Ice Cream Sandwiches

We have a rule at our house that we do not buy sweets if we want a sugar treat/dessert we must make it our selves. So this summer the kids asked for ice cream sandwiches and I was happy to help them make some. These are absolutely delicious and can be made as big or small as you would like. They take a bit of time and are fairly messy but well worth it in the end. We ended up with about 20 of them which I think is just enough to last us most of the summer.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup salt
2 cups all purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs and then the vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together the cocoa powder, flour, and salt. Slowly beat into the butter mixture. Beat until well combined gather into a ball cover and refrigerate about 1 hour.
Roll out the dough onto a well floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Using the shape cutter from an ice cream sandwich mold* cut out and even number of shapes. Be sure to ave a top and bottom for each sandwich.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 8 min at 375º. As I took the hot cookies off of the baking sheet I gently pressed the shape cutter back over them to be sure they were still the correct shape. Some needed a little trimming before cooling and I put the mold impression on half the cookies before they cooled. Allow the cookies to cool completely.

Putting together the sandwiches
This is where I am happy I had the molds. Using very slightly softened ice cream, it must not be too hard or too soft or you will end up with a big mess, follow the mold instructions to put together the cookies. Place them in a single layer on a freezer tray and freeze till solid. I put the tray in the freezer and the ice cream in a large bowl filled with ice. Each time I made a sandwich I would put it on the tray in the freezer. This way nothing melted during the process.

*We used some Tovolo Ice Cream Sandwich Molds to create ours. I am not one for using many fancy gadgets but these made the sandwich making quite easy and I would recommend them to any one making these. The recipe for the molds came with a brownie type cookie but I like these better. They took a bit more work but I think it was well worth it since I like a crunch in my Ice cream Sandwich.

Ice Cream

We love ice cream! Growing up my family made homemade ice cream at every holiday and family gathering. It is so much tastier then the store bought and very easy especially if you have and ice cream maker. With a good base the possibilities of flavor combinations are endless. Here is the basic ice cream we make it Philadelphia Style because It is delicious and a bit easier then making an egg custard ice cream. When we add egg yolks to the ice cream we do not cook them. We believe, after much research, that when properly handled fresh farm eggs (not the store bought junk eggs) are safe for raw consumption.

Basic Vanilla
1 cup milk
2 tbs- 2/3 cup sweetener
2 cups heavy cream
dash of salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract

In a small sauce pan stir the milk and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves. In a large bowl mix together the cream, salt, and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the cream stir till combined, cover and refrigerated for 1 hour. Place in ice cream maker following manufactures instructions. Makes about 4 cups ice cream.

Options
-Add 3-6 egg yolks to the cream mixture for added vitamins, protein, and nutrition.
-Use sugar, maple syrup, or honey as the sweetener.
-Replace the milk and cream with a combination of yogurt, sour cream, and or dairy kefir, the more cream in the mix the richer the ice cream. 
-Replace milk and cream with non dairy substitute which as nut milk or coconut milk/cream.

Flavor Ideas
Chocolate- Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder and up to 1/4 cup more sugar to the milk before heating.

Peppermint- Replace the vanilla with 1 tsp peppermint extract and add 1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy to the ice cream following manufactures directions.


Pumpkin- add 1 cup pumpkin puree, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the cream before refrigerating.


Fruit- Instead of vanilla extract add 1 1/2 cups of mashed fruit or 1 cup of pureed fruit. Some good options are berries, peaches, plums, even melons will work. Depending on the sweetness of the fruit more or less sugar may be needed.

Mint/Basil- Add 1/3 cup fresh basil or mint leaves to the milk and sugar before heating. Let cool and blend until smooth before adding to the cream mixture. Add 1/4 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate to the ice cream following manufactures instructions on the ice cream maker.

Quiche

Quiche is so easy to make and freeze and can be made with any extra veggies you have on hand.


Quiche
Pie Crust
1 cup cheese
1 cup veggies
1 tbs flour
4 eggs slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk, cream, or combination of the two
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450º. Make pie crust and roll out to fit pie plate or similar dish. Line the pie crust with foil and cook for 8 min remove foil and cook an additional 5 min. Remove the pie crust from the oven and let cool.
Grate the cheese and chop the veggies. Mix together the cheese, veggies, and flour. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the cooled crust. Stir together the eggs, milk, and spices. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese and veggies.
Bake at 350º for 35-40 min until set in the center. Let stand for 10 min before serving.

Quiche can be frozen before or after baking.
If frozen before baking- Bake as directed adding 10-20 min to the time.
If frozen after baking- Bake as directed for 20-30 min.

Brown Butter Pasta

This is one of our simplest and most loved dinners. I pull this one out a lot when one of us adults will be out of the house. It is even better when made with fresh homemade pasta!

Brown Butter Pasta
2 cups pasta
4-5 tbs butter
Mizithra cheese
Parmesan Cheese
1 cup frozen or fresh peas

Cook pasta in boiling water when there is about 4 min left in the pasta cook time add the peas. Melt and brown butter in a small skillet over med heat. Drain the pasta and peas and mix with the butter. Finely grate the cheese over the pasta. Serve warm.

Options-

add different veggies cooking in your desired way

instead of butter drizzle a bit of olive oil over the warm pasta

Flatbread

Flat bread is used a lot in our house. It can be topped wit any number of sauces and veggies and it also can be baked crisp and broken o make wonderful chips.

Flatbread
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 tbs olive oil
1 cup cold water or thin veggie puree

Preheat oven and baking sheet to 400. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oil and then the water stir well then pour out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth. Divide the dough into 8 equal size balls. On a floured surface roll each ball out until very thin.
Place on the heated baking sheet and bake for 3 min. Cook only two or three at a time depending on the size of your baking sheet. Remove and let cool at least 5 min before placing on toppings and cooking an additional 5-10 min.
If making chips bake the bread without toppings for 3 min then remove from the baking sheet and bake for an additional 5 min on the oven rack. When cool break into pieces.

Grilled Feta

I made this the other night it was from my latest issue of Real Simple Magazine. Our family enjoyed it so much I just had to share it. The magazine calls for pita chips instead of flatbread but the flatbread sounded good, plus it is slightly easier to make. The next time I have extra pita chips though I will be grilling up some feta for them.

Grilled Feta with Thyme
12 ounce piece feta
6 sprigs thyme
2 tbs olive oil
Flatbread

Place feta in the middle of a large piece of foil. Top with thyme and sprinkle with the olive oil. Fold the foil to create a small sealed packet. Grill the packet on a preheated grill med-low heat for 10-15 min or place the packet in a 350 oven for 10-15 min. Serve with Grilled flatbread broken into chip size pieces.

Make packet up to 1 day ahead and bring to room temperature before cooking.

Lentil Burgers

I made these the other day and they were delicious! Better then any other veggie burger we have ever had! I love that because I made my own buns and burgers I could make them any size I wanted. Not to big not to small just perfect for our family plus I now have 2 more dinners in the freezer.

Lentil Burgers
½ cup barley
1 ½ cups water
1 cup lentils
2 ½ cups water

½ cup walnuts
2tbs olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 carrots
2 tbs all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp spices
½ tsp salt

Boil water in two medium size pans. Add barley and lentils to the pans, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 min or until most to all of the water is gone. Mix the lentils and the barley together.

While the lentils and barley are cooking finely grind the walnuts using and food processor. Place the walnuts in a large bowl and set aside. Finely chop and sauté vegetables in the olive oil. Add the veggies to the bowl along with the flour, spices, barley and lentils. Mix and mash together until it forms a moist mixture that holds together but is not runny. If needed add more flour or veggie broth/water. Form mixture into patties. Freeze and store or Bake at 400° for 20-30 min.

Serve on Hamburger Buns with
Cheese slices, lettuce, spinach, tomato slices, onion, avocado, mayo, ketchup, relish. Whatever you like on your burger!