Disclosure: This post is sponsored by American Dairy Association Indiana and the NFL’s Fuel Up To Play 60 Program, and may contain affiliate links. Through a series of posts, I’ll be sharing information about Fuel Up To Play 60 and how you and your kids can get involved. School’s out for summer, so there’s lots of time to play! Since June is Dairy Month, why not cool down and fuel your sweet tooth with an easy ice cream recipe you can churn out in no time?
At any given time, you can find at least 3 cartons of ice cream in our freezer. We love our ice cream, and we’re very particular when it comes to this frozen dairy treat. We have certain brands that we love, and we each have our own signature flavor. Mike’s a vanilla guy. He prefers a simple base so he can add hot fudge and mix-ins like his beloved Malley’s Pretzel Crunch Bars. I love anything coconut, with a chocolate and peanut butter combo a close second. Elena is chocolate chip cookie dough all the way. And Eli? He’d eat all the ice cream, but his go-to flavor is mint chocolate chip.
We were all stocked up and everyone’s bellies were happy, and then the ice cream recall hit our freezer hard. Our top two brands of ice cream we like to purchase were hit, and we had to throw all of our supply away. You guys, I pitched six cartons of ice cream. It was like a frozen funeral, with tears of melted ice cream.
Because we’re finicky and stubborn, our freezer has been ice cream-free since that sad day. Now, I know what you’re thinking – if you’re so upset about the state of your ice cream affairs, why not make some? It’s been done before, right? Well, yes. But it’s also the height of busyness for us right now. Birthdays, holidays, baseball, end of school. I can barely get dinner made most nights, let alone multi-step homemade ice cream. And so we’ve suffered. Oh, how we’ve suffered!
And then ice cream karma happened, and I began to see recipes and books pop up everywhere around me for no-churn ice cream. I might not have the time to whip up a complicated batch of salted caramel ice cream, but with a simple recipe and limited equipment, Elena could start stocking up our freezer with family favorites once again. There are many variations of no-churn ice cream recipes on Pinterest and in our new favorite cookbook, No-Churn Ice Cream: Over 100 Simply Delicious No-Machine Frozen Treats
It took her all of 10 minutes to have everything mixed and ready. The hardest part was giving it enough time to freeze before indulging!
To me, summer is made for treats. Kids play hard year round, for sure, but summer play is different. It’s riding bikes or roller bladeing for hours, seeing who can hold the neighborhood record for consecutive pogo stick jumps. It’s kickball, tag, and water balloon fights. It’s marathon trampoline sessions.
During the school year, especially through the long winter, we have to get creative some days to get in our 60 minutes of play that is vital to good health (both mentally and physically). But during the summer? Pfffft. Sixty minutes and we’re just getting started. While that’s awesome, it also means as a mom that I need to have lots of good food to fuel those bodies to play all day, all summer long. You’ll find my fridge stocked with cheese, milk, cut-up fruit, and yogurt. My pantry is full of healthy snacks, too. But at the end of the day of good, sweaty summer fun with friends, nothing hits the spot like ice cream. And if it’s a recipe the kids can make for you? Well then, there’s just more time for you to get out there and play with them, too!
No-Churn Cake Batter Ice Cream
Inspired by this recipe from Good Housekeeping
INGREDIENTS
2 cups of heavy cream
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup of sprinkles
1/2 cup yellow cake mix
1 tsp vanilla or vanilla powder
INSTRUCTIONS
Whip cream until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
Fold in condensed milk, sprinkles, cake mix and vanilla.
Pour into a loaf pan or a shallow, freezer-safe container. Freeze at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Scoop and enjoy quickly – because no-churn ice cream doesn’t contain stabilizers, it softens fast.
If you want to get all fancy with your summer dairy treats, try this recipe for ice cream brownie cake. Need ideas to keep the kids moving all summer long? Check out my Pinterest board dedicated to games and activities for kids!
