So instead of ice cream, try smoothie pops. Start with low-calorie almond milk then add your favorites.
"We add frozen fruit, cherries -- you can add that you want. We add chocolate chips then you can add a tablespoon of peanut butter," Kelsey Seybold Dietitian Ronda Elsenbrook said.
Blend and then you can pour it into a mold for kids or drink it.
Prefer your cold drinks with alcohol? A pina colada has between 400 and 600 calories, but Elsenbrook created a similar drink she calls a spiced rum spritzer. She starts with calorie-free flavored sparkling water.
"The only calories in the beverage are in the alcohol, and a shot of any liquor is about roughly 80 calories," Elsenbrook said.
A glass of lemonade is about 120 calories, but you can make it with one-third of the calories by squeezing lemons into a low-calorie fruit juice.
And try making banana pops when you're yearning for an ice cream sandwich. Dip in yogurt, add the toppings you like most and it will keep you from grabbing the Blue Bell.
Check out the recipes below:
1. Smoothie Pops (instead of ice cream or frozen yogurt)
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup of your favorite frozen fruit (cherries, strawberries, peaches, etc)
- 1 tbsp of a nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, etc)
- 1 tbsp of dark chocolate chips
Blend all ingredients in a blender until combined and smooth. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze. Makes 4 popsicles.
2. Spiced Rum Spritzer (instead of a pina colada)
- 1 oz of spiced rum (or 1 oz of any flavorful liquor, like flavored vodka)
- Dilute the liquor with a 0 calorie sweetened and flavored sparkling water (lemon or lime flavor works best)
Fill a martini shaker with ice. Mix the ingredients. Shake and then pour (iceless) into a martini glass. Enjoy!
3. Banana Pops (instead of ice cream or frozen yogurt)
- 4 peeled bananas
- 1 cup of stirred greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or any chopped nut)
- Popsicle sticks
- Wax-lined tray
Insert the popsicle sticks into one end of the banana. Dip the bananas in the yogurt and roll in the chocolate chips or the walnuts to coat the area covered in yogurt. Place on wax-lined tray and freeze.
4. Low-Cal Lemonade
Swap out the sugar and the water and instead use a low sugar and low calorie fruit juice to sweeten and dilute the flavor, like Honest Kids juices. This juice is only 45 calories per 8 oz serving.
