Snow Ice Cream

Saturday afternoon we did something I've never done before. We made ice cream with freshly fallen snow! There's over a foot on the ground now, so there's plenty to go around! I received a homeschool newsletter about a week ago and they had 4 different recipes for snow ice cream. This is the one I tried:

1 gallon of snow (I used a 5 qt. bowl to have space to mix)
1 cup sugar
1 cup cream or milk
1 tsp. vanilla
~Mix thoroughly and eat immediately!

Here we are mixing it up on the front steps! I mixed it outside to keep it from melting too quickly. Sara couldn't resist putting her fingers in for a taste!
Sky got the first official taste! Mmmm!

Sara agreed it was very yummy!

Sky decided to add a few sprinkles to his bowl of snow cream. Sara added some chocolate syrup, but let's just say that that picture didn't look nearly as appetizing!

I left the bowl out on the front porch all day and we were able to enjoy several bowls of our delicious concoction! (And yes, it actually did taste good - Joshua and I both enjoyed it!) Yesterday, it snowed ALL day long, so it's about time to whip up another bowl, I think!

Snow Pictures!

I never found my camera software, so I went to Plan B. I plugged the camera into the computer to see what would happen and it found a photo program for me! Should've done that to begin with... I like it better than what I had before, too! Here are the pictures of my birthday snow! This is what it looked like before we trampled on it...
This was the view out our front, living room window.
Our little snowman!

Sara, letting everyone know she did not like the snowball Daddy nailed her with! (But, she had no problems returning the favour!)

Sky, being goofy and hiding behind the bush for protection! Those scraggly branches didn't help much!
One more thing, that doesn't have anything to do with snow. I just posted a new recipe on my other blog, Recipeasy, so be sure to check it out! It's a crock pot recipe, for all you crock pot lovers! Click on the button on my sidebar with the pumpkin on it.

Recipeasy

I wanted to let all of you know that I'm a part of a new recipe blog! It's called Recipeasy and I am contributing one recipe per week, along with 3 other blogging friends. I posted the latest one, so check it out! There have already been some really yummy things posted!

Our Favourite Lunch

So, I've always wanted to post about our favourite lunch. It's a little weird, but my kids beg for it all the time! And even Rachel loves it now! I got this from my friend, Trina, when she had us for a playdate and lunch one day. It's very simple. Tomato soup and noodles! While the soup is warming in one pot, I boil the noodles in another. Shells are the favourite at our house, but elbow macaroni or rotini works well too. Then, you fill up bowls with the noodles and ladle the tomato soup over the top. (Less soup for the very young - then it's less messy!) When, my friend Trina first served this to us, I was a bit skeptical! But, it's surprisingly good! You should try it, and let me know how your family votes. I always serve this with baby carrots and sliced cucumbers. I think I'll go make up this lunch right now.... :-)

P.S. Inspiration to finally post this is from one of Emily's latest posts. She was requesting new lunchtime ideas!

Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Happy June everyone! It's amazing to me that we've already hit the "J" months!

Karen asked me yesterday about my fruit smoothies (mentioned in a previous post), so I thought I'd share my recipe with everyone. It's really more of a formula than a recipe, because they turn out different every time! This is a "vegan" recipe, which means there is no dairy - they are truly all fruit. (We are not vegan or vegetarian!) First of all, make sure you have plenty of bananas on hand. When they are nice and yellow (not green at all), take them out of their peels and put them in a freezer bag in the freezer. For your other fruits, the best ones are strawberries, peaches, mango, blueberries and raspberries. You can definitely experiment with others. Here's the basic recipe:

Combine in a blender:
1 cup apple juice
1 1/2 to 2 frozen bananas (broken in pieces)
1 cup cold or frozen fruit (1 kind or a combination)

I also add an apple (peeled and sliced) to help make it go further sometimes. And obviously, you'll need to double or triple this recipe if you have more than two kids! Blend until the smoothie looks creamy, about 45-60 seconds.

I assure you, you're kids (and husbands!) will love these smoothies! My kids will take these over ice cream any day! Let me know if you come up with any exotic combinations. Enjoy!