I've done a handful of posts on low cal ice cream but then took a break from Halo Top for a couple years as I was bored with the flavors but they have finally expanded to more unique flavors. Then new  brands have hit the market and are changing the frozen dessert game by taking what we think of as delicious ice cream and making it better nutrition wise. I have a whole new line up for you that I'm super excited to share! 

I have a huge sweet tooth so I'm always trying to find healthier versions of desserts. The reason I always eat low cal ice cream is partly for the calories, but also I'm trying to reduce my refined sugar intake. I read this fabulous book last year Cancer-Free with Food that repeats what I've read in many other places, that sugar causes cancer to grow and spread more quickly. And weight gain  to your waistline can lead to cancer.

Cookies and Cream has been my all-time favorite ice cream flavor since childhood! The other day my co-worker brought in two packages of Oreo cookies: Dunkin Donuts Mocha Oreo and Oreo Thins, both were completely inedible to me. First I don’t like coffee so a coffee flavored cookie is just wrong. And the thins are half the cookie and half the filling, why would you do that?

thins to regular comparison

My favorite ice cream brand Halo Top just announced that they've updated the Cookies & Cream flavor. If you've never heard of Halo Top Ice Cream, it's a low-calorie, high-protein low-sugar ice cream that tastes amazing. I talked about it here and reviewed their chocolate flavor. They only use social media to advertise and yet have grown 2500% in sales in 2 years! Hence no surprise Breyers is now copying them, even with their pint label design.

Breyers Ice Cream recently released it's new Delights low calorie line. Both Halo Top and Breyers are sweetened with Erythritol, a natural sugar alcohol. Both pints of ice cream come in at about 330 calories and have 20g of protein. Which tastes better? Well I did a taste comparison of the two Cookies and Cream flavors for you.

Halo Top is made with eggs so it has an off white color while the Breyers has a pure white vanilla ice cream base. The Breyers has larger cookie chunks so you you can really taste the oreo cookie. But this comes with more grams of sugar than Halo Top. I wanted to share the label from their website but oddly all the Delights flavors don't have nutritional content on the Breyers website. They label the sugar content in a tricky, non-straightforward way.

The Halo Top Cookies & Cream tastes really good, and if that's all you had you would be satisfied. But when you compare the two together against each other, there's a slight difference that crowns the Breyers the winner because it tastes more like real ice cream. While Halo almost, but not quite, tastes more like frozen yogurt. It's a very subtle difference probably due to the sugar difference.

Halo Top also recently announced that it has released new flavors that I'm super excited to try! Mochi Green Tea, Pumpkin Pie, Cinnamon Roll, Candy Bar, Rainbow Swirl, Pancakes & Waffles, Caramel Macchiato and Chocolate Covered Banana.

I found Breyers Delights and Halo Top at my local Safeway. I've also seen Halo Top at Giant, Whole Foods, Walmart, Aldi, Target, Costco and Harris Teeter. This wide spread availability must have prompted Breyers to enter the low-cal ice cream game, because let's face it they could have done this a long time ago right? What's your favorite Halo Top flavor?

Halo Top is a healthy ice cream that actually tastes good! I've raved about this ice cream a couple times on my blog before but since they released new flavors I have to rave about it again! Halo Top is a low calorie ice cream sweetened with erythritol (a sweetener naturally found in fruits like pears and grapes) and stevia. I was very skeptical about this ice cream, but it's honestly a game changer. This stuff legitimately tastes like ice cream, not diet cream, or fake cream. Halo Top has this comparison chart on their website for one ½ cup serving to show you how it matches up to other major brands. I went and compared the pistachio flavor on Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's sites for myself and there's just no comparison. Halo Top has just 2 grams of fat vs 17 grams for regular ice cream. It also has much less sugar! It costs $5.69 for a pint.


You can find it at Whole Foods. My favorite flavors are Mint Chip, Chocolate, Vanilla, Oatmeal Cookie, and Red Velvet. The only flavors I wouldn't buy again are s'mores and sea salt caramel as they had a weird taste to them.  Pistachio had zero flavor and black cherry reminded me more of frozen yogurt.


