Product Review: Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

You will be mad, and I'm sorry.  I was on vacation.  You will have wanted this post to have happened two days ago, or maybe even three, so that you could have had this most-wonderful-dessert for your Independence Day festivities.  I apologize.  There is still so much summer left, though, and you still have plenty of time to enjoy the following things, so you will forgive me, right?

I'll start with the ice cream.  You may remember me saying in my cleaner eating post that I no longer bought ice cream from the store.  Last summer I bought an appliance that changed my ice cream habits for good.  Prior to owning my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, I almost always had a carton of ice cream in the freezer.  It was way too easy to just fill a small bowl every night.  I had seen this ice cream maker at Williams-Sonoma  and I really wanted it, especially for use during the summer months that bring so much wonderful fresh fruit.  I finally splurged (there was a deal going on and that helped) and had to get one.  I popped the freezer bowl into the freezer the very moment I unpackaged it.  I had picked up some Cruze Farm whole milk and I had frozen some fresh strawberry puree, so I was ready to try it out.  My favorite recipe is for an eggless homemade ice cream.  I can whip this up in just a couple of minutes, and I almost always have everything on hand.  Another really yummy recipe is, as weird as it sounds, Strawberry Basil Frozen Yogurt from Southern Living this spring.  It is more time consuming and I have only made it for a special occasion.  I can't wait to try more creative recipes!

I like to make all of my ice cream mixtures in my Pampered Chef Quick-Stir Pitcher, and I like to let them sit a couple of hours in the refrigerator before putting them in the ice cream maker.  I pick lots of fresh fruit in the summer, and I will automatically puree some as soon as I bring it home, measure it to 2 cups, and freeze it in freezer bags for this exact purpose.  I can just pull out a bag and thaw it, and have fresh, yummy ice cream all year long.  Blackberries, peaches, and strawberries are my three main fruits that I keep at the ready.  A note on the vanilla:  I have found that the flavor that 2 teaspoons of vanilla brings is very overpowering if you want to be able to taste the fruit.  I only use 2 teaspoons when I am making plain vanilla.  I just use a dash of vanilla (or even none) when I am using the fruit.  Thanks to my friend, Joanna, I have a wonderful brew of homemade vanilla extract.  It is unbelievable.

Back to the ice cream maker for a moment.  This ice cream maker sits right on your counter and it will have your ice cream ready in just 20 minutes!  It works best if you store your freezer bowl in the freezer at all times.  Ours goes right back in as soon as it's clean.  There are extra bowls available for purchase, and I would like to have one so that I can make two different kinds for the same dessert.  Once you have used the freezer bowl, it will not freeze a second batch of ice cream without returning it to the freezer.  It's just not cold enough at that point.  This maker does not make a very large batch of ice cream and this is good for two reasons.  1) Refrozen homemade ice cream is never *quite* as good as it is straight out of the ice cream maker and 2) I don't need a ready supply of ice cream.  From my experience, it makes enough for about 8 decent-sized servings.

I do NOT miss ice cream from the store at all.  I have NO issues, though, with say, Marble Slab, FroYoz or anything like that!  I'm happy to support those businesses with all my heart and some of my money.  For home, though, this is our one and only.  I even whip some up for a birthday party.  It's THAT easy.  You will not regret this purchase, I promise!

This is what we had last night.  It was heavenly!!  Go snag yourself some fresh blackberries if you can still find some.  If you aren't in a cobbler mood, puree the blackberries and make ice cream with them.  If you can't find blackberries, you can find peaches now, so go for those!  Peach ice cream is my favorite!  I can't wait to try peaches in this cobbler.

If you are also interested in the cobbler recipe, you can find it HERE.  

Product Review: My New H2O Sidekick

This is not the review I was going to kick things off with, but I thought I would go with a more positive review for my first post.  We'll get to that other one later.

So, I have a new little sidekick.  It's my Ello glass water bottle with the nifty silicone sleeve that I got at Target. I have been coveting glass water bottles for awhile now, but have just not been able to hand over $20+ for one at Earthfare or on Amazon.  For those who know me personally, you know I always have some kind of soapbox I'm on, and one of them is my new distaste for plastic.  I've always loved drinking out of actual glasses vs. plastic cups. Since I am on a mission to slowly get rid of potentially unhealthy things in our home, and since plastic is one of those things, I am notching away at some of it here and there.  I just replaced the kids' chipping melamine divided dishes with some cool stainless stuff.  Next up is the half-cooked Rubbermaid.  But, I digress.

When I found this water bottle at Target, I was very excited, and I was even happier when I found that it was only $10!  I plunked it right into my cart.  As soon as I got home, I washed it and filled it right up.  It's psychological, I know, but the water was so yummy.  Now, I will say that after the water sat for awhile, it most certainly tasted better than water that had been residing in something plastic.  No chemically taste.  BTW, if you don't think your drinks get chemically after sitting in plastic, try glass.  You will know what I mean.  Plus, it just looks cool.  And I like it.  And it makes me feel happy.  So, THERE. ;)

The silicone sleeve makes it easy to grip and I like the cap on this one better than the ones I had seen at Earthfare.  This cap has a loop on it, and it also creates a really nice water-tight seal.  I have thrown it into my pool bag where it proceeded to be upside down for an hour or so, and it did not leak a single drop.  While I have not dropped it yet, I feel pretty confident that the silicone sleeve will protect it.  The glass is pretty darn thick.  The one thing that I could see happening is a chip around the drinking area since it is not protected, but so far, so good.

I'm big on "psychological" and I'm also trying to cut out my sugar sweetened/artificially sweetened beverages, so I like to think that this water bottle is making me drink more water.  Whatever works, I guess.  I've come up with some pretty tasty water "concoctions" that have made my water consumption even easier.  Since I accidentally came home with a spearmint plant instead of flat-leaf parsley like the tray said, I decided to make the best of it.  Three or four lemon wedges and a sprig of the mint (crushed a little) was really refreshing.  I tend to like things sweet, so I put about 5 drops of liquid stevia in it and it was great.  My real favorite is this:  1-2 tablespoons of straight cranberry juice (not sweetened, dark as blood, sour as all-get-out, $8 a bottle, cranberry juice), about 4 lime wedges squeezed, and 5-6 drops of stevia, and enough water to fill the 20 oz. bottle.  Now that's a tasty summer concoction.  It sorta reminds me of my vodka and cranberry cocktails.  And I can drink it all day.  And I can drive my kids around.  So, THERE.  :)

If you are so inclined, grab one of these at Target.  I love!