"Good Food Made Better"

I have really enjoyed cooking lately. After years and years of a “love-hate” relationship with food, I began my quest to modify favorite foods and recipes to yield healthier results. In the past, at times when I felt the need to drop extra pounds, I would turn to those specialty food products, guaranteed to be so disgusting you’d lose weight simply because you couldn’t stand to eat them… The alternative was to eat a deprived and boring diet – with the occasional splurge which left me feeling guilty.

I felt there had to b a better way! There must be a way to incorporate those foods I love so much into a healthy way of eating. I set about tinkering with recipes to develop healthier alternatives – lower fat, higher protein, less sugar/carbs, more fiber, etc… But without sacrificing flavor.

It has been a journey of much trial and error. Many times I’ll go through a recipe 3 or 4 times, each flop improving on the last, until I have a perfected recipe. At times, it has been more “science experiment” than anything! But I have had some great success, and I’m so happy to share.

No more “forbidden foods”, no more guilt…

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Ice Cream!

Can you have ice cream on a diet?  Of course you can!  It doesn't have to be that nasty-ass diet stuff they sell at the grocery store either - you can make it yourself, and it's tastier AND healthier.

Ingredients-
3 eggs
1 cup sweetener of choice (I use Vivalac's Whey Low for ice cream)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups half-and-half cream
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of guar gum (not absolutely necessary, but helps prevent ice crystals and maintain creamy texture)
1/4 tsp of xanthan gum (also not critical, but helps with texture)

Directions

1.In a heavy saucepan, combine the first five ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon and reaches at least 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat; cool quickly by setting pan in ice and stirring the mixture. Cover and refrigerate until very cold. When ready to freeze, pour custard and vanilla into a blender and blend on high to incorporate air.  If you have the guar gum, VERY SLOWLY sprinkle into custard mixture while blending.  This will make the end product fluffier/creamier.  After blending mixture, pour into the cylinder of an ice cream freezer. Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.

Nutrition per 1 cup
calories-170
fat10g
carbs-30g (only 10g effective carbs due to Whey Low's digestive-resistant carbs)
protein-7g

Let's compare that with Safeway's Light Vanilla...
Nonfat Milk, Cream, Sugar, Milk, Corn Syrup, Whey Protein, Stabilizer (Tapioca Starch, Guar Gum, Mono and Diglycerides, Tara Gum, Cellulose Gum, Polysorbate 80, Carrageenan), Vanilla Extract, Annatto Color, Vitamin A Palmitate.


Nutrition Facts
Serving Size - 1/2 cup! (that's HALF of what you get with our homemade version!)
Calories 120
Total Fat 3.5g
Total Carbohydrate 17g
Protein 3g


Oh, and if you're in the market for a new ice cream maker, can I recommend Cuisinart's Pure Indulgence Automatic Ice Cream maker?  You don't have to mess with rock salt and ice anymore - simply store the 1/2 gallon tub in the freezer and when you're ready, just take out the tub and put it in your machine and it's ready to go!

***P.S. - I've tried adding protein to this recipe, but so far it hasn't been really edible...  If I perfect it I will post a different "protein" version!

Posted by at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)