Flickr photo by kimberlykvNo ice cream at home? No worries.

If you have a few simple ingredients in your fridge, you can whip some up in just 10 minutes ... for real. I was amazed when I saw how this works. Plus, It's a great activity to do with kids, too.

See how ...

Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag from Howcast

  • 1/2 cup reduced-fat or whole milk
  • 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 resealable plastic bags, one gallon-sized and one quart-sized
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 2 trays ice cubes
  • 6 tablespoons salt

Optional

  • Waterproof winter gloves
  • Chocolate or butterscotch chips
  • Flavored syrups
  • Flavoring extracts

Put milk and sugar in quart-sized bag and seal it. For vanilla ice cream, add vanilla extract; for chocolate ice cream, add cocoa powder. Throw in a quarter cup of chocolate or butterscotch chips if you like.

Experiment with other varieties by using 1/2 to 1 teaspoon flavored syrups like strawberry or caramel or extracts like lemon or almond.

Put ice and salt in gallon-sized bag.

Put smaller bag inside bigger bag and seal it.

Shake larger bag vigorously 7 to 10 minutes.

Wear winter gloves while you shake; the bag is cold!

Remove small bag, which now contains ice cream. Snip a hole in corner of bag and squeeze it into a dish.

Makes one serving of soft-serve consistency ice cream.