Vegan "ice cream" (Oh --- and no more wholesalers for me!)

Hello Veggies!

Happy Friday!
I wanted to update you all on my progress with the raw vegan lifestyle.

Things have been going pretty well. I have been whipping up green smoothies to get in the vitamins and minerals I need to build muscle. Today --- for breakfast and lunch I made a green smoothie with about 4 to 5 bananas, 1 cup of frozen strawberries and 1.5 cups of fresh baby spinach. I threw in a few dates for calories. Very good. I really can't taste the spinach, and even my son liked the taste.
I have decided to nix the trips to the wholesaler. For one, I like variety and that is just to darn much fruit to have at one time. My bananas turned ripe soooo fast. I ended up having to freeze all of them. I cut them into pieces, wrapped them in plastic wrap and stuck them into freezer bags. The grapes started growing white fuzz (and I was unhappy to notice they had been treated with fungicide.) The oranges are hit and miss. Yesterday I sat down with a couple of them and they were just unripe. FYI oranges don't ripen once picked, thus you must make sure to pick ripe fruit from the store. The mangoes are nothing to write home about. This may have worked better if I had a whole family to feed. However, it is easier for me to just hand pick my fruits/vegetables and spend a little extra. The Triad farmer's market will be hoppin' soon. I'll check it out.
With all the frozen bananas on hand, I opted to make ICE CREAM. Here is what I used:
The equivalent of 4 bananas *frozen chunks
Unsweetened and organic almond milk or water
Add ins: carob chips, fresh fruit
Anyways, I added the bananas to my blender and added enough liquid to get it going. However, you want to avoid adding too much liquid --- then it turns into a smoothie. Everybody's blender is different. I don't have a fancy one, and I ended up adding about 1/3 cup of almond milk for my frozen bananas. I also tossed in some carob chips (vegan chocolate chip equivalent). The consistency was like a Wendy's frosty. Very convincing. My son liked this one too.
Again, I have to boast about pink lady apples. Buy organic ones. So good. And they taste very good chopped up with raw celery. Celery is an awesome food. If you are adhering to a raw vegan diet and crave something savory as opposed to sweet --- this can be your go to food!!!
FYI - I continue to drink almond milk for now --- it is packed with goodies like vitamin B12, D, E and calcium. I can't beat that!
I have wonderful news. I am building muscle!!!!!!! I entered the Gold's Gym Contest back in January. It has been about six weeks. I didn't think that I would see much of a difference just because I have been toying with my diet quite a bit. However, at my weigh in I learned I gained two pounds, lost two percent fat, lost one inch around my waist, and a bit at my thighs/hips. All in all, I think it is safe to say I have gained muscle! As I see it, eating more calories has really helped. I have been drinking a couple of liters of water per day too.
At the moment I probably eat over 75% raw on average. Trying to get as close to 100% as possible. I'll keep you all posted!

Peace and love!!!