These Cool Ups pops from Jokari are an excellent example. Not only are they meant to be used again and again, but they provide a “valuable service” for moms and kids — they break up the monotony and add a little fun to a summer staple: ice cream!

They work like regular (and disposable) push-ups we all had as kids: Simply scoop your kids’ favorite ice cream into the cylinder and voila, instant fun snack! You push up on the stick/handle to move the ice cream up the tube for easier eating.

Your pops can also be customized by adding in bits of cut up fruits when scooping in the ice cream, or by using low-fat or non-fat ice creams. You could even shake things up a bit more by adding a layer of whipped cream between different ice cream flavors and then put the pops in the freezer for a few minutes to get everything to set.

You can also use them for frozen pudding pops by spooning in prepared pudding and allowing them to freeze before serving. I would imagine that letting the frozen pudding or ice cream sit at room temperature for a minute before attempting to push them up.

They come with a little storage cap so you can keep any leftovers, or you can even plan ahead by filling the pops with ice cream and storing them in the freezer for later. The pops are sold in packages of four fun, bright colors and retail for about $4.99, or in a two-pack for $3.99.

[image: kaboodle.com]

Post from: Blisstree

Jokari Cool-Up Pops

It can be dressed up countless ways with fruits or candies chopped up and sprinkled on top, or even added to the ice cream itself as it’s churning.

The ice cream can also be added to other things, like root beer floats, on top of pie, or squished between some homemade chocolate chip cookies for an ice cream sandwich.

It can be made in a traditional hand-crank ice cream machine, an electric stand-alone maker, or even in what looks to be a children’s toy!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups half-and-half cream
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

~ In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and the half and half. Gradually whisk in the sugar until blended.

~ Whisk in the vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until very cold, at least 3 hours or as long as 3 days.

~ Whisk the mixture to blend and pour into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions.

…

Vanilla Soycream

2 cups soy creamer
1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1 cup agave syrup
2 vanilla beans, scraped

Puree ingredients together, and place in the canister of an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

…

However you make it and whatever you add to it, homemade vanilla ice cream remains a summer treat staple!

[image: flickr]

Post from: Blisstree

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

I love making homemade ice cream not only because I know exactly what’s going into it, but because there are so many varieties and flavors you can play with, and so many fun little treats and additions to throw in. The kids also think it’s pretty neat that you can make it right in your own kitchen and get really excited when I bring the ice cream maker out from the cupboard.

homemade chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream

Our favorite around here is an Oreo cookies and cream. Using a simple sweet cream base (no vanilla added) and some chopped Oreo cookies, we get a pretty refreshing dessert that everyone loves.

Last week I tried a cherry ice cream, but I need to play with different varieties of cherries a little more since it ended up being nearly tasteless (so sad!).

We’ve also made our own chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (which is amazing, if not a bit of work), and a chocolate chip malt ice cream.

Also check out:

~ Green Tea Ice Cream
~ Avocado Coconut Milk Ice Cream
~ Candied Bacon Ice Cream
~ Chocolate Stout Ice Cream
~ Green Tea and Soy Sauce Ice Cream
~ Black Sesame Seed Ice Cream

What’s your favorite ice cream to make?

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Homemade Ice Cream

Cold Stone Ice Cream : Cheesecake Fantasy (Image © Dexie Wharton)

My ice cream choice for today was the Cheesecake Fantasy. It has cheesecake ice cream, graham cracker pie crust, blueberries and strawberries. And of course I had my favorite waffle bowl.

Check out Cold Stone signature flavors. Plus of course you can create your own ice cream by picking whatever you could possible want in your ice cream at any given moment. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get a free jovial concert from the Cold Stone folks .

What’s your favorite Summer family treat?

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Cold Stone Ice Cream : Cheesecake Fantasy

Gloria Tsang, nutrition expert and founder of Health Castle has five tips to help you keep an eye on how many calories you’re consuming when you make a pit stop at the ice cream shop.

1. Know Your Cone: A cake cone has ~35 calories, a sugar cone has ~50 calories, and a waffle cone or bowl has ~110 – 160 calories. Chocolate dip adds at least 120 extra calories plus 8g of fat and trans fat.
2. Go Easy on Sauces: Hot fudge topping adds 150 extra calories plus trans fat. Hershey’s chocolate syrup adds 75 calories, and whip cream adds 45 calories.
3. Nix Bad Mix-ins: Fruits and nuts can add fiber or beneficial omega 3 fatty acids, but cookie dough and brownies only add calories and trans fat.
4. Make the Light Choice: Many ice cream parlors now offer light ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet – sweet cold treats with less calories and fat, especially if you skip the cone.
5. Forget About Shakes: Ice cream parlor milkshakes generally contain 1,100 – 1,500 calories! Avoid them at all costs.

For most kids (and adults too), a trip to the ice cream parlor is a sure sign that summer is here. These simple tips can help you survive a summer full of trips to the ice cream shop without blowing your calorie budget.

