Homemade Mint -n- Chip Ice-Cream, with no food dyes

If you guys saw my last post, then y'all know I'm basically melting right now. I just can't hang with these ridiculously hot temperatures. When my hubby moved us from southern CA to northern ID two years ago he was sure we would have cooler summers. Wrong. Now we get to melt in the summer as well as freeze in the winter. Oh well. I can't change the weather, but I can find ways to cool down.

That usually involves staying inside (or in water, or both), and eating copious amounts of ice-cream. But, since the quality of frozen treats you can find in the stores is severely lacking, I've taken up making my own at home.

One of my favorite childhood flavors is Mint -n- Chip from Thrifty's. You know the kind right? It's green with shavings, not chunks, of chocolate. It's minty and helps cool you down like nothing else. Well, I wanted to recreate that childhood memory. But what is a girl to do, to make a hulk-like green ice-cream without food dyes? My secret may scare you away, but don't let it. You can't taste it, and if you served it up to people they would have no idea what gives this ice-cream it's lovely verdant color.  (I know, because I served it to some friends and they thought my hubby was joking when he revealed the secret ingredient.) Are you ready for it? . . . . It's spinach. Now don't leave me just yet. I promise, you can't taste it. You can't see it (no pieces marring the ice-cream). And you definitely can't smell it. All you'll be able to taste is the mint and chocolate. That's it. Are you brave enough to try it? Even if you're not, you can make this recipe without the spinach. It will just be white instead of green. No crime in that. It just doesn't bring me back to being a kid like the green hue does.

This cone has a scoop of my Mint -n- Chip and a scoop of my Homemade Rainbow Sherbet.

As a disclaimer, I use DoTERRA essential oils in this recipe, but it can easily be switched out for peppermint extract. If you are going to use essential oils, make sure they are pure, you get them from a reputable source, and they are safe for internal consumption. If you are worried at all, just play it safe and use the pure peppermint extract you can find at any grocery store, right next to the vanilla extract.

I have a large ice-cream maker, so if you have a small one, you will need to half the recipe or make two batches. 

After the ice-cream is frozen, I like to keep them in cardboard containers (like the professionals do). I use these containers but anything freezer safe will work. (I think the cardboard helps the ice-cream to not freeze so hard, like it does when I store it in glass.)

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Mint -n- Chip Ice-cream 

6 cups organic cream

2 1/3 cups organic cane sugar (can reduce if omitting spinach)

5 oz clean, organic baby spinach

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup water (just enough to blend the spinach - You can omit this as well if you're not using the spinach.)

2 tsp pure organic vanilla extract

7 drops peppermint essential oil (or 1 to 2 tsp peppermint extract to taste)

2 large bars of high quality dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped (the lower quality stuff tends to taste waxy after freezing)

Blend together spinach, water, and sugar until completely smooth. Pour the spinach mixture into a large bowl and stir in the cream. vanilla, and peppermint. Chill in the fridge for as long as you can. The colder your mix, the smoother the ice-cream. 

When you are ready to churn, follow the directions for your ice-cream maker. When the ice-cream is mostly set (like soft serve consistency) add in the grated/chopped chocolate and continue churning. (If you forget, you can always stir in the chocolate when the ice-cream is finished churning.) Scoop into freezer safe containers, and freeze until ready to eat. 

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Homemade Rainbow Sherbet

It’s summer time. I don’t know what that means for your neck of the woods, but for us it means triple digit temperatures, and no air conditioning. One way that I try to beat the heat is with homemade ice cream. I started making my own ice cream a couple years ago, when I quickly found out that the store bought ice creams didn’t fit into my whole food, organic lifestyle. As it turns out, making your own ice cream is really easy, as long as you have a good ice cream maker. (There are “no-churn” recipes out there, but since I have an ice cream maker I haven’t ventured into that realm of frozen treats yet.)

Sherbet is mostly frozen fruit juice with a little milk and some sweetener. I used organic cane sugar so that the flavors from my usual sweeteners (honey and maple syrup) wouldn’t compete with the flavors of the fruit. The amount of sugar can be reduced if your fruit is in season and extra sweet. Just remember that the freezer dulls the sweetness, so the mixture going into the ice cream maker will taste sweeter than after it’s frozen. Rainbow sherbet is just multiple sherbets that are put in the same container and served as a mixture of colors and flavors. I used the fruits I had on hand, so I’m sure you could change things up by substituting in whatever fruits you like. And, as always, I use organic ingredients, but if all you have in conventionally grown produce and juice, just use what you have. It will still be 100 times better for you than the store bought sherbet! Bottom line: it’s easy, adaptable, and delicious.

After the ice-cream is frozen, I like to keep them in cardboard containers (like the professionals do). I use these containers but anything freezer safe will work. (I think the cardboard helps the ice-cream to not freeze so hard, like when I store it in glass.)

If you want the recipe for the Mint-n-Chip, with no food dyes, shown above click here.

Here’s the recipe:

Pineapple Sherbet

2 1/2 cups pure organic pineapple juice
1 cup whole organic milk
1 cup organic cane sugar 

Stir the juice, milk, and sugar together. Refrigerate for as long as possible before churning. (The colder your mix is before it goes into the ice cream maker, the smoother your ice cream will be at the end.) Stir the mix well, to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Following the directions for your ice cream maker, pour the mix into your machine and churn until set. Scoop out and put into a freezer safe container and keep in the freezer until your ready to mix your “rainbow” together.

Orange Sherbet

2 1/2 cups pure organic orange juice
1 cup whole organic milk
1 cup organic cane sugar 

Stir the juice, milk, and sugar together. Refrigerate for as long as possible before churning. (The colder your mix is before it goes into the ice cream maker, the smoother your ice cream will be at the end.) Stir the mix well, to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Following the directions for your ice cream maker, pour the mix into your machine and churn until set. Scoop out and put into a freezer safe container and keep in the freezer until your ready to mix your “rainbow” together.

Raspberry Sherbet

4 cups organic raspberries
1/4 cup water (or a little more if needed to blend)
2 cups whole organic milk
2 cups organic cane sugar 

Blend the raspberries, sugar and water together, and strain “juice” from the seeds using a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl. Stir the milk into the juice. Refrigerate for as long as possible before churning. (The colder your mix is before it goes into the ice cream maker, the smoother your ice cream will be at the end.) Following the directions for your ice cream maker, pour the mix into your machine and churn until set. Scoop out and put into a freezer safe container and keep in the freezer until your ready to mix your “rainbow” together.

It’s easiest to mix the flavors if they are not frozen solid, so the sooner you can mix them the better. I made the first two flavors, and set them aside in the freezer until the third flavor was ready. Instead of putting the third flavor into a container to be frozen, I just put it into a bowl to mix with the other sherbets. 

When you’re ready to make your rainbow, dump all the sherbet out of their containers into a large bowl. Gently mix with a rubber spatula. You don’t want it too mixed, as you still want solid blocks of color. Scoop the rainbow sherbet back into the containers that you used earlier. Keep in freezer until ready to eat.  Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before serving to soften enough to scoop.






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