We made our own Ice cream without an ice cream maker, and with a lot less sugar.  I first saw this idea at Cub Scout Day Camp the other day.  Then I tried it with my kids at home last night.  We took

• 1/2 Cup milk
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Combined them in a quart size sealable bag.  Then we used a 1 gallon bag filled with Ice and Rock salt (about 1/2 C).  We put the smaller bag into the bag with ice and shook it up.  It only took about 5-7 minutes for the “ice cream” to get creamy and frosty.  With only 4 grams of sugar, as opposed to 28 grams, each kid got their own bag of ice cream to eat.  What a fabulous summer activity this was.  Plus the fat went from 11 grams to 1.5 grams (we use 1% milk). Then cereal boy tried chocolate milk, and that worked well too!

Inspired by Roni’s delicious looking post yesterday, I HAD to make it. She pureed watermelon with yogurt, and froze. Click over to her post for more details. It was so terrific.  My kids devoured it. I was hesitant to share it!  There just wasn’t enough.  Ketchup boy and I actually drank some before we froze it.  It also made a yummy smoothie.  I like this idea, because I always cut up our entire watermelon right when I bring it home.  By the time we get to the bottom of the bowl, we have small broken pieces.   My kids do like eating the wedges with the rind on, but my chopped up pieces are so much cleaner.

Why we love watermelon:

• Good source of lycopene, vitamin C, potassium, vitamin A
• Good source of water (kids are going to start needing to be hydrated and watermelon is 92% water!)
• High in energy, low in calories and fat
• Excellent snack and fun to eat

Side note: my mean brother told me when I was very small that I must have eaten watermelon seeds and was growing a watermelon in my tummy cause it was so huge.