Hey friends! Crazy I know, but I'm actually back for the third day in a row with a blog post. Don't get too used to it. 🤣 I'm sure life will pick back up next week, but until then I'm having fun sharing some content to keep things light AND of course, delicious. This month for the @yourtop3 contest we are doing just that. The theme this round is Favorite Ice Cream. Check it out if you want to join!

As usual, it took me a little bit of thinking to figure out which choices I would share for my top 3, but after reading @nickyhavey's post I shook off the cobwebs. My choices are complete and total nostalgia. If you normally follow my blog you would never think I would eat any of these, and I don't anymore. However I was not always the pillar of health and fitness I am today. I often joke to people that I ate my fill of many items when I was younger, so I had no choice but to turn to the veggie side later in life to clean out my intestines from earlier abuse. Not that I don't enjoy a little treat here and there. These days even my treats are vegan, though, so unless any of these has a non-dairy option, they are totally in the memory bank.

I could have easily shared some of my favorite vegan ice creams (or nice creams I've made at home). There are literally cases full of options for us plant-based peeps at most stores now. And many of them taste just as good if not better than the original. Trust me, I've tasted quite a few in my time on this earth. Most often now if I want a frozen treat I'll blend up some frozen bananas here at home for a guilt-free creamy treat, but will occasionally purchase a pint of coconut milk or cashew cream based ice cream from the store. However, there is something fun in reliving the past here and there for those sweet memories from days long gone. Those days got me to where I am now, after all.

So my plant-based friends close your eyes and turn away, and the rest of you put on your stretchy pants and get ready for a treat...

This months topic is FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVORS

My Nominations are:

Nomination Number One

Breyers Neopolitan Ice Cream

My Reasons for the Nomination

Breyers was the brand most commonly seen in our refrigerator growing up at home. Perhaps it was one of the main ones available at the store where my mom did her grocery shopping, or maybe it was just the one she liked the best. With three daughters and a husband who enjoyed a cold, creamy treat now and then, the mixed container of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla was a safe bet to appease us all.

My favorite of the three? The chocolate. Always the chocolate. You could always tell when I had been in the freezer the most often because the chocolate third would be decimated, while the other two flavors were still hanging around. In my family it was also common knowledge that I was the sweets fiend. Dad and older sis would knock out the chips and salty treats, little sis was the one who would drink all the soda (yes, we were from New Jersey so it will always be soda, not pop or Coke), and I always opted for the dessert. If I'm going to indulge, it's not going to be the savory stuff. I'll save room for dessert.

Nomination Number Two

Drumsticks (no, not for playing music)

My Reasons for the Nomination

The other item always in our freezer growing up was Drumsticks ice cream cones. The ones with vanilla ice cream, coated in chocolate and chopped peanuts. The inside of the cone coated with chocolate so that the very last bite was essentially a nugget of chocolate with just a hint of cone. I think these were more my mom's idea of indulgence, though she didn't eat them too often. Obviously as an adult I know understand why. That girlish figure doesn't last forever without a little restraint and maturity. 🤣

Of course I enjoyed them, as well. Not many kids would pass up an ice cream cone. We always had the mixed pack and the one that went first was the one with caramel in the center. Definitely an added treat to the usual combination of vanilla ice cream, chocolate, peanut and cone. I wouldn't really say they were my favorite, but going down memory lane they are one that features prominently if I'm really going back to my childhood roots.

Nomination Number Three

Bruster's Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae

My Reasons for the Nomination

Fast forward a bit to my first few years of college. I went to a wonderful school here in north Georgia, but it was small and it was kind of in the middle of nowhere. One of the few places to go off campus for a treat was Bruster's. They had bring your own banana night to get half off a traditional sundae, but I always had my eyes on the chocolate lovers dream with the brownie and extra hot fudge. I didn't gain the freshman 15 that happens to a lot of kids going to college their first year, but my second year we went every Thursday night. I also worked in the mall that year for the first time, so not my finest hour in terms of food choices.

More so than the flavor of the sundae, I remember the relationships formed with those girls in my dorms those first few years. Most I am not really close with these days, but they were a lifesaver navigating that time in life. While I do have good memories of college, and my school was excellent, I had a bit of a tough time through those years. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do and I worked way too much at my job to enjoy a time when I should have been exploring what I wanted out of life. Those handful of girls made that time so much sweeter. I'm sure if we met up now we would all be taken right back. And they would laugh at me for my ridiculous ice cream overindulgence!

I opted not to share any product photos in my post because they really don't encompass the feelings evoked when thinking about them. Plus, they don't need any more promotion aside from a mention for their massive corporations, haha. And as I'm a panel member, my choices aren't valid for the dpoll so I don't need to try to sweeten up the deal and have people vote for me. This post was meant as pure fun and entertainment. Thanks to my pals Nicky, @cheese4ead and @foxyspirit for helping take us along this fun ride we've had while keeping the contest going. I've enjoyed all of it, and can't help feeling nostalgic about all the topics and fun we've had over the past year and a half, as well!

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