It's one of those slow moving Saturdays. Your oldest kid is having a playdate with one of his best buddies. They've torn through all your son's toys in record speed, argued twice over who can "force push" and who has the power to perform a "Jedi Mind Trick" and have played the Wii WAYYYY longer than you meant to allow them. You don't want your kid's friend to report home that all they did was play video games and because you're "the boss," and mean, you turn off the blasted system. Bored, sad, and down-right grouchy (basically driving you insane) you need something to rescue you from this self-induced Swamp of Sadness your quickly sinking into. Now is the perfect opportunity to pull out the old timey "Let's make ice cream in a coffee can" trick. The beauty of this project is the single-serving size means they don't even have to share..thank god.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1: Gather necessary materials and ingredients
The beauty of this project is it's one of those activities you can pull out when you're in need of something fun to do with the kids. Most of the ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard with the exception of saving a few empty containers and purchasing a box of rock salt.
For a single-serving of quick, yummy homemade vanilla ice cream you'll need:
1 empty medium sized coffee can. We used a 13oz can.
1 empty container with a lid that'll fit inside the coffee can with extra space around it for ice and salt. We used small empty jelly jars and plastic yogurt containers
(Now is the time to pat yourself on the back for recycling and having a mini-lesson with your kids about the importance of reusing items, consumption and global warming)
You'll also need:
1 Tablespoon measuring spoon
1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon
1/2 cup measuring cup
1 small spoon for stirring
For the vanilla ice cream you'll need:
1/2 cup milk. We used non-fat because that's what we drink. However, any milk will work and I even hear soy milk also works for you lacto-free folks
1-2 Tablespoons granulated sugar depending on how sweet you want your ice cream. We used 2 and it was a bit too sweet for my kids. My son's friend is pretty much sugar-free so he used 1 packet of Splenda and it turned out pretty tasty.
1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. The kids found 1 teaspoon of vanilla to be a little bit too over-powering
Small chunks of ice. Enough to fill the surrounding space around the small container inside the coffee can.
1-2 Tablespoons rock salt. We actually found ours at Von's and it was specifically made for ice cream
Optional ingredients:
1 teaspoon chocolate syrup substituted for the vanilla extract if you're craving chocolate
1-2 Small snack size Hershey's Chocolate bars or other chocolate that can be chunked up if you want to make chocolate chip ice cream
For a single-serving of quick, yummy homemade vanilla ice cream you'll need:
1 empty medium sized coffee can. We used a 13oz can.
1 empty container with a lid that'll fit inside the coffee can with extra space around it for ice and salt. We used small empty jelly jars and plastic yogurt containers
(Now is the time to pat yourself on the back for recycling and having a mini-lesson with your kids about the importance of reusing items, consumption and global warming)
You'll also need:
1 Tablespoon measuring spoon
1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon
1/2 cup measuring cup
1 small spoon for stirring
For the vanilla ice cream you'll need:
1/2 cup milk. We used non-fat because that's what we drink. However, any milk will work and I even hear soy milk also works for you lacto-free folks
1-2 Tablespoons granulated sugar depending on how sweet you want your ice cream. We used 2 and it was a bit too sweet for my kids. My son's friend is pretty much sugar-free so he used 1 packet of Splenda and it turned out pretty tasty.
1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. The kids found 1 teaspoon of vanilla to be a little bit too over-powering
Small chunks of ice. Enough to fill the surrounding space around the small container inside the coffee can.
1-2 Tablespoons rock salt. We actually found ours at Von's and it was specifically made for ice cream
Optional ingredients:
1 teaspoon chocolate syrup substituted for the vanilla extract if you're craving chocolate
1-2 Small snack size Hershey's Chocolate bars or other chocolate that can be chunked up if you want to make chocolate chip ice cream
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
Tarrazu´s area coffee is one of the best. Nice to see that you appreciate really good coffee!
Nice 'Ible! :)
Nice way to keep the
bratswonderful children occupied.How well did the fat-free milk work? I thought you needed heavy cream (or at least half-and-half) for it to have the right texture... maybe not?
(Small thing, step 16, the link didn't work. Use this syntax:
)
bratswonderful children occupied.Here's a funny thing- this would be a great Instructable without the ice cream. This is exactly the kind of childhood I had (turn off the bowling game on the computer, create a bowling game out of empty bottles in the garden) and I firmly believe that is what gave me a passion for making/improvising stuff. There are sadly people out there who would benefit from reading an Instructable "How to play with your children"... now there's a collaboration idea for you :)
Anyway, that's enough misty-eyed reminiscence- great detail, great Instructable, now I want ice cream...
bratswonderful children occupied.LOL!
Nice One!