Summer Fun Ideas- Make Your Own Ice Cream

There is nothing quite as good as homemade ice cream :)

Seriously.

One of the best parts about the process is that it's totally customizable!  I have two recipes for vanilla ice cream that I love to use.  One is literally brainless, and the other actually involves a measuring cup, but they're both delicious and no-cook.  They're also eggless ice cream recipes, which is great if you have a child with allergies.

Recipe One
-1 Quart of Half and Half
-1 14oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Mix until the sweetened condensed milk is fully incorporated.  Freeze according to your manufacturer's instructions.  (Most important part- if you have an ice-based freezer don't skimp on the rock salt!!)

Recipe Two
-2 cups milk (this freezes better if you do not use skim)
-1 pint of heavy cream
-1 cup of sugar
-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Mix the milk and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Add the remaining ingredients and freeze according to your manufacturer's instructions.
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What's that you say? You don't have an ice cream maker? No problem!  Scoop 1/2 a cup of the finished ice cream mix into a sandwich size Ziplock bag.  Put that Ziplock in another Ziplock and then put those two inside of a gallon size Ziplock bag and fill the bag with crushed ice and table salt.  Take the whole shebang outside and have your kids shake it for about 10-15 minutes (you can even play catch with it).  Take out the inside bags, dry quickly on a towel (salt water in your ice cream is gross) and you'll have some fresh soft serve!
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Now, once your ice cream is done, you can eat it as is, or everyone can add their own toppings to an individual serving and set it in the freezer to firm slightly (or not, whatever, I'm not here to judge).  Great mix-ins include:
-Chopped peaches, strawberries, bananas, or blueberries
-Peanuts, walnuts, pecans
-M&Ms, marshmallows, gummi bears
-Chopped girl scout cookies, chopped Oreos
-Crushed pretzels

Mix in whatever you'd like (note: if you want to make an entire batch of cookies and cream, it's 20 chopped Oreos.  Just saying.) and enjoy your ice cream.  I prefer to take mine poolside, but you can do whatever you want!

Have you ever made ice cream at home? What's your favorite recipe or flavor? Leave a comment (or a link) below!