Dairy free refreshing treats? Sorbet? Popsicles?

[one l michele]

Slushies? Are there dairy (soy,egg, and nut) free "ice cream" recipes out there? Other suggestions? Anyone make these at home?

How do you make Sorbet? Does it require a special machine?

What do you pour into the popsicle molds?

Healthy slush flavoring?

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Smoothies made with frozen fruit and juice are really nice.

Also just have juice frozen into little pops. My kids love those.

[OnTheBrink]

Edy's Frozen Fruit bars. I live on them in warm weather. 100% fruit. (If you're west of the Mississippi, they may be called Dryer's)

I have no patience for making such things; I just stock up when they go on sale.

[JFS in IL]

Or - any slushie - just stir several times as the juice freezes, so it comes out soft and slushie, not hard as a rock.

[GailV]

I peel really ripe bananas, break them into chunks and freeze them. Then I put them through a Champion Juicer with the blank plate (except I lost the blank plate so I just leave it off, but don't tell Champion because they say not to run it without a plate). You could also put it in a food processor. Anyway, grind it up, and it's the texture of ice cream. You can add other frozen fruit, too. Eat right away -- it gets sort of weird if you try to keep it in the freezer. It turns brown and gets really really hard due, I suppose, to lack of fat.

I know people make ice cream with coconut milk, although I never paid much attention. I imagine you could google that.

I make popsicles out of frozen juice concentrate. I don't add in as much water as they say to make it into juice -- about 2/3 to 3/4 of that.

[abbeyej]

Agree with others: sorbets, homemade fruit smoothies, Italian ices...

Also, years ago I was able to find *one* brand of dairy and soy-free chocolate-dipped frozen bananas. They were ds' main dessert for a long time, then we moved and I couldn't find them again. Still, might be worth checking in your area, if it sounds like something your kids would enjoy.

Also, just slicing bananas and freezing them to make "popsicle chips" works. (Okay, I personally loathe bananas, lol, but others in my family like these a lot!)

For popsicles, go for just about any juice. You can dilute most of them with a little water and they'll work just as well. Orange juice is a favorite here, but almost any favorite juice works great. Also, if you have any leftovers from a fruit smoothie, just pour them into the molds with a little extra juice.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Agree with others: sorbets, homemade fruit smoothies, Italian ices...

Also, years ago I was able to find *one* brand of dairy and soy-free chocolate-dipped frozen bananas. They were ds' main dessert for a long time, then we moved and I couldn't find them again. Still, might be worth checking in your area, if it sounds like something your kids would enjoy.

Also, just slicing bananas and freezing them to make "popsicle chips" works. (Okay, I personally loathe bananas, lol, but others in my family like these a lot!)

For popsicles, go for just about any juice. You can dilute most of them with a little water and they'll work just as well. Orange juice is a favorite here, but almost any favorite juice works great. Also, if you have any leftovers from a fruit smoothie, just pour them into the molds with a little extra juice.

Oh yes! Frozen bananas are a great treat! I will peel them, break in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap, then put those in a freezer bag. We love them. Another yummy frozen is grapes. We love frozen grapes. As a kid, mom froze many fruits and we ate those as snacks all the time.

[Susan in TN]

Pineapple juice and/or crushed pineapple make delicious popsicles!

[*anj*]

My friend's ds is allergic to milk, eggs, nuts and about 10 other foods. He is not, however, allergic to coconut, and she uses coconut milk in smoothies for him. She also buys a coconut sorbet that you could probably experiment with to learn how to make it at home.

Pina Colada without the rum: yummm!
Strawberry Daiquiri, again, no alcohol.

Things like that are really good with just a lot of ice and fruit.

[Needleroozer]

Here's a link to my recipe for dairy-free ice cream (http://needleroozer.blogspot.com/2006/03/is-homemade-dairy-free-ice-cream-still.html). Many folks have had this and cannot even tell that it is dairy free- we have kids with no allergies that beg me to bring this to our get-togethers.

In addition to that, there are several dairy-free ice creams and sorbets in the freezer section. Two we are loving right now are Ben and Jerry's Jamaica me Crazy sorbet (There is also a berry flavour), and Purely Decadent- a dairy free ice cream. Hagen Das is also good for sorbets, as is Dole. Dole makes really good lime popsickle bars, too.
We don't really like Rice Dream's frozen desert- it has a weird aftertaste to us, but there is a new brand called Rice Cream that is really good- they have a carrot cake flavour that sounds like it would be yucky but is really good.

Something else we do is to freeze grapes, and them pop them like little popsickles. Even my big kids still love this.

[Patty Joanna]

Use orange juice or lemonade to make popsicles.

[Patty Joanna]

One more: Frozen Junior Mints!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Take some canned peaches or pears - puree them. Put in a freezer container and freeze. I often would soften it a bit for serving. And what is really, really delicious is honeydew melon pureed with a touch of maple syrup. Freeze. Delicious!

[Needleroozer]

Take some canned peaches or pears - puree them. Put in a freezer container and freeze. I often would soften it a bit for serving. And what is really, really delicious is honeydew melon pureed with a touch of maple syrup. Freeze. Delicious!

This reminds me of a couple of cool drinks we like here, with spicy foods, and on hot days.

I have been working on an agua fresca recipe- there are many recipes on the internet, but I cannot find one that tastes as good as my fave Mexican place does. It is usually made of melon juice of some sort, sometimes other fruits are used or added. This is a good way for us to get more fruit in our diet. Once I get the kinks out, I'll post it, or if someone finds a recipe they really like, let us know.

Another cool drink we like is orchatta.
Best made in a glass jar or large pitcher. I usually just use vanilla rice dream (and we liked the vanilla hazelzut, though I think my ds and I might be reacting to the nuts, sigh.), add some cinnamon, and just a touch of honey or regular sugar. Mix well with a wisk.To make it for a special occasion, add fresh vanilla bean to the sugar before you mix.. It is best served over ice.

[kalanamak]

Put in blender with enough OJ to make a thick "shake". Yum.

[Lorna]

We love this. We usually make it in summer with a glut of berries, but you can make it any time of year:

Fruit Sorbet


Ingredients: 2 lb raspberries / redcurrants / blackcurrants / blackberries
1 pint 12 fl oz (4 cups) water
12 oz castor sugar
Method: 1.Pour the water into a heavy-bottomed pan, and add the sugar. Heat gently, stirring from time to time, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat, and boil (but not too fiercely) for twenty minutes. Leave till cool.
2.Place the berries in a bowl and mash with a potato masher, or a fork. Tip this mixture into a very fine sieve, or strainer, set over a large bowl.
3.Using a wooden spoon, press the juice out of the berries into the bowl beneath. Once you have about 12 fl oz of thick fruit juice (about two cups), discard the fruit pulp left in the sieve.
4.Pour the fruit into a medium-size plastic container, stir in the cooled sugar syrup and freeze overnight.
5.Next day, take the frozen fruit juice from the freezer, and leave to soften for about ten minutes. Cut into large chunks with a sharp knife.
6.Blend until thick and smooth, using a hand-held blender, or a liquidizer. The colour of the sorbet will become lighter. Smooth with a knife, or spoon, and freeze until hard.

:chillpill:


From The Jamboree (http://www.jamboree.freedom-in-education.co.uk/)

[one l michele]

what is "castor sugar"? Could I just use regular?

[kalanamak]

what is "castor sugar"? Could I just use regular?

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