Beaded ice cream 'Shots' messy, not tasty

Bonnie: We first reviewed a beaded frozen novelty for this column (Micropops, also by Popsicle) back in 1999. Almost a decade later, I still can't understand why anyone would want to eat any frozen so-called treat in this form.

The texture of these new ice cream, cookie and candy treats is odd rather than pleasurable — as opposed to regular, non-premium low-fat ice cream, whose nutritionals these resemble. That's with 110 to 130 calories, 3 to 4.5 grams of fat (of which none is saturated in the Cookie Dough and 2.5 grams of saturated fat in the Cookies 'N Cream) and 12 to 14 grams of sugar per serving. Melting helps, but not enough to recommend these.

Carolyn: I can tell you why people would want to try these Ice Cream Shots, Bonnie. It's because they think they're going to be like Dippin' Dots, those cryogenically frozen ice cream beads sold in malls. Although these Popsicle Shots and Dippin' Dots are both tiny balls, Dippin' Dots are much richer-tasting. That's partly a function of Dippin' Dots' low-temperature freezing technique and Popsicle Shots' use of anemic "light" ice cream. The Cookie Dough flavor is better only because it contains more non-ice cream ingredients than the Cookies 'N Cream (i.e., chocolate chips and cookie dough instead of just cookie pieces).

Parents and neatniks should beware of all these beaded ice cream products: Whether you're just trying to separate the beads to scoop them into a dish or get them into your mouth, they spill, roll and melt. In short, they are a real mess.

Miss Vickie's All-Natural Snacks. Simply Sea Salt, Hand Picked Jalapeno, Country Onion With 3 Cheeses, and Creamy Buttermilk Ranch Kettle Chips; Nine Grain Chips; and Salty Sweet Kettle Corn. $2.49 for a 5-ounce to 6-ounce package.

Bonnie: Miss Vickie's was a small company based in New Lowell, Ontario, Canada, that cooked sliced potatoes in small batches to produce crunchy potato chips. Frito-Lay recently purchased Miss Vickie's and is sticking to that brand's tradition of clean ingredients — meaning it contains no unpronounceable or artificial ingredients. I like that and especially like the Simply Sea Salt and the Nine Grain varieties.

The Simply Sea Salt contains 150 calories, 8 grams of fat (of which 1 is saturated), 1 gram of fiber and only 110 milligrams of sodium, or similar to Kettle Chips' Lightly Salted and Madhouse Munchies' All American Sea Salted. The Nine Grain Chips are more nutritious, as they are made from corn, wheat, triticale, oats, barley, sunflower seeds, millet, buckwheat, flax seeds and brown rice. They also taste delicious. One serving contains 140 calories, 7 grams of fat (of which 1 is saturated), 2 grams of fiber and 115 milligrams of sodium.

Comments

Add your comment