Guest Post: Andrea McNinch

This $&*# Is Banana’s B-A-N-A-N-A-S First, sorry about the title. I am forever ruined. When I hear the word banana, I always sing that Gwen Stefani song in my head. Ugh. Anyway, it’s summertime and for me, it’s time for frozen stuff! I love making raw ice cream utilizing amazingly good-for-you nut fats (including coconuts; it’s a nut) whole and in “milk” form, but it takes some prep work, and I am really over the simple raw ice cream route. You know, frozen naner’s, water and sweetener ground up in the Vita-mix. Hot summer days create lazy kitchen days, with a craving for cool down foods, but I don’t always feel like diggin’ the meat out of a coconut, so I’ve taken the banana and given it new life by leaving it in it’s original shape, drowning it in chocolate sauce, rolling it in goji berry powder and freezing that bad boy! It doesn’t get any easier or delicious than that on a hot summers day. Frozen Choco-Covered Naner’s w/Goji Dust – YEAH, BUDDY!! Bunch of ripe bananas 2 cups Cacao Powder 1 1/2 cups maple syrup ½ tablespoon Vanilla Powder Pinch of sea salt ½ cup Coconut Oil, warmed to liquefy 1 cup Goji Berries Wooden skewers First, cut bananas in half on the bias and freeze for ½ hour (they are easier to work with when they are a little firmer). Combine all the ingredients except the coconut oil and goji berries in a high-speed blender. With the blender running, add the coconut oil and continue blending to emulsify. In a clean Vita-mix container, grind goji berries into a powder (or you can use a coffee grinder) and set aside. Next, roll the nanas into the chocolate sauce, place onto a stick length-wise, then sprinkle all sides with goji berry dust. Lastly, place these beauties back into the freezer and freeze for firmness; at least 3 hours. Store the leftover chocolate sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator. Before using, place it in the dehydrator to warm to liquefy it. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can also place the container in a warm water bath.