For this month’s DIY (do it yourself) project, I made shamrock shakes, since almost everyone goes crazy when McDonald’s brings them back every March. I found this recipe through Pinterest. I used 2 cups of vanilla bean ice cream, 1 cup of heavy cream, ⅓ cup of milk (it doesn’t matter what kind of plain milk you use), 6 drops of green food coloring, ½ teaspoon of peppermint extract, 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar, and whipped cream. The project, as a whole, took about 10 minutes, costing about $10, and made 2 shakes.

To start off, I laid all of the ingredients on the countertop in the order that I was putting them in the blender- kind of like a non-moving assembly line. First I added the milk, heavy cream, and the ice cream to the blender to make a base for the shake. Then I added the food coloring, peppermint extract, and the powdered sugar to the blender. I must say, powdered sugar and I don’t get along very well. Not only did I make a mess and get it everywhere, but I also got it all over myself! Then I blended up the deliciousness, poured it into the glasses, and put whipped cream over the top of it.

All in all, the texture was the perfect thickness, and the taste was right on point. It wasn’t too minty, nor not enough mint. I personally thought that the texture would be hard to match, but honestly, as long as you follow the recipe, it really works! It looked so appetizing to my family that they made me make more too, which I guess was a compliment. At the same time though, I thought to myself “oh boy, now I have a bigger mess to clean now.”

Not only do I find the homemade shakes completely overpriced, but also extremely unhealthy. At least when you go and buy a shake you won’t either A.) have a second one, or B.) have them as often. The shakes have a lot of sugar and calories that are terrible for you. I find that once in awhile it is okay to have one but certainly no more than one every two weeks. Also having the ingredients takes up a lot of room in the freezer, which my mom wasn’t too thrilled about. Plus if you’re messy like I am, it is extremely difficult not to get powdered sugar on my clothes and ice cream all over the kitchen.

Overall, I’m not 100% sure that this was worth all the work I put into it. I mean in the summertime, when Mcdonald’s doesn’t have shamrock shakes anymore, I can definitely see this being something I would do more often. I will say that the homemade shakes totally tasted the same as the processed Mcdonald’s ones. I would give the taste a 5/5 star rating because it tastes just like the real thing. I would give it a total rating of ⅗ stars because it took more work than just going to Mickey D’s and getting a shake there, and it also cost more to make at home than going out and purchasing one.