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How to use Hot Chocolate Bombs

How to use Hot Chocolate Bombs

Today we’re going to show you step-by-step how to use our homemade Hot Chocolate Bombs. It’s very simple and we’ve made it even simpler by breaking it down into 4 easy-to-follow steps. Watch this video Step 1: Place hot chocolate bomb in your favorite mug 

Quick and Easy Flag Cake  – Kids in the Kitchen

Quick and Easy Flag Cake – Kids in the Kitchen

Happy 4th of July everyone! I’ve got a recipe today for when you need something quick to take to your 4th of July potluck, or when you’re just chilling at home and want to do something fun and patriotic with the kids. This quick and 

Healthy Green “Ice Cream” – Paleo, Whole30, Vegan

Healthy Green “Ice Cream” – Paleo, Whole30, Vegan

Healthy green "ice cream" in a turquoise bowl

Do you remember when the movie Shrek first came out and Burger King started giving out packets of green ketchup instead of the standard red as part of their promotion? Thinking back on it now, it was kinda weird and gross. But I still remember it 20 years later, so it has that going for it, right? The thing is, kids typically love eating colorful things. But unfortunately green ketchup and many of the other colorful foods that are marketed to children are full of chemical dyes and usually many other nasty ingredients. But this healthy green “ice cream” has no dyes, no added sugar and gets it fun green color from… you guessed it, spinach!

I am always looking for ways to make healthier versions of the delicious foods we like to eat, because some is better than none, right?. So when my husband and I decided to take on a Whole30, what better time than to experiment with a healthy, fruit-filled, version of this beloved frozen classic. Now, just to be clear… on Whole30, ice cream is prohibited, even if made from compliant ingredients. So, for the sake of all the strict Whole30 rule-followers, let’s call this a smoothie bowl, which is totally allowed. Winning!

Only 5 ingredients and ready in 7 minutes or less!

This tropical healthy “ice cream” also known as “nice cream” is made with only 5 ingredients including 3 fruits and a veggie, so if you have trouble getting your kids to eat veggies (fruit is definitely not an issue in my house), I would totally recommend giving this a try. You cannot taste the spinach at all, but it gives the ice cream a fun green color that kids love. My six-year-old wanted to join us on Whole30, but he didn’t want to do the full 30 days, so he decided to join just the final 6 days and is calling it Whole6. And yes, he has requested these smoothie bowls at least once every day of his Whole6. So if you are wondering if this healthy green “ice cream”/smoothie bowl is kid approved, the answer is a resounding YES!

Can I substitute a different kind of fruit?

Yes! We have made these with a number of fruit combinations. I have made them with just pineapple + banana, or mango + blueberry + banana. I’m sure it would be great with strawberries, blackberries, peaches and more. You can even make them with just frozen banana, coconut milk and cocoa powder if you’re looking for a chocolatey version. I will say that the banana gives it smoothness and makes it nice and creamy, so I would hesitate to replace the banana, but if you try it, let me know how it turns out!

What kind of Coconut Milk should I use?

I like the full-fat unsweetened Thai kitchen coconut milk (affiliate link), but any approved coconut milk in a can should work. You could potentially use the kind from the carton, but it has a much higher water-to-coconut ratio, so it could make your ice cream a lot more runny.

Does the Banana need to be frozen?

This is personal preference and will depend on what you have available when you’re hangry for some ice cream now. (Ask me how I know) When I make it with frozen banana, the ice cream is thicker and holds up better on a spoon. With fresh bananas, the consistency is more like soft serve ice cream or a thick smoothie. Remember, you can also adjust the amount of coconut milk to get the consistency you like.

Can I make this Healthy Green “Ice Cream” in a blender?

Short answer: not really. Blenders are great for foods that are more of a liquid consistency. You could potentially make this as a smoothie bowl in a blender, but you will need to add more coconut milk to get it to blend properly, and the final result will not be thick like ice cream. I recommend the food processor if you have one because it is better at processing something this thick and creamy.

