I Scream, You Scream, We ALL Scream for Ice Cream!

Summer has arrived, or at least I hope it has. Dust off the summer gear and pull out the sun glasses. The days are getting longer and the sun is shining brighter. You know what that means? Ice Cream!!! Although it is also important to maintain a healthy diet - even when you have a craving for something cold and sweet! I thought that it would be cool to post some mouth watering, delicious and nutricious recipes to help you chill during the summer monthes.

1. I LOVE Ice Cream and it can be a healthy treat on a hot summer day! Here is something to cool you down - Double Chocolate Ice Cream.

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups sugar; 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa; 2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk, divided; 3 large egg yolks; 1/2 cup half-and-half; 2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped.
Preparation

Combine sugar and cocoa in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in 1/2 cup milk and egg yolks. Stir in remaining 2 cups milk. Cook 12 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Place half-and-half in a microwave-safe dish; microwave at high 1 1/2 minutes or until half-and-half boils. Add chocolate to half-and-half; stir until smooth. Add half-and-half mixture to pan; stir until smooth. Place pan in an ice-filled bowl. Cool completely, stirring occasionally.
Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Spoon ice cream into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm.
Yield
8 servings (serving size: about 2/3 cup)
writeNutrient();
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 255(30% from fat); FAT 8.4g (sat 4.3g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 5.6g; CHOLESTEROL 87mg; CALCIUM 38mg; SODIUM 51mg; FIBER 1.8g; IRON 0.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 44.5g

The recipe can be found at cookinglight.com - http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1206182&package_id=1214606

2. As a college student I have grown an affinity for coffee. Since it is summer, why not an Iced Coffee with MILK!

Ingredients
2 cups low-fat milk*; 2 cups freshly brewed coffee, cooled; sugar substitute, to taste
Preparations
Stir together 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of coffee. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight until frozen solid. Pour remaining milk and coffee into 2 tall glasses. Sweeten to taste with sugar substitute and add half of the prepared milk ice cubes** to each glass.
*Or, substitute with low-fat chocolate milk to create an iced mocha coffee.
**Size and amount of ice cubes may vary depending on ice cube tray.
Yield
2 servings
Nutritional Information
Calories: 100; Total Fat: 2.5 g; Saturated Fat: 1.5 g; Cholesterol: 10 mg; Sodium: 130 mg; Calcium: 30% Daily Value; Protein: 8 g (8 grams from dairy); Carbohydrate: 12 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g.

3. When I think of eating during the summer, grilling always comes to mind. Soft Chicken Tacos are bound to be a crowd pleaser for the patio dinners!

Ingredients
1 teaspoon chili powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs; Cooking spray; 12 (6-inch) white corn tortillas; 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced green cabbage; 1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese (such as Tillamook);Low-fat sour cream (optional).

Preparation

Prepare Grill. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; rub spice mixture over chicken.
Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 10 minutes on each side or until done. Let stand 5 minutes; chop. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide chicken evenly among tortillas; top each tortilla with 2 tablespoons cabbage and 1 teaspoon cheese. Serve with sour cream, if desired.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 3 tacos)
writeNutrient();
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 329(34% from fat); FAT 12.5g (sat 3.5g,mono 3.5g,poly 2.9g); PROTEIN 27.4g; CHOLESTEROL 86mg; CALCIUM 109mg; SODIUM 466mg; FIBER 3.9g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 29.4g

The Recipe can be found at cookinglight.com - http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1227897.

To see some other great ideas for healthy and tasty dairy recipes visit: http://www.udim.org/Recipes.htm.

Animal Welfare... What is this All About?

HELLO! I am finally done with school for the summer and have another year of school under my belt! Over the year, I had the opportunity to discuss topics like animal welfare in some of my classes and how the way consumers products are handled and treated can effect the demand in the consumer market. Just within the last month, I have also had the opportunity to sit in on meetings and participate in educational events where I saw first hand both the concerns and views of producers and consumers. For example, Dairy producers are concerned that the public and media can help to portray a negative image on the way their farms are run. Likewise, concerned consumers have questions for the producers of their food, and tend to be misinformed primarily because of media hype.

Animal welfare and animal rights has been a hot topic thus far in 2008 across the animal agriculture industry. In February, the USDA ordered the largest meat recall in U.S. history after substantial evidence showing that the Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing company from Chino, California was not preventing unambulatory cows from entering the food supply. I was very frustrated when I saw videos posted and headlines around the U.S. bashing the animal ag. industry. The employees that worked for that meat packing company, which were fired, are to blame for this matter and people like them are helping the media by dragging the animal ag. industry through the mud.

As a producer, my goal is to help promote our industries in a positive way by educating and informing the public. Sometimes it could be as simple as letting them know that producers want to produce the best product possible, and in doing so must be responsible and take good care of their animals. I guess my takehome message would be for consumers is to ask question directly to the producers because that is where you are going to get factual answers; as for the producers, don't be afraid to get out there and inform the public of your business (i.e., farm tours and classroom education).

If you have any other of thoughts, comments or questions about this - feel free to add something in!