make non-dairy vegan ice cream is much tastier than what most people make  with the commercial artificial "Rich's." I didn't need a mixer or any other kitchen tool. We all have forks; don't we? So, if you find yourself with thick coconut cream, you have the base for a very easy, simple and tasty ice cream. And as ice creams go, whether commercial or homemade, this one is pretty healthy.

Break-Fast Vegetable Mushroom Soup

Here's my latest (made yesterday) version of a very easy and always tasty TNT Vegetable Soup. Since I had a lot of mushrooms in the fridge, they went into the soup. Yesterday was the Jewish fast day of Tzom (The Fast of) Gedaliah. I've made it a custom to break my fasts, whenever possible, on freshly made Vegetable Soups. They hit the spot, absolutely perfect for breaking the fast and any other type of day. I first started the custom when the children were still living at home. So then I'd also make fresh homemade rolls and/or pizza. But at our age, that's just too much food, whether after a fast or any time. I just serve myself a few bowls of soup. My husband gets a bit more of a meal.

Stage one:
Pour about a cup of dried *peas in large pot and check them for stones, etc.
Boil water and pour over peas. Cover the pot and let it wait for an hour or more.
*Instead of peas, you can use any lentils and/or barley. If you want to use beans, then start earlier, because you will have to cook the beans, depending on the type, for well over an hour, besides the soaking.

Stage two:
About an hour and a half or more before planned serving time, take the pot to the stove and start cooking the peas. Lower flame/heat to simmer as soon as it begins to boil. Make sure you have enough water, so that it doesn't burn, since the peas absorb the water.

Stage three:

Take out the vegetables you want in the soup. Besides an onion and fresh garlic, this time I used a squash, carrots and mushrooms. You can cook different vegetables, such as sweet potato, pumpkin, potato, cauliflower, zucchini, etc. If you want dark green or leafy vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage or spinach, save to add just before soup is fully cooked.
You may certainly add greens like parsley, celery, etc.
Cut/slice the vegetables into bite-sized pieces either by hand or food-processor and add them to the boiling peas/lentils/beans. Boil up water and add to the cooking soup to cover, plus. Simmer after it reaches boil.
Exact quantities depend on your pot and how thick/rich you want your soup. 
When the vegetables are soft, add salt and pepper to taste. After another few minutes, turn off the flame. The soup will finish cooking on its own. You can cover the pot with a thick towel to keep it hot if you won't be serving it for more than an hour.

If other things are cooking on the stove, then remove the pot to a heat-resistant surface to prevent the towel catching on fire.

Your soup is now ready to eat. Enjoy!

Vegetable Mushroom Soup