Bad, Bad, Bad, and Very Bad...

I volunteered at the co-op today. They had an Ice Cream Social...free ice cream/frozen yogurt/gelato/goat milk ice cream/dairy-free ice cream/sorbet samples of every flavor the store carries. What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking I was being helpful.

Before it even started all the volunteers were eating the ice cream and laughing it was a job requirement to taste all of the various flavors so they would be informed. People kept handing me samples and saying, "Try this one. It's wonderful!" I kept asking to see the containers to check the labels. I read the labels very carefully although I was lax on the sugar (BAD) and the dairy (BAD) knowing there aren't many ice creamy-type desserts that don't have these ingredients. There were a few selections that were dairy and sugar-free, but most of those had chocolate.

I was in charge of giving samples of non-fat frozen yogurt: peach mango, honey, berry, and blueberry. Sounds pretty safe so I stuck to sampling those. I studied the labels and sampled the berry. Oh, so delicious!  The woman next to me had the full-fledged ice cream with a variety of chocolate flavors: Double Chocolate, Banana-Chocolate Swirl, and Chocolate Chip Mint. Oh, they looked tempting and evil! Then the manager brought her another called Sea Salt Caramel. After studying the label, I deemed it safe and had a taste. Oh, my, heavenly. I scooped up another little spoonful and in the scoop there was a dark bit. I asked her, "What is that? A nut?" She read the label. Cocoa. COCOA? (BAD) Am I blind? How did I miss that? I must have been looking for the word "chocolate" and glossed right over "cocoa". I threw that spoonful away as if it were poison.

Then a few minutes later a customer came over and started reading the labels on my frozen yogurt containers. Out loud she said, "Natural flavors....hmmm...nope." She explained she can't have anything with "natural flavors" because that often means "corn" and she's allergic to corn. NATURAL FLAVORS!!! How did I miss that? That's often what they call gluten, too. GLUTEN??? (BAD) Oh, my god. I might have eaten gluten today. I was in shock.

I can only blame the heat. It was in the 90s today. This sort of heat is unusual in my neck of the woods even during the summer. There were a few times I thought I'd keel over from heat exhaust. I heard from others eating ice cream is a very effective way to cool down. I know that's not true but we as humans can rationalize anything. I guess I didn't eat enough sugar, dairy, chocolate and gluten to stay cool. Brain dead, for sure.

Still, I think I had a total of three tablespoons of frozen yogurt and ice cream combined so I don't expect a problem, but I'm kinda disappointed in myself. Other than my banana cream recipe, I hadn't had anything resembling ice cream for a long time. And it was GOOD!

I knew better. No willpower. I should have stayed away.