It’s kind of hard to mess up ice cream, yet somehow my beloved TJ’s has managed to do so. I’m a little perplexed since the ingredients are basic enough with the added bonus of dairy that’s free of growth hormones (a Must). That said, their vanilla ice cream is a bit icy and unamazing. In just two bites I was putting it back in the fridge. No bueno. The culprit must be the use of vanilla flavor and not Real vanilla.
Ok, I just got the joke of the ice-cream’s name as I was writing it in Caps. Ha ha. Wow, a little slow today. Perhaps it’s all that Clusterfluff clouding my mind!!!
So Yay- New flavor!
Peanut Butter Ice Cream, with Caramel Cluster Pieces, Marshmallow and Peanut Buttery Swirls.
Looks Promising….minus those nutrition facts :-6
All in all, super tasty, as you’d expect from my Vermontster boys. That said, a little too salty and heavy on the PB for a solid 5-cherry review.
I’m completely on a Sugar High now..@#*D!J#(UI!E@!(@#!$*A(!
XOXO
((sigh)) As much as I appreciate an all natural attempt at traditional desserts, Cashewtopia fails to deliver on something amazing. This organic, raw, vegan, low glycemic, dairy, soy, and sugar free gelato uses way too much agave nectar, which makes it too sweet and drowns out the natural flavors that they offer (pistachio & chocolate being my favorites).
That said, the consistency and quality of this raw, agave “gelato” is pretty well done, so I think the saccharine sweetness of the flavors could be an easy fix.
And- am I wrong to want the branding on the tub to be a little cuter? Maybe that sunshine logo needs to be smiling.. I dunno. Again, I want to support brands like Organic Nectars, but they have to meet half way.
For more info on Organic Nectar’s Cashewtopia, click here.
I’m just going to go ahead and give this Vanilla Ice Cream by Three Twins Ice Cream the Golden Cherry, even though the Golden Cherry Awards aren’t technically until December. I mean, lord knows I’ve had enough ice cream in my day to know a winner when I taste one. Wow- fresh, delicious, creamy, comforting, and made with whole, organic ingredients?! A Home Run!!! Sure, Häagen-Dazs has a great vanilla too, but their dairy has disgusting Growth Hormones in it, which puts it on the skull-and-bones list as far as I’m concerned. Thank goodness for companies like Northern California’s Three Twins for still making food with actual food, and chemical free ingredients!!
For more information on Three Twins Ice Cream, click here.
It’s hard to find an actual ice-cream sandwich, you know, made with real ice-cream, that comes in a 100 Calorie serving size. I scoured the shelves at Whole Foods, my eyes cruising by the soy, coconut milk, yogurt, and even goat-milk options before I landed on on Julie’s Organic Ice-Cream sandwiches.
The “Juliette” has thin chocolate wafers that neatly contain a bar of delicious vanilla ice-cream. Made with natural and organic ingredients, Julie’s Organic “Juliette’s” won my heart.
For more info on Julie’s Organic Ice-Cream, click here.
Click here to see ice creams that I won’t eat anymore, delicious or not!
There are many articles, like this fabulous one in the HuffingtonPost, about Bovine Growth Hormones, or rBGH. But I’ll break it down into simple language for you here this Thinny Thursday.
Monsanto, the chemical company that’s determined to run the world’s food supply (and thus, the world), created genetically engineered growth hormones to make cows produce more milk. The cows utters get extremely large, tender, and soar.
This swelling and pain makes the cows get infections, which makes them need antibiotics. Furthermore, the infections lead to blood and puss being released into the milk.
So now, dairy from cows injected with rBGH have:
“Food is information,” per this article by Dr. Franklipman. What we eat directly interacts with our genes and can make us healthy and happy, or diseased and sick. Wonder why some kids are hitting puberty as early as six years old?! Consuming milk from affected cows with artificial hormones and antibiotics directly and adversely affects our own bodies.
Sadly, my ALL TIME FAVORITE ice cream brands: Baskin-Robbins, Haagen Dazs, Breyers, and Dreyers, all use dairy from cows injected with rBGH. 
