Friday, April 1, 2011

Homemade {Almost} Ice Cream - No Ice Cream Maker Required

This weekend our family will be watching LDS General Conference via the internet.  We try to make it an extra fun weekend for our kids.  I printed off some conference packets available on Sugardoodle for the kids to color while we're watching conference.  We're also going to make a "conference tent" to sit and watch conference from.

And we always try to think of a special treat or two.  This year we have a new recipe we came upon kind of by accident.  Hubby's chemistry classes had "Liquid Nitrogen" day last week, which involves making liquid nitrogen ice cream, and there was plenty of ice cream ingredients left over...but no liquid nitrogen.  We don't have an ice cream maker...so what to do? 

We invented...

Homemade {Almost} Ice Cream
(Okay, I'm sure we're not the first people to come up with this...and it's really just a glorified smoothie...but it's SOOOO good.)

Combine in a blender:
Lots of frozen fruit
Half frozen half-and-half.  (We put it in the freezer for a couple hours before we're ready to make it.)
A teaspoon or so of vanilla (to taste).
Several tablespoons of sugar (to taste).

Blend until thick and smooth.  You may need to add more half-and-half, depending on the strength of your blender.

As a general rule, we don't buy half-and-half.  We usually use use regular and/or low fat milk, and it still tastes great.  (Not as creamy, but a whole lot healthier.)

Does it pass the taste test?

Definitely!!

I'm linking to:
Monday
Making The Girl Creative Becolorful Keeping It Simple  abc button   giveawaysA Mommy Adventures Katie's Nesting Spot Show and Tell GreenPhotobucket Join us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party!

14 comments:

  1. This looks delicious - fun idea for a conference treat! We've made homemade ice cream in zip lock baggies in the past. The outer baggie has the ice and rock salt, and the inner baggie has a single serving of ice cream. We even made it at Sparks Lake at our primitive campsite -- no power -- one year. Very yummy. You can find instructions if you google "make ice cream in baggie." Lots of links will come up. Fun to do on a summer afternoon in the backyard or on a picnic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks super yummy. I am bookmarking it for future summer use as I can't stand the thought of cold while we still have a bit of winter outside my front door!! If you get a sec, pop on over to Foodie Friday and link up! Oh, and I found you on Tatertots and Jello!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds great, especially since I don't have an ice cream maker! Will be trying this soon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fun idea! I had no idea you could do this at home! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Visiting from the girl creative. This looks yummy and such a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks so yummy! I'm happy to be your newest follower. Please stop by my blog for book club if you're interested--connie, measuredbytheheart.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Add a splash of carrot juice, use 2% milk instead of cream (and substitute honey for vanilla and sugar) and you have our daily smoothie ritual. Hubby makes it super thick like yours and eats it with a spoon, I think I just like the convenience of a cup and straw.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That really looks so yummy. I would love for you to come and join my blog party. The link opens tonight at 8pm EST. Hope to see you there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yum this looks so good! I need to try it out- thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great idea. I'll have to try this. I'm dropping by from Melissa's crafty weekend.

    Donna @ Comin' Home

    ReplyDelete
  11. I featured you on Foodie Friday! Please grab a button!!

    http://polkadotsonparade.blogspot.com/2011/04/foodie-friday-sweet-tooth.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a great idea, must try this!

    ReplyDelete
  13. After seeing your post, While creating soft serve ice cream I substituted whipping cream with used half and half fat free milk. It came out real good.

    Thanks for the recipe!

    http://creativitymypassion.blogspot.com/2011/06/fat-free-homemade-soft-serve-ice-cream.html

    Esther

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I love hearing from you. I also love responding, so please make sure your Blogger account is set up for me to be able to see your email address or include your email address. I've had to stop accepting anonymous comments due to spam. If you don't have any other way to comment, you can always send an email.