Why vegan popsicles? Because avocado is awesome. And sure, you can make popsicles using yogurt, but let’s be honest, most of us could use a little less dairy in our lives. As an inflammatory food, reducing the amount that we consume can help our bodies function a bit more optimally. I’m not saying that ALL dairy is bad. Those who know me are aware that I’m a complete cheese junky – blue cheese, cottage cheese, cheddar, goat, sheep… shall I go on? I’m not picky. I love the stuff in all forms. But for me, I’ve made the choice to get my dairy in the form of cheese and usually nothing more than that. If we look at USDA recommendations (which aren’t actually based on science… I’ll get to that in a second), it’s suggested that we consume the following each day:
- Children, 2-3 yrs – 2 cups milk
- Children, 4-8 yrs – 2.5 cups milk
- Children over 9 & adults – 3 cups milk
1 cup of milk could be subbed out for:
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1.5 oz of cheese – unfortunately, this is a minuscule portion of cheese; 1 oz = 1 inch cube of cheese
- 1 1/2 cups ice cream (Really? Well heck, I’ll just start eating 4.5 cups of ice cream/day!)
See more at www.choosemyplate.gov
If you’re a dairy-eater, check out the above servings sizes and think about how much dairy you eat in comparison to the suggested value. My guess is that you eat enough (and if you’re like most Americans, you eat far too much), so why add it to these delicious vegan popsicles!?
Now this is totally going to blow your mind… the USDA based the food pyramid on economics, not sound nutritional science. What?! The government made a decision based solely on money, completely ignoring what’s actually good for our bodies!? I mean, think about it. The USDA doesn’t do nutrition, they do crops and agriculture. Farmers know a heck of lot more about growing food than I do, but they’re probably not experts on nutrition. But if you DO look at the science (the gold standard is probably the China Study – the largest of its type), the evidence shows that most humans could actually benefit from a dairy-free diet. So, thank you, USDA for confusing us all. And like I said, I’m not dairy-free, I’m just mindful about my consumption.
Now that I’m off my soap box about dairy, let’s get back to the popsicles. These. Are. Awesome. They’re slightly creamy, a little sweet (you can make them sweeter if you want by adding more dates) and you won’t feel even a slight tinge of guilt when you eat 2 or 3 of them in one sitting (like I just did). I recommend buying BPA-free popsicles molds like these and as always, my Blendtec made this extra creamy, but it’s certainly not necessary.
- 2 ripe mangos
- 1/2 ripe avocado
- 2 medjool dates (soaked for a minimum of an hour if you don't have a good blender, add more if you want sweeter popsicles)
- Juice from 1 lime
- pinch of good sea salt
- Blend on high till you reach a smooth consistency.
- Spoon into BPA-free popsicle molds and freezer for 2 hours.
- Run popsicles under warm water for about 30-45 seconds before trying to remove from mold.
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