Review: Ben & Jerry's Save Our Swirled Ice Cream

So we all know Ben & Jerry's can get creative with their names and my numerous reviews have shown that.  What some of us know, but not all know, is that Ben & Jerry's is also a very socially and politically active company that advocates many causes such as world peace, climate initiatives, etc.  Today's review of this pint of Ben & Jerry's Save Our Swirled Ice Cream is a flavor that they've put out to raise awareness of their Climate Movement.  In order to do that, they've even put a cute missive on the flavor's webpage that states "SOS! It’s more than just a call to action: it’s a swirled-class flavor you can’t resist, and a climate change message you can’t ignore. If it’s melted, it’s ruined."  I'll refrain from commenting on the issue itself (there's more detail on the site and also in my link above), but I can appreciate the creativity in the name and that brief missive.  Anyway, the pint itself is the typical four half-cup servings and each serving is a somewhat economical (for Ben & Jerry's) 250 calories per serving.  I picked this up on closeout at Kroger for $2.74, so I'm not sure how much longer it'll be on the shelves or if it is being transitioned out already.

Review: Edy's (Dreyer's) Grand Cinnamon Bun Fun! Ice Cream

We are getting close to wrapping up summer (it was in the 50s here yesterday morning!) and for the most part, I've done a decent job staying away from ice cream this summer compared to prior summers.  Now, chocolate chip cookies are something entirely different, but that's a story for a different day.  Anyway, a recent sale and coupon at Marsh (along with a chance at more Marsh Monopoly game pieces) prompted me to add to my Edy's review collection and pick up this 1.5 quart container of Edy's (Dreyer's) Grand Cinnamon Bun Fun! Ice Cream for $3.00 (with coupon).  It's a limited edition out of their "Bakery Treats" line, so I'm not sure how long this will actually be out there (it might be gone from most places already!).  Each container has twelve servings and each half-cup size serving is 160 calories, so it's not terribly bad from a caloric perspective.

Review: Skinny Cow Triple Chocolate Ripple Low Fat Ice Cream Bars

I've been shying away from Skinny Cow product reviews because their flavors have gone stale and because their products are just too expensive to buy on a regular basis.  On a recent trip to Kroger, not only was I met with a sale but I was also met with some new flavors of products in their low fat ice cream bar line.  One of those products was this box of five Skinny Cow Triple Chocolate Ripple Low Fat Ice Cream Bars that I was able to pick up for $2.99 on sale, which is a pretty solid price for Skinny Cow products.  Typically, they run $4-5.  Anyway, each bar in the box is 2.65 fluid ounces and comes in at 170 calories per bar.

Review: Klondike Cookie Dough Swirl Ice Cream Bars

I've developed a fascination with Klondike bars recently and while I've reviewed them sporadically on the blog in the past, I'd never really fully adopted them until recently.  Now, I can't get enough of them and anytime they go on sale at the store, I snatch up a package.  During a recent sale event at Kroger, I saw they had packages of six of them on sale for $2.00 AND that there was a new flavor with this package of Klondike Cookie Dough Swirl Ice Cream Bars that I was able to pick up.  Each bar is 3.3 fluid ounces (99 grams) and comes in at a fairly robust 300 calories.

Review: Turkey Hill All Natural Chocolate Peanut Butter Gelato

Gelato used to be the domain of just a few select companies, but now even the fringe (or smaller) players are getting into the act.  I noticed on when of my recent trips to Kroger that Turkey Hill has joined the foray and created their own gelato line underneath their all natural umbrella, some of which I've reviewed previously.  Always loving a sale (and coupons), I picked up this quart (32 ounces for the mathematically challenged) of Turkey Hill All Natural Chocolate Peanut Butter Gelato at a sale price (with coupon) of $2.99.  The quart packs in eight half-cup sized servings with each serving coming in at a moderate (for dessert) 230 calories.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Spectacular Speculoos Cookie Core Ice Cream

So yeah, I eat a lot of Ben & Jerry's.  I've had over thirty flavors that I've done reviews for on this blog, but in the grand scheme of their flavors over the years, that's not a lot.  For one guy though, I think eating that many would probably put me outside the norm.  Comes with the territory as a reviewer, I guess.  Anyway, to add to the number of flavors that I've tried, I picked up a pint of this Ben & Jerry's Spectacular Speculoos Cookie Core Ice Cream on sale at Kroger for $2.99.  Each pint contains the customary four half-cup servings and each serving is a not-so-healthy 290 calories.

