Mandarin ice cream: healthy recipes for children

I'm going to tell you the story of how I joined Food Plugging . Coquito, my son, was a very friendly child at the table. He was obviously happy, and he ate everything. Everything. Vegetable pie, happily, with his little hand. Fruit, three or four a day, in puree. Cereals, seeds. Whatever Mom prepared for him, Coqui happily accepted. One day, Coqui decided, from morning to night, that he would eat only pizza, empanadas, and yogurt .

JUST THAT. Experienced parents, pediatricians, the WHO, and my cousin Lore all said it was a phase. But the phase dragged on. Long and tedious, because I never stopped offering Coqui her healthy meals.

Every now and then he accepted a dish.

The Doctor and I would high-five each other behind his chair, but it only served to renew an empty, false hope. The following days, I would once again reject everything. I felt, exhausted, like we were taking one step forward and two steps back.

After a few months of eating his fruit puree, cereal, and rice, I felt like my world was falling apart . I stopped making him his usual food and switched to pizzas and empanadas.

One day, I found myself doing the following: I boiled spinach, froze it, and grated this frozen spinach into the filling of my empanadas. The next day, I put grated spinach under the cheese on my pizza.

On the third day, I met the Food Pluggers . I can't tell you how, but they were the ones who contacted me. I've already told you here that they're a divine group of Republican parents who try to develop methods and recipes to plug certain foods into their children. They have many rules, but one basic one is that we can't force children to eat and that the table must be a pleasurable moment. I'll tell you more about the association another day.

For now, I'm leaving you with this tangerine and almond ice cream, colorant-free and preservative-free. And also this video with a scene that reminds me a lot of my first encounter with the Food Pluggers .

Ingredients

for 4 popsicles

• 3 Mandarins
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 1 tsp. mandarin zest
• 3 tbsp. of sugar
• 3 tbsp. milk cream
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp almonds

Mandarin ice cream recipe

so I did

1. Peel the mandarins, cut them in half and remove the pulp, discarding the skin and seeds.

2. Blend with the minipimmer until you get a thick mandarin juice.

3. Mix with the mandarin zest, sugar, and water. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, until a syrup forms that is not too thick. Let cool.

4. Whip the cream until thick. No sugar.

5. Grind the almonds with a mortar and pestle (or chop with a knife) and toast them. I did this in the same pot I used to make the mandarin syrup, without washing it, so they retain their flavor.

6. Mix the cooled mandarin syrup, almonds, and cream well. Add the lemon juice.

7. Place in the freezer. Stir every 45 minutes, about 4 times, to prevent crystals from forming (if you have an ice cream maker, you can, of course). Place in the sorbets or leave in the same bowl. Whatever your little one prefers. Plug in without fear; this tangerine ice cream is irresistible.

Earrings

Although Coqui loved it, for my taste (I like sour flavors) it's a bit sweet. I'm planning to make it with syrup on one side and mandarin juice (not boiled) on the other, then mix everything together. I'll let you know if I make it. And if you try it, be sure to let me know.

This is how mandarin ice cream looks like

And it's delicious!