One (scorching) hot summer afternoon, I decided to cool down with this super refreshing fruity bowl of goodness.This was probably one of the hottest Toronto summers on record. It was also pretty dry, too. Like, we barely got any rain and everyone’s garden was on life support. So making nice cream regularly for me and the kids (read dairy-free, primarily frozen fruit, & fully vegan) ice cream was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Because all you need is frozen bananas and a second (or third fruit of your choice). And a blender, a reasonably decent blender. You can’t quite omit that part.

So here’s the funny thing about “nice cream”, the common denominator is ALWAYS frozen bananas. There’s a reason for this, they add texture and the creaminess needed for it to become a smooth, frozen blend. But here’s the caveat; this doesn’t mean that all your nice cream will always taste like banana. Yes, there may be a subtle hint of banana and all but it’s not the predominant flavor. If you blend it with blueberries you’ve got blueberry ice cream. If you throw in raw cacao powder and a dash of pure maple or raw agave, you’ve got chocolate ice cream. You get the idea… this little chameleon becomes whatever else you add to the frozen bananas.

Now about that collagen… I add collagen to my smoothies, to my evening herbal tea, to my oatmeal and most recently to my nice cream. I started adding 1 tablespoon of collagen powder to my food after my sister-in-law (who’s really into alternative medicine and organic foods) shared with me she was adding it to her oatmeal. I can’t tell you enough good things about collagen. It’s worked miracles for my hair, my nails and my skin. I have never had long nails and they have finally started to grow! It feels like alien hands, really. I have had short, stubby nails all my life. Especially when you have kids, you kind of want not-so-long nails. So for the first time in a while, am cutting my nails instead of them breaking naturally. My hair has always been very thick, but I can tell you it grows faster and is far shinier these days. Although I have a theory the shine is partly due to the fact I have consumed an avocado a day for the past 3 years.

The neat thing about nice cream is that you can throw in hemp hearts for protein, a little flaxseed oil or a handful of cashews for healthy fats; or in my case, collagen for all of the above benefits I just described. The only thing I will say is that unlike preservative-packed, modified milk ingredient ice cream, it does melt faster; so you should make it only when you intend on eating it right away. Modified milk ingredients refers to a group of milk products and proteins that have an altered chemical state that’s unlike what’s naturally found in milk. I try to steer clear of them whenever possible. So back to nice cream..yes, you can always place it inside your freezer. But here’s my observation, it kind of becomes more of an icy mix and loses it’s creamy texture when frozen. So blend and enjoy, always! It’s fully vegan, it’s refined sugar free and if you use really ripe bananas, I find you don’t even need to add a dash of maple or agave to sweeten. I just love this stuff, and hope you will, too!