Cooling Off On the Cheap
by Julie Fletcher

Description: Ideas for making homemade popsicles, ices, and ice cream.

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It's hot outside. Are you ready to cool down? Try out the following ideas to get chilled on the cheap.

There are so many benefits to making your own popsicles. They're much cheaper and depending on the ingredients, healthier than store bought. You can easily choose the size by checking out different stores. Wal*Mart and Target carry larger size molds, whereas you can find smaller molds at a local dollar store. The cheaper and smaller molds make pops that are perfect for young children.

I've used the more expensive molds and can tell you that sometimes the cheaper ones out perform Tupperware and the Martha Stewart molds.

Here are a few ideas for your pops:

• Fresh fruit and a little juice
• Yogurt
• Chocolate or vanilla pudding (any pudding flavor will work)
• Fruit and yogurt
• Smoothies
• Kool-Aid
• Crystal light or the store brand equivalent

Just fill molds with any of the above! The possibilities are infinite!

Do you love ice cream sandwich cookies? Make your own! You don't have to make your own cookies at all. In the summer, it's crazy to heat up the house, so look for large sized cookies. Many stores carry these type in the snack sections.

Take your favorite ice cream, put a big dollop in the middle of one, then squish together. Not only do kids love this, husbands do, too. My own husband went through 3 of these before I could get them away!

Ices are great,too,and a cheap alternative to ice cream. I recently purchased an ice shaver in what looked like unused condition from our favorite thrift store. It cost 1.00 and works very well. I have already frozen some Hi-C, Pepsi, and chocolate milk! The chocolate milk tastes a lot like the Wendy's frosty. You can shave any liquid that is frozen. A favorite of mine is to take margarita mix and shave it.

Homemade ice cream is great if you have a machine or a hand crank maker. If you want good quality ice cream, make your own in a hand cranked machine, though you can get decent quality with all of the machines. Making your own can be pricey, unless you can find all of the needed ingredients at one of the lower priced grocery stores like Savalot or Aldi. I prefer SavaLot as they seem to have better items.

Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

4 cups heavy cream
pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix everything until the sugar has dissolved. Freeze in a hand cranked or electric machine according to the manufacturers' directions.

You can flavor this one many ways. Add in 2 tablespoons instant coffee with the vanilla for coffee ice cream, 1/2 cup maple syrup instead of sugar for maple ice cream, 1 teaspoon mint oil instead of the vanilla for peppermint.

If you have kids, try making ice cream in a bag. Little ones love making their own! Here's the recipe and directions. It's a fun activity, plus they can eat it out of the bag with a spoon. You get to toss the mess easily.

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