Try-It Tuesday (a day late): Turkey Hill cold churned ice cream

I have a secret love affair with ice cream. It is one of my favorite foods because there is a flavor to fit any mood or craving. If I want something simple, I stick to the basic flavors like vanilla or strawberry. If I want chocolate, I can with basic chocolate, vanilla with chocolate swirl, or I can go all out with chocolate with chocolate swirls and chunks of even more chocolate. For those “special” cravings, when I want something salty, yet sweet, soft, but crunchy, I can get ice cream that has pretzels mixed in. Unfortunately, there is a downside to this love affair and up until recently, there was no way around it: ice cream loves my hips, and my bum, and my legs. I have tried several of the low-fat ice creams that have appeared in my grocer's freezer, but they tasted, well, gross. They were also only available in a handful of very basic flavors. Then, ice cream manufacturers began slow/cold/double churning it as it was made, resulting in a lower calorie, lower fat ice cream that tasted as good as the real thing. I recently tried Turkey Hill's take on this process, they call it cold churning, and was very pleasantly surprised.

My daughter and I picked up two packages (1.5 qt size) of Turkey Hill ice cream on a recent shopping trip. She chose Strawberry Cheesecake and I chose Peanut Butter Mania. Strawberry Cheesecake is a light cheesecake flavored ice cream with swirls of yummy strawberry and small chunks of cheesecake. The proportions are perfect with each serving having just the right amount of swirl and cheesecake bites. The only thing missing was the graham cracker crust. Peanut Butter Mania is a light vanilla ice cream with swirls of peanut butter goodness (Turkey Hill calls it crunchy peanut butter cookie, but I am not sure that is an accurate description) and plenty of peanut brittle scattered throughout. This is not the tooth-cracking peanut brittle either. It is crunchy, yummy peanut brittle, that is not likely to cause a filling to come out or a tooth to break. Both flavors are so good, you would not believe they have at least ½ the fat of their “regular” counterparts and 25% fewer calories. One ½ cup serving of Strawberry Cheesecake has 120 calories and 3.5 g of fat. The same size serving of Peanut Butter Mania has 130 calories and 5 g of fat.

I am absolutely thrilled to have found a way to carry on this relationship without having to sacrifice my health. Of course, as with all things, I still must consume it in moderation, but if I overindulge once in a while, I won't feel as bad. I am also happy to say that these light ice creams are available in a variety of flavors, including Snyder's Chocolate Pretzel, to satisfy all my ice cream cravings.