I also like to make homemade ice cream with the kids. We do the kick the can method. You take your ingredients and place in a small clean coffee can, then you duct tape it to death to keep the lid on. Then you place the small coffee can in a larger coffee can, fill in the space with ice and salt (makes it colder) put the lid on, duct tape again and send the kids out to kick it around the yard. I like to have them play kickball for about 15-20 min, then when they are all tired and hot, I bring out cones and we have wonderful ice cream in the backyard that they made themselves.
Here's another way to make homemade ice cream, without the two cans. You can make smaller, individual servings & different flavors of ice cream for each person this way.
Ziploc Homemade ice cream - (Atkins & South Beach Diet friendly too.)
1/2 Cup Milk (doesn't matter what kind, see below*)
1 Tbs. Sugar
1/4 Tsp. Vanilla (and or other flavors added**)
(Atkin's & South Beach recipe modifications see below)
Directions:
Add ingredients to a pint (sandwich) size Ziploc freezer bag and zip shut. Shake lightly to mix ingredients. If you have cheap, thin zipper bags, use two bags.
In the gallon sized Ziploc bag or even just a plastic grocery bag (free!) add about 3 cups of ice (or fill half the bag with ice) and add 6 tablespoons of TABLE salt!!! (Do NOT skip this step.) Rock salt is not necessary but OK if you have it. Coarse salt or sea salt is also OK. The purpose of the salt is to lower the freezing temperature of the ice and not let it form into one solid glob as you are shaking. Do not use too much salt though or your ice cream will not freeze.
Place the sealed sandwich sized bag into the gallon bag and zip the gallon bag. Shake the entire contents for at least 5-10 minutes (shake longer for harder ice cream). Optional: Wear mittens or wrap bag in a towel for shaking. For even harder ice cream, you may place it in the freezer.
Once desired hardness has been achieved, remove smaller baggie and rinse thoroughly with cold water (if you miss this step, you may wind up with salty ice cream)!
Recipe makes about a 1/2 cup of ice cream. You can double this, but more than that doesn't seem to work.
Instead of the Ziploc, you can make it in coffee cans. One small, 1lb. coffee can inside a big 3 lb. coffee can with the ice & salt packed around the little can and you just have the kids roll it around on the floor to make it freeze! You can actually use any two seal-able Tupperware type containers: Individual yogurt container in a larger Tupperware container.
This technique is also great for the kids at picnics or camping. Just bring the baggies & salt & use the leftover ice in the cooler and have the kids make their own individual ice creams. You can also measure out ingredients at home in the morning, bring the baggies & salt to the office for ice cream at lunch.
* Milks:
You can also use cream or half & half.
I used 2% Milk. (South Beach Diet friendly.)
Another batch I used Lowfat Evaporated Milk and a splash of regular milk for extra creamy taste.
Someone said you can use soy milk. Add a little bit of vegetable oil to the soy milk and it'll be just as creamy. Just mix soy milk, sugar, vanilla, a little bit of oil until it tastes good (no measurements given).
** Flavors:
You can mix a larger batch of this in a blender first with some fresh or frozen fruit, then divide into the baggies.
Or you can add some chocolate or DaVinci flavored syrups or a splash of flavored soda, or Nestle's Quick (chocolate or strawberry) or unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder (& up the sugar to taste.)
Chocolate chunks, chocolate chips or mint chocolate chips, or spoonfuls of real fruit jams.
Or add a little of pudding packages instead of sugar to try different flavors.
A little Orange Jello powder makes a creamsicle flavor.
Taste before freezing to adjust flavors. It should taste like melted ice cream.
Chocolate peanut butter ice cream: Put about a tablespoon of peanut butter in a little dish & heat it in the microwave about 2 minutes (to melt it) while melting shake chocolate ice cream bags for the first 2 minutes then pour the peanut butter in with the rest of the half shaken mix & finished shaking it. It ends up having chunks of semisolid peanut butter in it.
Atkins & South Beach Dieters:
Ingredients modifications:
1/2 cup Heavy Cream (Atkins); or 1/2 cup of 2% or less Milk (South Beach)
1 tablespoon artificial sweetener or 1/2 packet Splenda or Equal
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Taste before freezing to adjust flavors. It should taste like melted ice cream. However I noticed the vanilla got more intense after freezing & the sweetener seemed less intense.
You can add 2 TB unsweetened Dutch processed (less bitter) cocoa powder and 1 TB Splenda
or some sugar-free chocolate syrup, or Nestle's Sugar-free Quick (chocolate or strawberry.)
Or the sugar-free pudding packages instead of sugar to try different flavors.
Flavored sugar-free syrups: 1 tbs. of DaVinci French Vanilla syrup & 1 packet Splenda
or 1-2 Tbs. of Caramel DaVinci syrup or other flavors.
Or old fashioned, unsweetened Kool-Aide flavors (add more artificial sweetener) or a little sugar-free Jello powder. Orange is good for a creamsicle flavor.