On Mahi Mahi, Coffee Mocha Popsicles, and the Wonders of Jello

So going to the supermarket in search of white fish, I find absolutely nothing I am familiar with! Granted, my experience with white fish is limited at best, so I stuck to the cheapest option available--mahi mahi. When I got back I googled mahi mahi and found that the .35lb fillet I just bought (light but quite a substantial size) held a total of 135 calories... I thought: well that's too good to be true, it will most certainly taste awful. But I left it overnight in a ziplock bag with 2 tbsp balsamic, 1 tsp lemon juice, chopped up garlic and cumin seeds, baked it at 400F for 10 minutes the next day with tomato sauce (PV yay!), and oh wow it was amazing. Had it with the Dukan tuna loaf (straight from the recipe book it's quite good in a meatloaf-made-of-tuna-and-egg way) and a slice of cheesecake. Yum!

Also, about Jello--a dieter's best friend. To be honest, I never made jello before last week (other than jello shots-well, that does count) so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I must say I am hooked! Try this out:
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1 cup skimmed milk, microwaved until hot but not boiling, 1 tsp sweetener (or more depending)
stir in 2 pckt Knox flavorless gelatin until completely dissolved
1 cup skimmed milk cold
 Refrigerate 2 hours

1/2 cup hot water with 2 tbsp cocoa
stir in 1 pckt gelatin until dissolved
1/4 cup water + 1/4 cup skimmed milk

Pour over the milk gelatin
Refrigerate 4 hours or until set

Best dessert ever at 250 cal--and this isn't regular Jello, it's too dessert-y to wolf down in one sitting! It makes a dessert that tastes like dessert in a super easy--if not super fast--way.

One thing I really crave on this diet is ice cream. I love ice cream. Love. I love my road trip gas station Cornettos, my pistachio gelatos from Grom (so worth it), my Hagen Daaz macadamia nut... When I saw that the Dukan Diet forbade even Skinny Cow I must admit, my heart did sink. It rose slightly when I saw the frozen dessert recipes available, but sank once more when I saw that they involved either a) whipping up eggwhites (canNOT, detest) or b) an ice cream machine. Now living in college means I have neither ice cream machine nor standmixer at hand, so you must understand everything has to be kept simple. Nevertheless, leafing through the most delicious-looking blog ever (BakingBites, take a look!), I across a popsicle recipe that unfortunately required corn syrup (to keep the 'ice cream' from turning into just ice). Now being I college student I have a good understanding that alcohol does not freeze. So I remade the recipe into an almost (1 tbsp off) Dukan-friendly snack!

Popsicles (Basic Coffee Mocha-- do experiment! Green Tea is super yummy too, as is vanilla, rum (rum extract), and I'm sure you can use any instant powder flavor)

1 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa (I used 1 pckt non-fat instant cocoa (3tbsp) + 1 tbsp non-fat unsweetened cocoa)
3 tbsp sweetener
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coffee extract
1 dash (1 tbsp? Less?) alcohol (I used Kahlua, if you don't want an alcohol taste or excess calories try vodka-- or wine perhaps? Will that prevent freezing? Hmm...)
Toothpicks or similar

1. Mix everything but alcohol together and heat (I used a microwave, stopping to stir a lot every 30 sec) until everything blends together-- no cocoa lumps or sugar! It took around 3 min or microwave time for me.
2. Pour into molds--I used ice cube trays: all 16 cubes filled exactly, 1 toothpick for each (they'll be resting at an angle), and stick overnight in the freezer.

They are soooo yummy, definitely not ice so you can use a sharp knife to pry one edge free and it comes right out. I used extremely little Kahlua so they were icy on the outside, but I shan't change the amount of alcohol used--it doesn't affect my enjoyment of it at all! And they taste decadent, chocolatey, and at 12 calories each they are surprisingly quite filling! One is quite enough to stave off hunger pangs til mealtime-- I think it's because they feel and taste like ice cream, and look like around half a scoop- which makes quite a good illusion for your appetite!

Now, just need to figure out how to make 5 minute sugar-calming recipes....