DealDash Ice Cream Social: Best Ice Cream Recipes & Ice Cream Makers

ice cream
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Ice cream is perfect for any day, be it a hot sunny summer day or a cold and rainy one, ice cream always hits the spot.

“Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos.” 
― Don Kardong

There are oodles of ice cream choices in the supermarket, drug store and even gas stations, but nothing beats homemade, slow churned ice cream made right in the kitchen. The best thing about homemade ice cream is that you know what’s going in the ice cream and can savor your finished creation.
How to Make Homemade Ice Cream
1. First, You will need an ice cream maker. DealDash.com has TONS of auctions for ice cream makers, over 15 types – no joke!

ice cream 5Hamilton Beach Half Pint Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker in a variety of colors.

What’s so great about this little machine is that it’s perfect if you just want a bowl of ice cream or a serving for two. You can make it and serve it in the same bowl! No rock salt or special ice cream mixes needed. All you have to do is put the bowl in the freezer over night (or for like 8-10 hours) and make your ice cream the next day. Ice cream can be made in this little powerhouse in as little as 6-12 minutes! It’s cordless and runs on batteries (included). Buy it now price on DealDash is just $24.99 or you can bid and try to win for less! 
 

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream. And that’s kind of the same thing.

ice cream makerNostalgia Electrics 4 Qt. Ice Cream Maker, Blue

Now we’re talking… 4 qts. vs. 1/2 a pint, I’d be in an frozen sweet treat heaven :-p.

This ice cream maker features an electric motor that does the churning for you. Just add the ingredients, press the rocket switch and enjoy! Buy it now price is $29, bid and maybe you will win it for less!

ice cream 2

KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker for Most KitchenAid Stand Mixers 

 Now this is a great idea if you already have a Kitchen-Aid Mixer. If not, you can also bid on one on DealDash  Buy it now price is $80 – the last one sold for just $1 (100 bids by all bidders!).  You’ll be able to make batches of frozen desserts up to 2 quarts.

ice cream 1 Nostalgia Electrics Mix `N Twist Ice Cream & Toppings Mixer
Move over ColdStone! With this soft serve ice cream mixer all you have to do is add ice cream and toppings and push a button and you will have a creamy, delicious soft serve concoction.
 
ice cream 7
 
Cuisinart Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker
What could be even better than ice cream? Creamy gelato! Make luscious ice cream and gelato with this commercial grade Cuisinart ice cream and gelato maker. The buy it now price is $299.99, but try to win it for less and start making fancy desserts! There are paddles included for both ice cream and gelato. You can also add in mix-ins from the see-through lid and there’s even a keep cool function to keep the gelato cool.

Ice cream is an excellent beginning to any apology.

 
ice cream 12  



Healthy Foods Yonanas Ice Cream Maker, Black/Silver
This one has to be the healthiest and easiest ice cream maker on the planet! It’s the YoNanas banana ice cream maker! I’ve made banana ice cream before with a masticating juicer, but this is made specifically for banana ice cream and let me tell you if you’re lactose intolerant, trying to lose weight and eat clean or just love frozen treats and bananas, this is the machine that you need to have! All you do is freeze bananas, maybe some strawberries, mangos, raspberries or any fruit that you love and put it in the top of the machine and plush the plunger attachment down– out comes creamy frozen goodness! What better way to get your servings of vegetables than this! The bananacream comes out like a soft serve ice cream. You could even go real crazy and add ingredients like chocolate, honey, cayenne pepper, nuts, caramel sauce or anything else that you love. Buy it now is $50.
2. Now that you know about a few, there really are over 15 different types of ice cream makers on DealDash, it’s time to learn how to make ice cream!
jenis ice cream
Each ice cream maker is more than likely to come with a recipe book, but here’s my all-time favorite homemade ice cream recipe direct from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream  – a chain of gourmet ice cream shops that started out in Ohio.
Jeni’s Ice Cream Base – Recipe Source: Saveur Magazine
MAKES ABOUT 1 QUART
INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups milk
  • 4 tsp. cornstarch
  • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp. light corn syrup
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt 3 tbsp. cream cheese, softene

INSTRUCTIONS
In a bowl, stir together 1/4 cup milk and the cornstarch; set slurry aside. In a 4-qt. saucepan, whisk together remaining milk and the cream, sugar, syrup, and salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 4 minutes; stir in slurry. Return to a boil and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Place cream cheese in a bowl and pour in 1/4 cup hot milk mixture; whisk until smooth. Then whisk in remaining milk mixture. Pour mixture into a plastic bag; seal, and submerge in a bowl of ice water until chilled. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker; process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer ice cream to a storage container and freeze until set.
Mix-in topping combination ideas:

  • -Almond + Swiss Dark Chocolate Shavings
  • -Frozen raspberries and caramel sauce
  • -Mexican Chocolate & Cayenne Pepper Powder
  • -Chocolate covered cherries
  • -Walnuts and cherries
  • -Island Style Mango, Passionfruit, Raspberry
  • -Vanilla Bean
  • -Lavender Honey
  • -Blackberry
  • -Peach & Pecan Praline

The possibilities are truly endless!
Craving ice cream? Visit DealDash and score a great deal on an ice cream maker.
Do you have a favorite ice cream maker + recipe? Share it with us below!
 

