Absentmindedness Yields Yummy Diet Treat

I am the world's most absent-minded person or more accurately, the poster child for ADHD. I have on more than one occasion "lost' my cellphone in the refrigerator. I have even gone looking for my phone while it was in my very hands. Thankfully I have a sense of humor, or otherwise I would be still in hiding from the day I went to work with one regular low-top black Converse Chuck Taylor on one foot, and a one PLATFORM knock-off of the same shoe. I thought that I had an inner-ear infection from the imbalance until I looked down.

So now that it is established that I am a hot mess, it is no surprise that when I bought a package of already prepared sugar-free Jello cups I put them in the freezer instead of the refrigerator.

I was craving something sweet and was not in the mood for the Jello to thaw, so I started scraping at it with a spoon. Happily, I wasn't out two bucks for being too lazy to make my own Jello as was even more delicious frozen than it's regular jiggly texture. To be honest, regular gelatin kind of skeeves me out, but at 10 calories it usually pacifies my sweet tooth. 

As I scraped away, I recalled the Italian ices of my youth. Not the kind that is scooped into a paper cup (30+ years away from NY, I still pine for The Lemon Ice King of Corona,) but the solid frozen kind from the ice cream man. It came in a green paper cup with a little elf logo and a wooden spoon. All of us kids would scrape around the edges and just as the little puck loosened up, we'd deftly flip the ice over to reveal a crystalized, gelatinous orb of extra sweet ice. 

While it wasn't exactly like the ices of the days of yore, the frozen Jello did have a similar texture and taste when I scraped and flipped it over in it's cup. I enjoyed it so much, the next day I went to the grocery store to buy more Jello cups to stick in the freezer.

If you're not a lazy ass like me, you could easily pour the jello into ice-pop molds or paper cups and stick them in the freezer.  In fact, I'm sure this is no big recipe secret, but it is, I must say a tasty low, low calorie treat.

It's already hot as hell where I live & this happy accident has led me to a bit of a freezing frenzy. In the upcoming weeks, I'll share more of my concoctions. In the meantime, I'd love to read some comments of reader's accidental diet concoctions.

Watermelon- A Diet Friendly Food

It is scorching out in my neck of the woods, and nothing is more enjoyable during the summer than a cold treat.

My favorite thing to do this time of year is to cut up some fresh watermelon, put it in a freezable plastic container, and when frozen, eat it with a spoon like Italian ices. Watermelon is mostly just that, water, and naturally sweet. Additionally, you can take the frozen watermelon, puree it in a blender, and refreeze it if you want your watermelon ices a bit smoother. You can even dilute it more with water, freeze the melon puree, then when frozen, scrape it into a dish, and that is a "granita." You can add vodka to this if you're entertaining.

The frozen melon can also be used in smoothies. There is a local drive-in near my house that makes awesome, but oh so fattening watermelon milkshakes in the summertime. I made my own fake version with a cup of skim milk, and the frozen melon, plus a Splenda packet and blended it for a second so it would still be chunky. Not exactly the same, but definitely satisfying. Plus you get some calcium and fruit servings in for the day.

You can do similar tricks with cantaloupe and honeydew melons. Just remember when you start branching out into more of the denser melons and fruit not to pig out.

Over at Brownie Points, blogger McAuliflower has some cool tricks for making a ice cream a bit more diet friendly with ice cubes.

So don't be tempted by those gargantuan cones at Cold Stone, or Marble Slab. Those things have enough ice cream for you and a family of four. Save some money, calories, and gas by staying at home and whipping up your own treats.

Special Bonus: Check out these SQUARE WATERMELONS!