Ice Cream: Is It Real?

When cleaning out the refrigerator to make room for the upcoming holiday meal, I came across a most unexpected surprise.  This one came in the form of a science experiment.

A container of ice cream was discovered in the freezer. It had been left by the house sitter about a month ago.

Not wanting to make a big leaky mess in the garbage can, I attempted to wash the contents down the kitchen drain by running hot water over the contents. Simple enough one would think, but apparently not. After a minute or so of doing this, it was obvious that the ice cream would not melt.

So I took a blob of what was left in the container, put some on a plate and waited to see how this would play out. 

Here is my original photo after the hot water run:

There is some liquid in the dish, most likely due to the hot water that it had just been under.
The straight line on top of the blob is from the inside corner of the container. The round dents on the surface are from my finger poking at the blob. The ice cream sat on the kitchen counter for most of the day as I went about my business preparing foods for the holiday meal. Although it was a fairly cold day outside, the temperature in my kitchen was running about 78 degrees, due to the radiators blaring and the oven being on most of the day.  (We were all lightly sweating).

Another picture was taken about 6 hours later.

Notice that the straight line imprint and finger dents are still there.  Real ice cream would have been a puddle by now. It also makes me wonder how this so called ice cream will be digested, if at all. Also notice the color change.

Just as a side thought, this was not the Walmart brand ice cream that made the news this past summer. This was another name brand. 

To be labeled as ‘ice cream’ food, the ice cream product must contain a minimum of 10% milk fat and that’s all. No allowance is made for the percentage of artificial chemicals (colorings, flavorings, stabilizers, emulsifiers, etc.).

When I read through the ingredients, it was not surprising to find a list of chemical additives that enhance the product’s texture and overall shelf life.

Real ice cream has just a few ingredients: milk, sugar, cream and vanilla. And we all know that the real stuff will melt if left on the counter for a bit of time.

As for me, I really enjoy making my own homemade ice cream, packed with nutrition. If you have a high speed blender (like a Vitamix or Ninja machine), try this recipe for basics:

Dr. Brand’s Healthy Ice Cream Recipe

1 carrot

1 whole apple

1 tsp of cinnamon

¼ cup of cashews

¼ cup coconut oil

1/2 to 1 tray of ice cubes

Real maple syrup (Grade B preferred) usually about ¼ cup or to taste

Put this in your blender and process until smooth. It should resemble a soft serve type of ice cream. You may need to play with the measurements to get the consistency you like. You can add other healthy ingredients as you like, like raw cacao (for a chocolate flavor) or mushrooms or hemp seeds for additional nutrition. It tastes really amazing with a little peanut butter mixed in at the end.

Lesson learned here is to buy quality food to have quality health. If you eat a box of chemicals, don’t expect to get any nourishment from it. Even if the label says it’s real food.

If you liked this post, you may also like:  Benefits of Raw Chocolate     or  Seaweed Salad Anyone?