Bid Wiser: Track Your Spending and DealDash.com Wins & Losses

dealdashdashwinsDo you find yourself losing more money than you are winning items? It’s time to get smart. Money smart. If you aren’t keeping track of your expenses it’s about time you start. A great app to manage your financial transactions and always know what is in your bank account is the Mint smartphone app from Mint.com for Windows 8, iPad, iPhone and Android devices.

Here are some great tips to help you keep track of your spending on DealDash.com and any other penny auction site.

 1. Set limits

 Don’t spend more money on bids than you can afford to lose, because if you don’t win the only way to not lose the money you spent on bids is to use buy it now on the item you lost. If you say you are only going to spend $50 to try and win that new dresser set or Nespresso espresso machine, stay true to your word. Maybe even put a post-it note on your computer screen, buy a bid pack with the determined amount of bids you can afford to lose if you lose and don’t buy more bids after that until you’ve either won or can feel ok about losing what you lost if you don’t win.

2. Set Up a Dedicated Bidding Account

You don’t have to set up an entirely new bank account for your bidding activities, but what you could do is get a pre-paid Visa credit card and fill it with the amount each month that you can use just for your penny auction bidding. Believe me, if you don’t do this and use your regular credit or debit card your spending could get out of control and you will be more shocked when you see your statements than you should be.

3. Track your wins 

There’s a new app, like Mint, but ctually keep track of your “worth” in goods such as cars or merchandise, this could be something to try to keep a database of everything you have won and what the items are worth. The app is called Trov (Trov.com) and it will let you store the things you own, get current market values of your things, organize them and when and if it comes time to sell them, Trov even has a sharing option.

. Or you could just view your won auctions from the DealDash user dashboard to see what all you have won and what you paid for each item.

5. Track time, and money. Compare wins with bid pack purchases

This is a great way to pinpoint and keep track of what you really paid for your won items. Set up a Quicken Spreadsheet with specific columns one for the item – one for the value, one for the amount of time you spent to win (or lose) remember time= money. Lastly, create a column for how much you spent in bids to equal how much money you really saved on each item.

6. Take a look at the data you collected.

Are you ahead or are you at a negative as far as saving money goes? If you’re the latter you may just want to take a step back, re-evaluate and take our simple tips to heart and start limiting and tracking your activity on DealDash.com

Be an informed penny auction bidder.

If you have any questions about DealDash, wondering what type of items they have be sure to check out our previous posts here filled with tips, strategies and item guides.

Do you have tips for mana ging and keeping track of your spending on DealDash.com? Let us know about it here!

Top 10 Must Go To Summer Music Festivals of 2014 & Packing List

music festivals summer 2014If you love music summer isn’t summer without going to at least one music festival! Here are the top 10 festivals this summer and a packing list of items that you must bring to make the trip even more fun!
Summer Music Festival Packing List (and links to where you can find some of these items on DealDash.com!) Note: DealDash is an online entertainment shopping auction site where you can win popular items for the cost of the bids it takes you to win! If you don’t win an item you can buy it and get your bids back.

Beale Street Music Festival

  • When: May 2-4
  • Where: Memphis, TN
  • 2014 Lineup Highlights: Kid Rock, Alabama Shakes, Foster the People, Snoop Lion, Juicy J, Motorhead, Avenged Sevenfold and more!

Sasquatch! Festival

  • When: May 23-25
  • Where: Gorge, WA

2014 Lineup Highlights: Outkast, The National, Queens of the Stone Age, MIA, Foster The People, Kid Cudi, HAIM and more!
Electric Daisy Carnival

  • When: May 24-25 (NYC), June 20-22 (Las Vegas)
  • Where: New York City and the big party in Las Vegas

For more info check out http://electricdaisycarnival.com.
Governors Ball

  • When: June 6-8
  • Where: New York, NY

2014 Lineup Highlights: Skrillex, Vampire Weekend, J Cole, Jack White, OutKast, Interpol, The Strokes and more!
Bonnaroo

  • When: June 12-15
  • Where: Manchester, TN

2014 Lineup Highlights: Kanye, Lauryn Hill, Skrillex, Frank Ocean, The Avett Brothers, Jack White, Elton John, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, Lionel Richie, The Flaming Lips, Kaskade, Neutral Milk Hotel, the Arctic Monkeys and more!
Firefly Music Festival 

  • When: June 19-22
  • Where: Dover, DE 

2014 Lineup Highlights: Foo Fighters, OutKast, Jack Johnson, Imagine Dragons, Pretty Lights, the Lumineers, Arctic Monkeys, Weezer and more!
Summerfest

