Easy "Homemade" Ice Cream Flavored-up!

Today is National Ice Cream Day!

OF COURSE WE CAN'T!!!!!

This is something fun I found at USA Weekend & Three Many Cooks blog.

USA Weekend is a weekly paper 'magazine' that is tucked into our newspaper.

I'm not a huge ice cream fan...mostly because I like to have something to BITE into...I don't just want smooth and soft...I want crunch too.

So this idea really appealed to me.  And I've included a fun video (at link above) to watch this mom and her two daughters at Three Many Cooks create some yummy ice cream dishes with B.I.T.E. 

Hurrah!!!!!!!!

These are DIY instructions to have your own "Cold Stone" ice cream!

credit: Three Many Cooks

Be sure to watch the video to get all the details.

1. Start with 1 pint of store-bought premium ice cream.
2. Smash in your favorite flavors.
3. Enjoy the party for your taste buds.

 Tips for Mixing: Don't soften the ice cream too much - you want it firm but pliable.
 Quickly cut the carton away from the ice cream and then cut the ice cream into chunks on a work surface to facilitate folding.

Return the ice cream to the freezer to firm up and for flavors to blend -- 30 minutes to 2 hours. After that, the crunchy ingredients start to soften.

Here's a couple of vanilla variations...

Lemon Meringue: Fold 1/4 c. prepared lemon curd, 1 cup crumbled meringue cookies and 1 cup crumbled graham crackers into vanilla ice cream.

Strawberry Shortcake: Mix 1 cup sliced strawberries with 2 Tbs. strawberry jam.  Fold into vanilla ice cream along with 2 slices pound cake (about 1-1/2 cups crumbled) and 1 cup crumbled meringue cookies.  

Chocolate variations...

Turtle: Stir 1/4 cup caramel sauce, 1/2 cup chopped pecan pralines or candied pecans and 1/2 cup chopped semi- or bittersweet chocolate into chocolate ice cream.

Chocolate-Hazelnut: Stir 1/4 cup Nutella, 1 cup crumbled Famous Chocolate Wafers and 1/2 cup roasted chopped hazelnuts into chocolate ice cream.

(Sounds Scrumptious!!)

Coffee variation..

Cookies and Coffee:  Stir 1 cup crumbled refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough and 1 cup crumbled chocolate chip cookies into the slightly softened coffee ice cream.

Hope this helps you keep 'deliciously' cool this summer!

Wanda's Strawberry Spectacular Dessert

As the saying goes...LIFE IS SHORT...EAT DESSERT FIRST! 

You'll thank me for sharing this simple and scrumptious dessert with you! 

I took pictures as my sweet Alaska friend, 'Wanda Lou' (Her real name is Wanda Denise, but we gave her this nickname long ago and it stuck) made this fantastic dessert while we were in Spokane together, which was lots of fun, because it's rare that I ever get hands in my foodie pictures!

It was oh-so delicious!  I'm not overexaggerating when I made up the name. *-*

It goes together quickly and is delicious and always a winner!

THIS IS MUCH LIKE HAVING STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE IN A PAN! 

Tear the angel food cake into bite size pieces and place in 9" X 13" pan.

Mix softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together
and drizzle over cake pieces...

These are the ingredients you will top the recipe with..

 STRAWBERRY SPECTACULAR DESSERT
(From The Better Baker & 'Wanda Lou')

1 baked angel food cake (large size, you'll need more than one small)
1 (8 ozs) box of Cream Cheese
1 (14 ozs) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 (12 ozs) Large container Cool Whip
2 (10 ozs) containers frozen (sweetened) strawberries in their juice, thawed.
Enough fresh strawberries to decorate the top

Break angel food cake into bite size pieces into a 9" x 13" dish. Fill the pan nicely..not clear full (some cakes are smaller than others, so be sure you have enough)


Cream together cream cheese & sweetened condensed milk and drizzle  over the pieces of cake.

Pour thawed strawberries, juice and all, over the top, then

cover with Cool Whip - then top with fresh strawberries

(hover over photo to pin) 

You can imagine how good that looks dished up!  But we took it to a funeral dinner and I didn't take pictures there...so I guess you'll just have to try it to see for yourself!

YOU WON'T BE SORRY!!!

