I is for “Incredible, Edible” Ice Cream

Image via Wikipedia

As the days get hotter I only want to eat cool foods. Salads, fresh fruit, and of course, ICE CREAM!

I don’t always want ice cream, but when I do I often think this is the perfect food. Yes, I know it has lots of fat and calories and sugar, but, if you get the right kind of ice cream it fulfills all sorts of nutritional needs, besides the fact that it sooths the soul. 😉 After all, most women don’t get enough calcium in their diet. What yummier way than to eat a little ice cream? But ice cream provides more than just calcium alone!

For example, yesterday after our quest for Dairy Queen failed (another count against this town) we ended up at Braun’s for ice cream and I ordered a small cup of German Chocolate. Now, in my naiveté I thought that would simply be a rich chocolate ice cream, but of course it was actually German Chocolate Cake ice cream. So it included: pecans (protein and fiber) and coconut (protein, vitamin A, vitamin C and calcium) So, according to Calorie Count at About.com, my little journey into a decadent treat added this to my day (Note that I am actually writing this immediately after eating the treat, so these numbers will change later on):

• 300 calories (okay, that’s not great, but I still have over 400 calories to eat today)
• 36 carbs (but my carbs are still too low for the day)
• 5 grams of protein. I still need more.
• 16 grams of fat . . . um , I’ll just deny that. And I am still in the good range for the day.
• 9 grams of saturated fat. Harrumph. 😛
• 45 mg of cholesterol. Not great but not bad. And I just started a medication to beat that silly cholesterol out of my system. Do you think this will set me back?
• 150 mg of salt. Not great, not bad. Why does there have to be salt in everything?
• 1 g. of fiber. Woo hoo!
• 35 g. of sugar. So . . . it is a treat!
• 400 IU of Vitamin A. See, it’s got vitamins.
• 1.2 mg of Vitamin C. You can’t get enough of that.
• 150 mg. of Calcium. I’m going to get enough calcium today! Yay me!
• 1.1 mg. of Iron. That’s pretty awesome

Now I just need to figure out how to get some potassium in there and it will be almost the perfect meal. Aha! Easy solution for that:

And of course, I chose an ice cream that includes the most important food group. Okay, it’s not listed on the nutrition charts, but most women will agree with me that the most important food group is . . .

CHOCOLATE!!!

Now, I would like to point out that I’ve lost 15 lbs recently and am on the road to many more. I’m taking care of my health and trying to get more exercise on a regular basis. Did you know that sitting and typing/ writing for about an hour burns approximately 143 calories?

But sometimes you still have to eat ice cream.

Who wants to join me in a banana split?

Ice Cream and Nostalgia

Addition on Monday morning . . .

After I wrote the draft of this post, I headed to the William Inge Family home for a rehearsal of a scene that will be held there this week. I was a little early, so I sat on the fabulous front porch (my favorite part of the old house) and enjoyed the sunshine at the end of the day. The smell of lilacs wafted over to me from the tree nearby. Bright butterflies made visits, drawn by the sweet smell. In the distance, I though I heard a tinkle of music that sounded like someone’s cell phone playing a lively, old-fashioned tune. When one of my actors arrived, a local girl, I heard it even more clearly.

“What is that?” I asked.

“The ice cream truck.”

I sat back and smiled.