  • When: July 26–30 – July 2–7
  • Where: Milwaukee

2014 Lineup Highlights:  Dubbed “The World’s Largest Music Festival”. Ray LaMontagne, Kip Moore, Tegan & Sara, The Fray dubbed the “largest music festival” Ben Harper, Lady Gaga, Atmosphere and more!
Electric Forest

  • When: June 27–30
  • Where: Rothbury, Michigan

2014 Lineup Highlights: Passion Pit, Pretty Lights, Empire of the Sun and more!
Pitchfork Music Festival

  • When: July 19–21
  • Where: Chicago

2014 Lineup Highlights:  Mutual Benefit, Isaiah Rashad, Jon Hopkins, DJ Spin, Schoolboy, Real Estate and more!
Lollapalooza

  • When: August 1-3
  • Where: Chicago, IL

2014 Lineup Highlights: Eminem, OutKast, Kings of Leon, Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Lorde, Nas, Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys and way more!
Riot Fest

  • When: September 6-7, 12-14, 19-21
  • Where: Toronto, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO

2014 Lineup TBA. riotfest.org
What’s your favorite summer music festival? Would you add to our packing list? Let us know!

Summer Road Trip Packing List & Tips to Lessen the "Are We There Yet?" Questions

kids on a road tripSummer fun includes taking a family road trip. Road trips conjure up good memories from childhood and if you can afford the time and gas, definitely take one!  Whether the trip is down the famous Route 66, to grandmother’s house, to the mountains or the valleys, from shore to shore. Any parent who has taken their children (regardless of age) on a road trip (or even plane trip), unless their kids are really patient, have probably heard the frequency of little voices asking the same question:  “Are we there yet?” If you want to lessen the “Are We There Yet?” questions you must prepare. Trust me these items and tips can definitely help, but I can’t guarantee they will stop the questions from coming. There are so many items on DealDash that will help keep your kids occupied for hours on your next roadtrip, long after to slug-bug game has become dull.

  • Portable DVD Players

Portable DVD players such as this Car DVD Player from Power Acoustik are designed just for the car and can keep your kids and other road trip guests entertained for hours. power acoustik car dvd player

What’s great about this item in particular is that you can playback anything saved to a SD card, from a DVD, DivX file, MP4, SVCD or Video CD, plus there’s even an FM tuner for music. The screen is 9″ and is an LCD for sharp, clear display.

Click this link for all upcoming portable dvd player deals on DealDash.

  • Portable Game Systems

nintendo 3sd xl ds Once the kids are bored with watching movies, a great thing to have would be a portable gaming system such as this Nintendo 3DS XL – a new and improved version of the Nintendo DS which even includes a camera that can be used to snap pictures of everything from cows to slug bugs and everything in between. Jampacked with vivid colors, brilliant action, 3D depth and a 90% larger screen. Check out the following link for more DealDash auctions of Nintendo DS game consoles, games and accessories won at great prices. power adapter deals

  • Power Ports

To keep the kids entertained for even longer, be sure to pick up a portable power adapter like the Lenmar Power Port 4-Port Auto Power Adapter on DealDash. – Buy it now for just $10.98.   This way you will be able to keep their entertainment sources charged, but also charge your cellphones as well. ipad air

An iPad is a great item to pass time and can be used to finish homework, read books, listen to music, browse the Net, follow along on a map (so they’ll really know you’re no where near “there yet”, draw and create, play games, share photos with friends on Facebook and so much more and DealDash has each on a daily basis.

  • Snacks

snacks
Make sure you pack snacks for your road trip! Favorites include Cheez-Its, raisins, fruit snacks, sunflower seeds, cheese and peanut butter crackers, fresh fruit, veggie sticks, apples, almonds, energy bars, mixed nuts,  M&M’s, popcorn (just don’t get the orange cheddar kind as it can be messy!), Twizzlers licorice, Pop-Chips a healthier alternative and less greasy and messy than potato chips. Pack a cooler with ice to keep water bottles, fruits, veggies or even chocolate candies cool. For a larger cooler check out the Coleman Marine Cooler – the last auction for one sold at a huge discount with the final end price of $0.42! cooler deals

  • Save Money on Gas

gas gift cards cheap
 Gas prices don’t have to make a dent in your wallet or dampen the road trip fun when you bid and win gas gift cards on DealDash. Plus, if you don’t win the gas card for less than the item’s value you can buy it now and get all of your bids back to bid on more and start your collection. Gas gift card auctions include auctions for Sinclair, Sunoco, BP, Shell, Texaco, ARCO PumpPass, and Philips 66! 

GPS 
tomtom
Show them just where you are with a GPS from TomTom. Your kids will no longer ask, “Are we there yet?” when they can get a visual picture of just where you are along the way and how much more time it will take to get there.
What are some of your favorite road trip tips and must-have items? 
Save travels & happy bidding!