Also, I went into this pint thinking I had no idea what a Speculoos cookie was.  Apparently, I was wrong and I've reviewed something with speculoos before in a Haagen-Dazs review (oohh, a competitor!).  I guess it's hard to remember things when you eat such a variety and have done over one thousand reviews.  In my very weak defense, it was over two years ago and speculoos weren't even part of the name of the flavor.

Review: Edy's (Dreyer's) Peanut Butter Pie Frozen Custard

I'm not going to kid myself anymore.  I am on a fully crazed dessert binge.  Cookies, ice cream, cake, custard (in today's case), whatever.  I can't get enough of my sweets and I'm eating a ton of them.  Some of that has been reflected on the blog.  BUT, in this case, it's probably okay.  I've lost a bunch of weight (not be design) and I need to put a few pounds back on as I've mentioned before, so this course of action certainly helps me do that, even though they aren't healthy pounds since they are backed in sugar and junk.  Oh well.  Anyway, today's review adds to my Edy's (Dreyer's in the west) review collection as I was able to grab a 32 ounce container of this new Edy's (Dreyer's) Peanut Butter Pie Custard at my local Kroger on sale for $2.99.  Each container has eight half-cup servings and each serving is 250 calories.

Review: Ben & Jerry's The Tonight Dough Ice Cream

In my last couple ice cream posts, I've tried to convince myself that I've been trying to be healthier recently and avoid buying ice cream.  In this post, I'm not even going to try and I'll just admit that I've fallen off the wagon and have buying ice cream again.  Part of it is because summer is approaching and the warmer weather makes me want to eat frozen treats, but another part of it is that I've dropped a bit too much weight and I need to put a couple pounds back on.  With that, I picked up this pint of Ben & Jerry's The Tonight Dough Ice Cream to add to my illustrious review catalog.  I picked this one up on sale at Kroger for $2.99 and each pint has the typical four half-cup servings at a robust 310 calories per serving.  Yikes.  It's a treat, I guess.

One more thing before I get into the review...it irritates me that this is the second ice cream flavor that Ben & Jerry's has done with Jimmy Fallon.  He was okay on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update, but outside of that, I find him particularly annoying.  I know he's supposedly doing a decent job with The Tonight Show from what I've heard, but I think his playing games with guests is just plain stupid.  Also, The Tonight Show is stupid and has been since Johnny Carson left.  I'm a David Letterman guy (he goes out this week and I'm going to miss him) and hate Jay Leno, so ever since that shift, I've hated The Tonight Show.  Okay, that's a diatribe that this blog didn't need, but I'm taking a little editorial freedom here.  Anyway, now that my whining and rambling is over, let's dive into the review!

Review: Baskin Robbins Gold Medal Ribbon Ice Cream

So I touched on Baskin Robbins and their fake pints (fourteen ounces) of ice cream last fall but haven't really done much since then.  I have been generally trying to stay away from ice cream (a very cold winter helped that), but I am shocked that it's taken this long for me to pick up another fake pint for a review.  With that brilliant and eloquent introduction, it's now time for me to take a look at this fourteen ounce container of Baskin Robbins Gold Medal Ice Cream that I picked up at Meijer on sale (with a coupon) for $2.99.  Within the fake pint (I'm not bitter), there are 3.5 servings 1/2 cup servings of ice cream and each serving is 210 calories, which is fairly modest.

Review: Magnum Double Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bars

I don't spend a lot of time looking at the Magnum ice cream bars in my grocer's freezer case.  Most of the time, I've found that they are pretty good, they bore me in general.  Not sure why, but they just do and that's one of the many reasons why I haven't looked at one in over a year.  Anyway, from time to time, I meander through the freezer section and a new Magnum product jumps out at me.  That's what happened when I was meandering through the Kroger freezer section and saw this box of three Magnum Double Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bars sitting there at a sale price of $2.99.  I should also mention that I don't buy a lot of Magnum bars because they generally are more expensive than I'd like but at the aforementioned price along with a coupon for $0.75 off, the price was just right!  Anyway, each bar in the box is 340 calories and weighs in at 3.38 fluid ounces.

