Irresistable Ice Cream Week

Hot, muggy weather, like we've been experiencing over the past few days can be the bane of the weight watcher. Especially if you're trying to exercise! Personally this kind of weather puts me off eating and all I want to do is knock back some ice cold pints of sweet, sweet beer, well that or else eat a bucket of ice cream.  Unfortunately luxury ice cream is pure evil when it comes to calories and fat content....What I wouldn't have given for a tub of fairly nuts or cookie dough Ben and Jerrys this afternoon....droooooooooooooool!!!

But I knew the guilt I would feel afterwards would far outweigh the pleasure. Per 100ml  of Ben and Jerrys there is roughly 15g of fat. A scoop is roughly 100g so if you go for 3 scoops, which, lets face it, is the most popular size, we're talking 45g of fat and it's not even a main meal as much as I wish it could be. We're also talking 270 calories per scoop so in that little  three scoop tub at the cinema there lurks a whopping 810 calories. So a 500ml tub that you would buy in the supermaarket would contain over 1300 calories and 75g of fat. Ouch! But there are a number of alternatives as always and I do have a pretty great low fat ice cream recipe but I will post that later in the week. This blog post is about quick fix solutions to stop your ice cream craving.

First of all, let me get one thing straight...I'm not talkin 'bout none of that frozen yoghurt muck! That's not ice cream and it never will be....I'm talkin 'bout real, creamy, not an ice crystal in sight, ice cream.  Obviously the non luxury brand ice creams are going to be lower in calories...Plain vanilla averages at 100 calories per 100ml and 4.5g of fat.  That's what we would all normally have at home in our freezers, but we can do better than that... Carte D'or have brought out a Light Vanilla Ice Cream and I swear it tastes identical to their normal vanilla ice cream, which is very good indeed. Made with vanilla pods, it's a little pricier than the own brand ice creams available in supermarkets and the likes of HB or Walls but it tastes so much better. Tesco do a lighter choice vanilletta, but they give the game away by not calling it ice cream...it's a "frozen dessert" and it tastes completely gack! So don't be tempted to try it!!

There are only 70 calories per 2 scoops and 3g of fat in the Carte D'or light Vanilla, so I usually have 3 scoops and a topping of some sort, which more often than not is half a snack sized crunchy bashed to crumbs and sprinkled over the top. You'd be surprised how far it goes and it's like having a honeycomb and chocolate ice cream. This also works well with Maltesers or an Oreo. Basically anything chocolatey and crumbley! Nom. Nom Nom!!! Just watch how much you use to keep your calorie count down. I'll also be posting a great low fat/low cal summer fruit sundae recipe during this week that will leave you feeling completely spoilt on only 180 calories!!!

Of course, we're not always at home when the urge for an ice cream hits, but even when you're out and about you don't have to resist if you know your ice cream badies from your ice cream goodies. Generally I stick with ice creams that are made from skimmed milk and sorbet. So if you like them go with a Tangle Twister for only 76cals, an Orange Solero for only 77cals, or a Funny Foot for 83 cals. If you just want an ice lolly then those seriously tasty Fruit Pastille ones are only 58 cals and if you're feeling really saintly but fancy something creamy there are always the old childhood reliable Mini Milks at a mere 31 cals but they are very small! Nothing stopping you having two when they're that low though!

The average chocolatey ice cream lolly isn't terrible in calories and fat if you were having one as a dessert rather than just a snack.  It would be a good choice, in fact... but I'm all about maximising taste for as few calories as possible and you can have a way more indulgent dessert for around the same calorie count with much lower fat.  So if you're watching your weight don't sweat it when it comes to ice cream. Don't bother with the frozen dessert crap, it tastes pants. Avoid the luxury brands unless it's a super rare treat and you're willing to work off all those calories. There is a low calorie/fat option for every circumstance. Think I'll go have a Solero right now!
 

Chaste Cheesecake

If I'm not blogging for a while it means I'm working on some new recipes.  I've got a couple of new ones that I have been working on and tweeking to get them just right before posting them on here. This one, however, was the very first low fat foodie recipe I tried and it is still my all time favourite! I posted this recipe on facebook a few months ago but have made some adjustments since.

When you're trying to lose weight or maintain your weight, cream is the devil itself, but we now have plenty of alternatives to full fat cream that can be substituted without losing any taste.  This recipe is for individual cheesecakes that may look small but I guarantee you that they are so rich and satisfying you will be quite happy with one. Take this as truth from somone who used to use 500ml of cream and 500g of full fat cream cheese in a 9inch round cheescake!

 AAAAaaaaand if you thought you would never be able to make a decent cheesecake...well they don't come any easier than this! Any clutz in the kitchen could whip this up in 10 minutes.