Linked to Totally Tasty Tuesday
Sweets for a Saturday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Full Plate Thursday
Sweet Treats Thursday
      Ingredient Spotlight - SCMilk
Weekend Potluck
Meal Plan Monday

Did you see my guest post?

Hello Friends and Fans...

My intention was to repost this on Monday.....I forgot, so here you go.

Just in case you didn't get to see my guest post at Lark's Country Heart last Friday - check it out. I shared two of my most favorite blueberry recipes...MMM!

Peach-Blueberry Crisp

Apple Blueberry Crisp

I'm SO excited to be doing a guest post at Lark's Country Heart today - sharing TWO more blueberry recipes.  Check it out at the link above...


I am partial to blueberries - they are so good for you! Since they're in season now, I'm using them in recipes often.

Blueberries are rich in Vitamins A, C, E and beta-carotene as well as rich in the minerals potassium, manganese, magnesium. They are very high in fiber and low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. But this is just the tip of the nutritional iceberg, for recent studies tell us that of all fresh fruits and vegetables, blueberries provide the most health-protecting antioxidants, those valuable elements which prevent cancer-causing cell damage and may limit the changes wrought by age related diseases.

WOW huh? 

So...I was excited when I came across this recipe, as I had some apples that needed to be eaten.

I honestly can't recall where the recipe came from.

This is a great combo of flavors.  The recipe calls for orange juice concentrate to be added to the fruit. It's very tasty.

And I always enjoy a crunchy oatmeal topping with fruit...and ice cream too.

I listed my changes below in bold print.

APPLE BLUEBERRY CRISP
(From The Better Baker)

4 c. peeled and sliced tart apples
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 c. packed brown sugar (I used 2 Tb. Brown Sugar Splenda)
1/4 c. orange juice concentrate
2 TB. all purpose flour (I used 3 Tb. because I used frozen berries)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
(I added about 1/2 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg also)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 9" X 9" square baking dish with non stick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine all these ingredients and pour into prepared pan.  

(Doncha just love it when you can mix all the ingredients at once?!  And by hand? I do!)

TOPPING:

1 c. old fashioned oats

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

(I used 1/4 c. Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)

2 Tb. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/3 c. cold butter, cubed

Combine first 4 ingredients in medium bowl; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly; sprinkle over fruit.

(I added about 1/3 c. more oats)

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is tender.  Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping.

BERRY DELICIOUS!

Linked to Sweets for Saturday

                               Fit & Fabulous Friday

         Made it On Monday

             This Week's Cravings

Simple Potato Pancakes

I was so tickled to see this recipe for tater pancakes at Joelle's blog. I made them and they tasted just like the ones my mama use to make when I was growing up.

Joelle cooks much like I do...simple and frugal dishes.  Please be sure to check out her blog.

This is a simple recipe and you can make as few or many as you'd like.  The recipe below just gives you guidelines.

I had some leftover mashed potatoes and was so comforted to enjoy this delicious dish.

I'm sure I could have eaten them all by myself.....but I didn't...(but almost!)

I didn't change a thing in Joelle's recipe so I share it with you right here...

Potato Pancakes



2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup finely minced onion, (white, red or green)
1/4 tsp each garlic & onion powder
3 T. flour (need a couple of additional tablespoons as well)
seasoned salt & pepper to taste
oil & butter for frying


In bowl mix cold mashed potatoes, egg, onion, garlic & onion powder, 3 T. of flour and seasonings, Mix well.
 
On plate sprinkle the additional 2 T. flour. In large frying pan melt a couple of tablespoons of butter and a couple tablespoonfuls of oil. Heat till hot.
 
Make patties one at a time using about 1/4 cup of potato mixture. Dredge patties in flour and place into hot oil mixture. Fry for about 3 minutes per side until each side is crispy and golden brown. Turn patties over and fry until that side is crispy and golden.
 
When patties come out of the pan sprinkle with a little more seasoned salt & pepper. Add additional butter & oil to pan and repeat process until all are done. I usually turn the oven onto about 300 degrees and place the finished ones on a baking pan to keep warm while I am frying the next batch.
 
Serve with either ketchup, applesauce, sour cream or toppings of your choice.
(I love ranch dressing on most everything!)
 
Yield: about 6 - 7
 
Enjoy!!

Linked to Made It On Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday