WEEKLY MENU 08.22.21
The Weekly Menu 08.22.21 starts out with a summer fave: no-churn Ice Cream. How bad can a week be after that?
I’ve mentioned it before: my Dad adored ice cream. DOLD felt it was his duty as a soon to be Papa to make sure I had enough dairy in my life. We literally (and, yes, I MEAN literally) had ice cream every day while I was pregnant with the OG Baby Boy. Dad and I had some soft serve and some hand scooped. We even had both on the same day sometimes. Baskin Robbins 31 flavors were no match for us.
DOLD gained 25 pounds while I was pregnant that first time.
I gained {{slightly}} more. When he was a wee babe (he weighed 9 + pounds at birth), the OG Baby Boy was practically translucent. He thinks I should have deviated from my standard vanilla ice cream, at least occasionally. I think it’s the pale Irish in his DNA makeup. Which is my story and I’m sticking to it.
I still adore ice cream. Bert and I were in Buffalo a few years ago and I was jonesing for a cone, so I pulled up Yelp and looked for a taste treat near us. It turned out that there was a soft serve stand within a half mile of where we were. I swear I heard my Father’s voice in my head saying he’d have weighed 300 pounds if he had that capability.
We got an ice cream machine when we got married, but I never had much luck with it. The insert took up way more precious freezer space than it was worth. Then I found out about no-churn ice cream. You heard that right.
NO CHURN ICE CREAM.
Ice Cream made with condensed milk, whipped cream and whatever flavors you love. Sometimes I don’t even bother getting out the mixer for whipping the cream and use my trusty Hand Blender. You can even use a good balloon whisk and get your arm workouts in.
One of my favorite No Churn Ice Cream:
Toasted Coconut No Churn Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Sweetened, flaked coconut
- 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
- 1 tbsp Coconut Rum
- 1/2 tsp Coconut Extract
- 2 cups Heavy cream
- pinch Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toast coconut for 6 to 8 minutes, being careful not to burn. Set aside to cool.
- Combine condensed milk, coconut oil, coconut rum and coconut extract in large bowl. Add toasted coconut and mix well.
- In another container, whip cream until peaks form, being careful not to over whip (and make butter). Ad 1/2 of cream to milk mixture and mix well to lighten.
- Fold remaining cream into milk mixture, combining thoroughly. Freeze in covered container for at least 6 hours.
Ice cream should be fairly easy to serve after freezing, but let sit out for 5 minutes to soften as necessary.
It is divine.
Cinnamon Heath Crunch No Churn Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 2 cups Heavy cream
- pinch Salt
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 8.5 ounce pkg Heath Bits O’ Brickle
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whip cream until peaks form, being careful not to over whip (and make butter).
- Sprinkle cinnamon over top of whipped cream, and slowly drizzle in condensed milk while mixing on low, trying not to deflate mixture.
- Fold Bits O’ Brickle into whipped mixture, combining thoroughly. Freeze in covered container for at least 6 hours.
- Ice cream should be fairly easy to serve after freezing, but let sit out for 5 minutes to soften as necessary.
This is also fabulous. And super easy.
Click here for 10 more no churn recipes!
What does this have to do with the Weekly Menu 08.22.21?
We’re making ice cream sandwiches. We’re cheating in a big way by using a tube of peanut butter cookie dough. But we’re completely redeeming ourselves by making a rich, dark chocolate no-churn ice cream for the inside. As far as the boys are concerned, it kind of makes up for the fact we’re having pork chops. Delicious grilled pork chops and scalloped potatoes, no less. That’s Sunday eats around here.
It’s still summertime, so in an effort to both enjoy meatloaf and not heat up the kitchen too much, I’m making Meatloaf Meatballs. They have the flavor of meatloaf with the ketchup coating and bacon, but they only cook for about 20 minutes. I’m also doing a twofer: we’ll portion a bit of the meatloaf mixture into smaller meatballs and cook them without sauce or toppings of any kind. Those will go into a tomato based soup on Tuesday with some rice and spinach.
Bert is being pressed into service on Wednesday and Thursday. Simple Caesar salad with grilled chicken is on the horizon Wednesday, and grilled Sausage with Peppers and Onions are doing the job on Thursday. We’re planning on using the grill basket for the veggies. (Affiliate links precede and follow. See Disclaimer Page for details.) We can get a nice char on them without losing them between the grates.
Bert is often our idea man, food wise.
He creates the ideas, and I implement. That’s what’s happening on Friday. We’re taking D’s favorite dinner and making it into a sub. Chicken Fra Diavolo on a baguette with plenty of stringy cheese melted on top. We might mix in a little fontina for ultimate flavor. Doesn’t he come up with good ideas?
WEEKLY MENU 08.22.21
RECIPE LINKS
CHEDDAR, APPLE & HONEY CROSTINI
SWEET & SPICY CARROTS
NO CHURN DARK CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
MEATLOAF MEATBALLS
WEEKNIGHT MASHED SPUDS
PARMESAN DRESSING
CHICKEN FRA DIAVOLO (SUB!)
ITALIAN CHOPPED SALAD
The crostini (where we’re subbing in cheddar for Brie) is from Two Peas and Their Pod. The Chocolate Ice Cream is via Food talk Daily. And the Vegetarian Chopped Salad is from The Kitchn.
