There’s something about being asked to review an ice cream store that definitely releases the inner child of your food critics.
Imagine being able to have a spoonful or two of each frozen offering. This is the best job in the World! What’s the catch?
It’s sugar free, fat free, low carbohydrate ice cream.
Inner child whines, “Ewwwww.”
But we soldiered on out to Hamilton Mill Road anyway, equipped with positive attitudes and an actual child, our 12-year old son, J.
The theory was that a seasoned, professional ice cream eater like him could help us give a cross-generational view of such an unlikely product; a frozen dessert free of everything of which traditional sweet treats are made.
To say that we were surprised by Shelton’s Lite House is a gross understatement of fact. Owner Diane Shelton not only offers a perfectly delicious variety of sin-free soft serve ice creams, but also a stunning collection of other food products designed for customers whose taste buds crave flavor, but whose bodies demand special control.
Pay attention, those of you who have diabetes or who tend to someone who has similar dietary restrictions. Rejoice, you followers of the Atkins or Weight Watcher diet plans.
The Lite House was opened with you in mind.
Diane’s not shy about sharing her own weight loss odyssey. She’ll show you a photo of herself, taken many, many pounds ago.
The story begins with a trip to Florida to visit her ailing grandmother. While there, Diane stumbled onto the award-winning, kosher, sugar free Celebrity Cheesecakes.
Hauling hundreds of dollars worth of these creamy dreams back to Georgia , to include in her own regimen, it occurred to Diane that there were maybe hundreds of people like her who would benefit from a sweet resource, closer than south Florida.
Wandering around the Lite House, it seems that there is no end to the alternative foods available. The bakery area features cake rolls, breads, muffins, and remarkably good bagels. All are low-carb, which defies reason, but not reality. Craving peanut butter? Diane makes her own, with sugar substitute, Splenda, which is awesome.
If your weakness is snack foods, but you worry about their contents, try “Crunchers,” pasta, crackers, or tortillas, which Diane will make into a sandwich. There is peanut brittle, various candies, and caramels so good you’d think they were manufactured by Kraft.
Diane and her husband, Charles, are especially zealous about providing a service for kids who live with diabetes and who are denied the treats that their peers enjoy. Tootsie Pop flavored soft serve was born of a special request of a mom of such a child.
Another inspired the creation of a birthday cake made of bubble gum flavored ice cream mixed with bits of sugar free gum. The Lite House has developed 100 different flavors of ice cream, many of which are available each day and which purport to be the “lowest carb in Georgia.”
Until now, traffic to the Lite House has been driven by word of mouth, mentions on diabetes web sites, and networking of those who have recently undergone gastric bypass surgery. Whether the reader has any of these concerns or is simply looking for a way to indulge a sweet tooth with minimum impact to the waist line, the Lite House is a place to try.
We’ll forgo our regular rating system in order to give you what each of us liked best during our trip to this sugar free haven.
T: Most surprising was the marshmallows which were the same size, taste, and consistency of the regular kind.
J: The chocolate soft serve was “Super Chocolately.”
Lynne: Diane’s Key Lime pie and Celebrity strawberry cheesecake are not to be believed.
Shelton ’s Lite House — (one exit north of the Mall of Georgia), 3290 Hamilton Mill Road, Suite 203, Buford, GA 30519, 770-614-6585
