Ice-Cream and Giggles

You may find this surprising, but I only started eating and liking rhubarb about 2 months ago. My dad has been growing rhubarb for years, but I would never touch it. It think it might be because it resembles spinach too much!

I decided to make this jam to fill some pop tarts, and it evolved from a rhubarb jam to a rhubarb - strawberry - apple jam because we had heaps of strawberries and apples in the fridge that needed to be used up! It results in a not too sweet jam that is perfect to eat on its own or fill pop tarts with!

Prep: 15 minutes, cooking: 15 minutes, soaking: 1 hour. Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Makes around 2 ball jars worth of jam, approx 1000ml.

You will need:

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
320 grams of rhubarb, washed and chopped
330 grams of strawberries, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chia seeds

Method:

1. Mix apple, rhubarb, strawberry, lemon juice, coconut sugar and water in a saucepan. Have on medium heat and let simmer for around 15-20 minutes until cooked and the rhubarb has started to dissolve a bit.
2. Add mix to a food processor/blender and puree the mix.
3. Pour mix into a large bowl, add chia seeds and stir in well. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour until a jam is formed.

You will need:

1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup chia seeds
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla essence
handful of blueberries

1. Combine the milk, chia seeds, maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl. Hand whisk until combined. Cover with glad wrap and place in fridge for an hour so that the chia seeds expand.
2. When your mixture is pudding like, pour into popsicle moulds and mix in your blueberries. Place your sticks in the moulds and put in freezer for at least 4 hours.

As I am sure many of you are aware, one of the main things vegetarians and vegans need is protein in their diet. Usually I add protein to smoothies, and this recipe is kind of a super smoothie, but in ice-cream form, which makes it that much more awesome! I used cacao because it is delicious and super healthy, and chia seeds as well to get that extra healthy kick, as they contain protein, calcium and omega-3 and potassium.

You will need
2 frozen bananas
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tbsp cacao powder
1 scoop of vegan protein powder
1 tbsp chia seeds

Optional: toppings
handful of buckinis, hemp seeds, tsp of chia seeds and a few goji berries.

1. Add all ingredients (minus toppings duh) to a blender or food processor.
2. Once blender, place in a metal tray for 30-45 minutes until ready to serve.
3. Top with buckinis, hemp seeds, chia seeds and goji berries!