FTC Disclosure: Delicious Obsessions may receive comissions from purchases made through links in this article. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.Read our full terms and conditions here.

Summertime is here and I hope it is off to a good start for you!

When you think of summer, what is one of the first things that comes to mind?

For me, it’s cold ice cream on a hot day.

Nothing beats that.

Well, except for maybe eating cold ice cream in Bali or Fiji.

But, since I’m not going to be an international traveler any time soon, I’ll just have to stick to a nice cold bowl of ice cream in my tiny backyard. 🙂

Today, I am excited to share this post and giveaway with you. I have teamed up with the great folks over at MightyNest and they are sponsoring this post and “Savor the Summer” giveaway. If you haven’t visited the MightyNest site yet, I encourage you to stop by and check them out. They have quickly become one of my favorite eco-friendly websites.

Savor the Summer with Homemade Ice Cream (plus A Summertime Giveaway!) // deliciousobsessions.com

The theme I chose when we partnered for this project was “Homemade Ice Cream”, because let’s face it — life is better with ice cream! In order to get me geared up for summer, MightyNest sent me an awesome package of goodies to get me started on the summer ice cream making season. Here is what I received:

  • Stainless Steel 6-Quart Mixing Bowl – This bowl is perfect for so many kitchen projects, including mixing up a large batch of ice cream “batter”.
  • Stainless Steel Spoon Straws – Have the best of both worlds with these handy spoon straws! Perfect for those extra thick shake, smoothies, or floats!
  • Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop – Protect your spoons (how many of you have bent your spoons when digging out ice cream) and only scoop out that ice cream with this handy stainless steel scoop.
  • Silicone Mixing Spoon – Great for all sorts of things, including mixing up that batch of ice cream batter and making sure it’s smooth and creamy!
  • Simax Glass Ramekins – These little glass dishes make the perfect serving vessel for your ice cream. Not too much, not to little.
  • Kilner Flip-Top Bottle – I make my own homemade vanilla and it tastes WAY better than store-bought. I love these flip-top bottles for brewing (not only vanilla, but they work great for water kefir and kombucha too!).

3 Reasons Why You Should Make Your Own Ice Cream

Savor the Summer with Homemade Ice Cream (plus A Summertime Giveaway!) // deliciousobsessions.com

I love the simple flavors of this rich  dairy-free vanilla ice cream and fresh berries. Nothing says summer like this! Get the recipe here.

Many people wonder why they should bother making their own ice cream when they can easily pick up a half-gallon at the store. Well, there are many reasons, but here are my top 3:

1. It’s healthier. You get to choose the ingredients you put into your ice cream and that allows you to avoid things like artificial colors and flavors, refined sugars, and castoreum (Google it if you want to know what it is — gross!).

2. It’s cheaper. Unless you get the cheap-o half gallons that cost $2.50, making your own gourmet ice cream at home will save you money. Last time I checked, one pint of a high-quality coconut milk ice cream (since I’m dairy-free) costs $5.50 – $7.50 depending on the brand. Eeeowch!

3. It’s more fun! Since you are making your own, you can customize it any way you like. Think going to a fancy ice cream parlor or frozen yogurt shop, except in the comfort of your own home and with MUCH better ingredients.

5 Tips for Homemade Ice Cream Success

5 Helpful Tips for Making Your Own Ice Cream (plus A Summertime Giveaway!) // deliciousobsessions.com

Mint chocolate chip ice cream is a classic flavor and the cool mint is so refreshing on a hot day. Homemade tastes SO much better than store-bought! Click here for the recipe.

Making your own ice cream is super easy! Many people think it will be difficult to do, but it’s not. Here are a few tips for success:

1. Get a good base. Start with a good base ice cream recipe and then customize from here. I like my Dairy-Free Vanilla Ice Cream as a base and then I can create new flavors from there.

2. Use super fine granulated sweeteners. Using a granulated sugar keeps the water content of the ice cream down, therefore creating less water crystals in the ice cream (which makes it not as smooth and creamy). Whiz your sugar up in your food processor or blender until it’s SUPER fine before adding it to your base. This helps it blend into the ice cream better and won’t leave the mixture gritty.

3. Keep it scoopable. To keep the ice cream from setting up too firm, add a tablespoon or two (per quart) of some sort of alcohol to the mixture. If you’re wanting to avoid alcohol, you could try adding some gelatin to the ice cream base. I prefer the green can from Great Lakes for this.

4. Don’t fear the fat. When making homemade ice cream, use FULL FAT cream or coconut milk. Avoid half-and-half and regular milk (even whole milk) for a truly rich and creamy treat. This keeps the water content of the ice cream down and reduces ice crystals.

5. Have FUN! Ice cream should be fun! Make the event a family affair. Have the kids choose their favorite toppings and help prepare the ice cream. This gets everyone involved and helps strengthen the family unit.