Seriously guys, this is like the Day the Music Died for me. People often ask what my favorite dessert is, and it’s ice cream. I’m so bummed that my childhood staples are so careless with the quality of their ingredients. Furthermore, some have the audacity to outright lie with labels like “All Natural”- UGH!!! Good news though..
Ben and Jerry’s has always taken a firm stance against using rBGH dairy, long before I even knew what the labels meant. All Organic ice creams are safe as well, like Stonyfield, Alden’s, Julie’s, and pretty much any brand that you’d find in a health food store.
Hopefully, if enough of us demand quality ingredients with our shopping dollars, Baskin-Robbins, Haagen Dazs, Bryers, and Dryers will catch on and make the shift to natural milk products. Hey, it worked for Starbucks! Who, I’m happy to share, also refuses to use dairy with rBGH.
Yay! You might remember this post about these awesome, all natural, ice cream filled “brown-ees” by Q-bees.
You may have also noticed that I just published an Ebook on Wedding Planning. 
Well, the amazing people at Q-bee treats are sending FIVE fans a FREE box of ice cream filled brownies if you tweet me, mention my ebook, or #Follow @DessertDarling, and #Brownees.
For example:
#Follow @DessertDarling! She just wrote an ebook on Wedding Planning! http://wedding-darling.com/ebook/ #Brownees
Or any variation of those sentiments that you please
I’ll put all the Tweeters names in a hat and the first 5 I pull get a free box in the mail. How EASY is that?! Fun fun. I’ll announce a winner next week.
Ready- set- GO!
ps: I’m SOOOOOO Craving a Q-bees Brownee right now– AhhhhhH!
This past weekend was the Coachella rock festival in the Palm Springs area that my guy and I attend every year with friends. While my diet for the weekend consists of Heineken and Spicy Pie Pizza (BEST pizza ever), I do manage to find some desserts to sweeten it up.
The most refreshing treat I had was this amazing Snow Cone by Hulu Girls Shave Ice at the GUESS Pool Party. Like real Hawaiian shaved ice, the Snow Cone has feathery flakes of snow that melt on your tongue (versus crunchy balls of ice).
Here I am enjoying my cone with hot friends, Nicole Taylor and Claudia Schiffer.
Since the flavors were made with real fruit juices and no corn syrup, they didn’t leave an artificial aftertaste, which was great.
But it did leave my tongue blue!
I also swooned over this dessert platter at the Hugo Boss pool party.
The Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte was UH-maaaaaazing.
Finally, I met my match the Neon Carnival, The Cookie Monster!
If anyone is wondering “How does she eat all that junk and stay thin” this answer this year is: I don’t. Señor Scale told me that I put on 7 pounds this weekend. Is that possible?! In one weekend!? Ugh- ok, back to ORGANIC veggies and lean meat this week (Bleh! and I worked so hard to get bikini ready….grumble grumble grumble)
To see more pictures of Crazy Coachella Fashion, click after the break to continue.
Love Ice Cream but avoiding dairy? Love Carrot Cake? Are you Vegan or Gluten Free? Well this glorious pint of Organic Rice Divine, Carrot Cake is just the treat for you then. I discovered this Good Karma treat in the frozen aisle of Whole Foods and it sat in my freezer for days before I finally caved in and tried it. The extremely flavorful and sweet dessert totally surprised and delighted me. Not only did the “ice cream” part sing of carrot cake, but also it contained actual chunks of carrot cake bites in there for fun texture. YUM. While dairy substitutes are never quite as creamy as the real deal, Rice Divine is still fantastic, thus earning itself a solid 4 cherries!
ps: I bet their Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge is amazing too!
For more info on Good Karma Foods, click here.
I adore Akasha Restaurant in Culver City for serving delicious, sustainable, and organic food for carnivores and herbivores alike. Their desserts have always delighted me, so it was no surprise that I inhaled these scoops of Dairy Free Gelato that you see here. I had two scoops of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip made with soy milk (YUM!) and one scoop of the Chocolate made with hemp (decent). This gelato was a little on the sweet side since it lacked dairy fat to temper the sugar. However, if you can handle sweet desserts, the Peanut Butter Chocolate chip was a delicious dairy-free alternative to real gelato.
For more info on Akasha Restaurant in the newly happening and hip Culver City, click here.
