dr feelgood frozen pops (a product review)

“The truth shall set you free”

Okay, I’ll admit; the principal motivation behind my mini holiday to the North Island last week was none other than Dr Feelgood’s Frozen Pops. I am dead serious. You may think it ludicrous that an adult (yes, believe it or not, 22 is considered adult age) plans an entire holiday merely based on the location a certain popsicle. But, you may retract your mean judgements after receiving further info on these stick beauties (not a “thinspo” reference but definitely a skinny product).

When I was younger, I always, as they say; “screamed for ice-cream”. At times I cried and on other occasions I even black-mailed (a story for later) but either way, my deliberate tactics always landed me a frozen treat or two (thanks mum). Nowadays, having grown older and apparently wiser, I have developed a love-hate relationship with the scrumptious semi-soft frozen dessert. The chief and honest reason being that excessive amounts of regular ice-cream eventually makes us fat and gives us diabetes and so on and so forth.

This is where Dr Feelgood come in. Flies in, to be specific; in a superman outfit bringing an end to my  ice-cream induced quarter life crisis with his or her saliva-inducing popsicles which he/she promises are “guaranteed to impress your trainer AND your snobby food critic mate”.

So, without further ado, like all professional journalism, let me begin this review with the cold, hard facts:

Double Caramel Magnum Ice Cream Bar is 320 calories.

Whereas;

Dr Feelgood’s Salted Caramel and Apple Frozen Pop is 149 calories (“in case you’re wondering, it’s about the same as a glass of whole milk”).

Or even better, their Lemon, Manuka Honey and Ginger Pop (a mere 57 calories) or their Granny Smith Lime and Mint pop (63 calories) are both “about the same as one very small apple” – meaning, the phrase ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ just got some mean as rivalry.

And yet, believe it or not, there is no catch. Dr Feelgood’s Frozen Pops are not only healthy and nutritious (“featuring only the good stuff, with absolutely no refined sugar”) but are also extremely moreish; living up to their name by making your tongue, mouth, stomach, heart, significant other, mother, the list goes on, feel good and by good they/I mean bloody wonderful. In short, these popsicles are freakin’ yum AND miraculously good for you unlike most regular ice-creams which sadly are the opposite.

Last but not least; dearest Dr Feelgood please treat this humble post as a pledge from the entire south island population to export your delicious popsicles our way. In specific: to Christchurch because that’s where I am.

Yours faithfully,
Anisa.

PS for more info and a list of their other beaut flavours click here where you’ll be transported to Ice-cream heaven (cue: salivation) where your browser magically transforms into an adorable popsicle and your eyes get the opportunity to feast on some seriously scrumptious ice-creamporn.

I walked 21.2km for this gelato

There are as many ice-cream/gelato places in Auckland as there are people and there are a lot of people here, especially in comparison to CHCH. Fortunately, Mother Nature has been in a delightful mood during my little Auckland adventure, kindly turning up the dial on ‘ice cream weather’ to maximum. Now, I’m not the type of gal to indulge in any old ice-cream. Yes, there’s several Kapiti joints around but I can get that back home from the supermarket and the same goes for the million Movenpick outlets. But the homemade gelato from St. Heliers Bay Cafe & Bistro, now that’s worth walking 21.2km for (round-trip). Yesterday, my best friend Natasha who resides in the City of Sails (Auckland) and I walked from the CBD to St Heliers Bay. The journey was tedious. Our legs were sore, our chests were sun-burnt and our throats were dry but we eventually made it and oh boy was it worth it. Sorry, I already said that didn’t I? Natasha ordered two scoops of coconut which for the life of me I.just.could.not.comprehend – I mean, who the hell orders two of the same flavour?! Nevertheless, she reasoned she had never come across coconut ice-cream, always sorbet and because it was just that delicious. I chose peanut butter gelato and berry sorbet after literally trialing every single flavour (I hope you accept my sincerest apologies dear lovely lady behind counter) which tasted exactly like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich except cold, creamy and smooth! Ahhh my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The Gelato at St Heliers Bay Cafe & Bistro is made daily from fresh and wholesome ingredients which completely reflects in the way it tastes. No other words are needed. Just go smoosh your faces into it! X

Review No21 The Food Truck Garage

So I have embarked on a mini ‘holiday’ to Auckland (situated in the North Island of NZ) as recently, my brain has been desperately nagging the rest of my body to take a much-needed break. Yet, I currently find myself in a dodgy underground internet cafe sandwiched between two 20 something year olds playing Dota (and by ‘playing’ I mean battling – vigorously, to death – rather scary, to say the least) writing this post as I just can’t help it.

Day one, I arrived at my cosy (to put it nicely) accommodation at precisely 12.38pm AKA ‘lunchtime’ – perfect. Prior to arrival, I had heard several great things about ‘The Food Truck Garage’ which originally began as a NZ TV series aimed at highlighting our nation’s obesity problem and eventually (as of 2013) evolved into an epic eatery serving healthier alternatives to your classic “fast food” which is typically high in fat, salt and sugar. To my absolute delight, Google advised me that Food Truck Garage was a mere one minute walk from my temporary place of residence – yes, ONE – naturally, I ran there. Upon arrival I was greeted by a very adorable female chef with the most friendly smile/face. When said chef saw that the FOH crew were occupied, she left the kitchen space and personally sat me herself! The entire place oozed ‘hip’: cute wooden tables, prints on the wall, the turquoise lamp shades that matched the turquoise napkin holders and the napkins themselves which encouraged me in bold red to “get messy” – well, if the napkins say so! In short, everything at The Food Truck seemed complete. I.e. nothing left unfinished – well duh (sorry I have a habit of turning all Captain Obvious).

I was most impressed by the menu. There were so many delicious sounding options that I had a difficult time choosing just one item – the killer smells wafting through the air did not assist in my decision making process. Moreover, as I knew I was going to Burger Burger (a prominent burger(well-duh) joint here) in the evening, I compensated by ordering a burger bowl (shut up, it was a legitimate compensation) instead of an actual burger which my heart/stomach madly lusted after. Well, that and the skinny wait-staff in daisy dukes which served as great motivation that I order a salad – not that much motivation is required when food is so damn delicious and everything is so healthy anyway but yeah.

Burger Bowl – w. red quinoa, baby spinach, carrot, beetroot, tomato-cucumber salsa, red sauerkraut, avocado, flax seeds & rocket yoghurt. Choose either vegetarian pattie, beefroot pattie or achiote chicken breast, 16.

I chose the vegetarian pattie which was made up of quiona, beetroot and walnut pieces ; an absolute outofthisworld combination. Seriously, this salad bowl was freakin’ flavorsome. I highly (110% to be exact) recommend it. Next time I visit, I want to try a healthy taco or a low fat/sugar froyo shake!