But, I Don’t Have an Ice Cream Maker

No problemo!

One of my favorite ways to make ice cream is to just make it in my blender. It’s fast, easy, and requires the clean-up of only one appliance. You can make them thin like a smoothie or a shake, or you can add lots of frozen fruit and/or ice for a thick soft-serve consistency.

Tip: Use frozen bananas for blender ice creams. They add a lot of creaminess to the mix, as well as sweetness so you need little or no added sugar. Avocados also make a delicious base for homemade ice creams. They blend in so well you’d never know they were there!

For recipes that do call for an ice cream maker, this is how you do it without one:

1. Prepare your ice cream base as the recipe instructs.

2. Pour the mixture into a shallow freezer-safe dish and stick in the freezer.

3. After 45-60 minutes, check it and you should notice that the edges have started to freeze. Stir the mixture well, making sure to break up any clumps. When smooth, return to the freezer.

4. Check again in 30-45 minutes and repeat. Keep doing this until the ice cream reaches the consistency you like. Thanks David Lebovitz for teaching me this technique a long time ago!

Water Kefir (or Kombucha) Ice Cream Float

Savor the Summer with Homemade Ice Cream (plus A Summertime Giveaway!) // deliciousobsessions.com

Skip the soda on your ice cream floats! Use water kefir or kombucha for a deliciously refreshing summertime treat.

Water Kefir (or Kombucha) Ice Cream Float
Serves 1

Ingredients

  • 1 cup vanilla ice cream
  • 1 cup water kefir or kombucha (flavor of your choice)
  • 1/4 cup fresh berries of your choice

Instructions

  • Place the ice cream in your glass and top with the fresh berries.
  • Pour water kefir or kombucha over the ice cream and berries.
  • Serve immediately! These handy stainless steel straw spoons are great for floats!

Support Your School and Enter to Win!

<<THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER IS KELLY J. (notified by email) Tami E. (notified by email)>>

Now, for the super fun stuff!

This is the time of year where we are all enjoying the long days of summer with family and friends. Barefoot temps, fresh and simple meals, doing as much as possible outdoors… there’s an especially delicious pace to summer. We call it savoring and MightyNest wants to help YOU savor the summer with their June Challenge.

The Savor the Summer Challenge is all about enjoying the fruits of the season and making memories (and LOTS of ice cream!). Right now, you not only have the change to win a $100 gift certificate to the MightyNest site for yourself, but you also have the chance to support your favorite local school by entering them into the MightyNest for Schools fundraiser to win $100!

MightyNest is on a mission to inspire and reward healthy living by families right alongside raising funds for their school. In addition to giving 15% of every purchase back to schools, MightyNest informs and engages the school community on a wide variety of healthy living topics through blog posts, challenge actions, blogger giveaways, and weekly e-newsletters.

The thing that really stood out to me when MightyNest contacted me about partnering on this giveaway is that they are focused on helping support local schools. Because of that, this giveaway is slightly different than your typical giveaway.

Here’s How to Enter, but first the FTC requires me to tell you the following:

Terms and Conditions: No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. This contest open to US and Canada residents, 18 years and older, only. All entries will be validated and the winner will be chosen randomly via the MightyNest widget and will be notified via email, as well as announced on the Delicious Obsessions website. This giveaway will run from 12:01am, Tuesday, June 16th, through 12:01am, Tuesday, June 21st. This giveaway is sponsored by MightyNest, Inc., 2112 Jackson Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201, and they will provide one winner a $100 gift certificate for their website: www.mightynest.com. You will be required to provide your name and email address to me (Jessica Espinoza, Delicious Obsessions, LLC, PO Box 27414, Denver, CO, 80227), and I will give that info to MightyNest so they can email your prize. They will email the gift certificate directly to the winner within one week of receiving their name and email address from Delicious Obsessions, LLC. 

1. Take the pledge to savor summer. Make new memories. Strengthen the family unit. Enjoy real, local foods. And, make your own homemade ice cream.

Simply click on the green “I pledge!” button in the widget below. This enters you into the drawing for the $100 gift certificate. No purchase necessary.

2. Support your favorite school. Every entry earns points for their school and a chance to win your giveaway. It’s an easy and fun way to do something good for their families and good for their schools. No purchase is necessary, and the school with the most points at the end of June will win $500!

After you click the green “I pledge!” button in the widget below, you will be prompted to select your favorite school to enter them into the drawing for the $500 prize!

This post and giveaway is sponsored by MightyNest, but the opinions are completely my own. Thank you for supporting companies like this who are on a mission to make the world that we live in healthier! Their support, and yours, helps this site to continue providing delicious real food recipes and natural living information!

Delicious Obsessions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.Read our full terms and conditions here.