Slimming with Ice Cream

IT JUST WOULDN'T BE SUMMER WITHOUT ICE CREAM - BUT HOW MUCH CAN YOUR FIGURE AFFORD??    -     LET'S GET IT LICKED!!!!

Who'd have thought that the very first 'cornetto; would have originated centuries ago - in the Far East?  Marco Polo is believed to have brought back the recipe for milk ice (a frozen food made of skimmed milk) from his travels in the orient.  Top chefs, hundred of years later, tried to keep ice cream recipes under wraps - to be enjoyed only by the nobility.  Luckily for us, the recipe secrets were discovered and now we, too, can experience the smooth, creamy, melting texture and the variety of sweet fruity flavours of ice cream.  (Mind you, as figure watchers, maybe life would have been easier is such recipes had remained secret!!).

The weather bears little relation to our ice cream consumption, in fact, the sales of take-home ice cream has increased with the growth of home freezer ownership.  And the recent swing towards fridge-freezers as opposed to the chest or upright types has resulted in a popular demand for smaller packs of 2 litres and less, and more multi-packs of individual ice creams and flavoured mousses.

SO WHAT'S NEW??

Manufacturers are making it their job this season to tempt our taste buds even more, with their new ranges and innovative ideas of presentation.  Since the introduction of the Vienetta, several years ago now, each manufacturer has brought out its own dinner party eye-catcher.

Trendies can forget cornets this year.  The IN impulse products are the choc bars; not quite choc ices and not exactly frozen chocolate bars, you know the ones we mean though.  They would be alright for the odd summer treat, but hands up who could leave them alone after enjoying just one?!?!

Usually we can find at least one manufacturer who considers us figure-watchers: Bejam have introduced Choc Ice Bites, which are  fun-size choc ices, excellent news for slimmers at just 37 calories each (even though they did have the children's market in mind - but aren't we all children at heart!!)

Remember we can eat anything in small quantities - just don't go overboard! And don't forget there's always reduced calorie ice cream by Lyons \maid which costs only 34 calories per oz.

AND WHAT'S IN A NAME

Labelling on ice cream can often be misleading.  beware of statements claiming "made with skimmed milk" which imply "Low in calories".  Unfortunately, these statements usually just mean that there@s no animal fat, but look more closely at the small print listing the ingredients, and you'll spot the vegetable fat.  Remember, vegetable fat is not low in calories but low in saturated fat, and therefore high in mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats which are just as calorific as the saturated kind.  The large supermarket ice cream manufacturers are now including nutritional information on their packages.  One of the biggest enemies, when it come to calorie-watching, is the range of dairy cream products available.,  They're often made with real double cream and butterfat - which means they're also very high in saturated fats.

Mind you, recent press reports may have left you wondering whether you were paying more for the air in ice cream than anything else.  In fact, air is essential for creating that smooth, melt-in-the mouth texture that's unique to ice cream,.  it increases the volume, makes it lighter and fluffier and without it you simply be licking a lolly!!!

SLIMMERS' SUMMER SPECIALS

Don't forget the endless selection of fruit lollies- ideal for hot summer days.

Juice-bar ice lollies are calorie cheap: try orange or pineapple juice at 42 calories each, or the tropical juice fore 43 calories.  if you're going to treat the kids to a Mr Men fruit lolly, don't forget yourself!!

they on contain 20 calories.  Find all these under the Lyons Maid label.  From Wall's come Mini milks, vanilla is just 35 calories while Strawberry clocks up 40 calories.  Their dairy vanilla ice cream bar, sandwiched with wafers, is 95 calories 9golden vanilla, just 90).  But beware of  Cornetto and King Cone style ices, they can cost you anything up to 240 calories apiece!!!

ICE DREAMS  -  CALORIE COUNTS FOR THE LATEST ICE CREAM CREATIONS

Bejam                                                                    calories                                  quantity

Summer Bombe                                                  48                                          per 1oz

Strawberry bombe                                              203                                         per 5oz

Black Cherry Bombe                                         202                                         per 5oz

Exotic fruit and coconut Bombe                     225                                         per 5oz

Mint Bombe                                                        175                                         per 5oz

Loseley

Grand Marnier Special Bombe                       118                                         per 2.2oz

Chocolate Mocha Bombe                                 158                                         per 2.8oz

Apricot and Amaretto Bombe                          111                                         per 2.9oz

Chocolate Mint Royal Bombe                        277                                         per 2.30z

Strawberry White Chocolate Bombe             235                                         per 3.6oz

Crunch Bombe                                                    259                                         per 3.2oz

Lyons Maid

Summer Pudding                                                                45                                          per 1oz

Marks and Spencer

Alsace                                                                    48                                          per 1oz

Tesco

Knickerbockers Glory                                       53                                          per 1oz

Chocolate Nut Sundae                                      167                                         per 6fl oz

INDIVIDUAL CHOC BARS

Bejam

Choc Ice Bites                                                     37                                          each

Rodeo Bars                                                          181                                         each

Lyons Maid

Nut Cracker                                                         161                                         each

Caprice                                                                 204                                         each

Gold Seal Mint Choc Chip                              51                                          per 1oz

Gold Seal Vanilla Choc Flake                         52                                          per 1oz

Tesco

Coconut Bar                                                        124                                         each

Fruit and Nut Bar (muesli style)      '               163                                         each

Wall's

Bonanza                                                                                202                                         each

Woodland Strawberry                                       39                                          per 1oz

Continental Chocolate                                      33                                          per 1oz

Roasted Hazel Nut                                             35                                          per 1oz

Morello Cherry Kirsch                                     29                                          per 1oz

Cappuccino                                                          48                                          per 1oz