Healthy green "ice cream" in a turquoise bowl

Healthy Green “Ice Cream”

This tasty treat is packed with fruits and veggies. It's kid-approved, dairy-free, paleo, Whole30 (if you call it a smoothie bowl), and vegan. Made with only 5 ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 7 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 2 servings
Calories 174 kcal

Equipment

  • food processor

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup mango chunks frozen
  • 1 cup pineapple chunks frozen
  • 1 whole banana fresh or frozen (see notes)
  • 1 handful spinach
  • ¼-¾ cup coconut milk canned

Instructions
 

  • Place frozen mango and frozen pineapple in the bowl of your food processor.
  • Put the lid on and process until ground. (It will be loud at first with the frozen chunks banging around in there, but once it processes for about a minute, everything will start to flow and it will quiet down).
  • Add banana and spinach.
  • Process again until fairly smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
  • Add coconut milk, a little at a time and process until desired consistency.
  • Enjoy your healthy green "ice cream"!

Notes

You can use fresh or frozen bananas cut into chunks. Frozen will give a thicker consistency. If using frozen, you can add them in step 1 with the mangos and pineapple.
Other fun combinations you can try: mango + strawberry, mango + blueberry (photo), strawberry + peach, banana + cocoa powder.
Keyword fruit dessert, healthy dessert, healthy ice cream, ice cream, mango ice cream, nice, nice cream

How to Make Healthy Green ice cream Step-by-Step (with Photos)

Steps 4-6 of Healthy green ice cream
1. Place frozen mango and frozen pineapple in the bowl of your food processor. 2. Put the lid on and process until ground. 3. Add banana and spinach
Steps 4-6 of Healthy green ice cream
4. Process again until fairly smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. 5. Add coconut milk, a little at a time and process until desired consistency. 6. Enjoy your healthy green “ice cream”!
Healthy green "ice cream" in a brown bowl
Easy Whole30 Meals – Photos of everything I ate: Days 1-7

Easy Whole30 Meals – Photos of everything I ate: Days 1-7

Oh Whole30, how I love you and hate you at the same time. As I write this I am currently on day 19 of my third round of Whole30. The first time we did it was in 2015 and we did it together with a 

The Mess – Your new favorite Whole30 breakfast Scramble

The Mess – Your new favorite Whole30 breakfast Scramble

Every Sunday morning in our house (and even more frequently right now while we’re doing another round of Whole30), you can count on one thing: “The Mess” on our table for breakfast. (Okay, so we don’t always eat it at the table. Usually if we 

This Sweet Boysenberry Crunch is a little bite of Heaven

This Sweet Boysenberry Crunch is a little bite of Heaven

Oh, my goodness… don’t get me started on this amazing sweet boysenberry crunch. It is sooo good. Like really, really delicious. But first, let’s back up a step or two. I realize you might have a couple questions before we get started. Namely “What is a boysenberry?” and “What is a crunch”? If either of those ran through your mind, don’t worry, Google and I have answers for you.

What is a Boysenberry?

My research tells me that a boysenberry is a hybrid fruit, which is a cross between a blackberry, raspberry and a loganberry. One website even lauded it as a ‘super berry’ high in antioxidants and supposedly able to help reverse lung damage… who knew? It is slightly larger than a blackberry and has more of a purple color. To be honest, we used blackberries for the photo shoot as that’s what we could find, but we love it with boysenberries as they hold a special place in our heart and our memories so we didn’t want to change the name.

What is a Crunch and How is it Different from a Crisp?

Many of us have heard of a fruit crisp, (like our family favorite Apple Crisp…recipe coming soon), but how is a fruit crunch different? Well, the way I understand it, a crisp has all of the fruit on the bottom and the crumbly mixture (streusel) only on top. A crunch, in the other hand, has the oat mixture both on the bottom and top, with the fruit in the middle. This makes it easier to slice and serve because the crumb mixture forms a sort of crust on the bottom, giving a cleaner end result.

slice of sweet boysenberry crunch on a white plate

First, let me say, if you have never tried boysenberry crunch, you are seriously missing out. This has been a family favorite for many, many years. When I first introduced my husband to it a couple years ago, it quickly became his favorite dessert. For the past two years running he has even requested it for his birthday dessert in lieu of cake. That’s how good it is.

