Healthy (and Tasty!) Frozen Treats

Expert tips for healthier indulgences.

By Janis Graham

From Reader's Digest

• Healthy Foods
• Healthy Snacks
• Nutrition
• Summer Season

Healthy summer treats don't have to taste chalky or fake!

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Healthy summer treats don't have to taste chalky or fake!

Ice cream freezers are crammed with lighter options, but many of them are chalky, fake tasting, and anything but tempting. How to find the good ones? Dawn Jackson Blatner, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, offers this advice:

Scan labels for the term cold-, slow-, or double-churned. It's code for a manufacturing process that evenly distributes a small amount of fat, giving lower-fat ice creams a rich, smooth texture.

Look for ingredients you know; skim milk and sugar taste better than things you can't pronounce.

Skip fat-free products, which often use chemical additives to make up for lost flavor. They're also less satisfying, so you may eat more.

Avoid sorbitol and sucralose, which create an artificially sweet taste.

Pick a bold flavor like mint, caramel, or mocha; you won't miss the fat as much.

From Reader's Digest - July 2008

• The Scoop on Ice Cream Makers
• You can crank by hand or flip a switch for summer's favorite sweet treat.
• 
• Chill Out With Frozen Treats
• You don't need an ice cream freezer to enjoy homemade ice cream treats. Re-create that homemade taste in your kitchen freezer with from-scratch ingredients ... or start with purchased ice cream and create a nutty ice cream pie.
• 
• Chilled Thrills
• Celebrate National Ice Cream Month by making your own frozen treats.
• 
• Dessert From the Grill
• A mouthwatering dessert straight from the grill! Pineapple, caramel, and ice cream tops a slice of grilled pound cake.
• 

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Her class assignment was to interview an "old person" about his life, so my niece asked me, "What was the biggest historical event that happened during your childhood?"

"I'd have to say the moonwalk," I replied.

She looked disappointed. "That dance was so important to you?"

-- Jean Rosenstiel, Oelwein, Iowa