The Healthy Cooking Coach

I Scream for Ice Cream Challenge and Ice Dream Cookbook Giveaway

Compliments and rave reviews are great. Imitation can be good too. Imitation is supposedly the most sincere form of flattery, right?

Well, I’m flattered that blogger Yasmeen Mohammad The HealthNut loves my Ice Dream Cookbook and recipes, that she gave it a big thumbs up in her review in July of 2009, that she took breathtakingly beautiful pictures of the recipes she made (without an ice cream maker!), that she regularly cooks from and recommends my Ice Dream Cookbook, that she's recently created a new frozen dessert using my recipes  as a model, and that she's created a fun contest this month.

In her review of my book on July 15, 2009, she made Roasted Banana Nut Ice Dream with Blueberry Sauce and dairy free Peach Melba. (Click review link for recipes.) She also made my Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Dream in March of 2010 (all without an ice cream maker). Photo right by Yasmeen,The HealthNut.>>>

About the book, Yasmeen says:
“I totally love the book for introducing the healthier alternatives in home made ice creams, clear and descriptive recipes with fabulous variety of flavors. I've been using her recipes to make most of my Ice creams ever since I did the review. The cookbook is a best buy for any diet-conscious, ice-cream aficionado and those on restricted diets (low-sugar, gluten-free, dairy-free). You can read my complete review here.”

That's Peach Melba Ice Dream (above) made without an ice cream maker. Photo right by Yasmeen, The HealthNut.>>>

To share her enthusiasm and inspire others to make delicious, dairy free, naturally sweetened, low-sugar frozen desserts she’s created the “I Scream for Ice Cream Challenge, and Ice Dream Cookbook Giveaway” and posted her most recent recipe for dairy-free Kumquat Ice Cream with Kumquat Syrup and caramelized Kumquats modeled on recipes from my Ice Dream Cookbook. The deadline for entries is June 30th, 2010.

Are you up for the challenge?
You already know that homemade frozen desserts are far superior than store bought versions. You can customize the flavors and ingredients, use higher quality sweeteners and less of them, reduce unnecessary calories, and eliminate preservatives, artificial colors and artificial flavorings. You can also save money. Homemade frozen desserts typically cost half what you’d pay in stores.

 Can you create a fresh, healthy, homemade dessert recipe that fits her criteria? If so, you could win a copy of The Ice Dream Cookbook.

Do you need an ice cream maker to enter?
No. You’ll get the best texture using an electric ice cream maker, but if you don’t have one, Yasmeen offers tips for freezing desserts without one. (Note: You won’t get as much loft, your dessert won’t be as smooth, and they won’t keep as long in the freezer without icing up. If you shop at Costco, in many locations you can buy a Cuisinart Ice Cream & Sorbet maker with an extra prechill canister from Amazon using the link here.)

That's Yasmeen's Kumquat Ice Cream modeled on recipes from my book. Photo right by Yasmeen, The HealthNut>>>>

For complete rules to enter the "I Scream For Ice Cream!" Challenge click here. Note: You’ll submit your recipe on Yasmeen’s blog, not on my blog. Photos right by Yasmeen, The Health Nut.

If you like coconut milk, coconut cream, naturally sweetened desserts, non dairy frozen desserts, The Ice Dream Cookbook, or this blog, tell your family, friends and co-workers about this giveway and the how they can enter to win this book. Tweet about it, announce it on Face Book. I thank you, Yasmeen thanks you, and your family and friends will thank you after they dry the delicious recipes you make.

About the book
 The Ice Dream Cookbook is the first cookbook to feature delicious, naturally sweetened dairy-free frozen desserts made from coconut milk along with wheat- and gluten- free, naturally sweetened cookies, fruit compotes, and sauces. It provides information about the health benefits of coconut; tips for using a non-caloric herbal sweetener; charts to help you modify your favorite dessert recipes; a guide to buying ice cream makers and other kitchen tools; ingredient glossary; 80 recipes with more  than 200 variations; clear and detailed instructions; nutrition breakdowns, four appendices, index, illustrations, and 300 total pages.

If you can’t wait and you want to order your copy of the Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten Free Cookies, Compotes, and Sauces today, click here or here to order it directly from the publisher for fast shipping.

For more healthy recipes, beautiful food pictures, and ideas, check out Yasmeen's blog. Book cover photo right by Reed Hamel, Phoenix, AZ.

I Scream, You Scream...

We All Scream for Ice Dream

So maybe you’re not screaming for Ice Dream...yet because you don’t know what it is. We––me, my close friends, recipe testers, and cooking students who have sampled the recipes––all scream for Ice Dream because we’ve tasted this delicious, dairy-free, naturally sweetened ice cream alternative made from coconut milk. We’ve tasted the wheat-free, gluten- free, naturally sweetened cookies and baked, poached, simmered, and stewed fruit compotes, and silky smooth sauce recipes that fill the pages of The Ice Dream Cookbook! 

We’ve been waiting for 12 months for this baby to arrive! Last Tuesday, 291 copies of arrived almost on my doorstep. The other 2709 copies from the first printing rest in a fulfillment center in the Midwest awaiting delivery instructions. Almost 100 books went out last week.

Not many people can honestly say that the book they wrote is the first-of-its-kind. I scoured the market and found nothing like it. The Ice Dream Cookbook  is the first cookbook to feature naturally sweetened dairy-free frozen desserts made exclusively from coconut milk.

The Ice Dream Cookbook also includes information about
* the prevalence of gluten inolerance
* Celiac Sprue (aka CD or Celiac Disease)
* benefits of using tropical fats, such as      coconut and palm oil
* tips for using stevia in cooking and baking
* how to cut sugar and other sweeteners by 1/3 to 1/2 in recipes
* a simple substitute for brown sugar                           
* how to become a better cook and baker
* a guide to buying today’s ice cream makers
* an extensive ingredient glossary
* 80 recipes with 200 variations
* clear and detailed instructions
* nutrition breakdowns for recipes
* a recommended reading list
* brand name guide to gluten-free ingredients
* illustrations and a detailed index

Interestingly, in the time it took me to write The Ice Dream Cookbook, two companies have come out with commercial coconut-based ice cream alternatives sold in natural foods stores. They’re not going to share their trade secrets, but I will!

If you’re hungry for delicious wheat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, reduced sugar dessert recipes, this book’s for you. If you live in Phoenix, Arizona, you can pick up copies of The Ice Dream Cookbook at Desert Sage Herbs in Chandler, Healing Pages Bookstore in Tempe (at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts), or at Kitchen Classics in central Phoenix. If you live anywhere else, Click here to order using our secure on line server. Even with shipping its a sweet deal. You get a lot of info for less than the price of a single cooking class!

I look forward to sharing The Ice Dream Cookbook with you. Once you've read it and begun using it, I would love to hear what you like best about it, how you think it differs from other cookbooks, and what  features and recipes you like best.