I was at the gym yesterday when a fellow member asked me if I would fill out a 3-question questionnaire for her child.  Sure I said, what is it for? “It is for my son’s school project (he is in 6th grade).” Upon seeing the questionnaire I was shocked by the questions!  1) How often do you eat candy? 2) What is your favorite candy? 3) Do you prefer your candy to be sweet  or tart?   I proceeded to ask what the point of this “project” was which of course she added “it is for a math class where they are going to make pie charts, this is not a nutrition class or anything like that”.

I understand kids like candy, heck when I was a kid I don’t think I met a candy I did not like (well maybe Mounds) BUT in today’s society where 1 in 3 children are obese do we really need to discuss candy any more than is necessary.  Eating healthy starts with education.  Why couldn’t this school use fruit, asking the kids what their favorite fruit is, instead?  The students might even have discovered fruits they had never tried before!  It is amazing how people assume you must be in a “nutrition class” or in the health and wellness field  to teach children healthy eating habits.  Maybe the next time there is a “math project” where pie charts need to be displayed the teacher should poll the students on their favorite healthy treat!

When I was a child I remember the excitement I had when a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream store opened near my house and my mom took me and some friends to opening day after school for a delicious treat. I thought  going out for ice cream was the greatest thing.  This was of course before I became dairy free.  Now, “fresh” ice cream for me is usually from a container, since most ice cream stores do not cater to the dairy free community.  There are several companies who do make terrific versions of non-dairy ice cream yet, in my opinion there is nothing like going to the store and enjoying homemade ice cream.

Just the other day yelp sent me an e-mail dedicated to gluten-free awareness month, which listed several establishments in new york city who offer gluten-free options.  Most the places mentioned I have been to already. One however, Lula’s Sweet Apothecary, really stood out for me because not only did they serve gluten-free ice cream but they also are vegan (which means no dairy!). I decided I HAD to try this ice cream in the very near future.

Last night I dragged my husband and some friends (one of whom is lactose intolerant) all the way downtown to Lula’s.   When we arrived there were no other customers in the store (which considering the size was not a terrible thing).  I could not believe how many choices of ice cream (gluten free options included and clearly labeled) there were.  Lula’s has packed and soft serve ice cream.  I decided to mix a mint chocolate chip and vanilla combination and after seeing the gluten-free brownie a la mode option was sold on that.  The mint chocolate chip ice cream was very minty and “real” tasting with just enough chocolate chips to balance it out. The vanilla ice was delicious as well using a cashew butter base almost made it taste more from a maple taste than vanilla but tasty nonetheless.  The brownie was warmed up to the perfect temperature so that my ice cream slowly melted as I enjoyed it.  I will say the brownies are not homemade on premises and were pretty good.  For me the whole concept of eating a homemade decadent dessert was enough to be in heaven!  There is an eggless and creamless egg-cream on the menu which definitely intrigued and will most likely be my next indulgence there.

My husband and friends enjoyed the cake batter ice cream a la mode and thought “it tastes just like the real thing”.  I should add lula’s does offer non-gluten-free vegan brownies as well.  We grabbed the only 4 stools in the place which was fantastic because when we left there was a line out the door.  I don’t know if it was our oohing and aahing over the many choices available to enjoy or just that we hit an empty patch, but either way it seems many people are aware of their truly special and unique sweet treats.   I would urge you to run, not walk to lula’s sweet apothecary the next chance you have (and this way you can burn off some of the well worth it calories).