Simple 4 Ingredient Raspberry/Banana/Blueberry Smoothie – I.C. Safe For Some! *

Here’s a quick and easy smoothie that is IC safe! for some IC patients.  I throw all the ingredients in my Ninja Blender and put it on Intelligent IQ setting and it does all the work.  All your ingredients besides the milk are frozen, so the  key is adding enough liquid otherwise it’ll just jam up the machine. I’ve made this countless times.
For the members of your family that don’t have IC, if you add frozen strawberries it turns out wonderful too.

-Do NOT add any sugar, it doesn’t need it.  
-Do NOT add fake sweetener, even Stevia – it is a major IC bladder irritant!  

NOTE: Amounts are estimated.  The measurements below are approximate and are meant to make 1 to 1.5 smoothie servings. Play with the amounts to find your suitable smoothie.  If you dislike one the ingredients, just skip it.  It doesn’t require three fruits.  Two fruits would taste the best I think, but even one would work!

3/2018: I can no longer tolerate bananas/raspberries but I will keep this recipe up for all of you who can.

INGREDIENTS:

  • frozen bananas (about 1/3 cup) – I pre-slice bananas and freeze then in baggies for smoothies.
  • frozen blueberries (about 1/4 cup)
  • frozen raspberries (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 cup of 2% milk

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Put all ingredients into your blender, no specific order is necessary.
  2. Make sure you add enough milk otherwise the machine will jam and will have to work too hard due to all the frozen ingredients.  Add additional milk as needed to allow the machine to whip it up easily.
  3. Blend for 45 seconds to 1 minute to reach a smooth consistency.

Homemade White Hot Chocolate *

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I can no longer have amazing hot cocoa, coffee, and all those wonderful things.  With a very irritated I.C. bladder, I have to find another route to the joy of hot chocolate.  So I looked online and found this recipe from www.gimmesomeoven.com, and gave it a try.  I had the 2% milk and homemade vanilla on hand, so all I needed was the white chocolate.  I got a big bag of Ghirardelli white chocolate chips and gave it a whirl!  It’s creamy, whips up in about five minutes, and tastes Starbucks-like to me.

–Makes about four ample servings.  It’s a filling drink that is wonderful.  

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 cups of milk of your choice (or you can substitute heavy cream or half and half, or do a mixture).
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 8 oz. white chocolate, chopped into small pieces (or white chocolate chips)**
  • whipped cream or marshmallows for topping

NOTE: White chocolate and vanilla can irritate some IC sufferers, tread carefully!

 

TIP: Use real vanilla extract or homemade vanilla extract (click here to see my recipe).
DIRECTIONS:

  1. Stir together milk, vanilla, and chopped white chocolate in a medium saucepan.
  2. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the white hot chocolate comes to a simmer.  (Do not let it come to a bowl).  *I just got the mixture very hot, I didn’t simmer it. 
  3. Remove from heat and serve immediately.  Top with whip cream or marshmallows, if desired.

Hershey’s Hot Cocoa * (Not IC Safe)

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We make this recipe when we want a cup of hot cocoa that a) doesn’t have preservatives, b) fake sweeteners, and c) doesn’t taste weird.  It takes a few minutes but the flavor is really worth it.

One note about this recipe, though, it states it makes three 6 oz. servings, but in reality, one recipe yields about two servings at best.  We always double this recipe for three people.  The recipe below serves approximately 2 people.  No one wants to have a small cup of hot cocoa…especially after smelling this recipe!

 

INGREDIENTS:  (for approximately 2 people)

  • 2 tablespoons Hershey’s cocoa powder**
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • dash of salt
  • 1/4 cup hot water (doesn’t need to be boiling)
  • 1 1/2 cup milk (any percentage is fine, I used 2%)
  • marshmallows, if desired.

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

 

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Blend the cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan.
  2. Gradually add the hot water.
  3. Boil over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  4. Add the milk and heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally.  (Do not boil).
  5. Remove from heat and whisk until foamy.
  6. Serve hot – top with marshmallows, if desired.

Peach Blueberry Banana Smoothie *

This is a ‘recipe’ for a very tasty smoothie that I discovered myself.  Smoothies don’t need a recipe, you just need complimentary flavors and enough liquid.  No pic of the actual result this time, it was so good it was gone in moments. Just imagine a purple smoothie.  No measurements needed, eyeball this one!  Play with the amounts of ingredients.  It will be fine!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 peach, room temp. or refrigerated, cored and sliced
  • Approximately 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
  • Approximately 1/2 cup frozen sliced bananas**
  • Approximately 1 cup 2% (or your choice of fat) milk

Make sure these fruits are safe for  you!  They are IC safe for some.

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Pour your milk into the blender.
  2. Add your peach slices, frozen blueberries, and frozen slices of bananas.
  3. Cover with lid and process until super smooth – about 45 seconds to a minute.  (We love our NutriBullet much more than traditional blenders.  It makes the ingredients pulverized into super fine bits.  Even fruit seeds are no longer annoying to eat)
  4. If the smoothie gets too thick or the blender struggles, turn off blender, and add more milk, cover, and re-process.
  5. Enjoy!!

** When your banana is too ripe or on it’s way out, take off the peel, and slice it up.  You have two choices:

1) You can be lazy like I am sometimes and throw your banana slices into a Ziplock bag and put it in the freezer.  This works better for bananas than berries.  Bananas will freeze and clump together but they’re still seperate-able.  With berries, I recommend #2.

2) With berries or if you have time to freeze bananas the right way: slice your bananas and lay them on a parchment paper or aluminum foil-lined plate, making sure they don’t touch.  Freeze them for a few hours (1-2 hours).  Then take them off the plate and put them in a freezer bag, and label.  Initially freezing them separately keeps them from becoming a massive berry lump!  I’ve been there and learned the difficult way. LOL

Starbucks-esque Copycat Hot Cocoa * (Not IC Safe)

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I have had no luck making hot cocoa in the past even though I’ve tried a few recipes.  They were either way too bitter, or had too much headache-inducing cocoa powder, something was always wrong! I used a Pyrex glass container with a handle and it was easy to whip up in the microwave.  I followed this recipe to a “T” and it came out so smooth, tasty, and was my ideal hot cocoa – excluding the fact it was missing whip cream, but we can’t always have everything!  Next time, yes.  This recipe is from Top Secret Recipes, please check them out!  A+!!

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Iced Coffee (Like that Donut Place You Love)

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I got this recipe off Food.com, recipe #29636 and it is the BEST iced coffee recipe I have ever had.  I credit this to its high ratio of milk to coffee.  Believe me, you won’t be able to stop drinking it.  Just talking about it makes me want to make it immediately.  I didn’t take a photo because it looks like – well, iced coffee.  My husband added real vanilla and it was extra good.  

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 ice cubes
  • 2/3 cup coffee (warm or cooled)
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Put sugar in a large glass.
  2. Drop in ice cubes.
  3. Pour coffee over ice and add milk.
  4. Stir until sugar is melted.
  5. That’s it!