Easy (& fun!) Homemade Ice cream

I’m on a mission to serve real foods in our home. That means cutting out as many preservatives, chemicals, and fillers as possible. This also means making more of our foods from scratch, something that intimidated me before we were married, but not anymore. These days, I love knowing what’s in my food.

In the past, I’ve opted for many low-fat products, some which brought with them a lot of sugar and unnecessary fillers. In my goal to get these ingredients out of our diets, I’ve also learned some fun recipes along the way.

We do not skimp out on flavor in our home! Even though my husband is a dentist, we looooove sweet treats. We don’t eat them everyday (like I used to…) but I honestly feel so proud to be able to create a treat with ingredients we can pronounce. I’m not saying eating this ice cream is the healthiest thing ever, but at least you know what’s in it!

Take a look at these common ingredients found in most brands of ice cream. They don’t do your body any favors. I’m not okay with that.

Guar gum:

According to WebMD– In foods and beverages, guar gum is used as a thickening, stabilizing, suspending, and binding agent. In addition, it’s also used as a laxative. Um, no thanks.

Carrageenan:

Carrageenan is a thickener and stabilizer used in processed foods. Dr. Andrew Weil (a healthy-aging expert featured in TIME magazine) says even through carrageenan is derived from seaweed, it’s no innocent ingredient. To answer the question “Is Carrageenan Safe?” Dr. Weil cites various studies which connecting all forms of carrageenan to inflammation in our bodies. Dr. Weil says it best, “This is bad news. We know that chronic inflammation is a root cause of many serious diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and cancer.”

NOPE. If I can avoid it, I’m not going to put that in our bodies.

Here’s a recipe for our favorite, Strawberry Chocolate Crunch!

Ingredients:

1½ cups strawberries (frozen or fresh)
¾ cup whole milk
²∕³ cup granulated sugar
pinch salt
1½ cups heavy cream
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate candy of your choice: Nestle Buncha Crunch works well in this recipe- but if you want to go more natural Trader Joe’s has lots of tasty options

Instructions:

Blend strawberries until either rough or finely chopped, depending on preference. I like to do some of both- blending half into a puree and the other chopped into small chunks. Set aside. In another bowl- combine the whole milk, sugar, and salt- use a whisk or a hand mixer on low speed until all of the granules are dissolved. After that, stir in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Stir in strawberries with all juices. Do not mix in your chocolate just yet!- this part will come toward the end. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or even overnight if you have the time (or the patience!) to wait. After the ingredients have sat in the fridge cooling together for that time, turn on your ice cream maker (we have this one from Cuisinart and we love it!) and slowly pour the mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, ours usually takes about 25 minutes. It’s fun to watch, and the kids will really enjoy seeing their ice cream transform before their very eyes! The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture, similar to a thick milkshake. We like it to be more of a firm consistency, so we like to transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving. It will look like the picture above- delicious!