Skinny Cow Mint Sticks! (The Skinny Cow Mint Double Choc Stick)

Member Name: ice_pink

Product:	The Skinny Cow Mint Double Choc Stick
Date:	27/07/08 (402 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low fat, low calorie, great taste

Disadvantages: The price when not on offer, still high in sugar

~*~ Skinny Cow Mint Ice Creams ~*~

I have been trying to lose a few pounds that I seem to have put on recently and all has been going extremely well, but now the weather is starting to warm up at last, a terrifying new obstacle is to be overcome - ice creams! I have always loved a good lolly or five, and for some reason I don't feel like I'm adding any calories - perhaps as they melt in the mouth. So you can see how dangerous this is for my diet! Anyway, I've had my eye on the skinny cow lollies for a while, but couldn't bring myself to buy full price, but when I saw them on offer in Tesco today, and combined with a bit of gorgeous weather, I thought it was about time I gave them a go!


~*~ What are they? ~*~

'Skinny Cow' is a company that specialises in low fat, low calories frozen desserts - ice cream in tubs and cartons and ice lollies. Their target market, I'm guessing, is young, health conscious women who are likely to be on some sort of calorie restricted diet, but really after tasting the lolly I'm sure that any one, dieting or not would be more than pleased for one of these this summer!


~*~ The flavours ~*~

The Skinny Cow ice lollies come in four mouth-wateringly tempting flavours - mint chocolate chip, berry, chocolate and toffee honeycomb.

Also in the Skinny Cow range are a series of ice cream tubs - 'dreamy creamy cookie' - chocolate with cookie pieces , 'cheeky choc brownie' - this one sounds like it could be a winner, 'madly deeply' - chocolate and white chocolate with chocolate sauce and malt balls, and 'completely mintal' - mint chocolate chip.


~*~ The calories ~*~

Each ice lolly in the skinny cow range has less than 100 calories. The mint chocolate chip version I indulged in today contains an innocent 94 calories, so you can treat yourself without feeling like you've ruined your diet! They also contain less than 3% fat. Other flavours in the range vary slightly - 71 calories for the berry, and 87 for the chocolate and honeycomb.

None of the flavours from the tub versions of the ice creams contain more than 120 calories per 100ml serving (500ml per tub). Compare this to the 250 calories you'll find in a 100g suggested serving size from Ben and Jerry's (chocolate fudge brownie) and you'll really notice the difference!


~*~ The price ~*

A three pack of lollies will set you back around £1.99 from most supermarkets, which is a bit pricey for me, so it really is the best time to stock up now at Tesco while they are half price! The price tag isn't ridiculously expensive when they are full price - just a little over what you would expect to pay for a standard 3-pack of branded ice creams, so I may even be purchasing these in the future full price (I said maybe!)

Expect to pay around the £4 mark for a tub version of the ice cream, but again these are half price at Tesco at the moment, so stock up now!


~*~ The taste test ~*~

So, anyway, now you have all the information on the price and calories, I expect you want to know what they actually taste like! After much anticipation for these lollies - I had been putting off buying them for a good couple of months, I had a feeling I was going to be disappointed on the taste - you know how it is when you wait and wait for something, it's never as good as what you thought it would be....

So I opened the wrapper....

I could instantly smell the aroma of minty, creamy ice cream and the faint tinge of chocolate. I'm not usually a big fan of mint ice cream, by the way, but for some reason these just leapt out at me. So, for the first bite... the ice cream was soft, but not too soft so that it melts in your mouth instantly and is gone in one bite. Just perfect! The combination of flavours was ideal, with just enough mint and chocolate chips to balance it out and make it a bit more interesting. And the lolly was full sized, not like most diet versions of snacks which trick you by boasting half the calories, but then giving you half the size of a normal version!

I finished the ice cream feeling like I had just consumed a real treat, but also happy that I hadn't broke the diet bank - perfect!

My boyfriend happily indulged in one, and he had no idea it was a low fat version, so it must be good!


~*~ The verdict ~*~

I would definitely recommend these lollies, and the range in general to anyone watching what they eat this summer. They are the perfect way to give yourself a treat without having to worry too much about putting on the pounds, and with them on offer, there's even more reason to do so! (I don't work for Tesco - honest!!).

I can't say much about any of the other flavours in the range, but I'm sure I will be testing them soon, so watch this space, but I am sure they are just as good (or perhaps better, by the sound of that chocolate brownie one!).

Definitely worth having in the freezer!

Summary: A great tasting lolly ideal for those watching their calorie intake!