other today stuff

[swingchickie]

i'm finding that i really enjoy watering the new landscaping. i have to water all the plants every day for the first 2 weeks, and that 1/2 hour or so (it's a lot of plants) is a really peaceful time for me to enjoy the fresh air and get lost in my thoughts. only a few days in, i can already see changes in the plants -- the lilac has a few teeny blooms on it, a couple of the catmint plants are hesitently poking out some purple flowers, and some of the ornamental grasses are expanding by sending out these shoot-like things in wacky directions. it's fascinating. i can only imagine what the gardens will look like next year, once everything's had a year to take hold and spread out.

speaking of spreading out... i bought a small ice cream maker today. jack and i have been spending a small fortune on little weight watchers ice cream cups, it gives us a chance to have something sweet but portion controlled... i figure it'd be fun to try making some of my own, using splenda instead of sugar and using fresh fruits in season. then i can get some of those little reusable containers in the supermarket to split up the batch, so i still have the portion control. the challenge will be making it edible without the high amounts of fat and sugar that make regular ice cream as awesome as it is... and without all the chemical fillers the big food companies use in low-fat foods to mimic the taste and feel of the real thing. it'll be fun trying.

Comments

[swingdoc.livejournal.com]

i look forward to hearing how this goes. tom and i had "the conversation" today, i.e. "i need to change the way i eat - would you participate too, so i have a better chance of succeeding?"

i think he remains skeptical.

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

that's one way in which i am hugely lucky -- jack loves to cook, and has been very supportive of my trying to eat healthier because he needs to as well... so it becomes a little personal contest for him to see how he can make food that's healthy but still tastes awesome. the other day he marinated chicken breasts and zucchini strips and eggplant in olive oil and basil, and threw it on the grill... it was amazing. i can't remember the last time i ate that many veggies.

[boutell.livejournal.com]

As someone who dabbles in doing crazy shit with his ice cream maker I will be very interested to hear how this turns out.

I haven't done the math but I'd guess my chocolate halvah vegan "ice cream" is probably not breathtakingly better for you than the real thing. Tahini certainly has plenty of fat.

IMHO really small portions of really good ice cream are going to work better than bigger portions of enh quasi-ice cream. I never feel unsatisfied after my (relatively) little cup of capogiro. Having more would be almost wrong, like beer-bonging Chimay Cinq Cents.

The splenda seems like a good experiment though. Someone who was sweet on me (hyar hyar) used to make me vegan desserts with splenda, which was (a) hilarious and (b) surprisingly good.

Stuff I make in my ice cream maker does not keep very well. It is smooth and creamy fresh out of the maker but tends to set much much harder in the freezer. Results with real dairy products may vary of course and your ice cream maker may be just plain better.

Have fun!

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

yeah, i'm guessing that after an attempt or two i'm going to have to go back to full-fat ingredients, which is fine... it's the sugar i'm more concerned with. i love capogiro, and a little cup of it is fine for me because it's so rich, but then the next day every pleasure receptor in my body is like "ZOMG WANT A GALLON OF ICE CREAM".

re: hard ice cream -- have you tried nuking it for a couple of seconds? i do that and it helps a lot. rita's water ice freezes into a solid brick of ice when you bring it home... they tell you to nuke it for 6 or 7 seconds on high, and lo and behold, it works. makes it the perfect consistency again.

[boutell.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's true microwaves are great ice cream resuscitators

Sorbet

[katehaney.livejournal.com]

If you're changing the sweetener, then it's all about the fruit. Great stuff!

Re: Sorbet

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

i'm totally with you! i'm trying to come up with a recipe for passionfruit-coconut... as well as cherry, since i have a bunch of fresh cherries i just sliced up and put in the freezer. yum.