Sunflower Chocolate Chip ‘Ice Cream’

May 15, 2013 8 Comments

With our heat wave finally receding I had a lot of bananas ripening too fast on the counter. Whenever this happens I peel, slice and freeze them for latter, since I often add them to my morning frappes. My mind was wandering a bit and I went back into my blog archives for the banana ‘ice cream’ recipes I had published last summer – the classic frozen bananas into frozen soft serve. I took the basic method for prepping it, and swapped out the ingredients, especially so that Alistaire could enjoy some as well. I used to make it with peanut butter but not anymore, with his allergies. Last week while Kirk was on a business trip, Alistaire got into the garbage can, found a fortune cookie wrapper and rubbed it on his lips. He had a reaction to whatever was in it and had lip swelling. Ugh. As he gets older, and wants to eat more, it gets harder. I don’t feel overly frustrated though, more that I have a project on my hands – and a new way of eating yet again.

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And here is the thing: I am finding I prefer sunflower butter over peanut butter. It has a mild, pleasant flavor and just isn’t as “heavy” in recipes. With Alistaire having allergies to both peanuts and eggs, his chance of eating dairy ice cream is pretty low, unless I make it from scratch (which I enjoy doing). I am avoiding my favorite almond and coconut ice creams until his allergy testing is fully done – no reason to tempt fate I’d say! And Walker loves a bowl of ‘ice cream’, not knowing it isn’t. If anything, Walker enjoys it more than the real stuff!

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Sunflower Chocolate Chip ‘Ice Cream’

Ingredients:

  • 5 medium bananas, very ripe
  • ¼ cup sunflower butter
  • ¼ cup raw honey
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • Mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Peel bananas, slice and freeze for at least a few hours.

Add frozen bananas to a food processor. Run on high, scraping sides as needed, until bananas go from crumbly to smooth. Stop and scrape sides  add in sunflower butter, honey and cinnamon, pulse until mixed in, scraping as needed. Add in chocolate chips as desired (I used about ½ cup), pulse in. Scrape into a large glass freezer-safe dish, cover tightly and freeze for a few hours.

Store tightly sealed in the freezer (note, use the freezer in your frig, not a deep freezer).

Notes:

This is amazing tasting added to smoothies, milk shakes and frappes, a good scoop added with the ice. Yum! I find it stores well in the freezer, even for days after making. Get a big batch and enjoy your “hard” work for a number of servings.

If you must, use raw agave nectar instead of the honey.

~Sarah

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Filed Under: Dessert, Plant Based Diet Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Sunflower & Oat Balls – An Allergy OK Treat for Baby

April 29, 2013 17 Comments

Sunday I remembered why I hate Seattle so much – and avoid going there unless I really, really have to (streets missing, streets closed, dumping rain, price gouging parking and since it is spring all the traveling panhandlers are back in town…). I somehow forgot just that when I bought a Groupon deal for the Seattle Aquarium months back. But it was fun, we hadn’t been there for maybe 9 years, and Walker really enjoyed it. And he got a cool octopus painted on too. If anything, the aquarium is small so small kids don’t get over whelmed. We took Ford to the one in Tampa, Florida 4 years ago, and while simply amazing, it was a lot to see. This was a good choice for Walker’s first aquarium.

Aqua

Alistaire had a lot of fun as well, although he did like the perk of a cozy stroller to hop into!

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That Alistaire has allergies is sinking in, and more so just how hard it is to avoid his known triggers. His Doctor office called me this morning and I took him in for a discussion on his allergies, his test results and where to go from this. No more peanut anything in the house and egg whites are not good either (which isn’t an issue for us). It was a good appointment, I really, really like the boy’s doctor. He takes time and is in-depth. He has us seeing an allergist soon, for more testing.

So….feeling the need to create (great way to work out stress) I pulled out sunflower butter I had bought over the weekend (good thing I happen to love it already!) and made a batch of goodies that Little B can munch on :-) I picked up a couple of jars from Trader Joe’s, the natural, but sweetened kind. I have a number of jars coming from Vitacost this week, non-sweet ones, so I’ll have a lot of supply on hand.

