I saw on TikTok the other day this super tasty looking snack. I was on the hunt for a coupon for Whole Fruit bars, and Voila! I’m off to shop for all of these ingredients today!
Start with a Whole Fruit Bar (The lady used a Mango one, but I think Pineapple would be good too)
Top with a drizzle of Chamoy, and finally, sprinkle with Tajin and enjoy!
An icy cold spicy treat!
With real fruit in every Whole Fruit bar, we gave nature’s candy a little upgrade. Enjoy one today
My kids are ready to celebrate! I’ve found some freebies and low-cost deals for those of you looking for some sweet deals (see what I did there??) and some of our family recipes if you are in the mood to cook.
If you are trying to stay on budget, here are a few of our family favorite dessert recipes:
If you’ve discovered any other awesome deals or freebies for this National Dessert day, please leave it in the comments below!
Spring brings warmer weather, flowers, baby animals, and freebies.
Two of our favorite freebies will be available on the first day of spring:
Free Italian Ice at Rita’s on March 19th: Celebrate the arrival of spring with our favorite annual tradition – FREE Rita’s Italian Ice!
Stop by Rita’s for the First Day of Spring FREE Italian Ice giveaway on THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020, from noon to 9 PM (local time)
All guests who visit Rita’s will receive a FREE Italian ice in the available flavor of their choice served in our special First Day of Spring cup!
Free Small Ice Cream Cone at Dairy Queen on March 19th: Keep your eyes peeled for more details on their social media channels, but this deal has been going on for YEARS.
I mentioned in the Weekly Meal Plan post yesterday that it’s going to be a hot one this week. Ugh.
That means lots of time swimming and lots of time at the YMCA enjoying their AC and doing fun activities- Big Kid just did the fitness orientation and he is excited to start exercising. Mostly he wants to take boxing classes with me on Saturdays.
All that activity requires good, healthy fuel, and I do not want to fire up the stove or oven when it’s over 90 outside.
Here are a few of my favorite recipes to serve when it’s hot outside!
As you can tell there are a lot of dessert recipes. Because, really, who doesn’t like dessert?
Talk Back: What do you cook when it’s hot?
Free Samples, Food, and Events:
Free Magazine Subscriptions:
There are all kinds of awesome freebies this week!
Free Sample of CeraVe Winter Relief Skincare
Free Pre-K Pass for Kids at Select Theme Parks
Free Elemis Superfood Berry Boost Mask Sample
Free Just Because Greeting Card at Hallmark Every Friday
Free Giovanni Hair Care Product
Free Spring Fishing Classic Event at Bass Pro Shops
We love Ice Cream! But, it can be expensive, a carton that’s not a half gallon can run upwards of $5.00 around these parts. Most cartons of ice cream are 1.5 to 1.75 quarts, that’s a decrease from 2 quarts or a half gallon just 10 years ago. Same price (or more) and less product. No thanks.
And honestly, there are a lot of weird ingredients in store bought ice cream. Food stabilizers, thickeners (like seaweed), and artificial flavors/colors. No thanks!
After meeting with a nutritionist recently regarding my big kids food issues stemming from sensory issues related to ASD, she recommended more full fat dairy products to help make sure he was getting enough fats in his diet. A kid can only drink so much milk, so I decided to make some ice cream from scratch.
After looking through that cook book, as well as looking through several of my own, and a quick internet search, I came up with several ideas on how to concoct some tasty ice cream. I asked the kids for flavor suggestions. Two choices were the big winners:
Making Ice Cream is easy. If you’ve got an ice cream maker, you just mix up your ingredients, pour into the drum of the maker, put the lid on, flip the switch and 15-20 minutes, you’ll have a pretty soft ice cream. Scoop it into an airtight container with a lid (like Tupperware), and freeze it for about 2 hours. Then it’ll be hard enough to eat.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, don’t fret, you can use two coffee cans (cleaned out of course), some ice, salt, and duct tape and make it at home- This is the method we used when I was a kid. You can read all about it here along with a true and funny story about making ice cream with kids. This is also a fun thing to do while camping- You can pre-mix the ingredients and take it in your cooler.
Here is the basic recipe I use. Please note that the ingredients used are chosen specifically for their fat content so the ice cream will be creamy. If you alter the ingredients at all, the ice cream will be gritty, grainy, or have ice crystals in it.
Ice Cream Base (makes about 1.5 quarts)
Directions:
Variations:
If you want to make my PB Fit ice cream, add 3/4 c PB Fit and 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips in step two.
Chocolate Malt ice cream is the base recipe with 3/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 c malt powder, and an additional 1/2 c brown sugar.
Now onto the economics: Is making your own ice cream cheaper? Usually, yes. We used flavorings that we already have on hand, and I recommend that you do the same- You know what flavors you like, and you probably already have some flavorings on hand.
That’s enough cream to make 2 2-quart batches of ice cream.
You can watch a video of the ice cream maker going here, and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram too! I post all kinds of fun stuff there!
Disclaimer: I have linked to items on Amazon. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. Monies earned through commissions are used to offset the costs associated with running the blog (and the occasional cup of coffee).
Talk Back: What is your favorite flavor of Ice Cream? Have you ever made Ice Cream at home before?
Summer is lurking… Can you feel it? I got a sunburn over the weekend, so I can definitely feel it.
The kids and I have already started our bucket list- stuff we gotta do while we’re running wild this summer.
So far Henry has requested:
I’d love to hear about your summer bucket list and plans!
It’s really hard to lose weight and eat well, especially when there are restaurants like Sonic Drive-In. They have these yummy, thick rich shakes and blasts (which is soft serve ice cream with cookies or candy mixed in and topped with whipped cream), but good lord, do they have tons of calories.
This recipe is a Swap. We swap out stuff with crazy high calories for lower calories ingredients to make a yummy, less calorically dense treat. For reference, a MINI Reese’s Cup Sonic Blast is 580 calories and is about 8 ounces (oh, yeah, they come in four other, progressively larger sizes!). The HMR recipe is 380 calories, and the Swap version is between 380-420 calories depending on which brand of light ice cream you use. Oh, and the recipe makes about 20 ounces! Hooray for more volume and less calories!
I’ve included two versions: One with HMR ingredients (you can substitute your favorite brand of vanilla protein powder and PB Protein Bar), and one using ingredients from the grocer.
Peanut Butter Cup Shake
Makes 1 large shake (or I guess you could split it and share, but trust me, you won’t want to!)
Ingredients:
(I used the choc. PB2, it’s all we had)Directions:
Here is the second recipe, for those who just want to eat a little better:
Peanut Butter Cup Shake
Makes 1 large shake
Ingredients:
Directions:
We have both a Ninja NJ600 Pro Blender
It’s BAAACCCCK!!!
Tomorrow is the day! Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s locations all across the US from noon until 8pm.
Find your local participating location here.
After our doctor’s appt, Lil’ Man and I will be heading down to Seaport Village for a free scoop, a walk, and a picnic lunch!
There are two locations in San Diego: Horton Plaza Mall and Seaport Village.
If you’ve never been, the line at Seaport Village goes pretty fast. It’s a great time, enjoying a tasty treat and watching the boats in the bay!
Hewes Family Fun 