peach sorbet

My husband and I have been on an ice cream kick lately, but we wanted to have a healthier alternative for our post-dinner snack. This is what we came up with!

MAKES:: ~4 servings

Ingredients::

2 peaches (pitted and sliced)

1-1 1/2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt

2-3 TB agave syrup (optional)

2-4 TB fruit juice (optional)

Directions::

Put all ingredients in blender. Mix on "pureé" setting until smooth (30 seconds - 1 min). Pour into freezer-safe containers. Let sit in the freezer for 4-6 hours. Enjoy!

{***notes***}

- we used peaches, but you can certainly substitute any fruit you want!

- agave syrup is an alternative to sugar. it has a low glycemic index and is naturally sweeter, so you use less than if you were to use sugar. if you don't have agave syrup on hand (or don't want to buy some just for this recipe), substitute with sugar. You'll likely have to add a bit more than the recipe calls for- just increase the amount of sugar in small increments until it reaches your preferred level of sweetness :)

- the mixture will seem pretty thin and should pour well into your freezer-safe container. that's ok!

- - experiment with texture... if it's too thin or too thick it still taste great but can sometimes be really hard to scoop!

- my husband used blueberry-cranberry juice (I did not). I used agave syrup (my husband did not). You can use both or neither, it's completely up to your taste buds!!

Blueberry-Banana Bread

This is from All-Time Favorite Healing Recipes from The Green Pharmacy. My oven is not very reliable {I really need to pick up an oven thermometer} so the bottom of this bread took forever to finish baking- I ended up leaving it in for close to an hour. This is an extremely moist bread, so my bamboo skewer never pulled out clean. If you're like me and tend to leave your pizza stone in the oven at all times, I would recommend removing it in order to give your bread the best chance of cooking thoroughly from all sides. I also made a few modifications to the recipe:

- used 1/4 c. agave syrup instead of brown sugar

- used 3/4 c. frozen blueberries

- used 3/4 c. fresh blueberries

- substituted 1 c. of the flour with spelt flour

- went a little crazy and used 2 TB raw sugar

Time: 50 mins + cooling time

Servings: 10

Ingredients:

2 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c. mashed ripe bananas {about 3 bananas}

1/2 c. reduced fat- plain yogurt

1.3 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. regular or light buttermilk

1 lg. egg

2 TB unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 c. frozen wild blueberries

1/2 c. dried wild blueberries

1 TB raw sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the bananas, yogurt, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg, butter, and lemon zest. Whisk to blend. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until they are just blended. Stir in all of the blueberries. Turn the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top. Sprinkle on the raw sugar.

3. Bake 40-45 mins, or until a bamboo skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack, 5 mins. Removed from pan and cool the loaf completely on the rack. Cut it into 3/4 inch slices and serve.