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Jun 28 2013

Healthy Summer Ice Cream


Ice cream is far and away my favorite food. Nothing even comes close. Especially in the summer. The only problem is, I can put it away like it’s my job. I mean really really I don’t stop until I’m sick or it’s ripped from my very cold hands. I inherited this from my dad. My sister and I have seen him eat pints…if not gallons of ice cream with no effort. He’s like a teenage girl going through a rough break up, who is also immune to brain freeze.

While summer is first and foremost ice cream season, it’s also beach and bikini season – which may be life’s greatest dilemma. So lately I  decided to forgo my favorite food…until now.

It’s 2 frozen bananas (bluth style) and a scoop of peanut butter in a blender or food processor. Done. You can add vanilla and toppings like shaved almonds, coconut, or in my case, blueberries and the mint I’ve been growing on the balcony.   Try to use peanut butter with only a couple ingredients (ex. peanuts and sea salt). If it’s too processed you might as well be eating Dairy Queen.

So it’s not technically ice cream. But it does the trick for me! My photos look like soft serve because I got distracted eating it and it got melty before I took pictures. I stuck the rest in the freezer and it returned to frozen goodness in no time. You can find more details on how to make it at this very cute blog. If you don’t like bananas…..well you’re sh*t out of luck. For now:-)Hopefully, I’ll find more recipes for cool healthy summer treats.

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Laura Dembowski - Thank you so much for linking up my ice cream! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Definitely a healthy way to enjoy ice cream :)

John Wilpers - Yet another delightful blog post! Love the top picture! Made me want to go have some ice cream and it’s only 6 in the morning (but then, is there any time that is not appropriate for ice cream?! Your mint looks incredibly healthy, and your alternative to ice cream sounds like it’s worth a try. Make some at Westport!

Jun 01 2013

Balcony Gardening

Finally some real outdoor space! So long fire escape gardens! I’ve had two balconies to work with since we moved to Brooklyn. Along with gardening, they are a great place to sip bourbon lemonades and people watch. A guy in the building across from us sells pimped out motorcycles. Yeah. Welcome to Brooklyn.  Anyway, I’ve made a few trips to Dig and Botanica Garden Center and pretty much filled the smaller front balcony. It’s kinda super narrow, so it was rough finding a chair that would fit out there . Luckily Ikea makes chairs for narrow butts, and delivers them. And the cats have no trouble fitting (though Drama’s pushing it). Everyone’s happy.

We’ve got some herbs going, and hopefully this will inspire Shauna, our roommate Ravi’s girlfriend, to make some cocktails when she comes over. She recently attended a cocktail conference in New Orleans…because she’s not just any bartender.

I was doing some research on gardening in Brooklyn and came across Rooftop Ready Seeds, a New York City seed company that collects from organically grown plants that have adapted and prospered in the local environment. The idea is that you’ll have more luck planting these seeds in your New York rooftop, balcony, or fire escape gardens. For this reason, they are not so cheap. BUT, an awesome idea and hopefully worth it….and I like the packaging:-)

So I am pretty damn happy. Getting started on the back balcony now. Lot’s more room to play with. Oh, and the grill. Ooooh I can’t wait to grill. Thank you Brooklyn. I no longer hate you. I love you. Just not Williamsburg. Or the G.

 

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Healthy Summer Ice Cream » Considerable Trouble & Considerable Joy - […] and toppings like shaved almonds, coconut, or in my case, blueberries and the mint I’ve been growing on the balcony.   Try to use peanut butter with only a couple ingredients (ex. peanuts and sea salt). If […]

John Wilpers - Wow! What stunning photos (again!). The first photo of the flowers and the last of your deck are just great!

And I’m so glad that you’re picking up on the Jack-Daddy gardening gene!

You’ll have to make some of those bourbon lemonades for us in Westport.

And let me know how those “Made in NYC for NYC” seeds work for you!

Mar 29 2013

Green Birthday

Melissa is out in L.A being a rockstar at The Sweet Shop. When her birthday came around it was a good opportunity to bring back some of the green gifting tips from Christmas – recycled paper, the box my macbook air came in (which might have gotten her hopes up a little too high), cute gift boxes made from recycled materials, fabric bows etc. My favorite part however, was the card. Who could resist that card?! Especially considering one of Missa’s scripts was inspired by a get-away ice cream truck. I love my sister <3

  1. Reused and Recycled Brown Paper, Bakers Twine (Paper Source), Glitter Pen and The Art of Hugging (Barnes and Noble)
  2. Cute reusable gift box – no wrapping necessary!(Paper Source) a red fabric bow from Christmas, and a vintage “M” necklace
  3. I used the Paper Source bag that the card came in to wrap the jewelry box with her Camera Necklace (Etsy)
  4. Save tissue paper that you might get from clothing stores. I bought some “interview” pants at J. Crew recently and reused the tissue paper here.
  5. Ice Cream Truck Card (Paper Source)

As usual, no gifting task can be completed without little helpers…. perhaps more accurately, little gremlins who hijacked the twine. Of course it’s my fault for brining string anywhere near them. 

I had way too much fun putting together Melissa’s Birthday Package. Of course a truly “green” birthday package would somehow include no paper and be wrapped in hemp or something…but one step at a time here. And hopefully she will recycle as many of the materials as possible.  Did I mention I love my sister? ….well just in case ….. I LOVE MY SISTER!!!

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