Non-Dairy Ice Cream

After church, I asked my mom if I could go experiment with my recipe. She agreed. She dropped me and my sister off and took the younger kids with her and James. They went to the park downtown that was right next to the ocean. The kids had fun playing on the wooden pirate-themed playground.

Amber and I both knew how to make ice cream and had been making it for years. I told her about my plans to make non-dairy ice cream. She asked, "Why?" I said, "For people who want ice cream but can't tolerate dairy." She thought about it and said, "ok, what are you going to use for the milk?" I said, "We can use Coconut milk or Oat milk." She asked, "Oat milk? I've heard of coconut milk, but oats don't have milk inside. I said, "If you soak the oats in water overnight the water will turn milky." She thought that was gross. I said, "We can try coconut milk first. It won't be too bad with stronger flavors like chocolate and Strawberry."

She nodded and we went to the grocery store to get the supplies. They had everything but the carrageenan. I might have to get some direction from the beach. I've seen the red seaweed that comes on the beach. I can Google how to harvest carrageenan. Maybe I can find some at a Whole Foods store. I will try it without the carrageenan first and see if it still needs it.

The first batch was too runny. We froze it, but it became icy. I think I might need to use more coconut cream and not coconut milk. The second batch was too thick and was more like whipped cream. Ok, somewhere in the middle. Finally, I made a passable batch that had a close consistency with regular ice cream. I made this one chocolate flavored. The first batch was strawberry and the second was vanilla. I could still eat the other batches, but I wasn't going to present them as non-dairy ice creams. I might be able to present them to other companies as a non-dairy creamer and non-dairy whipped cream. I didn't want to waste any opportunities to make money.

I tried a bowl of the first strawberry crunchy batch. I added some marshmallows to help smooth it out. It was better. Still not as good as regular ice cream, but edible. Amber tried some and made some funny faces when she was crunching the icy desert. She didn't mind it. We usually get snow cones, and it has the consistency of a creamy snow cone. I bet it would be perfect with the carrageenan. I could also try adding guar gum and coconut oil.

I would go to Walmart and see if they had the ingredients that I needed. At least the chocolate was good. I will have to bring a pint to the lawyer I talked to yesterday. I took some and mixed in marshmallows and almonds and put it in a pint container. I left the white container blank instead of adding the ice cream store's logo I added a sticker that I wrote on with a sharpie. It said Mr. Smith's non-dairy Rocky Road. He should like that! I wrote the same thing on a white paper bag and added some napkins and a spoon. I put it back in the freezer so it wouldn't melt while we waited for my mom to pick us up.

While we waited Amber had an idea. She grabbed some ice and asked me if I wanted to pierce my belly button. I remember in my past life we did that, and it got infected. I told her it was a bad idea and said if she wanted it done, I would take her to a body shop when she was 18.

Mom came a little later and picked us up. It wasn't too late, so I asked if I could drop off the ice cream for Mr. Smith. She agreed and asked, "How did it turn out?" I told her about the success of the third batch and the other uses for the first 2 batches. She seemed impressed that I had thought about how to reduce waste and use the other batches for other purposes. I asked if she wanted to try them. She nodded and tried each one with a different spoon.

She was impressed and agreed that the first 2 needed some work, but the third one was surprisingly good. I wrote down the ingredients we used during our trials so I could have the recipe. I could already take it to the patent office, but I wanted to have at least 3 flavors. The cocoa powder usually made the ice cream thicker, so I knew it wouldn't be the same with a different flavor. I would need to experiment with guar gum and carrageenan.

It was still a huge success on my first try. I didn't want to add too many ingredients or processed ingredients. I know how health-conscious a lot of people are when they start to eliminate dairy from their diets. I have tried many different diets and researched a lot of ingredients in my past life. Now that information was useful in this life.

I had tried a lot of different types of milk substitutes and oat milk was my favorite followed by coconut milk. Soy milk used to be my favorite in coffee because it was sweet, but then I found out soy milk can affect your hormones. As someone who was already hormonally imbalanced, it affected me. I started to have more mood swings and growing hair on my chin. It was enough for me to stop drinking it.

Almond milk left a gritty feeling on my teeth and cashew milk wasn't very smooth. I have even tried pea milk because it has more protein, but it tastes chalky. I decided the best milk substitutes for non-dairy ice cream were coconut milk and oat milk. The downside to oat milk is that I will have to make it myself first. Coconut milk was already available, so I would start with that.

We went to the lawyer's office, and I ran the bag inside by myself. I didn't want James to ask too many questions. He asked my mom why we were there, and she told him it was a delivery for a customer. He just shrugged and waited. She didn't want to tell him she had met with a lawyer earlier in case he started to worry. While they were at the park she went to play with the kids and asked Christopher when they were alone about what Jasmine told her. Christopher confirmed it and she was so mad she made up her mind to divorce him.

Tomorrow she will go to the bank and set up her account. Then she will call and switch everything to her name. My mom bought the house before they were married from an auction and fixed it up herself with help from friends and her brother. My Uncle Darren was an excellent home repairman. He was a contractor by day, so he knew a lot about remodeling. She put in new tiles, new bathroom tubs, and toilets, and repainted. The house looked almost brand new when we moved in.

She should be able to keep the house after the divorce. Texas splits everything 50/50 unless you have a prenup. She did not have one because she didn't have much money or assets when they got married. They bought the ice cream shop together and he had worked there for a while. She thought she might have to sell it and split the profits with him. She would have been fine with it if she didn't have someone abusing her children. She will also meet with his ex-wife tomorrow. She will call her for lunch and discuss what to do with her kids. She didn't feel like he was fit to be a caregiver. The kids were old enough to decide who they wanted to live with. She just wanted to give their mom a heads-up.

I went to the office of Mr. Smith and asked the receptionist if he was available. She said he was off on Sundays, but she could keep the ice cream in the employee freezer. I nodded and gave her the bag. I already labeled it, so it should be safe. If someone else eats it, I could make him another one. I still had the rest of the batch at the ice cream store. It was labeled as non-dairy do not use. Hopefully whoever saw it will read the label.

We had a few employees who were around high school or college age. One of the guys was not too bright. He flipped the cookies upside down instead of rotating the tray in the oven. They were all smooshed. They didn't look good but still tasted fine, so we got to eat them. Hopefully he will not give away my creation.