Hula Pie

Yum Hula Pie! One of my past favorite desserts while waitressing in Hawaii! Different restaurants had different versions, however the base of this amazing pie is ice cream, a cookie crust, and macadamia nuts.....Its shape resembles a mountain, and while it takes a teeny bit of patience to construct such a top, making this delicious pie is very laid back.....just like the islands.

Feel free to alter the vegan ice cream/frozen banana ratio, the frozen bananas make everything just a little bit healthier, but are not necessary. I either make my own vegan ice cream in my ice cream maker, (thanks Dad!,) or buy the Trader Joe's organic soy ice cream, (less than $4, and yummy.)

Ingredients:(for everything below)
1 quart nondairy ice cream
4 cups chopped, frozen bananas
3 cups chopped macadamia nuts
10 or so cookies (your choice, for crust base)
1.5 cups chocolate chips (semi sweet)
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup agave or maple syrup
1/2 teas vanilla/or almond/or coconut extract

To assemble....Place prepared crust ingredients and pack into a pie tin. Next, take softened ice cream ingredients and put in crust, smoothing everything over with a rubber spatula. Attempt to make a "mountain" shape by adding the most ice cream to the center, while continuously smoothing. The pie may have to harden up a little if ice cream gets too melty, place pie in freezer for 15 minutes, (covered in plastic wrap to prevent drips.) Continue to add ice cream to middle of the pie to build a big, rounded mound. Place pie wrapped in plastic wrap in freezer to harden for at least 30 minutes before serving. Immediately before serving add the coconut-chocolate sauce and the toasted coconut, chocolate covered mac nuts. Extra toasted coconut and chopped mac nuts can be added as well.

This pie looks just as good as it tastes. You're so welcome!


Ice cream part...

*1 quart non-dairy ice cream,( softened enough to spread around smoothly but not melting all over the place.)

*4 cups chopped frozen bananas

*1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Mix everything in food processor or blender.


Cookie Crust....

*about 10 cookies, (your choice, oreo-type are good, I used a homemade chocolate-chocolate chip.)

*1/2 cup agave/or maple syrup

Mix everything in a food processor, or mash up cookies in a bowl and hand mix.


Toasted Coconut/Chocolate covered Mac Nuts.....

*2 cups macadamia nuts

*1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

*1 cup shredded coconut

Toast coconut in a pan on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the coconut becomes a light brown color, (this only takes a couple minutes)

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, (coat your bowl with a little oil first to help with clean up time.)

Spread out parchment paper. Dip mac nuts in melted chocolate, then roll in the toasted coconut. Place nuts on parchment to firm up put in fridge for 15 minutes.



Coconut Chocolate Sauce...

*1/2 cup chocolate chips

*1 cup coconut milk

* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, coconut, or almond extract

Melt all ingredients in microwave for 2 minutes. Stir well. Put in fridge to harden up for 15 minutes.

Creamy-Dreamy Split Pea and Rice soup!

Yummy, this soup creams up on its own from the addition of red lentils and potatoes...all of the ingredients in it are able to be found in bulk, (the veggies can be bought at the farmers market, or if you're freezing in the Midwest like me buy the organic, loose veggies from your local co-op, you can even bring your own reusable bag to put them in! Then take the time to bask in your own glory)

These ingredients definitely do not have to be exact measurements, double the recipe and freeze half for a quick and healthy weeknight dinner.

1 cup yellow split peas
1 cup red lentils
1 cup rice
1/2 cup quinoa
10 cups broth/water( or a combination of the two, if only using water add more spices)
3 cloves garlic/ OR 1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 onion chopped/ OR 1 tablespoon onion powder
5 medium potatoes, chopped into small cubes
2 cups chopped carrots
(play around with the spices with what you've got, and your personal taste!)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
cayenne pepper, salt, pepper-all to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
*optional 1-2 tablespoons tamari, soy sauce, or Bragg's liquid amino's.

saute garlic and onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large stock/soup pot. Add 3 cups of the liquid along with split peas and rice turn heat to med-high. Cook, covered for 15 minutes, add remaining liquid and ingredients, continue to cook covered for additional 25 minutes, or until ingredients tender and thick.

Leftover soup will continue to thicken in fridge, stir in a small amount of water when reheating.

Bulk it up Baby!!!!!!!

$64.75....No cause for alarm, the pictured substances are not illicit,but they are a steal :) The bulk bins at your local co-op and in some cases grocery store hold the best deals you will ever find. We buy everything we possibly can in bulk and save tons of money doing so! All of the pictured items, ranging from nuts, pasta, dried beans, olive oil, spices, agave, flour, sugar, cornmeal, rice....etc... came to a total price of $64.75....Those foods are enough to feed us and our closest 50 friends for a good 3 weeks, with a couple exceptions they are all organic as well. For example, a can of pre-cooked lentils holds about 2 servings, and costs between $1.50-2.00, $2.00 worth of dried/bulk lentils would be equal to 7-10 servings of lentils!!!! Plus, cooking your own lentils from scratch tastes infinitely better than canned. Buying in bulk not only saves YOU tons of green, it makes you green as well! It decreases the need for all the excess packaging many foods come in. Bulk foods like dried beans and flour push you to cook more things from scratch and rely less on convenience foods. So lessons learned, save money, save the environment and be healthy all by buying in bulk. These are all good reasons to buy bulk foods, but the best reason is you get to feel like the world's biggest hippie when you do so! Put on a little Patchouli oil, put on your patchwork, and hula hoop into your nearest co-op like the flower-child you are! Then check back here as I challenge myself and you to making as many eco-healthy and inexpensive meals as we can!