Except....
...for those frothy, delicious sweet dreams of heaven called Gas Station Cappuccinos.
It all started one cold, wintry morning on our way to church. I had my usual hot chocolate, and my husband emerged from the gas station clutching a steaming cup of his own. Grinning, he shoved it at me. "Here. Try that."
"I hate coffee," I reminded him.
"Just try it."
Screwing up my face in anticipation of intense nastiness, I took a tentative sip. And then another.
Ah, bliss...as that warm, sugary delight rolled over my tongue, an addiction was born. Now I love gas station cappuccinos, be they hot or cold. Mind you, I can't stand a real cappuccino with an actual coffee taste. I figure the gas station variety is probably 60% sugar, 35% milk and 5% coffee. Which is just the way I like it.
The beauty of it is that you can also get cappuccinos of this sort at places other than gas stations (just not at coffee houses). You'll find them in grocery stores. You'll find the chilled variety at restaurants such as Dairy Queen, Sonic and McDonalds.
And now for my dilemma. McDonald's has been running their "happy hour" promotion, where certain drinks are $1.00 off between the hours of 2 and 5 p.m. Initially, this made me very happy indeed . Off I went every day to McDonalds clutching my $4 to have my specialty drink. It was about a month before I noticed two things: my wallet was decidedly lighter, and my body was decidedly heavier.
At this point, I did a little research, and to my horror, discovered that one 16 oz Frappe, as McDonalds calls them, contains a whopping 560 calories and 66 grams of sugar. Calorie wise, this is like eating a Big Mac, only you don't feel as full afterward. And sugar wise...well, I don't even want to contemplate.
Now, the hot Cappuccinos are not nearly as bad. They have 150 calories, which I can deal with. So, naturally, I assumed the cold variety were comparable. Even with whipped cream. And extra chocolate drizzle. Really.
Okay, fine, I should have known better.
So now I had two choices. Give up my chilled delights or make my own. Guess which option I chose.
The recipe is below, in case you're interested:
Low Fat Frozen Cappuccino
Ingredients:
4 teaspoons instant coffee
4 teaspoons cocoa
4 teaspoons non-dairy powdered coffee creamer
1 cup nonfat milk
3 tablespoons sugar substitute (I like Whey Low or Ideal. They taste like real sugar)
1 cup of ice
Combine dry ingredients in blender. Add milk and ice cubes. Blend until it has a slushy consistency.
I modified this recipe from one I found on the web. Without having to do too much math, this is what I came up with:
Makes approximately 32 ounces (which is 2 servings, unless you're greedy)
90 calories per serving
It's very low in fat, too. Something like 2 or 3 grams.
Since hubby and I usually like to drink these on the go, we pour them into these awesome, dishwasher safe plastic cups my friend got us from JoAnn.
