Cool Down With Vegan Frozen Treats

These cold and refreshing desserts and beverage ideas will help you keep cool and satisfied in hot weather.

Frozen Desserts from Your Grocer's Freezer
Vegan Frozen Desserts are easier to find than ever, not just fruit sorbets and frozen fruit pops, though those are tasty. Soy- and Rice-based alternatives to Dairy Ice Cream abound in all of your favorite flavors. Turtle Mountain Purely Decadent Pints have long been a favorite of vegans and they come out with new flavors all the time. Turtle Mountain and other brands like Tofutti, Rice Dream and Soy Dream offer a wide variety of frozen dessert products including some reduced-calorie and sugar-free versions and novelties. Another excellent brand is the aptly named Temptation. Visit their websites for details and offers. If your supermarket or natural food store doesn't carry what you want, ask them to.

Smoothies: Bliss in a Blender
The possibilities are endless when making a smoothie. Start with a base of frozen fruit and add juice, lemonade, limeade or a non-dairy milk. Add soy yogurt for creaminess or silken tofu with a little sweetener and lemon juice, apple cider vinegar or both to taste. A little juice concentrate or fruit preserves can add both sweetness and acidity. For more nutrition, add some vitamin powder or protein powder made from soy, rice or peas. Together with a muffin or energy bar, this makes a great morning meal for people on the go.  For a more decadent treat add some vegan vanilla ice cream for a sort of fruity milkshake. You may never put your blender away!

Slushies: Icy Ecstacy
Crushing ice in your blender and adding sweetness and flavoring results in a slushie. One simple way to make a slushie is to add juice concentrate to the slush and stir well to disperse.  Another is to add equal parts lemon or lime juice and sugar or rice syrup to taste. If you are on a low-glycemic diet, use an equivalent amount of stevia in place of sugar or look for flavored liquid stevia at your local health food store. If you find it bitter, try adding a little rice syrup to it.

Make Your Own Ice Cream
You don't need an ice cream maker to make your own vegan ice cream. You can make a soft serve ice cream by freezing the "cream" in an ice cube tray and then processing it in a food processor, or blend it in a blender with a dairy-free milk for a milkshake. There are many good, inexpensive ice cream makers available new and used or you can make your own.  Here is a recipe to get you started. Corn syrup and agave syrup will work too. Start with less and adjust to your preferred sweetness. Look for silken tofu at natural food stores, Asian markets or supermarkets or order it from Pangea.

With the many frozen treats that you can buy or make, you can get that cool, content feeling anytime.