Related Posts:
The best of light ice creams

I like chocolate but was never really into chocolate ice cream until my co-worker brought in Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Chocolate Therapy and it was love at first taste! It's Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookies & Swirls of Chocolate Pudding Ice Cream. A serving is  ½ cup at 250 calories with 130 calories from fat and 23g of sugar. I've talked about Halo low cal ice cream before and decided to try out their chocolate flavor. Now first I should say you're probably thinking, "I've tried Arctic Zero ice cream and hated it." Yes me too. It tastes like a nasty frozen protein shake. Halo top is nothing like Arctic Zero. For one it has a good frozen consistency and actually tastes good! The chocolate flavor is a dead ringer for B&Js ice cream, I'm not kidding! One entire pint of Halo top is  240 calories! But who eats a whole pint at one time? The ½ cup serving size is only 60 calories with 18g from fat and 4g of sugar! I also tried the vanilla flavor and it's just as good as well. So run, don't walk, to your local Whole Foods to pick yourself up a pint of Halo Top!

Ice Cream in Barcelona

If you're watching your waist line but still want a scoop of ice cream, try out these diet friendly brands.

Halo Top Lemon Cake
half cup is one serving and has 60 calories, calories from fat 18, sugar 4g, protein 6g

They use stevia and erythritol to sweeten it and let me tell you it tastes delicious! The lemon cake flavor tastes like a lemon bar or ice cream cake. You could make an ice cream sandwich with it by putting it between waffles. Or use it to make a milkshake or root beer float with Zevia soda or put a scoop in your iced tea. You can find it at Whole Foods.

Trader Joe's Soy Creamy Mini Vanilla Sandwiches
90 calories, calories from fat 15, sugar 8, protein 2g

These are a little smaller than regular ice cream sandwiches but you would never guess they were vegan, they taste like milk cream.

Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls
2 sandwiches is a serving and is 120 calories, calories from fat 45, sugar 10g, protein 2g

These are oreo cookies with mint ice cream in between them.  They are so incredibly delicious!
















While not ice cream, I've talked about how much I love Trader Joe's macarons. They're much more affordable than going to a macaron shop and low in calories. In the fall they have pumpkin macarons and this summer they have mango flavored macarons. I have to say the mango flavor is very strong and natural.

Trader Joe's Mango Macarons
3 macarons is a serving, 100 calories, calories from fat 35, sugar 14g, protein 2 g

















Related Posts:
The Best of the Light Ice Creams
Who wants ice cream?!
6 Healthy Popsicle Recipes

Two summers ago I was on a popsicle kick trying out new recipes every week but slacked off last summer. Well I've decided to pick it up again because it's such a refreshing low calorie treat. Have you noticed that strawberries lose some of their rich flavor after you put it in the fridge? I made these popsicles with the strawberries as soon as I brought them home from the grocery store. You also want to use freshly cut watermelon. The combination of the two flavors create a spectacular taste!

Ingredients
Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender. Taste to adjust sweetness.
2. Freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

Makes 6 popsicles


Related Posts:
Strawberry Picking
Watermelon Kiwi Popsicles
Balsamic Strawberry Popsicles

I'm an ice cream lover and wanted to give you the scoop on two new ones I've tried and loved. They have less fat, minimal added sugar, and will allow you to satisfy your sweet cravings while keeping you in line with your calorie goals. So get ahead and indulge on these!

First up is the brand Yasso which makes frozen Greek yogurt popsicle bars for 100 calories! So far I've tried the flavors Cookies and Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Sea Salt Caramel. All three are delicious! A package of 4 popsicles costs $5 and while the bars are short they are thick. I bought my mom a package of the coffee flavor and she raves about that one as well. The first three ingredients are nonfat milk, greek yogurt, and sugar, it has 5g protein, 2g fat and 14g sugar.
Enlightened Fudge Popsicles have more nutrients than regular ice cream as they are made of  Skim Milk, Milk Protein Isolate, Erythritol so they are 70 cal, with 8g of protein, 2g fat and 3g sugar.  Compared to regular ice cream it has one-third the calories, 75 percent less sugar and twice the protein. It has fewer calories and sugar than a Skinny Cow or Weight Watchers ice cream fudge bar. If you're focusing on losing weight but still want to indulge in healthy treats, give these bars a try!

