Recently I found out about Swell. It used to be ProYo, but it has been rebranded to Swell.
I tried three flavors: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Mint Chip, and Dark Chocolate Toffee. No, I didn't need to buy three pints of ice cream, but someone had to.
Each ice cream averages about 120 calories per half cup serving, 1-2 grams of fat, 9 grams of sugar, 10 grams of protein, and about 19-20 grams of carbs. They also contain sugar alcohols. If anyone is sensitive to that, make sure you take a test bite or two before diving in. Xylitol and cane sugar look to be the sweeteners of choice.
Here are my thoughts about each flavor.
Mint Chip: This was my favorite, probably because mint chocolate chip was my favorite flavor for most of my life. Again, good texture and taste. Very minty and there were a good amount of mini chocolate chips that were REAL.
Dark Chocolate Toffee: I liked this one and would buy it again. It actually tastes like chocolate. There are small bits of toffee, but they're fairly few and far between. I'd like to see more, but I guess if more were added, the calories and sugar content wouldn't be quite as low. Update: I was enjoying some of this right from the container while writing this and I found a BIG chunk of crunchy, gooey toffee towards the bottom. YUM! It was the only one that wasn't tiny.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: I liked this one, too, and would buy it again. I liked the bits of peanut butter. They're very small, but I can actually see them rather than just taste a hint of peanut butter like some of the other brands. Texture is good, too.
Just like the other ice creams I tasted previously, this melts quickly, but I don't care since I'm eating it from a dish and not a cone. But if you're craving a cone, eat that thing fast. Be warned!
I mentioned sugar alcohols earlier. For some reason, this ice cream doesn't bother me the way the other brands did. I found I was able to eat the serving size and I felt OK.
Just like all the other high protein ice creams--actually most premium ice creams, now that I think about it--it's not cheap. Normal price in my store is $4.99 per pint; however, it happened to be on sale when I bought it so I got it for $3.50. And since this will last me quite awhile, I don't think that's a bad price. I'm no longer sitting down to eat a whole pint at once like I did pre-surgery. (Gotta admit, I really miss that sometimes. I don't miss the 130+ extra pounds on me, though.) One thing I want to mention in regards to keeping it in the freezer for awhile: I feel like this type of ice cream forms freezer burn faster than regular ice cream, so you might want to lay a piece of plastic wrap over the ice cream (so it's touching the ice cream) after you scoop in order to block the air, and then put the lid on.
Something I like about this ice cream, other than the truer flavor and better texture, is the fact that most if not all of the ingredients are recognizable. For example, the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip contains: skim milk, whey protein concentrate, xylitol, cane sugar, inulin (not sure what this is), semi-sweet chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter), peanut butter (roasted peanuts, sugar, peanut oil, salt), natural flavors, and salt.
As a whole, I enjoy this product more than Halo Top and Enlightened. It just more like real ice cream to me. I mean, sure, it's not Ben & Jerry's or Haagen-Dazs, but it's good for what it is. I mentioned this previously when I posted about Halo and Enlightened, but it bears repeating: this is not Ben & Jerry's. The reason I'm mentioning it again is because there's always that one person who will say, "This doesn't taste like Ben & Jerry's. :( " No shit, Sherlock! That's because it's not. It's high protein ice cream with a lower fat content, somewhat different ingredients, and a lot less calories.
Anyway, I'll be sure to post if I try any other flavors.
I've tried all the brands available here and none of them were much good. :( Many of them have way too much sugar or sugar substitutes that my body is like WTF did you just eat, I have no idea what to do with this xylitol or sorbitol or whatever shiznit this is.. I can get Halo Top but it is something like $8 for a tiny amount of it, and that is just no dice for me.
ReplyDeleteNice cream that I make myself is my go to now. I can control what is in it, and I love frozen bananas, almond milk and peanut butter. Simply throw this into a blender - nutri-ninja is probably the best at it - blend for a couple of minutes, take it out and put it into a container, put that in the freezer for a bit, and you have your nice cream. :)
We went to a place that made protein gelato a little while ago and it was amazing. I'm assuming I can make similar pretty easily, really it is like making a protein shake and then freezing it. The same with fro-yo - I just freeze me some hi-protein yoghurt and then blend it up with whatever flavours I am craving.
I was really tempted to just plonk down all my monies and bring home all the protein gelato but it was a 3 hour drive and I was concerned it might not make the trip. I shouldn't have been, it is roughly the temperature of your freezer everywhere here at the moment. If I'd put it in a cooler bag it would have been fine. :)
Nice cream...I'll have to try that. Sounds delicious! I'll have to use unsweetened almond milk, though, because it might be too much sugar for me.
ReplyDeleteinulin is just a plant fiber! sort of, its a polysacharide based on fructose... so like, root fiber sugar
ReplyDelete