Homemade Ice Cream Treats

Last week we had friends over for supper and their son has a dairy allergy so I made two batches of sorbet in the ice cream maker for dessert.  Both turned out yummy but I particularly liked the peach.  I added some no-dairy creaminess to that recipe because I thought it would go great with the peach flavor . . . and it did!  I don't like super sweet ice creams and I thought the sweet, ripe summer fruit didn't need too much additional sugar.  For both of these recipes, taste the mixture and adjust it according to your preferences.

I hope you're enjoying your summer as much as we are!  We have had some fun outings, good visits with friends and family, lazy afternoons, and warm nights.  Here is one of my girls' favorite summer songs this year (Lisa Loeb cover of the song from the 80s movie "Meatballs")

Dairy free Peach Ice Cream (makes 1 qt)
adapted from Gluten Free Goddess

About 4 cups of peaches, peeled
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Take one cup of the peaches and dice them small and set aside.  Put the remaining peaches in a small saucepan with the brown sugar and cook over medium heat mashing for about 3-4 minutes (you want the sugar to dissolve and the peaches to soften up).  Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.  Add the coconut milk, almond milk, and vanilla and blend until combined.  Stir in the diced peaches.

Place the mixture in the refrigerator until cold.  Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

Strawberry Sorbet (makes 1 qt)

2 lbs strawberries, stems removed
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
juice of 1 lime

Make a simple syrup by combine sugar and water in a saucepan and heating until the sugar has dissolved.

Put the strawberries and lime juice in a blender and puree.  Add the simple syrup and combine.  Place the mixture in the refrigerator until cold.  Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

Cereal Bars

Another Pinterest victory!  I have made a few variations of granola bars but I think these are one of my favorite homemade bars so far.  There are only a few ingredients, they came together super fast (no baking) and everyone liked them.  My kids wanted chocolate chips next time but I think they're plenty sweet from the honey and don't need sugar.  I put the pan in the refrigerator to help it set up and so it stuck together better and it kept for about a week and a half.  I'd slice pieces as I needed them and put them in baggies to send with my kids for snack (or for myself for breakfast on my way to work).

Peanut Butter Honey Cereal Bars (12 bars)
from Chew Out Loud

4 cups toasted oats cereal (I used plain Cheerios)
1 cup dried berries (cranberries, blueberries) or raisins
1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts (or plain)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (or other nut butter)

Mix the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl to combine.  Heat the honey and peanut butter in a small saucepan while stirring until smooth and combined.  If it seems too hot, like it will burn you when you press the mixture into the pan, let it cool for a few minutes.

Pour the peanut butter mixture into the cereal mixture and stir to completely coat the cereal mixture.  Dump it into a lightly greased 8x8 pan and press down really well (I used a piece of waxed paper).  Let it cool completely before slicing. 

Father's Day

Daddy & Big

Holding Middle

Minutes after Little was born

Art with Daddy

Games before bedtime

Racing cars

Playing with Little

My kids and I have something in common - we have great dads.  My father has always been one of my biggest fans and one of the most encouraging people that I've met.  Even when some dads might steer clear of some topics, (like the trouble I had breastfeeding), my dad would ask me how it was going and tell me I was doing a great job.

My husband is a great dad.  Watching him with our babies made me fall in love with him even more and he is a very involved, attentive father.  I recently read this article about how dads sometimes get a bad rap for being the "lesser parent" and not as competent as moms.  I totally agree with her point of view that it needs to stop, especially with how so many dads today are involved in parenting.

Here are links to my husband's favorite recipes on this site:

The Green Soup

Sour Cream Apple Pie

This Granola

Lamb Chops with Dijon Mustard & Thyme

Happy Father's Day!

Sunday supper

On Sundays, we get home from church around 6:30 and with early school & work mornings, we try to have supper and get the kids to bed by 8pm (especially when it's not summer vacation).  I sometimes try to make a crock pot meal but a few weeks ago, I made this new pasta.  It was really tasty and came together quickly.  Boiling the water for the penne took longer than the rest of the prep.  My husband is a fan of pasta without red sauce and I often do a sausage & olive oil pasta but the mushrooms and spinach tasted great in this version. 