Review: Atkins Endulge Peanut Butter Cups

I generally don't buy a lot of Atkins products because they are more expensive than I typically like.  That said, I have reviewed many of their product here on the blog before and in general, have had pretty positive experiences.  Recently, I was at my mom's house and I was going through her cabinets scavenging for food like I always do (I'm a good son) and I came across a box of Atkins Endulge Peanut Butter Cups.  Being that this was her house and I knew I wouldn't have to pay for them (free is my favorite price!), I quickly grabbed a pack of these and that leads me to today's review.  Each pack is 1.2 ounces and has two peanut butter cups.  Combined, the total caloric weight is 160 calories with two grams of protein.  The Atkins Diet does not like sugar or carbs, so these only have a combined two grams of carbs and have zero sugar, so that's nice.

Review: Haagen-Dazs Honey Milk Chocolate Graham Gelato Bars

If you have been a regular reader of the blog (however sparse my posts have been recently), you may have noticed that I've gotten away from dessert-type reviews.  A lot of that has helped me drop a few unwanted pounds in 2015, but sometimes the old sweet tooth just kicks in and when that is paired with a coupon that gets me a killer deal, I just can't resist picking up something decidedly unhealthy and very dessert-y at the store.  That led me to add to my Haagen-Dazs review collection as a $2.00 off store coupon allowed me to pick up a box of three Haagen-Dazs Honey Milk Chocolate Graham Gelato Bars at Kroger for $1.99.  What a deal!  Anyway, each bar in the box is 3.0 ounces and packs a decidedly unhealthy 280 calories.  But hey, it's dessert...dessert is rarely healthy.

Review: Good Humor Chocolate Eclair Ice Cream Bars

I've harped on it many times here, but sales make me do funny things.  They cause me to buy products I'd never consider buying just because the price looks attractive to me.  Ultimately, isn't that what the store is hoping I'll do though?  They are looking at the opportunity cost of getting someone to buy a product for the first time and then the lifetime value of the person if they like the product and will thus buy again.  I look at that kind of stuff in my job all the time, so it absolutely makes sense and it's both funny and depressing that I fell victim to that trick when I picked up this box of six Good Humor Chocolate Eclair Ice Cream Bars at Meijer for $1.99.  It's not my first Good Humor review, but it is once that I approach with a sense of humor (boy, I'm a great writer in my ability to tie that in) based on what I've already described.  Putting my self-congratulations aside, each ice cream bar in this box comes in at 3.0 ounces and has 210 calories of light ice cream fun.

Review: Klondike Kandy Fudge Krunch Ice Cream Bars

I mentioned in my previous Klondike review that Meijer basically dared me into buying a bunch of Klondike products with a sale that they were running.  Falling victim to that dare once again, I picked up a box of these four Klondike Kandy Fudge Krunch Ice Cream Bars in the same sale for $1.99.  As you can see by the name of these bars, Klondike is quite fond of the letter "K" as they use it three times in the product name, two of which are attempts at being cute and are completely unnecessary.  Oh well, if that "K" is part of your brand strategy, then I guess I get it since I work in marketing too and understand the desire/need to have a way to make yourself stand out.  Anyway, each bar in this box of four weighs in at 2.75 ounces and has 180 calories of light ice cream fun.

Review: Klondike Rocky Road Ice Cream Bars

I haven't spent a lot of time looking at Klondike bars here on the blog because frankly, I'm not a huge ice cream bar guy.  I like them, but I devour them way too quickly (multiples at once) and as a way to try to control myself, I do my best not to keep them in my freezer.  Every now and then though, one of my local stores will offer a sale where they basically dare me to buy them and that's what Meijer did and it led me to pick up this package of six Klondike Rocky Road Ice Cream Bars for $1.99.  Each of the six bars is 2.7 ounces and checks in at 230 calories, so you can see how I'd worry about these since I'm fully capable of eating multiples of these in one sitting and that's a huge calorie intake if done.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Salted Caramel Core Ice Cream

