Guilt Free Banana Ice Cream

So I'm in the process of slimming down to my "normal" wait before Croix. Didn't get to off track still not what I am use to. Being an athlete all your life, gaining weight doesn't really make you feel like yourself. It has been going great so far, 15lbs and counting (Thank you, thank you, lol) One thing I love more then donuts is ice cream. So I found this recipe on making guilty free banana ice cream and decided to try it. Now everyone knows there is nothing like the reallllll thing baaabyyy baby, lol, but I was impressed with how it turned out. So here is what I did

 

 

Ice Cream Ingredients: 

2 frozen banana
1/2 cup of milk ( I used Almond Milk)
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of ice (this is optional but it does give it that frozen consistency)

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Directions:

Peal the frozen banana and cut into slices. To make it easier on your self run them over some hot water just to loosen the peal from the frozen banana. Put them in the blender with ice. Give the blender a few pulsed chops to break up the frozen banana chunks and ice. Then pour in the milk. Now don't get discouraged it takes a minute to get that ice cream consistency. Once you have gotten that creamy texture add your vanilla.

I jazzed up a half the batch with a table spoon of Coco powder to make a chocolate banana ice cream for Croix. :)

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Take pictures of your creations and send to llovescinc@gmail.com and I will post them on my blog. Can't wait to see them :)

xoxo ;)

Cookies n Cream Cupcakes Recipe

As promised here is the recipe for my Cookies n Cream Cupcakes. I got this idea of these cupcakes from Pinterest (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE PINTEREST). Pinterest is just a happy place to be, HAHA! These cupcakes are SOOOOOOOOO good and the icing is just EVERYTHING!! I can't even explain how good the icing is, you just have to make them. A lot of you have asked me for the recipe so here it is. I made these for my potluck at work and they were a hit! Hope they are as good for you as they were for me, lol.

 

Cupcake Ingredients: 

24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

Icing Ingredients:

8 oz. whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves

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Cupcake Directions:

Preheat the oven 350F. Line the cupcake wells with paper liners. Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner cream side up. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork and set aside. In another large size bowl combine butter and sugar and beat together on medium speed until fluffy for about two minutes. You can use a mixing spoon for this too if you don't have a mixer, but I promise you your arm will get TIRED, lol! Blend the egg whites one at a time, beating or mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until you incorporate everything together pretty good. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting Directions:

Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium size bowl and beat on medium-high speed until smooth for about 1-2 minutes (or you can use a mixing spoon but again your arm will be TIRED, lol....TRUST ME). Add the heavy whipping cream to the bowl and beat on low speed or mix just to incorporate the cream, whip or mix until creamy.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as you like. Sprinkle the Oreo crumbs and garnish with an Oreo halves and BAM!!!!! Your done......ENJOY!!!

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Take pictures of your creations and send to llovescinc@gmail.com and I will post them on my blog. Can't wait to see them :)