Image via sxc.hu

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5 Ice Cream Parlor Calorie Cutting Tips

Then, they cut to the Neely’s. Gina Neely shares a great milkshake for grown-ups that features Vanilla ice cream, white Chocolate liqueur, Coffee liqueur, and Brandy. Oh, yum!

If this sounds good to you, grab your blender and your computer – you can find the recipe for Gina’s Grown-Up Milkshake here. 

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Milkshake For Grown-Ups

IMG: Amazon.com

Seriously the dream was about filling up popsicle trays and making pudding pops. I have no clue what it meant but decided it meant something. To be honest we’ve never made pudding pops but have the popsicles and with school ending this upcoming week I needed something for them to do and wouldn’t mind something cool for them to eat. I grabbed two pop making kits from Wal-Mart today for $2.98 each and they each had four in it. Some reason they had built in straws on the side, I guess this is to drink them, I have no clue but we’ll be trying them out on Wednesday.

Does anyone have some good recipes or fun things they do with them? I do plan on doing Kool-Aid pops and Vanilla and Chocolate Pudding pops.

Post from: Blisstree

Summertime Treats Kids can Make

This brings me to what I think is the perfect food. When I was pregnant, all those years ago, I tried to convince my obstetrician that I had the perfect snack for a pregnant woman: A banana split.

Seriously!

Look at it this way. You have your banana. Bananas are high in potassium*, which we need to help regulate blood pressure, replace potassium that was lost due to exercise or sweating (low potassium can cause muscle cramping and heart irregularities), and it helps balance the sodium in your body. A banana that’s about 9 inches can have up to 602 mg of potassium, only 140 calories, 2 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. Pretty amazing for one piece of fruit!

Ok, after your banana, you have your ice cream. Ice cream is a great dairy source and there are now low-fat ice creams that are available if you’re watching your fat intake.

Then you have your fruit. A typical banana split has some strawberries, cherries, and pineapple. According to a press release issued last week by the Cherry Marketing Institute , ” studies have shown that the anthocyanins in tart cherries and other red foods may have anti-inflammatory benefits,” thus helping manage arthritis pain.

Cherries also contain flavonoids called anthocyanins– naturally occurring pigment compounds that provides fruit, vegetables, and plants with their color. Flavonoids, which contain antioxidants, help remove toxins from the body.

Strawberries are a popular fruit. They are rich in vitamin C and fiber, folate, potassium and antioxidants. They’re also low in calories.

Pineapple is a fun fruit that isn’t quite as popular as some others. It’s a very health fruit though. It’s considered an excellent source of the trace mineral manganese,  vitamin C and a good source of vitamin B1, copper, dietary fiber and vitamin B6.

After the fruit, you may have some peanuts. Peanuts are healthy, although they can be a bit heavy on the calories. They’re high in protein and a good source for the vitamins our body needs.

And then you have the whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Well, the whipped cream can be added dairy and, well, if you’re pregnant, what’s a few extra calories from the chocolate? Plus, if you switch to dark chocolate, you’re talking a whole different thing.

*certain people may be warned against eating bananas because their body can’t handle all the potassium. Check with your doctor if you have a heart condition that may make this the case for you.

Sadly, my doctor wasn’t convinced and neither have any others I’ve tried this theory on. But my idea still stands.

So, what are you going to eat today?

~~~~

Images: Stock.xchng

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It’s Eat What You Want Day!

They are using President Barack Obama as the symbol for their new vanilla and chocolate ice cream product. The  ad features a smiling caricature of the president with the line, “It’s on everyboy’s lip – the Dark is in the White!” Apparently, this is a reference to the President’s biracial heritage.

The creative director of the ad agency insists that the intent was to to be “amusing and cheerful.”  The ad agency has recieved negative reports from foreign countries.  There have been no complaints in Russia, but Lev Ponomaryov, a Russian human rights activist is not comfortable with it at all.

Prominent Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov rapped the advertisement as “a vulgar exploitation of some political symbols in pursuit of commercial interests.”

He added however: “I do not think the person who created this is necessarily a racist … But our society is xenophobic all the same.”

You can see the ad here. What do you think about this?  Is it racist or just plain ignorant?

Image credit: All Posters.com

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Russian Ice Cream Controversy

Cake Ice Cream © Heather R.

I love playing with my ice cream maker and decided I was going to see if I could give this a shot. I couldn’t find any recipes that appealed to me on their own, so I took a few ideas from the ones I found and made my own:

Cake Ice Cream

1/2 cup Egg Beaters (or 2 eggs)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup packaged cake mix

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Mix in heavy cream and milk and then cake mix. Mix until well blended. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s directions (mine went for about 20 minutes).

Even after a few hours in the freezer this is the creamiest ice cream I’ve ever made. It tasted exactly like cake batter and while the kids loved it (especially with cupcake sprinkles), and I liked it pretty well, my husband got tired of it after just a few bites, saying it was too sweet (he admitted he’s never been fond of cake batter either).

So, the next time I try this I’m going to go a different route and maybe make the cake first and mix it in with ice cream during the last few minutes in the machine. This was the method used on the show we watched so hopefully it won’t be as weird as it sounds!

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French Vanilla Cake Ice Cream