Showing posts with label ice cream. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ice cream. Show all posts

8.26.2014

Healthified Turtle Ice Cream Cake

I know how it is, you are working so hard to eat healthy and stay away from those sweets. But it is summer time and sometimes you just need some ice cream! This is a super tasty recipe that everyone will enjoy. No one will guess that it is lower in fat and calories and you will be able to enjoy a nice slice of it. Perfect after a summer bbq! Just don't forget to plan ahead and make this the night before, it needs time to freeze!

Healthified Turtle Ice Cream Cake
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 11 hours
Servings: 12

10 chocolate wafer cookies, finely crushed (1/2 cup)
1 T coconut oil or butter or other substitute, melted
3 cups reduced fat chocolate ice cream, softened
1/2 cup fat-free hot fudge topping
2/3 cup chopped pecans
3 cups reduced fat vanilla ice cream, softened
1/4 cup fat-free caramel topping

In a small bowl, mix wafer crumbs and melted coconut oil/butter until crumbly. Press into the bottom of an ungreased, 9 inch, springform pan. Freeze 30 minutes.

Drop chocolate ice cream by small spoonfuls over crust and carefully spread until smooth. Freeze for 1 hour or until firm.

Spoon and carefully spread fudge topping over ice cream. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the pecans; press lightly. Freeze 1 hour or until firm.

Drop vanilla ice cream by small spoonfuls over pecan layer; carefully spread until smooth. Cover and freeze at least hours or over night.

To serve, let stand at room temperature 5 to 10 minutes to soften. Carefully remove side of pan. Cut into 12 wedges. Place each wedge on individual dessert plate and drizzle each with 1 teaspoon of dessert topping. Store remaining ice cream cake covered in freezer.

8.13.2012

Size Really Does Matter

Do you have a lot on your plate?  Does squeezing in time for the gym just seem impossible?  Paring down your portions is the easiest secret to staying slim.

Before you swear off everything except for baby carrots and celery, read this!  The culprit behind weight gain may not be what you eat but how much you eat.  Since the late seventies, we have added 570 calories a day to our diets, and half of them can be attributed to larger portions, according to research at the University of North Carolina.  "Even though today's serving sizes can be more than triple what the USDA recommends, they've become our new normal, and anything smaller can seem puny by comparison," says Lisa R. Young, Ph.D, R.D., a Fitness advisory board member and the author of The Portion Teller Plan. Fortunately, having strong visual aids can go a long way toward helping you shift your mind-set.  Once you know what right-size portions look like, selecting them will become second nature.  And the best part?  You can downsize your plate--and your weight--without giving up the foods you love.

Smoothies:  Even the smallest size at most smoothie shops is often double the amount you should be sipping.  A large can contain 40 ounces and 1,000 plus calories!  Pass up the juice bar and bring your own recovery drink to the gym.  Try Dannon DanActive or Oikos Organic Drinkable Low fat Yogurt.  Or at home, make your own by blending three quarters of a cup of low fat milk with a half cup of frozen fruit and half a banana.  Makes 8 ounces and has 235 less calories.

Pasta:  This is one dish that always seems to be served in gigantic portions.  Researchers at the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that pasta dinners at some popular chain restaurants contained between three and three and a half cups of noodles, or 840 to 1,040 calories with sauce.  Next time you eat out ask if they offer lunch or half-size portions.  If you don't see a smaller serving on the menu ask to be given just one cup of pasta and have the rest boxed up before its brought to the table.  Special requests are standard nowadays and most waiters are happy to accommodate you.

Potato Chips:  "Snack sizes are often twice as big as they were 30 years ago," says Michael Jacobson, Ph.D., the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.  "And even though the labels on the bags say they serve two or more, many people polish off the entire contents themselves." One of the most popular snacks, potato chips, may contribute more to long-term weight gain than many other foods or drinks.  A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that every additional serving of chips a person consumes daily, they gain nearly two pounds every four years.  Choose popped as opposed to fried chips to get more food for fewer calories.  IF you prefer the classic version, opt for a one-ounce package or split a bigger bag with a buddy.

Ice Cream: "Eating directly out of the carton means you may well keep going until you hit the cardboard at the bottom," says Brian Wansink, Ph.D., the director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University.  IF you're indulging in premium ice cream, that can be the caloric equivalent of a double cheeseburger, plus a whopping 20 grams of saturated fat--nearly your daily maximum.  Dish out a single serving and use a small bowl and spoon.  A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that doing so could shrink your helping by about 30 percent.  At the ice cream parlor get a cup or a cone with a single scoop rather than a sundae or milkshake, which can contain roughly 1,400 to 1,700 calories.