Frozen Hot Cocoa

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Since I was just talking about Starbucks and healthy alternatives to their drinks, I thought I'd go in my archives and share one of my favorites, courtesy of Hungry Girl! Its not only simple to make but its so low in calories that I don't mind indulging in a second on a super hot day!

 

Prep time: 10 mins  |  Level: Beginner  |  Servings: 1

Calories per serving: 58

 

One 25-calorie packet diet hot cocoa mix (like Swiss Miss Diet or Nestlé Fat Free)

2 no-calorie sweetener packets (like Splenda or Truvia)

1/4 cup light vanilla soymilk (Almond milk works too!)

1 tbsp. sugar-free calorie-free vanilla-flavored syrup (like the kind by Torani)

1 tsp. sugar-free chocolate syrup (like the kind by Hershey's)**

1 cup crushed ice or 5 to 8 ice cubes

2 tbsp. Fat Free Reddi-wip

 

 

Place hot cocoa mix and sweetener in a tall mug or glass. Add 1/4 cup hot water and stir to dissolve.

Add soymilk, vanilla-flavored syrup, and chocolate syrup. Mix well. Place in the fridge or freezer for several minutes, until completely chilled. Pour mixture into a blender and add ice. Blend at high speed until uniform. Pour into the tall mug or glass. Finish off with whipped topping.

 

**I personally don't like the sugar free chocolate syrup, it tastes like how I imagine dirty feet would taste so I substituted a few chocolate chips and melted with the water and cocoa mix, it increased the calories some I'm sure but its better than drinking foot water. Just my opinion. Also VSG'ers can add a packet of unflavored protein powder and get a full meal from this, just add the extra calories!**

 

 

Happy Cooking!

 

Nescafe Memento Review

I love my coffee. I mean I really, really, really love my coffee. If I could drink coffee all day and throughout the night and I'd be a happy little camper. Luckily my employer provides free coffee throughout the day so it saves on my pocketbook but I'm still a Starbucks girl at heart and it kills me to pay $5 for a SF VSG friendly foo-foo drink. Even their coffee pricing is getting outrageous. So when I heard a bunch of hub-bub about this new Starbucks - replacing product on the market from Nestle called Memento, I decided to request a free sample from Nestle and see for myself.


Nestle says:

 “Try an expertly crafted café beverage from NESCAFÉ® MEMENTO™ and enjoy coffee house quality flavor and foam that lasts until the final sip. Made with real coffee, milk and sugar, three enticing flavors await! Caramel Latte is a perfect blend of buttery caramel flavor, smooth coffee and pillowy froth – heaven for your taste buds! Cappucino – a top layer of frothy foam leads to a smooth creamy coffee – you’ll be licking your lips down to the last sip. Mocha – rich chocolate flavor and smooth coffee combine to create a delightfully indulgent chocolate lover’s dream.”

 

 

Let me start out by saying I'm not a fan of this product. Take that for what its worth but here are the reasons why -  

 

 

When I first got my sample pack in the first thing I noticed was the size. These things are HUGE in comparison to other prepackaged coffee-hot chocolate-thingys Ive seen before. It's as big as my measuring cup! It immediately reminded me of the Maxwell House International House Café tins where you have to scoop half the tin in one cup to get any decent flavor.

 

So I decided to measure.

 

 

There's almost 1/4 cup of powder in one packet! And lets face it, almost 2 ounces of powdered coffee, sugar, cream, and whatever hydrodextromextro stuff they put in there cant be good on the stats right? 

 

But they're only 100 calories you say?

 

Yes they only have 100 calories.

 

Yep.

 

100 calories.

 

Pretty good, right?

 

Until you see that the 1/4 cup of hydrodextromextro powder comes with a whopping  18-19 carbs and 12-14 grams of sugar. Per cup. Not so great now, huh? Especially for our sleeved and bariatric friends where carbs and sugars are the mortal enemy.

 

But how does it taste you ask?

 

Like weak coffee watered down with skim milk. Blech. My sample pack came with 2 flavors, Cappuccino and Caramel Latté. I had to sweeten them both and the Caramel Latte still tasted so bad that I didn't even finish the cup. I even went from 10oz of water to 8oz on the second cup to see if that helped. Sad to say it made no difference. I know people are raving about this stuff but it was a total miss with me. I will give it this, they got the frothy part right.

 

 

 

 

Now you're saying its not supposed to be healthy, its supposed to be a cheaper alternative to Starbucks. Cheaper, yes...about $.54 a serving - even less if you have a coupon - a box retails for $4.29 and each box comes with 8 gigantic packets. And if you are getting the full-flavored lattes from Starbucks then yes these stats are much better. But if you're like me and get the SF/FF versions then its about the same and price would be the only real difference.

 

 

Now for those of you who like the Peppermint Mocha drinks, I've created a most awesome recipe for even a fraction of the SF version. How? Its easy, you just need the following:

 

Coffee

Swiss Miss DIET Hot Cocoa packet (NOT the Sugar Free kind)

Individual serving of half and half cream

Equal or sweetener of choice (optional)

SF Peppermint coffee syrup (I use Target's brand/$3.99 bottle)

 

Mix and drink. You can adjust the amount of hot cocoa/syrup depending on your personal taste but if you're like me and have a big super gallon coffee tumbler and use the whole pack you're under 60 calories, 5 carbs and 2 sugars. And the cost is around $.60 a serving (including the cost of the syrup).

 

So while this was a bust for me, it was a valiant effort from Nestle. But I'll stick with my homemade version and pop for the good stuff on occasion. After all, there's nothing better than a great cup of professionally crafted coffee.

 

 

Don't take my word for it, this is my opinion and yours could be different. Click here for a free sample and tell me what you think!