Think about what goes into that treat before indulging

A few years ago, I wrote an article on ice-water and ice-cream 'treats.'

Since many people eat them on a regular basis throughout the summer, I felt that the message bears repeating for those who may have missed it.

What can be better than sucking on an ice-cold, ice-water treat or licking away at a delicious ice cream on a hot humid day? There are not too many things that have as much appeal as this. However, we may want to think about what goes into some of the commercially made icy treats before we eat too many of them - and then look at some alternatives.

First, let's take a look at ice-water treats (traditionally named ice lollies or popsicles). What are they made of? The main ingredient is usually water. This is what hydrates us - obviously a good thing. Next on the list is most usually sugar in some form. Some contain as much as 3-4 teaspoons of sugar in one serving. Since it is not unusual for many children (and adults) to consume more than one on a hot day, you do not need to be a math-whizz to figure out that - through sweetened ice-water alone - one can eat far more sugar than is healthy in a week, let alone one day!

Then there is the colour that is often added to make them bright and 'appealing.' Most are hardly 'natural' colours. After all, who ever saw luminescent blue/green/orange/turquoise in nature? (except perhaps on exotic fish). Are these colours safe? Well, the government allows them so one would like to assume so. Having said that, there are those who would argue that, although technically safe, added colours may not be health promoting (especially in sensitive individuals). In fact, some of the synthetic colours have been banned in foods in some countries, for example, tartrazine, Red No. 2, Green No. 3, Blue. No. 1.

So, what is your alternative? Make your own. After all, you only need water, natural sweetener (in the form of fruit), moulds and a freezer. I suggest you squeeze your own juice or you can use carton-ready pure juices (e.g., orange, apple, cranberry, blueberry, watermelon or a mix of all your favourites). Pour about an inch of juice into a mould, top with water and freeze - voila! In a couple of hours you have frozen delicious homemade, guilt-free ice-water treats ready to give to your family. And, the best thing is that since they are mostly water and a little natural sugar from the fruit, it won't matter if they eat a few in one day.

What about 'scooped' ice-cream? There was a time when ice cream consisted only of real cream with just a little added sugar. For the occasional summer treat, there is little wrong with a small 'unadulterated' plain ice-cream (as long as you are not lactose intolerant). The ice-cream of old didn't contain large amounts of sugar, synthetic colours and artificial flavouring. And never in your Granny's wildest dream did it ever contain practically a whole candy bar like many do today (depending on the amount of 'scoops' you buy of course).

Personalized Chocolate Wedding Favors : Wedding Favors Unlimited ...

Your wedding is your personal day to share with friends and family in a celebration of love. Why not have personalized wedding favors with something every guest will love—chocolate!

You can have your personalized favors done for you online. Many companies offer this service. But it’s is really easy to personalize your own chocolate wedding favors . But since the companies who print them for you will just ship you the labels, you’ll still have to buy all the chocolate and assemble them yourself.

If you'd like to try and make the labels yourself, look for a template online by searching “chocolate bar wrappers” or “personalized chocolate labels.” You’ll be able to find wrappers for regular sized candy bars as well as Jumbo bars and even miniatures. Choose your template based on the type of candy bar you’d like to offer.

When you go out to purchase the candy, keep in mind that some people have peanut allergies. So, to be safe, go for pure Hershey bars without nuts or some other candy bar that doesn’t contain any nuts.

Now, get ready to design your candy bar label. You can easily do this with any software like Word or something fancier like Photo Shop if you have it. In Word, you can do the basics of adding clip art and type. Choose clip art by clicking “Insert Clip Art” from the tool bar in Word. Search for wedding bells, ribbons, doves or crosses. Then insert the clip art into your template. Now choose a font. Your computer probably has many lovely fonts built in. Choose one that fits the style of your wedding. If it’s more formal, you might want to go with a script. If it’s more casual you can go with Dom Casual or another handwriting type font. Type out a message like, “Welcome to our Wedding! Love, Dan and Kathy. March 8, 2011” or get silly with your message and write something about how you met. You might want to include photos of yourself on the label. Just upload your photos and insert them onto the template.

Proofread your label. Then print on regular (not photo or glossy) paper. Just use the white printer paper you normally use for documents. If you use glossy or photo papers, your labels will be too hard to bend around the chocolate.

When you have all your labels printed, cut them out. Wrap your printed wrapper around the existing candy bar wrapper. Leave the manufacturer’s original label on so that guests can see the ingredient list if they want to. Now, apply a dot of glue (hot glue works best as it dries immediately) to where the edges of the wrapper meet.

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