Favorite Frozen Treats 2014 Edition

If you’re familiar with Foodtrainers you know that it’s not enough for us to look at a label and tell you a food is “healthy”. We need to know what it tastes like. Every summer we pick a day for our Annual Ice Cream Test. There are many great flavors and brands we’ve tried in the past and we really like to bring you new ideas. First, we put the word out to our Twitter, Facebook and Insta friends asking for suggestions. Next, we scheduled an ice cream meeting to be sure we have scoured the city for the best pints, pops and shops. We narrowed down our list and devised a schedule for ice cream acquisition. The contenders were assembled on my desk. And of course we have secret ballots. Each flavor is rated on a scale of 1 to 10 cones. We didn’t share our conclusions until every flavor had been tasted.

For the most part, we agreed. Some flavors tasted “vegany”. Others were “too sweet” or even “too salty.” We fell in love with the texture of the stringy goat’s milk ice cream from Lezzetli. In the end there were three frozen standouts.

Culture Plain (9 cones)

I’m not typically a froyo fan. Part of it has to do with the cease and desist letter I received from a prominent company when I blogged about portion sizes. The other part is that, as I said earlier, if healthy involves sacrificing taste I’m out. Culture has great flavors but the original was our favorite. Culture takes both their ingredients and probiotics seriously and so do we. “There are absolutely no preservatives or additives.” Their product is made onsite from strained yogurt. They have both a Manhattan and Brooklyn locations. We found their kiddie size perfect.

Van Leeuwan Artisan Ice Cream Earl Grey (8 cones) 

This Earl Grey Van Leeuwan flavor elicited wows from us although, if I’m being hones,t our intern did say, “I thought it was weird” which is probably what we liked. It is unique and smoky and not overly sweet. And this is real deal ice cream but it’s made with organic ingredients. This is a treat we endorse and will probably indulge in again before the summer ends. 

Jolly Llama Banana Coconut (8 cones) 

We know our readers hail from many places outside NYC. So it would be pretty rude to make this all NY-centric.  And it just so happens Jolly Llama topped our taste test.These nouveau push pops are 80 to 100 calories, gluten free, dairy free and non-GMO and kosher. Though they are called sorbet pops we tried the banana coconut flavor which, thanks to the coconut, tasted creamy and indulgent.

What's your favorite frozen treat? Have you tried any of our winners? Which would you want to try?

*certain contenders didn't make our final list because of ingredients or sweeteners we don't endorse. For more info on what to avoid in allegedly healthy treats you can read this.

Is being a foodie good for your weight?

Has anyone else notices a surge in slogan tees?

Sometimes clients come in and apologize. “It’s terrible, I just love food.” They’ll elaborate, “I enjoy restaurants and trying new foods.” I sit back waiting for the part they should be sorry for. Other times, in a session, I’ll talk about a recipe and clients will look at me surprised “wow, you really know about food.” Where did we all get this notion that being healthy or losing weight requires divorcing ourselves from food pleasure? I come bearing good news; nothing about Foodtraining or weight loss requires staying home eating undressed greens, sad yet skinny.

In many ways, I think my foodie clients do better. If you like a lot of foods, chances are you like a lot of healthy foods. Give me the fearless foodie over the picky eater any day. Foodies like flavor. I can get a foodie excited about a farm egg, oysters or the most delicious finishing salt. If anyone knows how to make healthy food exciting it’s the foodie.

But, yes there’s a but. I wish there was a way that life could involve daily cheese courses, free flowing cocktails (farm to bar movement anyone?) and loads of “freshly baked” everything but it can’t and shouldn’t. For most people you really cannot eat out every night, sample everything (trust me you don’t “have to”) and stay slim.

Amber Valetta, in a recent Allure interview, said that she loves great food (I believe her another misconception is that if you’re thin you must not) but that’s not what she eats day in and day out. Brown rice, quinoa and vegetables are staples for her. I like this way of looking at things. In a week perhaps there are some restaurant meals. There is a time for treats. But we also need those less exciting slightly Spartan options to balance it out. Maybe it’s my turn to apologize but I promise that even quinoa and vegetables with a miso dressing or harissa will be ok.

Do you consider yourself a foodie? Do you like that term? Do you think this is an asset or liability when it comes to weight?