Yogurt Pops.

If there’s one thing my child inherited from his dad, it’s a love of ice cream. My husband has been known to go through an entire carton of ice cream in 24 hours. And given the chance, I’m sure the kid would do it too. So this week I decided to try making some healthy popsicles for the two of them.

This was my first try and they turned out great. The kid LOVES them. And I don’t feel guilty giving it to him since it’s just yogurt and banana.

Yogurt Pops

1 small container any flavor yogurt (I used mixed berry for these)
1 banana, diced
squirt of lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in blended. Once the mixture is smooth, fill 4 popsicle molds 3/4 of the way up. Freeze completely.

If you have trouble removing the popsicles from the mold, allow the mold to sit in a bowl of hot weather for just a few seconds.

Honey-Lavender Ricotta Ice Cream.

I’m still loving my ice cream maker. The only problem is that the husband wants me to make strawberry ice cream every week and I want to dry new, funky combinations that deep down I know I won’t like but I want to try them anyway. Most of the time I win since I am the only making it and all.

This is one of them funky ones. I pulled this out of Cooking Light awhile ago because I love lavender. But I didn’t take into consideration that I don’t like the texture of ricotta. Needless to say, I hated this ice cream. Infact, I threw it in the trash before the husband even got home because it made me feel ill just knowing it was sitting in my freezer.

I’m sure if you enjoy ricotta you’ll love this ice cream but it just wasn’t for me.

Honey-Lavender Ricotta Ice Cream
from: Cooking Light

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon dried lavender blossoms
3 cups fresh ricotta (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook until sugar dissolves, about 45 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in lavender. Let steep for 30 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve; discard solids. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Combine ricotta, honey, and salt in a food processor; process until smooth. With processor on, slowly add lavendar syrup. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice cream maker; freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon into a freezer-safe container and freeze 4 hours or until firm.

Lemonade Iced Tea Sorbet.

My mom was nice enough to buy me an ice cream maker a few weeks ago. I had bought her the same one back at Christmas and she loved it so much that she thought I should have one too. I can’t even tell you how excited I was to get it. I’ve been pulling ice cream recipes out of magazines for months hoping that I would get one eventually.

I came home that night, washed everything out, cranked the freezer up as high as it would go, and hoped that inner piece would freeze quickly. I ended up staying awake most of the night waiting for my first batch of sorbet but it was so worth it. I just wish I would’ve remembered to turn the freezer back down. The container my sorbet went into eventually cracked. Poo.

The Lemonade Iced Tea Sorbet was lovely though. Being from Alabama, I’m a sweet tea kind of girl. No lemon, please. But I really enjoyed this sorbet. It was tart but still sweet. It’s definitely a keeper, even if the husband refused to even try it.

Lemonade Iced Tea Sorbet
from: Cooking Light

2 cups boiling water
4 regular-sized English Breakfast tea bags
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1 cup ice water

1. Combine 2 cups boiling water and tea bags in a large bowl; steep 5 minutes. Discard tea bags. Add sugar to tea mixture, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cool completely. Stir in juice and 1 cup ice water; chill 1 hour.

2. Pour tea mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon sorbet into a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm.