I am fresh off the plane following a deliciously sweet twenty-three days spent travelling the remarkable Caribbean Islands of St. Lucia and Dominica. I don’t think I have fully processed all the magic I experienced, the people I met, the difference ways of living I observed, the incredible food I ate and the sights, sounds and smells I soaked up. I am home now and doing my best to get back in the swing, while trying to keep the chilled out island vibes alive and well. It is not uncommon to see tourists, travellers and expats grow impatient with the slow pace of the islands. I think we could all use a little more slowness, simply taking the time to rest and digest.
Flourless Chocolate Cake... with a Flower on top
I have always preached to my clients that what is good for our spirit is good for our health. Sweet indulgences fall into this category and while I was away, I indulged in plenty of sweet goodness. I had my first taste of chocolate ice cream in five years! It was made from fresh goat’s milk and roasted cocoa- all acquired from the property where I was staying. I drank cocoa tea with breakfast, ate fresh baked breads, homemade tofu, foraged in the rain forest for avocados, bananas and passion fruits. I drank sweet coconut water right from the coconut, mountain spring water right from the mountain spring, and ginger tea with ginger root that was still warm from the earth.
Picking Bananas
Despite my jeans now being a little snug around the bottom from so many sweet indulgences, I indulged with an attitude of gratitude and celebration. Negative emotions associated with food will do more harm to our health than the actual foods we are consuming.
When we are experiencing anything great- anything that should be savoured, nourished, indulged in, shared, and celebrated, we must grant ourselves the sweet luxury to rest and digest it all.
While living off the local food, coconut made up a great part of my diet. I have already mentioned the benefits of coconut water, here is a recipe for Coconut Ice Cream. Turn up the heat, put on your sunglasses, make like you are the beach and enjoy!
Optional: Can use any fruit of choice in here.
Coconut Ice Cream
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: None
Keywords: blender freezer dessert dairy-free gluten-free sugar-free soy-free nut-free vegetarian coconut milk banana ice-cream whole food summer spring
Ingredients (About 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 can full fat organic coconut milk
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 large banana
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 Tbs dried coconut
- 1-2 Tbs Vodka (optional- will lower freezing point and make ice-cream smoother)
Instructions
Place banana, lemon juice and honey in a blender and process until well mashed.
Add coconut milk, dried coconut and optional vodka and blend.
Freeze in ice cube trays for 3 or more hours, reserving about a 1/2 cup in the fridge.
Place about 3 cubes per person into the food processor, add some of the non-frozen mix and process until smooth.
Serve.
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love that there is vodka in this recipe!
What an awesome vacation! I would love to hear more about the trip … I want to pick a Caribbean destination for an early winter/late fall trip, and we prefer the islands that aren’t as over-developed.
We are planning a trip to Panama right now, if you have ever been, send me an email, as I could use some suggestions!
I am definitely going to try your method for making coconut ice cream. Just one curiosity, will any alcohol work, or is vodka particularly better?
Great post! Glad you enjoyed the rest of your chill out time in St. Lucia. I must make this coconut ice cream sometime soon. We’re still making our cocoa tea last…
xoxo
I wish you were around to come to yoga too! Will have to talk about making a Canada trip in the warmer months.
I love the vodka part, too. Actually, I meant to tell you, I made another attempt at coconut-milk ice cream with my ice cream maker and this time it worked PERFECTLY!! Just threw some frozen strawberries and a banana in there with some vanilla extract and raw honey and 30 minutes later had awesome, scoopable, dairy-free ice cream. Let me know how it works with just the blender, though!
I just had a 100% pure coconut water at lunch, for the first time. So refreshing!
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[...] my yogini goddess friend (and the delight who lead my Dominica Yoga retreat) Jenn, pointed out on her blog, there was just the Aries full moon in Libra. What Jenn explained, [...]
Could you add cocoa to make it chocolately flavoured? How much do you think you’d add?
Hello Meghan:
I have been searching for suppliers of 100% certified organic coconut milk and water, produced in the Caribbean area. I work for a company that distributes these products and our suppliers are all in Thailand. We are looking to find suppliers closer to the US.
If you could share any information about possible growers/suppliers in the Caribbean, we would really appreciate it. I know they must be out there — it’s just finding them that’s the challenge.
Regards,
Entera
[...] It’s so very true though isn’t it? I haven’t had proper ice cream in years. Dairy left my life about eight years ago now. I had one bowl of chocolate ice cream made from raw goat’s milk when I was in Dominica a few years ago, and I regularly whip up a batch of my coconut milk ice cream. [...]
[...] class of my 6-week program. We serve it dipped into the most delicious ice cream maker free, coconut milk ice cream. And well, this pretty much wins my guests over. They immediately decide that I’m alright and [...]
[...] class of my 6-week program. We serve it dipped into the most delicious ice cream maker free, coconut milk ice cream. And well, this pretty much wins my guests over. They immediately decide that I’m alright and [...]
I would start with a half cup and then add slowly- and taste it along the way