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Sunflower & Oat Balls

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup quick oats (1-minute)
  • ¼ cup white whole wheat flour
  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate
  • ¼ cup sunflower butter
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1-2 Tbsp powdered sugar (made with tapioca flour)

Directions:

Mix oats through chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Stir sunflower butter through vanilla together, add to dry and stir till mixed.

Using a 1 Tablespoon scoop, make balls. Add powdered sugar to a shallow bowl, roll or gently shake balls in it.

Store tightly covered in refrigerator.

Makes about 1 dozen balls.

Notes:

If your sunflower butter is unsalted add a pinch of fine sea salt. Chill the balls for a few hours before eating for best taste!

~Sarah

Filed Under: Dessert, Plant Based Diet Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Sunflower Banana Bread

April 4, 2012 1 Comment

Two weekends ago I had picked up a jar of the not-so-easy to find unsalted/unsweetened organic sunflower butter at VegFest in Seattle, from the company at a bargain price. My brother was asking for a homemade treat so I came up with this recipe to use up a huge bunch of bananas from Costco that went from green to overripe in a day. I doubled the recipe but have listed it for one loaf below. It is a dense bread, not overly sweet. A little butter on it and it is perfect!

Sunflower Banana Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 2/3 cup natural sunflower butter
  • ½ cup liquid egg substitute or 2 eggs
  • 1½ cups mashed ripe bananas
  • 1/3 cup natural low-fat plain yogurt
  • 1 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ cup raw sunflower seeds

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°, spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl beat the sugar and sunflower butter until fluffy. Add the egg substitute in slowly and beat until blended, then add the bananas and yogurt. Stir in the remaining ingredients, then pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean in  the center. Let cool a bit and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

Store tightly wrapped.

~Sarah

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SB&J Muffins

June 1, 2011 1 Comment

I made PB&J Muffins for Walker but so that he could eat them I used sunflower butter, hence the SB&J! He was a happy little baby, snarfing down his muffin quickly. I liked the flavor, it is very mellow compared to natural peanut butter. Do read the label carefully though, many sunflower butters have sugar added. I have used both Sunbutter and MaraNatha, both are good, though I prefer the more ‘earthy’ flavor of the MaraNatha. Be careful though and make sure you get the ‘natural style’ which requires stirring. The ‘no-separate’  style is never the better choice – all you need is seeds and maybe a hint of salt.

When buying sunflower seeds (hulled/no shell) look for them in bulk bins and in natural food stores and not at the grocery store. The grocery store ones are often coated in salt, questionable oils and even MSG to flavor them. Store them tightly sealed and in the fridge during the hotter months.

SB&J Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup natural sunflower butter
  • 3 Tbsp Earth Balance buttery stick, diced
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup strawberry preserves (or favorite jam)
  • ¼ cup roasted sunflower seeds, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400° and spray a 12 count muffin tin with baking spray (or line with muffin liners). Sift the flour through salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the sunflower butter and Earth Balance to the dry, work in with your fingers until it is a fine crumb.

Mix in the milk, maple syrup and vanilla and stir until just mixed.

Divide equally between the cups. Make a hole in the top of each muffin, add 1 tsp jam to each. Sprinkle the seeds on top.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for a couple of minutes and then gently pop out and place on a cooling rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

~Sarah

Filed Under: baking, breakfast, Dessert Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chia and Fruit Oatmeal

May 10, 2011 2 Comments

This is a stick-to-you bowl of oatmeal – oatmeal should taste awesome while you cram goodness into it! To easily grind the chia seeds use a clean coffee grinder or spice mill, they will be powdered in a couple seconds.

Chia and Fruit Oatmeal

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 cup old-fashioned oats
  • ½ cup pitted dried prunes (plums)
  • 1 apple, peeled, cored and quartered, finely shredded
  • 4 ounce tub applesauce, preferably unsweetened
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar, dark preferably and packed
  • 2 Tbsp sunflower butter (or peanut butter)
  • 1 Tbsp chia seed, finely ground ( http://www.nps.gov/crla/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm )
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Add everything but the chia seed to a heavy medium saucepan, bring to a boil. Turn to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Divide between 2 bowls and top with the chia and a little more sugar, to taste. To eat, stir in the chia.

Serves 2.

~Sarah

Filed Under: breakfast, cooking Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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