The season of goodwill is upon us! The shops online and in the High Streets are buzzing with Christmas fare. There are 3 for 2 and 50% off, etc, enticing us to spend our hard-earned cash. But I have become more savvy over the years. I now make a list and stick to it with self-inflicted discipline to keep myself from going overboard. I learned my lesson the hard way years ago, and now I am one step ahead of the crafty retailers’ advertising. Seriously, write a list. I do mine around the beginning of August (yes, as early as that). And, bit by bit, I find out what the grandkids have their little hearts set on, except George, who is 7 and will chop and change from one week to the next and start putting money aside when I price things up. The older grandkids all want money, so that is easy, and I begin to put money away for them from the beginning of the year; believe me, you don't notice it so much. Around October, I look at my Christmas decoration...
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So there I was, mid-thought, in solving my YouTube Hurdle last evening puzzle (high-stakes stuff, people!), when hubby suddenly drops this curveball:
"Does ice cream have a lot of sugar in it?"
Now, as a sugar-savvy wife of an insulin-dependent diabetic, I explained that, yes, your standard shop-bought stuff is usually high in sugar. But if you make it at home using natural goodies like bananas, you can totally skip some of the sugar crash. There are sugar free options and low sugar, but when you make your own you know exactly what goes in!
He then hits me with the next question: "How do you make homemade ice cream?"
Simple, I say—if we had a blender.
Cue the magic words:
“Let’s get one!”
Translation: “Please spend your evening on the internet, comparing specs, reviews, and prices until your eyes glaze over why I watch the football.”
Challenge accepted, I have wanted a blender for ages!
After an hour-long scroll-fest through Amazon and eBay, I found a budget-friendly blender on eBay—just £24 including postage, with nearly 100% positive seller feedback. I Always check the feedback, people. It's the law of online shopping these days!
So now we're officially waiting for our smoothie-swirling, ice-cream-creating machine to arrive. And I’m excited because not only will this mean reduced and sugar-free goodness for hubby, but as I'm coeliac, I’m all about natural, gluten-free treats. Homemade means fewer calories and less fat than the supermarket tubs helping my stomach to shrink a bit...I hope!
Once I start experimenting with flavours, I’ll pop some recipes on here—keeping them cheap, cheerful, editable, and easy. Because let’s face it, school holidays are coming, and what better way to keep the kids cool (and save a few quid) than by whipping up your own frosty creations?
Stay tuned for the blender debut and banana-based masterpieces! 🍨🎉
I found this short video on YouTube:
If you cut up some bananas and fresh strawberries and blend them - you can add a few tablespoons of milk I use almond milk and some honey - don't over do the liquid parts until you see what the eventual outcome is like, and just freeze it. Let the ice cream slightly defrost before eating. I have also blended some ricotta cheese, 1 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoons of almond milk - just add the amount of cheese at least 250g to the honey and milk and freeze it tastes like a cheese cake filling when soft.
You can use cottage cheese but make sure it has the highest fat content and drain the surplus liquid off before putting into the blender! Nice and not the calories or fat! I use these these types of ingredients because of my husbands diabetes.
I have found that when freezing these homemade ice creams made from fruit, cheese etc, they generally come out of the freezer rock hard so I bring them out and put them in the fridge to gently soften as the day goes by for a dessert later in the day. Bought ice cream from the supermarket has other ingredients to stop the 'rock hard' freeze such as: sugars, corn syrup, milk solids, and stabilisers such as guar gum and carrageenan.
You can find loads of ideas and other ingredients to make home made ice cream using cream and condensed milk on YouTube.
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