Homemade Ice Cream

For some reason I decided that I needed to buy an ice cream maker and make homemade ice cream this summer. Part of the reason is that I wanted to know what was going into the ice cream — to somehow try to make it better. Or, at the very least, with fresh ingredients.

Here’s the Cuicinart that I bought. It wasn’t too expensive … especially with a 20% off coupon! This version came with a recipe book that I have only tapped the surface of. You can really make any ice cream flavor you want by adding to their plain vanilla recipe.

I started with a chocolate ice cream. My husband has been drinking Hood’s Chocolate lo-carb milk as a special treat and I wanted to turn that concoction into ice cream.

I added cream to the Hood’s milk and some cocoa to make a double-chocolate ice cream. The flavor was amazing. So, rich and chocolaty.

Then, I made a batch of vanilla and threw in some fresh strawberries I had in the fridge. Oh man, this was delish too. You could really taste the freshness about this ice cream.

So, we threw a party and made banana splits with all the ice cream we made with the first few batches. This stuff only takes a few hours to prepare (with freezing time) and is well worth the effort. There are endless variations you could make.