15. HEALTHY ICE CREAM

Ice cream is an all-American treat that everybody loves, but we may need to fall out of love with this sweet tasty dessert as it is made today. Ice cream was a favorite dessert even in the good old days, but consider the difference:

My parents bought a 50-pound chunk of ice when they went to town on Saturdays, which was wrapped in blankets. On Sunday morning Mom would mix 6 raw eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, 1/4 t salt and 1 cup of cream, pour the mixture into the six-quart freezer can, then finish filling the can with whole milk. This was set in the wooden bucket of the freezer keg. My dad chopped the ice, then packed the edges around the can with ice and salt. He threw a quilt on top and my sisters or I would sit on the quilt. The turning began and within about 20 minutes, the mixture hardened. Dad pulled the paddle and we grabbed spoons to eat the ice cream clinging to it. He put the lid back on the can, filled the bucket with ice and salt, threw the blanket on top and let it set. Soon the ice cream was solid, sweet and good. We loved it!

Now let’s compare yesterday’s ice cream with that of today:

First ingredient: eggs. The farm eggs were fresh, the hens were running around their large pen, and their feed, in addition to items they picked from the soil, was chemical free. They were given no antibiotics and no hormones.

The factory farm eggs put in ice cream today come from houses where hens are imprisoned nine and ten to a cage. Because of the multitude of germs brought on by overcrowding, the ammonia-filled air and lack of fresh air and sunshine, the hens are given massive doses of antibiotics to keep down infections. They are also given doses of hormones which make them lay almost three times as many eggs as normal. These two elements seep into the eggs to be consumed by us.

Second ingredients: cream and milk. Our milk and cream came fresh from the cow who had grazed on grass and was given a little chemically-free feed to eat while being milked.

The cream and milk used in our ice cream today comes from factory farms. The cows eat grain loaded with pesticide, and they are given hormones to make them produce about five times the normal amount of milk. Their big bags make for a constant battle with mastitis, which calls for massive doses of antibiotics. In addition, there is a high pus content in milk caused by crowded conditions and walking in their own manure.  The hormones, pesticide, antibiotics and pus content are possibly the reasons many authorities, including Dr. Keith Nemec, blame dairy for breast cancer, leukemia and allergies.

In addition to the contaminated milk and cream, dherbs.com lists many harmful chemicals in ice cream, making it more of a chemical concoction than a food.

Coconut and other plant-based ice creams are available at health-food stores. Electric ice cream freezers can be purchased to make the recipes below or they can be made with a blender.MY ICE CREAM IS EVEN BETTER THAN MY MOM’S!

COCONUT ICE CREAM
Blend these ingredients for a base:
2 cans coconut milk (Thai Kitchens organic best)
1/2 c agave syrup, maple syrup or honey
1/4 t salt
2 T cornstarch or 1 T arrowroot
1 1/2 t vanilla
Shake milk and pour into a pan reserving 1/2 cup with which
to whisk cornstarch or arrowroot. Pour this into the pan. Add
sweetener and salt, stir to dissolve. Increase heat and stir
until thickened, but do not boil. Stir in vanilla. Cool and
place in refrigerator covered with plastic wrap. When cool,
churn in ice cream freezer about 20 minutes. Add any
extras: nuts, carob chips, strawberries, peaches, etc., then
place in freezer until time to eat.

PINEAPPLE ICE CREAM
1/2 c cashews (raw and washed)
1/2  c rice milk powder
1 46-oz can unsweetened pineapple juice
14 chopped dates
4 large bananas
1 20-oz can crushed pineapple
1/2 c orange juice
Blend 3 cups pineapple juice, cashews, dates and rice
powder until very smooth. Add rest of pineapple juice,
orange juice, crushed pineapple and bananas. Mix
together. Freeze.