We have winners! I am thrilled to announce that Entry #40 Gail P. and Entry #28 Samantha G. will each receive the following Go Vegan with JL! service:

Personal Coaching (Phone or Skype)



I have developed education modules designed to guide your journey on how to eat and live more compassionately. Topics include health, diet, and meal plans; kitchen tips, tricks and techniques; living in the world as a social vegan; keeping a compassionate home; and more.

The 45-minute consultation session: You talk, I listen, and within two business days you will receive your personalized “Get Started” program.



Congratulations, Gail and Samantha!

I am also thrilled to share a fun, new vegan dessert recipe that both my omnivore husband and I love!

OXO recently invited me to try their Cherry & Olive Pitter tool. I am a huge fan of OXO tools (I used their mandoline when I made Marmite Sweet Potato Chips last week). The folks at OXO included an Ice Cream Scoop in the complimentary package (for which I am sharing my honest opinion about their products). When I learned that OXO was also holding a Cherry Recipe context I simply couldn’t resist – today’s recipe is my entry!

It’s been hot, hot, hot all over the U.S. and as I gazed at my big bowl of cherries, I kept thinking of the ice cream scoop – but I didn’t really feel like making ice cream. With no idea what to make, I pitted some cherries.

What a breeze; the pitter really works!

With a big bowl of freshly pitted, bright red cherries I was overcome with inspiration. I wanted to make a fruity granola bar! I pulled a few ingredients together, flitted back to the idea of making ice cream, and finally I made a decision. Vegan ice cream bars!

JL’s Vegan Cherry-Oat Ice Cream Bars by JL Fields @ JL goes Vegan Keywords: blender raw dessert vegan Ingredients (Makes 12 bars) 1.5 cups raw, unsalted cashews

1/4 cup clear agave nectar

1 vanilla bean (slice the bean in half and scoop out all of the paste with the tip of a knife)

1 cup water

1.5 cups pitted cherries

2.5 cups rolled oats (uncooked) Instructions Place the cashews, agave, vanilla bean paste and water in a high-speed blender, starting with just 1/2 a cup of water and begin blending. Add more water – as needed – to achieve a “smoothie” or (nut)-milk shake consistency. (I used 1 cup of water total). Once you have reached desired consistency, add the cherries and blend on high for about 10 seconds. Most of the cherries will be completely mixed through but the short blending time should allow for a few bits of cherry to be visible. Transfer the mixture from the blender to a large mixing bowl. Fold in the uncooked, rolled oats, mixing well. Place parchment paper on the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking dish. Pour the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Place a top layer of parchment paper over the mixture, pressing down lightly. Wrap the baking dish in foil and place in the freezer for 3 hours. Remove from the freezer and take the sheet of cherry bars out of the pan and cut in half. Wrap the two pieces in parchment paper, place in an air-tight container or zip-lock bag, and store in the freezer for 24 – 48 hours. Remove from the freezer and let thaw in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 hours before serving. Slice into single serving bars (this recipe makes 12, six from each half). Serve alone or topped with fruit (pitted cherries!) or your favorite plant-based ice cream. Powered by Recipage

These bars are terrific on their own.

Don’t they look like something you would find on the north pole? So frosty!

You can eat these bars with a fork or your fingers! They are packed with such great ingredients that both my triathlete (and triathlon coach) husband and I have grabbed them out of the refrigerator and devoured them after our long workouts on these hot summer mornings.

You can also serve them with your favorite ice cream. Huh? Ice cream on ice cream? Well, let me remind you that the bars are really fruit, cashews and oats. And there is a reason this double trouble ice cream dessert came into play. Last week So Delicious sent me a package of their frozen treats to try out to beat the heat. They wanted to share one of their new products

… we are proud to have the world’s ONLY gluten-free dairy free cookie dough “ice cream” made with coconut milk

As luck would have it, this delivery arrived the same day that I had oral surgery and was ordered to have a “soft dinner”

Cookie dough ice cream is soft so I’m pretty sure this is exactly what my periodontist wanted me to have for dinner. It also happens to be scrumptious!

The So Delicious box was filled with a variety of other frozen treats and as I unpacked it I kept thinking “maybe there will be something perfect to pair with cherries.” There was.

So I served this.

So Delicious Cherry Amaretto Ice Cream served over a Cherry-Oat Ice Cream Bar makes for the perfect plant-based frozen dessert on a hot summer day. I hope you try it!

Thank you OXO and So Delicious for providing me the opportunity to share your great products with my readers!