Just one bite takes me quickly back to my childhood.

When I was growing up, we planted some boysenberry plants in our backyard. They quickly grew and spread and pretty much took over the yard. It was great, because when they were in season, we had so. many. boysenberries. My sisters and I would spend 30 minutes a day picking berries. If I remember correctly, my parents ended up getting a second freezer, just to keep the extra berries, beyond all the ones we gave away.

warm boysenberry crunch on a plate topped with vanilla bean ice cream

My mom was constantly making boysenberry pies, boysenberry cobbler and, of course, this delicious boysenberry crunch. She says the recipe was adapted from my grandmother’s cranberry crunch recipe. I think we’re going to need to try that next!

We love this sweet boysenberry crunch warm and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream… mmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

If you scroll past the recipe, there is a full step-by-step guide with pictures you can follow!

Sweet Boysenberry Crunch

This sweet boysenberry crunch is one of our favorite desserts. Tangy boysenberries (or blackberries) are sweetened and then baked between two layers of a buttery, golden crust.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: berries, berry, berry crisp, berry dessert, blackberry, blackberry crisp, blackberry dessert, boysenberry, boysenberry crunch, boysenberry dessert, brown sugar, butter, crisp, crunch, oat crust, summer, sweet
Servings: 16
Calories: 335kcal
Author: Jenna

Ingredients

Berries

  • 6 cups Boysenberries, blackberries or mixed berries fresh or frozen
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup corn starch

Crunch

  • 2 cups rolled oats old fashioned or quick (I like to do half and half)
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 cups brown sugar packed
  • 1 cup butter 2 sticks, cold

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 13"x9" baking dish.
  • Berries: Place berries in a large pot. In a separate bowl, stir together sugar and corn starch (this helps to eliminate any clumps in the corn starch). Stir this mixture into the pot with the berries and heat on the stove over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thickened.
  • Crunch: In a large bowl combine oats, flour and brown sugar. Stir until well combined, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar as needed. Using a pastry blender, two knives or (my favorite) a cheese grater, cut butter into oat mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs (roughly pea sized).
  • Assemble: Sprinkle half of the oat mixture into the bottom of your prepared baking dish. Use your fingers to pat it down into an even layer. Pour the cooked berry mixture over the top and spread out evenly. Top with the remaining half of the oat mixture.
  • Bake: Place baking dish into center of your preheated oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden and berries are bubbling.

Notes

Boysenberries can be hard to find, but this is just as delicious using blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, or even frozen mixed berries. You may want to reduce the sugar if using a sweeter berry.
Make this recipe gluten free by using gluten free all purpose flour and certified gluten free oats.
Make it vegan using plant-based butters or margarine.
Store extras in an airtight container on the counter for 3 days, or in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat in the microwave.

Okay, before we get started, let’s make sure we have all of our ingredients:

Ingredients for boysenberry crunch on a white tablecloth
6 cups of berries, 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of corn starch, 2 cups of oats, 2 cups of brown sugar, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of butter

Now for the Sweet Boysenberry Crunch How-To:

How to tell if your boysenberry crunch is ready:

You’ll know when the oats are a lovely golden brown color and the berries are bubbling up around the edges.

baked sweet boysenberry crunch in a baking dish on a table with flowers

Well, there you have it! You just made a delicious Sweet Boysenberry Crunch.

Find someone to share it with, and be sure to save a slice for me!

Did you make this recipe?

Take a picture and don’t forget to tag @someisbetter and always remember that Some is Better!

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Baby Steps – Why Some is Better

Baby Steps – Why Some is Better

You have a goal. We all have goals, right? Or at least we do on January first. But why is it that the vast majority of people don’t stick to their resolutions or don’t achieve their goals? I think a big part of it is