After hitting Ben & Jerry's hard in the early review history of the blog, reviews have become sporadic over the last year or so as I've tried to become better about how much ice cream that I eat.  Now, I'm far from perfect, so every now and then I'll "slip" and go out and buy a container of ice cream just to fill a craving.  These so-called cravings are often prompted by sales and that's what happened in the case of today's review as Meijer was selling this pint of Ben & Jerry's Salted Caramel Core Ice Cream for $2.99.  I also had a digital coupon that knocked $1.50 off of that, so I was getting a huge deal.  Being the bargain hunter that I am, you can see how I'd manufacture a craving in  my head now, don't you?  Ben & Jerry's introduced these Core products a while ago, but since I've been controlling myself better, today's review is only my second foray into that product line.  This pint is the typical four half-cup servings and clocks in at 270 calories per serving.

Review: Dannon Creamery Cherry Cheesecake Dairy Dessert

I mentioned in my last Dannon Creamery review that the thought of these products just intrigues me, so today I'm plowing through yet another one that I picked up in the same sale at Meijer (I've said it a million times, but gosh, I love sales) for $1.25.  This time, I'll be taking a look at this container of Dannon Creamery Cherry Cheesecake Dairy Dessert.  Each container is 5.3 ounces and has 190 calories and eight grams of protein.  Also like I mentioned last time, it's notable that these are Greek yogurt based because you won't be able to find any indication of that on the actual container (I only found it on the website).  With the Greek yogurt craze, I would think Dannon would proudly display that to try to take advantage of that wave to sell more of these.  It's just bizarre to me that they are doing nothing with that.

Review: Baskin Robbins Pralines 'N Cream Ice Cream

When I was a kid in the 1980s growing up in the Indianapolis area, there were a fair amount of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins stores.  For whatever reason, both of them (same company) decided to abandon the area throughout the 90s and only over the past five years or so have each of them started to come back to the area in sporadic locations.  None are near my house, which is probably a good thing for my waistline, but I've noticed recently that they've started introducing "pints" (actually fourteen ounces) of their classic ice cream flavors in my local Meijer store, probably for people like me that aren't near their Baskin Robbins ice cream shops.  Apparently these came out this past May and on a recent trip, I was armed with my ever-present coupon and decided to pick up a container of this Baskin Robbins Pralines 'N Cream Ice Cream at the sale price of $3.00 (plus my $1.00 digital coupon).  Each container is 3.5 half-cup servings and each serving is 220 calories.

Review: DREAM Gelato Sea Salt Caramel Almond-Based Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

I will be the first to admit that I generally stay away from non-dairy frozen desserts for a couple of reasons.  First, fortunately I am not lactose intolerant and my body does not reject dairy, so I have no need to purchase those types of products.  Second, non-dairy frozen desserts are generally really expensive and since I'm such a frugal person, I just can't convince myself to take the plunge and buy them on a regular basis.  That said, occasionally I'll see a digital coupon that will push me in that direction and when a $2.00 off digital coupon popped up on my Kroger app recently, I knew I had to pick up a pint of this DREAM Gelato Sea Salt Caramel Almond-Based Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert.  The fact that it was a non-dairy gelato intrigued me as well because I wanted to see how that would play out.  Regular price is $4.99 and each pint contains four half-cup dairy-free servings that have 140 calories per serving.  Since this is non-dairy, it is also 45% less fat than typical sea salt caramel ice cream, or so says the label on the container.

Review: Dannon Creamery Lemon Cheesecake Dairy Dessert

I've got to admit that these Dannon Creamery products kind of intrigue me.  I don't know why, but when I see them on the shelf at the store, I almost automatically grab one.  Maybe my life is so boring that I the prospect of a new release product to review is how I get my enjoyment these days.  Who knows?  Anyway, the prospect of that potential enjoyment led me to grab this container of Dannon Creamery Lemon Cheesecake Dairy Dessert off the shelf of the dairy case at Meijer on sale for $1.25.  Each container is 5.3 ounces and has 180 calories and eight grams of protein.  I list the protein counts because the cheesecake portion of this is actually Greek yogurt, which is interesting because they don't really say that anywhere on this container.  The only reason I know that is because I looked at the actual Dannon Creamery website where they mention that.  So strange that Dannon has chosen to put that little nugget on the actual container (at least that I could find).