I Scream, Use Cream, We’ll All Love The Ice Cream

homemade, Ice Cream, Reflections

I’m Eating Ice Cream Again – YAY!!!!!!!!

The Back Story

I stopped eating ice cream a couple of years ago after learning of the potential health problems that can be cause by carrageenan. Carrageenan is a additive that is commonly used by food manufacturers. It has no flavor or nutritional value but is used as a stabilizer and thickening agent. It is used widely in dairy and dairy-like foods but is used in some other foods as well.

According to this report by the Cornucopia Institute carrageenan may cause digestive problems such as intestinal bloating, spastic colon, irritable bowel syndrome, and ulcerative colitis, so I decided to remove it from my diet.

As I began reading food labels I discovered that in most of the products I buy, like yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, and almond milk some brands contained carrageenan and some did not so it was easy enough to choose the products that did not contain carrageenan. The two exceptions were whipped cream (whipped topping) and ice cream. I don’t use a lot of whipped cream but when holiday time rolled around I discovered that homemade whipped cream is super easy to make (with an electric mixer) and far superior in flavor and texture to the store bought products. With so many ice cream products on the market I kept searching for those that did not contain carrageenan, but every label that I read listed it as an ingredient. According to this carrageenan shopping guide there are a few organic brands without it but none that I have seen in stores.

So I stopped eating ice cream.

For more information about carrageenan or foods that contain carrageenan please see the carrageenan report or shopping guide linked above.

A Bit of Hope

I really didn’t find it difficult to not eat ice cream as there are plenty of other satisfying desserts that I enjoy (too many if I am honest.) I did, however, continued to check ice cream labels now and then.

Last summer my daughter, Tina, was telling me about buying really good milk and ice cream from a local dairy. I immediately wondered out loud if their ice cream had carrageenan in it. As I was thinking “I’ll have to check it out” she pulled up their website and began looking at the ingredient list for their various ice cream varieties. Oh, how disappointed I was to learn the this company that boasts premium quality products was using this potentially dangerous ingredient.

A Surprise

For the past several year Tina and Ken got us beautiful personalized Christmas ornaments for Christmas. I keep them displayed in our hutch year round. This past year my husband suggested to Ken rather than a Christmas ornament they could get us some type of farmer-themed vanity license plate for our car. When Christmas came I was expecting either an ornament or license plate from them, so imagine my surprise when I opened an ice cream maker.

Tina and Ken bought us an ice cream maker 🙂

It was several days later when I decided to try it out. I took it out of the box and found the instruction manual which also included a few recipes. After reading the recipe for chocolate ice cream I was excited that I happened to have all of the ingredients that I needed.

The Drawbacks

There are a couple of drawbacks to using this ice cream maker. The first is that you have to plan ahead. The container part of the machine that holds the ice cream has to be frozen, so it must be put in the freezer for several hours or overnight to assure that it is. Also all of the ingredients must be chilled, so for the chocolate ice cream recipe that requires the ingredients to be heated when combined that mixture had to be refrigerated overnight as well.

The second drawback is that the machine is very noisy while it is running. It needs to run for 20 – 40 minutes so the noise can be bothersome. (After tasting the results I decided I am willing to put up with the noise.)

The Advantages

It probably goes without saying that being able to control the ingredients that go into the recipe is a huge advantage. The other is that this is probably the best ice cream I have ever eaten.

The Recipe

Below is the recipe that I followed. Note the ingredients – whipping cream, milk, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla – it was thick and creamy with no need for a stabilizer! I did substitute 1 cup of half and half for 1 cup of whole milk (because that’s what I had on hand). It was scrumptious!!!

I included the Strawberry Sorbet recipe in the photo because we still have strawberries in the freezer from last spring so I plan on making the sorbet this week.

Thank You Tina and Ken for this wonderful gift! 💖

Word of the Week -Week Three

Reflections, Word of the Week

Our word of the week is:

Perseverance – it is defined by Merriam Webster as: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. 

