2013 -- week 30 -- work, work, work, & lots of fun!

this past week was one of my busiest -- i had to work six of the seven days, drive over 1000 miles, and recruit students from three different schools to join the teen pregnancy prevention program i run. it was a bit intense. 

(ps. if you're interested in learning sex ed facts and statistics, please like pinal county teen outreach program on facebook. it's a great resource for teens, parents, and teachers to learn more about teenage sexual health education!)

but there were also some really awesome things that happened this week -- rcg and i celebrated our anniversary with dippin' dots, the ice cream of the future, and my favorite ice cream of all time, and we went to a matchbox twenty concert! it was like a two day extravaganza especially for me. and it was amazing for a couple of reasons. when rcg surprised me with dippin' dots, it convinced me, beyond any doubt, how awesome he is, and how well he knows me. and that's a really cool feeling. and then he was totally supportive of my desire to appease my eighth grade self and see matchbox twenty. he patiently sat through the concert, without so much as one whine, even though he had been up since 3:30am and hiked 15 miles, and would have much rather been asleep than listening to rob thomas croon to screaming girls. i'm so lucky!

since i am the one who puts together our project life "pages" each week, sometimes i feel like i'm not properly documenting what goes on in rcg's life, just my own. which is totally lame. especially since he gets to do some cool things at work; just check out his day in the life from february 28, 2013. so anytime he does something super cool without me i try to remember to ask him to take at least a couple of pictures for me. that way i can document the neat things he does when i'm not around. like this past weekend, when he went hiking with a friend in the santa catalina mountains. (if you're interested in trying out the trail they hiked, you can find it here.) they've been doing a lot of hiking over the past couple of months (in june they hiked mt. wrightson and in march we all hiked baboquivari) because they're prepping for a rim to rim hike through the grand canyon in september! i'm pretty pumped for them!!

what do you do so that you can document everyone in your family's week?

ben & jerry's ice cream factory

a month or so ago i went to vermont to watch my good friend graduate from med school. it was a nice weekend -- the weather was awesome, i got to hang out with some of my favorite people, and we had the opportunity to see some pretty cool places.

csv spent four years in burlington, vermont, but in all that time she never went to the ben & jerry's ice cream factory. crazy, huh? so in her last 48 hours, we went. and not only did i get to try a fun new flavor, cinnamon yum, but i also learned some valuable ice cream making tips. 

 

tip #1: make your ice cream flavor but let it sit overnight before putting it in the ice cream maker and freezing it. it will help the flavors meld and become even more awesome.

tip #2: freeze your ice cream fast. by this i don't mean put it in the freezer very soon after making it (although you should be doing that), i mean get a freezer that gets/is very cold. so that when the ice cream is put into the freezer it becomes solid and super frozen super fast. this will prevent ice crystals from forming and will help with both the flavor and consistency of the ice cream.

now all i have to do is convince rcg to let me buy a mega awesome freezer!

unfortunately we went on a weekend, and even though they still hold tours you don't actually get to see them making the ice cream. (super bummer.) but it's still worth the trip, especially for the huge ben & jerry's fans out there, because each tour ends with a homemade flavor that isn't on the normal menu. and they have an extensive shop that sells most, if not all, of the flavors that b&j offer. delicious. 

what's your favorite ben & jerry's flavor?

(mine is mint chocolate cookie!)

january food swap: citrus sorbet and orange creamsicle ice cream

when i saw on facebook that the tucson food swap was on for january i had a little trouble figuring out what i was going to make. until i realized:

it's citrus season!

 last week, as i drove to work i saw a truck on the side of the road advertising naranjas, i decided to follow my new motto for 2013 -- wander -- and buy some fruit. five pounds of citrus for $3. done. times a million. then he offered me variety: blood oranges, navel oranges, and grapefruits. one of each please. $9 and fifteen pounds later, the food swap idea was born. 

for the navel oranges, i decided enough was enough; rcg has asked me to make orange creamsicle ice cream more times than i can count, but there's never great citrus to choose from. but now it's citrus season, and great, fresh, local citrus abounds.

orange creamsicle ice cream

(makes 1 quart)

- 1/2 cup simple syrup
- 1.5 cups orange juice
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup half and half
* mix together all ingredients
* put in ice cream maker

