Beanyes

Hello everyone!! Happy Thursday, just one more day until the weekend loading up and selling peanut butter in the middle of a “snowicane”. The weather men have been using the term snowicane for the weekend ahead, but honestly I don’t believe it. Right now it’s just raining.

I have a really fun and pretty post planned for tomorrow, (well actually it’s a guest post but I’ll link to it) so today is another crazy concoction.

 

Since reading In Defense of Food, I’ve been thinking a lot more about whole foods. (I did take things away from it!) There’s no proof that a certain amount of protein is required each day, and no definitive ratio. Jay Robb is really expensive and I’ve been thinking it may be time to try some smoothie recipes without it.

Those left me quite hungry (without yogurt or soymilk, there isn’t much else but quick fruity carbs!). I thought for a little while and finally decided to experiment with some…

 

…legumes.

Bean-yes indeed!! I’m not crazy- there are tons of black bean brownie recipes around and even chickpea blondies. So why not chocolate black bean shakes?

Well, Chocolate Black Bean Cheesecake Ice Cream to be even more precise, but you can play around with the ingredients to accommodate your own likes + dislikes.

Chocolate Black Bean Cheesecake Ice Cream

• 4 cubes ice
• 2 cubes (about 1/4-1/3) frozen banana

Crush, crush, crush…

• 1/4 cup kabocha or buttercup squash
• 1 scoop Chocolate Amazing Grass
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 heaping teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1/3 cup drained and rinsed black beans
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee (optional)
• 1/2 tsp xanthen gum+ 1/6 tsp guar gum

Blend everything together and enjoy!

  

Topping= granola bar failures [YUM!!!]

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FYI, I don’t have a Vita Mix blender. Until Christmas, I had a 18 year old blender with a crack. One of my gifts was the Oster 6812-00, which runs from $40-$45. If you’re looking for a blender on a budget, I highly recommend this one!

What I like:

• The carafe comes apart, so you can clean the base, blade and glass jar separately.
• The “Ice Crush” is really powerful!!
• It doesn’t have a problem blending my thick smoothies/ice cream as long as you push down the ingredients ever so often.
• You can even use it to make nut butter
• It’s inexpensive compared to other models and performs like a champ!

What I don’t like:

• For smoothies, the blender forms a bubble right on top of the blade so the ingredients don’t circulate down. You have to manually “pop” it and push everything into the blade.
• It doesn’t work so well for hummus, or really thick things like banana whip [aka it doesn’t replace my beloved food processor. That was also a gift!]

Tips:

• To make protein cheesecake ice cream, black bean shakes (!), Joeshakes, or ChocoJaynana whip:
• CRUSH the ice and frozen ingredients first.
• THEN add the semi solid ingredients (squash, fresh fruit, beans) + liquid and blend.
• THEN add the powder ingredients and blend for another 30 seconds or so.
• IF you’re adding spinach, or another leafy green, I recommend blending this up with a little liquid FIRST, pouring it into a glass, then using it as a liquid ingredient.
• USE as many frozen things as possible to keep your shake really thick and creamy
• ADD something like bananas or squash (with soluble fiber) to add creaminess
• DON’T be afraid of guar or xanthen gum! They really can thicken up a smoothie. I decided I like xanthen gum much more than guar gum.
• STIR, scrape, and push down ingredients with a PLASTIC SPOON and the blender OFF.  Haha I’ve gotten metal shards in my smoothie before. Nice, right?

 

Remember: frozen crush before semi-solid ingredients.

Like beans. ;-)  

 

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Teaser for tomorrow:

I spent wayyy to much time in the kitchen yesterday getting this recipe just right [and consuming the failures. heh, heh…]

I can’t wait to share it!!! 😀

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If at anytime my blog is offensive in any way, please don’t hesitate in sending me an e-mail. I love you guys and don’t want anyone to be hurt by anything I say!! 🙂

Question for today: What’s your favorite kitchen appliance? (You can only chose ONE!)