In honor of Rachel’s grandpa passing, we figured we would make lemonade out of lemons by honoring him from Rachel’s memories of eating ice cream with him. We discussed with Rachel what she wanted to work on today and she said let’s do something to honor him. I asked Rachel if she had any special memories with him and she said eating ice cream together. We decided to find a healthy ice cream recipe to honor grandpa Murray.
Grandpa Murray’s favorite flavor of ice cream is pistachio so we found an easy gluten free pistachio ice cream recipe.
All you need is:
- 2 frozen bananas
- 1 refrigerated can full fat coconut milk
- 6 Tbsp of pistachio paste
- 4 Tbsp honey
- 1 hand full of pistachio
- Open the refrigerated can of coconut milk and scoop out the cream that separated from the coconut water. Add the scooped out cream to a high-speed blender.
- Add frozen bananas, pistachio paste and honey to high-speed blender and blend until smooth (use a food processor if the blender does not work).
- Add to a freezer friendly container and freeze for about 4 hours.
- Remove from the freezer and let warm for about 10-15 minutes before scooping.
- ENJOY!
NOTE TO SELF
Pistachio adds protein and lots of healthy fats into your system.
LEARN AND BURN
On the fit kids yoga mat we practiced seated poses and offered up our thoughts to grandpa Murray and all the memories we had together.
DR. GRIMALDI’S TAKEAWAY
People with autism often experience difficulty in understanding and expressing their emotions and react to losses in different ways or in ways caregivers do not understand.
Autism and loss is a subject that needs to be worked on with this beautiful population. As leaders in the field we try to help these kids deal with loss in a more reflective, constructive, thoughtful and ultimately more effective way. We do this with practical exercises that includes engaging activities to the individual and creative improvisation. We use a lot of clarity and repetition so the person is very clear on the subject and ready to absorb the work.
There is so much beauty in autism spectrum individuals. Rachel’s beauty shines with her resiliency and her ability to show such compassion in difficult times. She also has the ability to look at everything with the glass half full while understanding her personal loss. For instance, the first thing she expressed today about her grandpa is “I am remembering the great times we had eating ice cream together.” There is something to be said about simplicity and beauty in the little things