Cool Down from a Heat Wave with the Best Grass-fed Ice Cream

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June 28, 2018

When most store-bought ice cream is filled with junk, you can turn to your small farmer, shop wisely, or make your own!

A heat wave is coming, and you know what that means. Finding ways to beat the heat. One of my all-time favorite ways to cool down is ice cream!

Here’s the big problem. Store bought ice creams, even ones advertised as “healthy”, are filled with all kinds of junk.

Emulsifiers, artificial flavors, artificial colors, mono and diglycerides, sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners, and conventional non-organic dairy. All of these highly processed ingredients can disrupt your gut microbiology and, in large amounts, lead to disease.

If you’re reading this email, then I know that nutrition and health is of utmost importance to you. And, I know what you’re thinking. Ice cream has sugar, and there’s no way to make that “healthy”.

I won’t deny it. Sugar is one of the most over-consumed foods in the American diet. But, for someone who (mostly) eats a clean healthy diet, including his/her ice cream choices, a nice treat should be enjoyed from time to time. So, we’ll just keep the word “healthy” in quotes.

Of course, getting homemade ice cream from your small grass-fed farmer would be the absolute best option (we currently have vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry in stock). However, life is short, and I know you might shop at the store sometimes.

Here are three things to look for in a “healthy” ice cream:

- Is the dairy 100% grass-fed? Better yet, is it 100% A2?
- Is it chemical-free, and was it made following organic protocols?
- Is it flavored with natural ingredients like vanilla bean, cocoa, real fruit, etc? Or did they take the shortcut with “natural flavors”?
- Is it made with entirely whole food ingredients? Or, does it contain any additives you don’t have in your kitchen like carrageenan, yellow #5, erythritol, and mono and diglycerides?

If you want to take it a step farther for a truly decadent dessert, try making your own ice cream with farm fresh ingredients! Albeit a bit time consuming, my favorite vanilla ice cream recipe is pretty simple:

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Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS

- 3 cups half & half
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 egg yolks
- 9 oz sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat 3 cups half & half and 1 cup heavy cream in a saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer.

Temper in a smooth mixture of 8 large beaten egg yolks and 9 ounces of sugar. Heat to 170-175 F, stirring frequently. Using a thermometer is ideal, and the batter should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Put in a glass bowl, let sit for 30 minutes, and then stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Let cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for 4-8 hours, until it reaches 40 F.

Pour into an ice cream maker and follow the machine’s instructions to finish.

Eat immediately for soft serve, or put in the freezer overnight for hard ice cream. Serve alone or with pie. At this time of year, warm strawberry rhubarb pie a la mode sounds amazing.

Cooking

Health and Nutrition

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Cool Down from a Heat Wave with the Best Grass-fed Ice Cream

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566