It's summer and it's hot. Everyday in Hotlanta it's been 90 degrees and over. One of the best things to enjoy on a hot summer day is ice cream. And I LOOOOOOVE ice cream. I think Jeni's ice cream in Atlanta is one of the best. My favorite brands to buy at the supermarket are Haagen Dazs and Talenti.
If you are trying to stay fit like I am, ice cream isn't something you should have every day. My favorite flavor is always going to be chocolate. I'm a sucker for chocolate anything. Haagen Dazs is one of my favorites for chocolate ice cream. But if you look at the nutritional facts, it's not pretty.
ingredients: cream, skim milk, sugar, cocoa processed with alkali, egg yolks
As you can see, 270 calories per serving with 160 calories from fat. Yikes! I don't know about you but I can eat the whole container in one sitting. I usually feel pretty guilty after having Haagen Dazs.
The first time I heard of Halo Top was on Zuzka Light's youtube channel. She was sitting by the pool and enjoying this brand of ice cream. She mentioned it had a lot of protein and it tasted great. After watching that I was curious about this brand and wanted to give it a try. I found Halo Top at Whole Foods and boy is it on the expensive side. Halo Top on sale was $5.50 per pint. Last time I bought Haagan Dasz it was three for $10 on sale.
Of course I got chocolate to try. The nutritional panel is impressive. The entire pint of chocolate ice cream is only 240 calories. Only 18 calories are from fat per serving. See for yourself!
ingredients: Milk and cream, eggs, erythritol, prebiotic fiber, milk protein concentrate, white chocolate chips (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, milk proteins, lactose, soy lecithin), organic cane sugar, vegetable glycerin, sea salt, natural flavors, organic carob gum, organic guar gum, organic stevia.
My husband took one look at the numbers and said this is going to be awful tasting. I'm always the positive one and replied, "What if this is the best ice cream ever?" Here is what the ice cream actually looks like.
If you look closely you can see the texture isn't creamy. It looks pretty dry and flaky. If you are used to having premium ice cream, this will not do. I would only suggest Halo Top if you haven't had premium ice cream in a long time and kind of forgot what it tastes like. This will not satisfy you if you're looking for Haagan Dasz quality ice cream. However, if you're willing to sacrifice taste and you're just desperate for some ice cream this might satisfy you. For me personally, I don't think I would ever buy this again.
If you want to be mindful of what you're eating AND still want quality ice cream, I would suggest LaLoo's goat ice cream.
ingredients: Goat Milk, Sugar, *Scharffen Berger (processed with alkali) semi-sweet chocolate (chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla), Egg Yolks, Locust Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan
If you are lactose intolerant, goat milk is a great alternative. It tastes just as good as premium ice cream but this may be hard to find. I'm sure Whole Foods would have it. I haven't had this in a while but I was super surprised at how good this was and if you look at the calories it's not as bad as Haagan Dasz with 160 calories per serving and only 60 calories from fat. So you can indulge a little bit without feeling totally guilty afterwards.
Hope this review helps you all out with the heat!
Just a little correction,) goat milk is a great alternative for people with milk protein allergy (this protein is usually the one in cow milk).. Lactose is a sugar/carbohydrate present in every milk (even human,) But you can get rid of big amounts of lactose by fermenting - thats why lactose intolerant people can tolerate small amounts of yogurts,)
ReplyDeleteYes you're correct. It does still contain lactose but it's a lot less than cow's milk.
DeleteThanks for the interesting review 😊 I eat icecream maybe 3 times a year but I'll share this with hubby...he loves Ben&Jerry's icecream but runs ultra (100+km)trails so would like a healthier option 👌
ReplyDeleteWow only 3 times a year?! That's as impressive as your hubby running 100+km trails! If he tries Halo Top or Laloo's let me know what he thinks.
DeleteThanks for the reviews! You made me laugh with your comment "if you're willing to sacrifice taste and you're just desperate for some ice cream ..." I can get "desperate". I unfortunately, eat ice cream almost every day with the heat waves we've been getting.
ReplyDeleteTell me about it. I've been having ice cream every night for dessert. But my husband is about to ban ice cream for another month. =(
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