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Frozen Yogurt vs. Ice Cream
Froyo – my favorite post-race treat. ;) Ever since self-serve frozen yogurt joints started springing up all over the place, my friends and I love to stop in during movie nights or shopping trips. It helps that they boast non-fat flavors and plenty of healthy fruit toppings. As an ice cream lover, it seems like a healthier choice over a pint of Ben n’ Jerry’s, right?!
Since ice cream is made with heavy cream, it’s unavoidably a fattening dessert. There’s really no getting around it, although most companies are making lower-fat and lower-sugar varieties which definitely reduce calories and fat.
Already, frozen yogurt is less fattening because many flavors use a non-fat yogurt base. (Be careful – not all do! Anything with ‘Peanut Butter’ or ‘Cheesecake’ is probably a dead giveaway that it is not non-fat. Look at the labels.)
Some Surprising Truths:
I compared 1 cup of soft-serve Golden Vanilla frozen yogurt to 1 cup of Ben n’ Jerry’s Vanilla ice cream. One point for froyo as is clocks in at about half the calories – 240cals vs 460.
Frozen yogurt contained 75% MORE sodium though! It contained 130mg, or 5% of our daily value. I didn’t expect yogurt to have a significant amount of sodium.
The two were equal in carbohydrate content, 46 grams.
Frozen yogurt, fat-free or not, is still very high in sugar. 1 cup holds 35 grams of sugar, compared to ice cream’s 40.
While ice cream has significantly more fat, it really is just about moderation. I don’t think frozen yogurt is drastically more healthy than ice cream, if you know portion control!
(Well….anything’s gotta be better for you than this right?)
Remember the story of the pig and the trough?
Your toppings can really make or break the nutrition value of your cup! When in doubt, pile on the fruit ;) Sliced almonds, pecans, pretzels, dark chocolate chips or carob chips are also great.
Your best bet? Make your own! Try Peaches n’ Pecan Greek Frozen Yogurt or Strawberry S’mores Greek Frozen Yogurt at home!
Pumpkin Hazelnut Cookies
It seems like every year, pumpkin recipes become more and more popular. With websites like Pinterest and the growing number of food bloggers, we are flooded with more pumpkin-y creations than ever. I am just as pumpkin-obsessed as the next, and have already enjoyed my fair share of pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice oatmeal, and pumpkin-stuffed raviolis. However my FAVORITE pumpkin treat is soft and fluffy pumpkin cookies.
Fortunately for me, my friend Chelsea is just as much a fan and we planned an afternoon of baking in her adorable townhome. We started with an easy Cake Mix Cookie recipe from Julie over at Peanut Butter Fingers and altered it a little. To show you how unbelievably easy this really is, the ingredients are as follows:
1 box of cake mix
1 (15oz) can of pumpkin
Whatever mix-ins you want
So the original recipe called for Spice Cake. But our Target had the smallest cake selection ever so we were given the choices of chocolate, vanilla or carrot. Carrot is close enough, right? I mean it’s got orange flecks in it….
The carrot ended up being a GREAT call because it has the cinnamony spices and color in it plus orange carrot pieces that we can pretend are pumpkin ;) Chelsea and I made a batch of milk chocolate chip pumpkin cookies first.
After they came out so well, I made a second batch with Hazelnuts and White Chocolate Chips to bring to the Ping Pong Party. I kind of learned from the first batch:
A.) The shape/form you put the dough on the pan, is the shape they will come out. They do not expand/rise/flatten. They still look pretty “doughy”
B.) For the second batch I opted to use about 80% of the can of pumpkin instead of the whole thing. They were less doughy and it worked out much better :)
C.) They are to be enjoyed with a Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte.
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease a baking sheet.
- Combine cake mix and roughly 12 oz of pumpkin in a large mixing bowl.
- Add in chocolate chips, nuts, extra cinnamon, craisons or whatever your heart desires.
- Scoop cookie dough as roundly on to pan as possible, because they will keep this same shape.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes
This makes approximately 36 mini cookies, 66 calories and 2g fat each.
The pumpkin cookies with white chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts were a hit and the plate was empty before the party ended. They are seriously so easy to make, you could literally go to the store, buy the ingredients, make the dough, pop them in the over and be eating them within an hour.
I have a feeling these wouldn’t be bad with a chocolate cake mix…. if anyone tries it, let me know!
Pin this recipe here. 
Ping Pong Night at (Coach) Jack Daniels’
Last night, the guys and girls cross country teams were invited to the house of legendary Olympic marathon runner and coach Jack Daniel’s home for a British-style Olympic Ping Pong Tournament/ Party! His wife Nancy had attended the London 2012 games, and returned with plenty of loot to give away as prizes and raffles. Everything with London themed, napkins and all.
That night, I learned something. I learned that I SUCK at ping pong. Truly, it was embarrassing and I didn’t make it out of the first bracket but had fun watching my teammates play round after round.
There was plenty of food to go around because everyone brought a dish to share. My friend Kerri and I both live in the dorms, with only a common kitchen to use so we teamed up to bring something together. Our original idea came from somewhere in the blogosphere, a post I thought was pretty easy and cute. It was Apple Cinnamon Treats, like Rice Krispie Treats with Apple Cinnamon Cheerios instead, and apple slivers blended in. Sounds good right?
Don’t get your hopes up.
Sadly, it was a fail. I don’t think we did anything wrong; we followed the recipe exactly but Cheerios aren’t meant to be covered in marshmallow goo and left out. They tasted stale, soggy, and there was no way I was going to bring a pile o’ cheerios to a party. Now that I think about it, I don’t know why it ever sounded like a good idea… Needed a Quick Plan B!
Remember how I said yesterday I was going to bake pumpkin cookies with my friend Chelsea? Well they came out soooo good, I decided to make another batch to bring to the party. Pumpkin Hazelnut Cookies with White Chocolate Chips, anyone?
Who doesn’t like a soft pumpkin cookie on a chilly fall night? (Or would you prefer some sticky cheerios?) They were thoroughly enjoyed by a bunch of hungry ping pong players, along with the tables and tables of dishes everyone else brought. This team can cook! If you’re nice, I’ll share the recipe tomorrow ;)
