Now that summer is over...

...it's time to get my butt back in shape! Too many margaritas, hot dogs, cookouts, and of course ice cream cones for me. Funny I was talking to a friend recently who said summer is her season to get in shape. You can be outdoors all the time, go for a quick run, do a triathalon (well not me!) and so much more than you can do any other time of the year. For me it's the opposite. Our weekends are so overbooked in the summer and we try to get in every ounce of sun with the kids that no time is left for me. So now I am kicking myself into gear and at bootcamp class at 6am three days a week. Problem though is...ice cream. Who knew that would be a problem!

So this week when I went to the grocery store I was strategic about my choices....portion control and sugar free. Seriously there are actually good options out there without having to suck on flavored ice!

I ended up bringing home two different options to see which I preferred and also know if I don't eat them my ice cream loving child will. Girl after my own heart! My strategy.... one option that was premium ice cream but in a small portion controlled size or go for quantity and choose a larger bar but one that is sugar free. My daughter and I had differing opinions of which would be our favorite. More on that later.

Here is is the ongoing question.....quality over quantity VS quantity over quality!? I always pick one way. And here is what I ended up bringing home....

Magnum Mini Classic
(1.85 oz bar - Box says serving size is 2 bars so I cut nutritional facts in half)

150 calories

10 gram fat

25 grams sugar

Klondike Krunch Sugar Free

(4 oz ice cream bar)

170 calories

10 gram fat

7 grams sugar 

Once again....drum roll please...my favorite hands down but doesn't mean I didn't like the other is the Magnum Mini. I take quality over quantity all day long on most things. The chocolate is thick and rich and totally satisfies my sweet tooth and the ice cream is super creamy. All I need is that little bit of something really good. On the other hand my daughter argued with me about Klondike being the better option. She loved the Krunch in the chocolate coating and for her the mini just seemed too small. She agreed the serving size is two. And what did she do...had another!

Magnum Ice Cream Bars Make a "Red Carpet Premiere" in the U.S.

A couple of weeks ago, we got an email from Magnum Ice Cream asking if we wanted to try their new ice cream bars. It's funny: to me it's never a question of "Do we want samples?" (Of course we do!) but instead should be "We have ice cream to send you. What's your address? Can we send it to arrive on Tuesday morning?" (Yes. You can keep my address on file. You don't even need to ask about sending ice cream -- well actually, you do. Unfortunately with ice cream, you have to plan to be home to receive the package or you come home to melted ice cream and empty bags that once held dry ice, but you know what I mean…)

But I digress. They sent three boxes of bars to each of us: Classic, Almond, and Double Chocolate. Normally, I'm a classic girl. I love vanilla ice cream enrobed in chocolate. And the Magnum vanilla ice cream enrobed in chocolate…it was yummy. I mean, really really yummy. But then a few days later I took out a Double Chocolate bar. I can't say that's what I really wanted, but I had to try them all (in the name of fair reporting, right?). Well, wow. I hadn't really read the package and I was surprised by a layer of gooey fudge between the chocolate ice cream and the hard chocolate shell. Yum. All I kept doing was wishing my mom lived closer so I could bring her one. She's a huge chocolate fan and I could see her LOVING it.

But good news for mom and the rest of you -- even if you aren't as blessed as Tina and I to get ice cream samples delivered to your front door -- Magnum, a classic that has been around in many parts of the rest of the world for years -- is now available in the states!

If you visit Magnum via their Walmart link, you can vote for your favorite flavor (or, if you haven't tried them yet, what you think would be your favorite flavor) and get $1 off a three pack of bars.

Further news is that tomorrow at the Tribeca Film Festival, Magnum be premiering films that they have collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld -- Lagerfeld has created, produced, and directed these films and they star Rachel Bilson. If you are as curious as we are about these short films, follow Magnum Ice Cream on Facebook for updates and the consecutive release of these three short films over the coming weeks. We're hoping they are films about ice cream. Wouldn't that be sweet...