Related posts:
Healthy Popsicles
Homemade Healthy Popsicles
Low Cal Peppermint Ice Cream

I've read a lot of cookbooks and The Forest Feast is the most beautiful one I've ever seen! I'm a visual person and if a cookbook doesn't have pictures for every recipe, I can't make the recipe. Erin, the author, lives in a cabin in the California woods and used that as inspiration for all her photos. The vibrant colored recipes are shot on slabs of wood and look more like an oversized art book rather than a cookbook. The layout and presentation are not your typical cookbook, for instance, there are no white page backgrounds. It's a vegetarian cookbook but Erin describes her cooking style as very simple and so her recipes require few ingredients and there's little directions in the book. It's more an eye candy coffee table book with whimsical sketches. Expect lots of creative ways to use vegetables and many of the recipes are seasonal. While it's the most beautiful book I've ever seen, the recipes are more geared for party planning as there are no entrees. But I found these balls really delicious, they're the perfect sweet treat! I stored mine in the freezer.

Ingredients:

½ cup peanut butter, softened

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut 

1 TB raw honey

10 pitted dates, soaked

Directions: 
Recipe source: The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson

A spend a rainy Saturday visiting a couple wineries and went apple picking. The trees were full of apples and we were the only ones there due to the weather. On the trees were McIntosh and in the bins were some Honeycrsip they had left over, the two sweetest apples. This summer I've also gone strawberry picking and peach picking.



I bought some sugar free apple butter from the orchard store that tastes just as good as regular apple butter! I also got some local raw honey. The store smelled so good with all the apple pies and various baked goods, I wanted to come home and make something healthy with my apples. This recipe has no white flour, white sugar or oil and still tastes sweet and moist.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups Spelt flour 
• ¼ cup Oat Flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼  cup Truvia Baking blend
• ¼  cup chopped walnuts
• 4 TB liquid egg whites
• ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• ½ cup of Fage 0% plain yogurt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 apple grated
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• ½ tsp nutmeg

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325F.  Spray a loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (flour, powders, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar,  and walnuts).

3. In another large bowl, combine the wet ingredients (egg whites, shredded apple, and yogurt).

4. Add wet ingredients to dry slowly and stir until mixed. Be careful not to overmix the batter as spelt flour is delicate.

5. Spoon the batter into prepared loaf pan and spread out evenly. Bake for 60 minutes at 325F or until a knife comes out clean.

Makes 9, 1-inch thick slices

For another healthy bread recipe check out my Oil-free Zucchini walnut bread.
Also see my Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal.

I think you'll love these creamy refreshing popsicles which are only 4 ingredients and will keep you cool this summer! Since blackberries are in season now you should be able to find ones that are sweet. The greek yogurt make these popsicles nice and creamy without the guilt. This recipe can also be made with honey or a little bourbon for a kick.
You can find more of my popsicle recipes here.

I love popsicles! They remind me of summer, my childhood, sunny days and happy things. My favorite from the ice cream truck was the Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake popsicle.

The Today Show did an interesting segment titled "Can you believe diet frozen dessert labels? Tests show that some products have up to 68 percent more calories than labels promise." Turns out Weight Watchers bars and Arctic Zero (protein) ice cream had more calories than their labels advertised, but Skinny Cow bars had less. They can get away with this because the industry allows a percentage of error and the companies do their measurements based on averages of containers. So last year I decided to make my own frozen treats, from whole ingredients and 

I wanted to share some of my Favorite Christmas things like my famed sugar cookies:
My pink gingerbread house:

This is the best time of year to start with a new attitude. This is the season of joy, the time to express gratitude. - Joel Osteen 

I'll be working on checking off my winter bucket list this month. Never heard of Nurnberger Gluhwein,
check out this post. You can check out my favorite Christmas songs here.