(to make simple syrup, mix equal parts water and sugar)

__________________________________________________________________________

grapefruit sorbet

(makes 1 quart)

- 3 cups grapefruit juice

- 1/2 cup simple syrup 

(add more or less depending on how sweet or sour you want to make the sorbet)

* mix together and freeze in ice cream maker

__________________________________________________________________________

blood orange sorbet

(makes 1 quart)

- 3 cups blood orange juice

- 1/2 cup simple syrup 

(add more or less depending on how sweet or sour you want to make the sorbet)

* mix together and freeze in ice cream maker

do you have a fun citrus recipe to share? please do!

cookie exchange: cookies and cream ice cream

a month ago i got an email

from a woman in my office

asking if i wanted to participate

in cookie exchange.

obviously.

but then i got an email last week

telling me how many cookies i had to make:

5 dozen.

o.m.g.

normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal,

but i had no idea what to make

and i was going to be out of town

the weekend before,

so i was pretty stressed about picking a recipe

and more stressed about making all of those cookies.

plus, i'm not a baker.

so i asked if i could make ice cream instead.

success.

i kept with the theme

and made cookies and cream ice cream.

and it was delicious.

ice cream & sunshine is on facebook!

i took the plunge. 

i started an 

ice cream & sunshine

facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/icecreamandsunshine

(like me!)

so nervous.

i actually started it in august. 

(i was bored.)

but i was too nervous

to publish it.

so i waited. 

and then i got bored at work

and decided to publish it. 

perfection be damned. 

i'm still not 100 percent sure

why one needs a blog,

a facebook page,

an instagram,

pinterest,

tumblr,

etc.

but now i've got all of those.

basically, i own social media.

now i just have to wait for the 

followers and adoring fans

and i will be set.

because i'm pretty sure

those people who blog for living

have it made.

and i want to be one of them.

bad.

ps.

http://instagram.com/vmboda

http://pinterest.com/vmboda/

http://vmboda.tumblr.com/

october food swap: strawberry frozen yogurt

september's food swap was

such a success that we decided

to participate again.

obviously i made ice cream again.

rcg had been dying for 

some strawberry ice cream

but i wanted to try something

a little different this time. 

so i made strawberry frozen yogurt.

it's so delicious

you would never know

that it's fat free.

rockstar.

 

strawberry frozen yogurt:
(makes 1 quart)
- 1 pound strawberries
* cut up strawberries
- 2/3 cup sugar
* mix strawberries and sugar
* let sit for an hour for sugar to dissolve
- 3 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 cup greek yogurt
* mix in lemon juice and yogurt
* blend the mixture with an immersion blender
* put in ice cream maker

september food swap: the prep

 

prickly pops

apparently there are tons 

of farmer's markets in tucson. 

we knew about the cute one 

at the train station near our house

on saturday mornings,

but there are tons. 

we just don't know where they all are. 

well, last week we found one.

and it is just as cute as the saturday one.

plus, it had popsicles.

and since it was hot enough

 to fry an egg on the street, 

we decided to give it a shot.

prickly pear                                                   yellow watermelon

unfortunately, 

these popsicles, 

unlike the ones at cyclopsicle,

have too much water in them. 

the owner of prickly pops 

was proud of the fact that 

they had no sugar added, 

and i commend her for that.

but don't kill the flavor of the fruit

with too much water.

i want to have to pick the watermelon 

out of my teeth afterwards, 

not chew on an icy popsicle.

all of that being said, 

on a crazy hot day,

these will definitely hit the spot.

cyclopsicle

there may be few things better

than a fresh fruit popsicle

on a hot summer day. 

so when i learned about cyclopsicle

i knew i had to give a try.

it was everything i could ever hope for. 

and more.

cantaloupe mint & papaya lime

avocado ice cream. again.

• 1.5 avocados
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• lime juice

i know this isn't the first time i've made this

but i got pictures this time. 

plus, the ice cream is too good

to not make again.

cut up avocado and mix with

sour cream,

whipping cream,

lime juice,

and sugar.

blend it up until smooth.

freeze it. 

yeah. it's that freaking simple.

rockstar.