It is how we learn, how we grow, how we succeed.

When I think of perseverance I am reminded of this poem.

Don’t Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
                                                      Don’t give up though the pace seems slow.                                                     You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
He learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.


                                                            Success is failure turned inside out.                                                            The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
                                                       So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit.                                                         It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Word of the Week – Week Two

Reflections, Word of the Week

Our word of the week is Tranquility.

Tranquility – is a noun.

It is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as: a peaceful, calm state, without noise, violence, worry,  etc.

When I think of tranquility my first inclination is to close my eyes, clear my mind and block out any noise. I take a deep breath in then relax my body while exhaling slowly. I might visualize a deep blue sky with a few fluffy white clouds drifting by.

It is a place of peace, comfort and contentment, where everything seems right with the world.

At times I find it when I am enveloped in nature.

Tranquility is often fleeting – lasting only a few short moments. While it is impossible to live in a constant state of tranquility, I think that embracing those tranquil moments is perhaps the antidote to the barrage of, stress and anxiety causing, news and noise that have become so prevalent in our lives.

I pray that you find much tranquility to embrace this year.

Homemade Christmas Gifts 2020

crochet, Reflections, Sewing

If you know me, or have been following my blog for very long, then you probably know that much of the month of December I spent making Christmas gifts.

In early December, with a plan in mind, I ventured to Joann Fabrics to get the supplies that I would need. It was a fun outing because I met my youngest daughter there. She wanted to pick out some fabric for a project that I am now making for her. She also helped me select fabric for the gifts I would make for Jackson and Addy.

For Jackson and Addy I decided to make fleece bathrobes.

I also made them each a pair of flannel pajama pants and a stuffed puppy to match.

I was quite pleased with the way everything turned out.

The puppies were a little more challenging that I expected.

For my daughters, who are all dog lovers and puppy parents, I decided to make paw print scarves. I also crocheted them each a pair of slippers since it had been several years since I had made them any.

Somehow I neglected to take a picture of the four scarves all of which were the same pattern as the one above but in different colors. At least when I realized this I still had one scarf and pair of slippers that had not been delivered yet.

It wasn’t until I saw Addy putting on the slippers that I made for her mother that I realized that I wasn’t quite finished with the outfits I made for the grandkids. Can you guess what I’m crocheting now?😉

Word Of The Week – Week One

Reflections, Word of the Week

When I woke up yesterday I planned to put the finishing touches on my word of the week post that I had prepared the day before. It is a lovely word and I thought it would be the perfect way to start of the new year. I would then have my husband, who is my chief editor and partner in crime (LOL!), proofread it and then I would post it.

Suddenly a different word came to my mind and just wouldn’t leave. It nagged at me until I decided I had no choice but to write a new post. It is a word that is very fitting, not only because it’s my birthday but because we are just coming out of the holiday season. So without further ado our word of the week is:

Celebrate

I found many online sources for definitions of celebrate but I chose this definition from https://www.macmillandictionary.com because it seemed to offer a broader definition than some of the others. It defines celebrate as:

to do something enjoyable in order to show that an occasion or event is special.

or

to show admiration for someone or something in a piece of writing, music, or art or in a ceremony.

Even in the best of times January, in northern parts of the world, is when the winter blues set in. Perhaps a good way to combat the winter blues is to keep that holiday, celebratory, spirit alive. In others words celebrate life. I suspect that most of us have good things happen daily that we could be celebrating. We don’t have to have a big party or formal ceremony to celebrate. Maybe just a small treat for ourselves or expressing our happiness to someone who cares.

Now if you simply can’t find anything or anyone to celebrate remember this – everyday is your birthday (if you count your age in days). You can hop on over to this site to find out how (many days) old you are. (Today I’m celebrating my 20,454th birthday🤣)It’s a great reason to eat cake! (just leave off the candles LOL!)

Why wait to celebrate?

Happy Birthday! 🎈

We would love to celebrate with you this week. Please tell us what you are celebrating.