I know you're still wondering why I'm still making popsicles now that's it's chilly outside, well it's because it's that time of year when all the amazing pumpkin recipes are coming out I saw this flavor idea and had to try it! I found many recipes for this that use either heavy whipping cream, half and half, full fat coconut milk, greek yogurt, or almond milk as it's base. I used what I happened to have on hand in my fridge (hence the small batch), a little bit at the bottom of a can of coconut milk and fresh pumpkin puree. I use Ideal no calorie sweetener but you can use agave nectar.

Makes 3 popsicles (double for a larger batch)

Ingredients
Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients but taste to make sure it has enough spices and sugar.
2. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for 6 hours of overnight.

I saw Figs at Trader Joe's and wanted to give them a try. We don't eat them that much in this country, they're more popular in the Mediterranean, although California is a big producer of them. I made this recipe a few times and discovered that figs are a very perishable fruit, growing mold very quickly!  If you're looking for an exotic recipe with a flavor you don't have very often, give these a try. The recipe originally called for 4.5 TB of honey but I cut that in half to save calories.

Ingredients
Directions

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Lay the sliced figs cut side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle 1½ TB of the honey over the figs. Broil the figs for 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the goat cheese, Greek yogurt, remaining honey and other sweeteners in a medium bowl until completely smooth.
4. When the figs are done, purée them in a food processor or blender until smooth.
5. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for 6 hours of overnight.

Recipe source: snixykitchen

Makes 6 popsicles
147 cal, 12g protein, 16g sugar
(without the honey if will only be 11g of natural sugar from the figs and yogurt)
 

I've always liked  nectarines better than peaches. Did you know that nectarines are just peaches with a recessive bald gene that make them fuzzless? lol  If you don't have buttermilk (like myself), you can make it by mixing 1 cup of milk with 1 TB of lemon juice or white vinegar. This recipe uses my favorite ginger liqueur -  Domaine de Canton. If you don't have it, you could try mixing roasted nectarine with fresh basil. This recipe takes quite a bit of prep work, it's not as easy as my other popsicle recipes, but it's worth the effort. Roasting the fruit brings out a richer, sweeter flavor.These were more orange looking in person, although they look red in my photo.



Recipe source: foodandwine

I know this combination might seem odd but I've been to Italy a few times and they pour balsamic vinegar over strawberries for dessert. With this special ingredient you don't taste the vinegar, but it makes the strawberries taste more vibrant so it's a perfect combination. The vinegar adds a sweet and sour twinge, you won't believe how sweet these strawberries taste, it's unbelievable! Strawberries also benefit from a touch of lemon juice to prop up their weak natural acidity. I am sure you will love theses brightly flavored popsicles too! I bought the white balsamic vinegar from Trader Joe's and also used it in this recipe.

I absolutely love this flavor combination!  I love Indian food and the spice cardamom. A local gelato place sells cardamom ice cream and that quickly became my favorite flavor! Apricots are an ignored fruit I think. I enjoy eating them when they're in season, it's a mix of peach and melon. I've used them in a smoothie recipe in the past because in the blender they become a smooth thick texture. Make sure you're using soft to the touch apricots that are fully ripe. You can use bourbon or whisky interchangeable. The coconut milk make these very creamy! I use a no calorie sugar, but if you sub it for honey or maple syrup this will be a little higher in calories and will have a lot more sugar in it.


Ingredients
3 apricots, halved, pits removed
3 TB Ideal sugar
½ can of full fat coconut milk
½ ts ground cardamom
2 TB Whisky

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in your blender and pour into your molds. 
2. Twirl the sticks in your mold around to get rid of the air bubbles.
3. Freeze for 6 hours or overnight. 

Nutritional Analysis
Makes 5 popsicles
109 cal, 7g fat, 3g of sugar

Recipe adapted from tasty-yummies

Did you know that kiwi has more potassium than a banana, one kiwi has more Vitamin C than an orange, contains tons of fiber, and enhances energy levels too. Kiwis are my mother's favorite fruit so I grew up eating them often. You can add a little white rum to recipe to make watermelon mojitos, but not too much because liquor doesn't freeze well. You could also put gummy bears inside the popsicles. 

Ingredients
Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender. Taste to adjust sweetness.
2. Freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

Makes 4 popsicles

Recipe Source: yummyhealthyeasy