Spinach, Mushroom & Sausage Penne (2 servings)

2 links spicy italian sausage
1 large shallot, diced
3 oz cremini mushrooms, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups baby spinach
salt and pepper
olive oil
1.5 cups penne pasta
grated parmesan cheese

Cook penne according to package directions until al dente.  Drain.  While the pasta is boiling, brown the sausage in a large skillet.  Remove the sausage from the skillet and drain & wipe out the oil.  Add a little olive oil to the same pan, and then add the shallot and mushrooms.  Saute until the softened and just starting to brown (about 4-5 minutes).  Add the garlic and stir for a minute.  Add the spinach and stir until wilted.  Remove from heat.  Add the cooked penne and the sausage to that skillet.  Drizzle with a little more olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.  Put it back on the stovetop over medium heat and sauté for a minute or two or until it's all combined and sizzling.  Serve with parmesan cheese.

Last day of school!

Yesterday and today were the girls' last days of school.  I keep waiting for Big to realize that kindergarten and her year with her amazing teacher is really over and for her to get all sad about it like she's done with transitions in the past.  But so far, so good.  In the hall of the preschool, after only 1 year of two-day-a-week school, Middle did a little woohoo fist pump and jump in the air.  So funny considering how easy she has it and what a long educational road she has in front of her.  But I get it - not having the schedule and rhythm of school weeks feels so nice in the summer.  I'm just trying to make it there . . . I've graded 154 essays and 28 debates since last week and I have 60 quizzes and 60 exams and two more days on campus before I can be DONE for a few months.

To celebrate summer break, Middle and I made a batch of our favorite ice cream - Coffee!  I usually don't let her have more than a bite because of the caffeine but I made this decaffeinated.  It was honestly, the best ice cream I've made.  Not super sweet, perfectly creamy, delicious.  Middle's addition was the chocolate chips but I think it would have been better without them so I'll leave them out of the recipe below.  I can't believe it took me this long to make coffee ice cream.  Hope you have a good start to the summer!

Coffee Ice Cream (makes one quart)
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1.5 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1.5 cups whole coffee beans (I used decaf)
pinch of salt
1.5 c. heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat the milk, sugar, coffee beans, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan until warm and steamy, but not boiling.  At this point, cover, remove from the heat and let it steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Put a medium sized bowl on top of a larger bowl filled with ice.  Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into that medium sized bowl.  Set a mesh strainer over the bowl with the cream and set aside.

Reheat the milk & coffee mixture until medium heat until it gets hot and steamy again (but don't boil).  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together.  Temper the egg yolks by whisking constantly while adding a couple of tablespoons of the hot milk mixture at a time.  You don't want to cook the egg yolks, but raise the temperature.  Then, whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the coffee bean & milk mixture and stir constantly.  Keep stirring over medium heat with a spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the custard thickens and coats the spatula.  You're looking for it to be thick enough that if you run your finger across the spatula, it won't run.  This took me almost 10 minutes.

Pour the custard through the strainer into the cream.  Press on the beans to extract as much of the coffee flavor as possible.  Then, discard the beans.  Mix in the vanilla and stir until cool.  Chill completely in your refrigerator and then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to your maker's directions.

Pancake Pops

I've made several great recipes that I've found on Pinterest and while I love looking at some of the "Pinterest Fail" blogs sometimes, I've honestly had great luck.  I saw this idea on there some time back and when I decided to throw a Flip Flop Exchange & brunch again this year for friends, I wanted to try making pancake pops.  I was feeling great about it - found some Wilton lollipop sticks for a decent price, got the ingredients together, and then I told my husband my idea.  He laughed and thought it would never work.  So, with a group of friends and kids at my house, it was with a little apprehension that I tried this out.  But, ta-da!  It worked!  Baby girl ate 3 the first day, 4 the next morning and absolutely loved the pancake on a stick.

They are super cute but the real bonus is that I find my girls eat less syrup when they dip instead of drench their pancakes, and the little extra time it takes to make them is overshadowed (in my mind) by the time it takes to cut them into pieces.  It was fun for the party and I'll be making these again!

Step 1:  Make a batch of your favorite pancake batter.  The kind that's more cake-like will work better than the kind that is thinner and more crepe-like.  You might decrease your liquid a bit to achieve thicker batter.

Step 2:  Using a griddle, pour smallish amounts of batter and let it cook for about a minute.

Step 3:  After it's cooked for 1-2 minutes, add the sticks.  One of my friends suggested resting the sticks on the rim of the griddle so the sticks themselves didn't burn.

Step 4:  Using a spoon or spatula, smooth over the batter to cover the stick.

Step 5:  When bubbles appear, use a flat spatula to turn the pancakes - don't use the sticks to do this!

Step 6:  When they're done cooking, remove from the griddle (again using your spatula) and serve!  

No more pictures, mom!