Manic Monday ~ I have a Confession...
With all of this abnormal hot weather in September, I have been craving cold treats. And if you know me well, you know that I LOVE ice cream, especially mint chocolate chip! So last night after our dinner, my family and I sat out on our patio relaxing in the evening heat. My husband had boiled up a pot of crab legs, shrimp, potatoes, and sweet corn (seafood boil) and we ate what we were considering our "last summer meal." It was a perfect meal to close out the summer. But a few hours later we were justifying our end of the summer celebration by requesting ice cream. Now, ice cream never lasts in the Zimmerman household. In fact, it's eaten quickly and in large quantities. That's why I don't buy it much. Because, I also can inhale it at the same pace as breathing air. But, last night was different. As my daughter and I made a trip to Hy-Vee, I stampeded up and down the ice cream freezers to look for a product I recently saw an ad for. I let my daughter pick out a flavor for the family and I set my eyes on this little container of ice cream called Halo Top. I found the flavor I wanted: Mint Chip.
We arrived back home. I dished out 5 bowls of Breyer's ice cream for the family. And then it was my turn... to bypass the Breyer's and open up my Halo Top. It is a pint in size. The whole container is 240 calories (equal to 2 cups). I dished up one cup (120 calories). I ate slowly and enjoyed every bit of it. Now, that is a stark difference from what I am use to eating: 1.5 cups of regular mint chocolate chip with is 140 calories per half cup which would be 420 calories in MY bowl. Compare that to Halo Top... and you can see the caloric difference. Not only did I save tons of calories, but I was more mindful of my serving size because my ice cream was in a pint container... and I was very aware of the amount I was eating. I mean, really when I'm usually dishing ice cream out of a large half gallon container, there is so much to be left in the container that I justify my 1.5 cup serving as just 1 serving when in actuality it's 3 servings! So deceiving!! Another great quality about Halo Top, is that it actually tastes GOOD!! It is not like the other soy type ice creams that seem to taste like a refrozen watered down fudge pop. It's creamy, sweet, and full of flavor!
Enjoy these last few hot days and treat yourself with a better alternative to regular ice cream!
We ALL scream for ice cream!
Have a GREAT week!
~ Rachel Zimmerman
