President's Day=An extra child at home. And Ice Cream

Yesterday was the first day since my new "work from home" status change that I had both kids home with me. Thank you, President's Day, for reassuring me that our decision to leave Lincoln in preschool was the right choice. I really love my first born, but that child is intense, to say the least. He is so energetic. and talkative. and inquisitive. Having him around other kids (and adults who know what they are doing) is definitely for the best.

He booby trapped the living room with tiny army men. Stepping on the pointy gun of a little army man is almost as bad as stepping on a lego. Almost.

But having him home had some perks. He helped me clean, and really got into it. 

He has wanted to help in the past, and I've always been the type to just want to do it myself to not waste time and energy. But letting Lincoln help was actually...helpful! He did a pretty good job, even cleaning things I never clean. I couldn't tell you the last time the chairs had been wiped down, but they're sparkling now! 

Plus, it helped him realize how much work it is cleaning up all those little messes. He was careful to not make a mess at lunchtime, and I think helping with such an "adult" task gave him a real sense of pride.

As a reward for all his hard work (and because I had some cream that was about to expire) we made ice cream! 

I always try to feed my family "real" food, which is why I like to make my own ice cream. Plus, homemade ALWAYS taste better. We decided we wanted cookies and cream, so we added crushed up WhoNu? cookies to the vanilla base. While these Oreo like cookies still have the same amount of sugar and junk as the real thing, they have added fiber, calcium, and vitamin c, which I figure can't hurt.  

so good.

Want to make some? Here's what I used:

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

4-6 tablespoons pure maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)

1 pint organic heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

15 crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

Whisk the milk and syrup in mixing bowl until combined. Add in heavy cream and vanilla.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker, and just follow the directions for your machine. For my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker I turn on the machine, pour the mixture into the frozen bowl, and let it run for about 20 minutes. Add your crushed cookies in when the ice cream is almost done, after about 15 minutes. 

Transfer ice cream to a container and put in the freezer to let it harden. Or eat it immediately, as you know we did. So, so good.

And Lincoln is back at school today which means 

A) my life is a little bit easier today

and

B) I don't have to share my ice cream with anyone.