 Nutrional Facts:
Calories: 220
Fat: 6g
WWPP: 5.5
Carbs: 25.5g
Sugar: 13.6g
Protein: 9.5g


Serves:4
Prep Time:10 minutes
Refrigeration Time: 30 minutes minimum


Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 McVitees Light Digestive Biscuits (this brand is on average 15-20 calories and 1.5g of fat less per biscuit than other brands)
• 200g of Extra Light Soft Cheese  (no need to get en expensive brand -Tesco do a version)
• 100g of drained low fat natural yoghurt (If you can get your hands on 0% fat Greek Yoghurt it's even better but I have searched high and low for it in Dublin and can't find it anywhere)
• 2 tbsp of golden caster sugar or fruit sugar
• 1 tbsp of powdered sweetener
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp St Dalfour Sugar Free Jam ( there are other sugar free jams but this really is the best)
• 100g of strawberries hulled and thinly sliced

Method: 

1.  If you can't get the 0% fat greek yoghurt you will have to prepare your low fat natural yoghurt ahead of time. To do this you will need a deep bowl or jug, a sieve and some good quality kitchen roll. Line the sieve with a single ply of kitchen roll and place over the jug. Pour in 200g of yoghurt and leave to drain in fridge for about 3 hours. I know it sounds like hassle but this step is essential if you ar to get a thick, creamy cheesecake...after 3 hours, carefully turn the contents of the sieve into a wide bowl and even more carefully peel off the kitchen roll, then weight out 100g.
2. bash your biscuits in  a sealable plastic bag until they are chunky crumbs...you are not adding any butter to the base so chunky bits are fine. Share this evenly between your four small glasses or ramicans.  
3.  mix together the cream cheese, yoghurt, sugar, sweetener,  lemon zest and vanilla extract until they form a smooth cream. Taste to make sure that it's sweet enough for you. If it isn't add a little bit more sweetener until it is and pour this equally over your biscuit base in the four glasses then place in fridge to set.
4. In the mean time put a tbsp of jam in a mug and stir it around to losen it up a bit then add the strawberries and mix. Place in fridge until  you are ready to serve the cheesecakes.
5. When the cheesecakes are set spoon over the strawberries and serve with a teaspoon. 

I promise this cheesecake won't leave you feeling bloated and overly full, It will simply leave you satisfied and feeling like you've had a real treat for 220 calories! This is a great one to serve at dinner parties. no one will even realise that they are low fat!

These will keep for a couple of days in the fridge, so if there is just one or two of you you can still make four and treat yourself to a saintly dessert for a few nights in a row.

Not so Sinful Snacks 2: The Cinema

Going to the cinema can be a bit of a mine field for dieters...the smell of the popcorm, or the nachos, or the hot dogs...the giant share size bag of chocolatey sweets that, lets face it, we don't always share, the oh so tempting sahara nuts and lets not even talk about  the Ben and Jerrys counter! A trip to the flicks, while ultimately about seeing a great piece of cimema is also an honours level exercise in self control and I'm telling you now I am in the remedial class in this subject! But there are ways of addressing allllllll of our cinema food cravings.

First up: Hot Food...So lets rip the band aid off first....ya just can't have nachos at the cinema  there are over a 1100 calories in a portion, 59g of fat and 131g of carbs!!!!! What you can have though, is a hot dog. Not a foot long...a normal sized hot dog. It's not the best thing for ya to have but it's only 242 calories 14g of fat and 13g of carbs... and sure aren't onions good for ya? :) Just don't start loading it with cheese!

This is probably a good option if you're coming from work and haven't had time to have dinner. It won't make you feel full the instant you've eaten it but give it 20 minutes and it will deal with your hunger.

Popcorn can be hard to resist as well...especially when it is lovingly SMOTHERED in lovely, lovely butter! A small popcorn without butter already has 400 calories in a bag. It is covered in butter before they even ask you if you want more because it is popped in butter! So if you are coming from work the best thing to do is  just share a small bag with whoever you are with. If you are coming from home well then you can air pop your own popcorn in the microwave. all you need is a paper bag, about 2 cups of  kernals, and 1 cal spray oil. Put the kernals in the bag, give it a few sprays of oil and stick it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. You will hear it popping and like normal microwave popcorn (which is also covered in oil or butter) ya just wait for the popping to slow down before turning the microwave off. Season with whatever you want...but I like using onion salt. nom nom nom. It's not ideal but I don't mind bringing stuff with me to the cinema and it saves a fortune. They charge so much these days for even a small!  Ya just have to plan ahead I guess.

Ice Cream is my weakness at the cinema, that Ben and Jerrys stand  calls to me from the car! This isn't a problem anymore though as they now do some low fat options!!! A scoop averages around 160 calories but only 3g of fat. To be honest though, if there is a freezer I will check to see if they have Soleros as these are by far the best value for calories and fat. Super tasty and only 99 calories and and 2.2g of fat. If you need a chocolatey ice cream fix then most of the chocolate bar ice creams ...like crunchie etc are ok apart from Mars, snickers and toffee crisp. As a rule anything with caramel in it is worth avoiding. It's easier to pick just one ice cream instead of trying to have only one scoop! one scoop just feels mean, one ice cream feels normal.

And lets just deal with those share sized bags of sweety goodness. Just buy a normal sized bag and we all know that "Maltesers are the lighter way to enjoy chocolate" with 187 cals in a normal bag they are way ahead of the pack.

      

If you want to be all romantic and share just get the king size bag. If you're gonna go for the pick and mix just remember there is an average of 20 calories per sweet and 3-6g of fat. So you can have some just no more than 10 which really doesn't seem worth it in all honesty.

And of course if you are eating one, or a combination, of the above you do not want to waste calories on fizzy drinks so just stick with water or diet coke...even the diet versions of all other drinks are higher in calories. Flavoured fizzy waters are ok too.

So there you have it, just a few little changes and you can enjoy a treat at the flicks without the major guilt fest afterwards.