Wednesday, July 18, 2012

I'm mellllllting! Greek yoghurt plus fresh fruit makes home made ice cream.

Hello, all! The Fresh Pioneer is back again from the Best Coast - oops! Sorry, the WEST Coast. :)


 I don't know how the weather is where you are but we're melting. It's over 100F and it was over 100F every day last week. All the kids want to eat is ice cream and popsicles. What's a mom to do? (Besides tell them to get out of her stash of Dove ice cream bars...)
 

 For us, there's that whole problem of SUGAR and calories and the cost of eating Dove bars at every meal.  So, we go to Plan B, which is to look around at what we have and make something fresh. 

 Let's try it and see how it turns out, shall we?? (I love blogs. You have no choice. Unless you want to just close the page now... But you don't. You want to see what happens, right?)

   Once upon a time a bird flew over our lawn. This bird had just had a nice, juicy breakfast of mulberries from someone's tree. The bird did his business and nature took care of the rest. (This is  scientific, please take notes.) So, since my smarty-pants husband recognized the tree and didn't mow it down, we've had this growing ever since...



 Besides making a huge mess on any car parked underneath, mulberries are tasty. Not too sweet, not too tart, mild blackberry flavor. Let's pick some, shall we?

Honestly, I don't have unlimited time, so I'll pass this chore off onto whichever child is nearest. (Thanks, Ana!)

Soon, we have this, just like magic!  Kids are great...


 All right, now for the fun. We're going to squish them in a colander, over some coffee filters, to extract the juice. You think you want to just mash them up and then start, but you don't. These little things have a lot of seeds. And we don't really want seeds where we're going with this project.

                                    

(This photo is just to remind you to have ALL your hand modeling jobs done BEFORE you start.)

So, we have some wonderful mulberry juice (okay, and a few seeds, so shoot me). That's a reflection on that yummy purple water, so don't think I dropped in a coffee filter for flavor. We're going to add some lime, because it brings out the flavor really nicely. And then we're going to sweeten it. Here you can go with honey or raw sugar or some of that fake stuff that we won't mention by name or even plain, old cane sugar. And the best part: you get to taste, and taste, and taste. But not too much or you'll have to send out another kid and start over.



Remember this stuff? (They're NOT PAYING ME. I promise. But it's so good for you and it comes in nonfat varieties. You can't go wrong.) So, one big container of Greek yoghurt.


Hide this part from view. Nobody wants to see this. (Except for the ones who like to cook. We'll let you in, but don't tell anyone it looks like this for a little while.)



Now, we get to taste some more. Sweeten some more. When you have it where you like it, add a tsp of vanilla. Really, it makes it wonderful.


Now, into the freezer for a few hours.
 Do nothing. Do not clean, do not iron, do not fold laundry.
 Sit and watch the sky. Look! A pretty sunset!


Ta-DAH! Didn't I tell you that you wanted to hang around? See, fresh mulberry-sorbet-yoghurt-concoction. (Yes, that's the official name.) Fat free, sweetened with local honey, and has protein for happy vibes.

The best part about this recipe is that it works with just about anything. Raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries. (And it's blueberry season here. Get ready, Yankee Belle Cafe fans, because we pick about 100lbs a summer to get us through the winter. Blueberries are a super food.)

Until next week!





                                                 

22 comments:

  1. Oh, I love this recipe. So easy! The hard part is going to be getting to the farmers market today and getting some blackberries since, alas, I have no mulberry tree.

    And truthfully, doesn't a dash of vanilla make everything better?

    Peace, Julie

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    1. Funny you say that! I was spacing out and put in a splash, then sat there wondering if I'd ruined it. I took a taste and oooooo! Happy accidents!

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  2. Brilliant!! I've been living on yoghurt and fruit because it's been so hot and now here's a neat twist! I'll have to get to my farmer's market though and maybe I'll get adventurous and try a multi-berry concoction.

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    1. Tell us how it goes! We've tried cherry and apricot, too, but I'm dying to see if blueberry/raspberry would be good.

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  3. Oh, wow! That's looks amazing, Virginia! I can imagine all the different fruit possibilities!

    Of course, I'm sitting here trying to think of which fruit juice I can BUY so I don't have to do the hard work of the juicing. :) Maybe some kind of orange-mango?

    What a beautiful dessert!!

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    1. Missy, orange would make like a creamsicle, right?

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    2. Oooh, yum!! I guess it would. I love those!

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    3. MMMM, now you've got me thinking about those little packets of fruit slush they have in the freezer section. My husband buys the papaya one because he likes to put it on sweet coconut rice he makes. I bet that would be good!
      Orange-mango... Could you use frozen orange juice?

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  4. BTW, my favorite step of the recipe was the part where you say NOT to clean or do laundry, etc. I LOVE THAT permission!

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    1. Haha! Yes, strange how need permission to look at a sunset. It's for YOU, of course. Why else would it be there? So when you see one, you better stop and admire it. :)

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  5. I am just back from the farmers market with blackberries and the grocery store with, shock, full fat greek yogurt. And I have a ice freezer!

    Will report back later. I am getting a massage at 2pm. NO laundry for me!

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    1. Can I tell you how utterly jealous I am????

      :)

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    2. HAHAHAHA! Julie! Blackberries, yoghurt, AND a massage???

      If you weren't so darn nice, I'd unfriend you. :D

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    3. Yes, indeed but remember I am using full fat yogurt AND having to do the frozen stuff the old fashioned way after putting a wet towel in my ice cream freezer bowl that had been in the freezer. Sigh. I do not want paper towel in my stuff.

      How long do I have to wait til it is frozen????

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    4. Julie, do NOT watch the sorbet! It will NOT FREEZE!

      :D

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  6. I was all set to try this, Virginia, but I can't.

    The saddest problem of this ridiculous heat is that my freezer can't even keep the ice cream I buy frozen so it will never freeze something that's liquid to begin with.

    I'm not sure what the reason is since everything else in there stays solid, but it happens every summer. My husband's theory is that it has something to do with the dairy content.

    Love the purple hands!

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    1. We have a really old top freezer that hardly works, on our ancient, tiny fridge.

      BUT last year my dad (who is addicted to Costco) decided we needed a giant upright. Oooooo, that thing is amazing. You can lock it, set the temp, and even put it on a timer. The only problem is you can't just 'chill' something, like a diet pepsi. It will explode if you forget for 20 minutes.

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  7. when picking mulberries one must wear old clothes cos they stain really good and getting the stains out is not easy. Our friends had a Mulberry tree in there yard, a really big tree. Did you know silkworms love Mulberry leaves.

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    1. Someone just told me that! Must be too cold for them here! I was all ready to start a raw silk factory and put the kids to work.

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  8. Not sure we get frosts here and warmer weather although we dont get that many days over 100. at present its around 46 right now.

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    Replies
    1. Jenny, the opposite seasons never fail to amaze me. I can't imagine cold weather right now!

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