yoghurt – Mummy To Twins Plus One

DIY Ice Cream or Ice Blocks

Summer has been extremely hot and finding ways to stay cool is tough. It has been very difficult in nearly 50 degree heats that some areas have faced in the current heatwave. Yes you read that right, some areas got to 47 degrees.

Ice cream and ice blocks have been a good way to try and reduce the temperature although a temporary fix, it is a yummy and fun solution that adults and kids enjoy.

Make your own ice blocks and ice creams. See what I did to create some yummy healthy treats.

As you might imagine we have consumed more ice creams and ice blocks than we usually do and that was due to the fact that this summer has been a scorcher.

How do you make having a cool treat not bad for you?

One thing you could do is to make your ow, and this way you know that the ingredients are all good and natural.

I decided to create a Banana Yogurt and Watermelon Ice Cream. I don’t know if it is 100% an ice cream but I’m using this term due to the creamy nature of the banana yogurt mixture.

You can put whatever you want into your ice creams/blocks it is up to your tastes and what you have available.

Some ideas are:

Fruit juice ice blocks (you can even cheat and put store bought juice into the moulds). If you make your own juice just put the juice in the ice blocks molds and then you have a frozen orange one or apple one.
Mango purée and yoghurt.
Blueberries and strawberry purée if you wish you can add yoghurt or just leave it as the fruit mix and freeze these.
Pineapple and Yoghurt or just the pineapple juice and pulp. This would be so refreshing.

You will need an ice block mould so that you can put your mixture in. They are easy to get hold of and very cheap. Check out the supermarkets or a shop that supplies kitchen products.

The fruit I added to the ice creams I created.

Ingredients

2 very ripe bananas
1 cup of watermelon de-seeded.
Yoghurt 2-3 tablespoons, depending on how you like it. I did not want to over power the banana with the yoghurt but wanted it to help the creamy texture of the ice cream. I used Jalna Yoghurt but you can use whatever you like or have available.

This is the yoghurt that I added to the banana mixture. I just love this Jalna yoghurt. It is so yummy and creamy.

Method

Mash up bananas with a fork. I made sure they were mashed up pretty good but wanted to keep the texture of them. After they were well and truly mashed up I added some yoghurt.
Add the yoghurt to the banana mixture. I added 2-3 heaped tablespoons and then mixed it all in.
The bananas and the yoghurt together.
I cut about a cup of watermelon and made sure that the seeds were removed.
Mash up the watermelon. I used a potato masher as I did not just want juice but also the flesh as well.
The watermelon all mashed up and ready to go into the ice block mold.

I used a potato masher to mash up the watermelon. This gave me some nice fleshy bits of the watermelon with juice as well.
I added the banana yoghurt mixture to the bottom, then added the watermelon mixture to middle and finally on top finished off with more banana mixture. You might find that you have more mixture over and therefore can do another batch. If so put some glad wrap over the container and put it in the fridge for the next batch.
Adding the banana and yoghurt mixture to the ice blocks moulds.

Adding the watermelon mixture to the ice block moulds.

All the mixture is in the ice cream mould. Now the rest of the lids need to go on and into the freezer to set.
Once all molds have the mixture in them put on the lids and pop into the freezer. Freeze overnight and then the next day you be able to enjoy your home made ice cream or ice block.
All ready to go into the freezer. Soon we will have 6 mini ice creams.

After the ice creams set in the fridge for 24 hours, now I can finally sample one of my creations. They were very yummy and really hit the spot.

I hope this has inspired you to create your own ice blocks or ice creams at home. It was so easy to make and they tasted so yummy. I am now keen to try more flavours for my next creation.

Enjoy and happy eating your yummy ice creams.

Miracle Tonics Needed

How do you manage to do everything for you, the house and family when you are sick?

Do you fit in a much needed sleep when kids are at school or if you have time off from work? I managed to get some rest last week and think that helped. However I now feel like it is either getting worse or not going away! Would more sleep help????

I have taken my vitamins, especially vitamin c as this helps. However too much vitamin c can be bad as it can prove a disaster when you need to go to the bathroom. Yes not a good subject to discuss but if you have too much it is not good either.

I am taking yoghurt with all the good bacteria and Probiotics that put the good bacteria back into me. I know that having antiobiotics can zap this good bacteria out of you.

According to Wikipedia: “Gut flora have a continuous and dynamic effect on the host’s gut and systemic immune systems. The bacteria are key in promoting the early development of the gut’s mucosal immune system both in terms of its physical components and function and continue to play a role later in life in its operation. The bacteria stimulate the lymphoid tissue associated with the gut mucosa to produce antibodies to pathogens. The immune system recognizes and fights harmful bacteria, but leaves the helpful species alone, a tolerance developed in infancy”

Hate being not well! Image courtesy of marin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I make sure to give the twins their yoghurts and Probiotics to help them keep well and stay healthy. I also added this to their meals when they were babies.

I make sure to have a shower to wake me up and start the day. Nothing is worse than being in clothes for too long. It makes you feel terrible. However if you are sick and really need to be in bed it might not be bad as long as you have a shower that night or the next day. It does help make you feel more alive and awake, but not for long.

A little bit of exercise or fresh air if you are well enough helps me a bit. I went for a brief walk today and it made me feel a little better.

Getting to bed earlier I think is helpful and I am trying to do this. It is easier when you are not well as you want to be in bed nearly all the time. I found it hard to get out of bed. If I did not have kids I might still be there.

I have been having LemSip hot drinks and also alternating with cold and flu tabs from the chemist. Not sure if they are working and it seems nothing is at the moment.

I have no got a shortage of hankies. Yes I still use a hanky and think they are great, but not when you cannot find a clean one. I do have clean washing to sort through so maybe there are some in there that are available to be used.

I have given you some tips of what I am doing to try and stay well, shorten this illness and annoyance that has affected me. Do you have things that help you? Do you just have nice chicken noodle soup or honey in your tea?

Send in your cures now so that I can regain my energy and stop using the hankies like they are going out of fashion. Send in your miracle tonics to the blog or comment on the this blog post.