Rice Dream Vanilla Frozen Dessert

2015 Note: Dear reader, I must apologize for the following review which I wrote... in the spring of 2014(?), and it was technically something that had been stewing in my brain even longer than that (you'll see what I mean at the end of the review). I'm only releasing it now because Rice Dreams has recently redone their packaging and I wanted to point it out in case anyone has had trouble finding it (their website hasn't even updated yet). Please note that the allergen warning on the nutrition label has changed (you can find it at the end of this post). Oh, for whatever reason, I stumble upon Almond Dream way more than I do Rice Dream, what's up with that?

Rice Dream Vanilla Non-dairy Frozen Dessert

[Original 2013/2014 Review] If there's one thing I regret about the early days of this blog, it's the fact that I didn't engage in people's comments like I should have. I just kind of assumed I was already making my point, so why reiterate it in the comment section, but I wasn't thinking about the fact people would take that as me ignoring them. My point is that we do value your comments, and to prove it, I'm going to review something for one of our more vocal commentors.

This is Rice Dream non-dairy "ice cream"

Rice Dream comes in six four flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, Neapolitan, mint carob chip, and cocoa marble fudge. I've actually tried the first three, but vanilla is the only one we keep in stock. It's fairly hard to find, and in fact, it was only a few weeks ago that I discovered a Shaws supermarket that carried big quart containers (on sale for $6.99, woohoo!).

"Ummm, Dubba, why do you stock frozen non-dairy dessert when you never like these flavors?". Well, as I've been meaning to discuss for at least a year now, this is the only "ice cream" my son will eat. We've tried tofutti cuties and tofutti hooray hooray bars, but he just didn't like him. We tried coconut milk ice cream too and that was a bomb. No matter what else we try, we always keep coming back to the vanilla.

note: this is a 2015 photo

So here it is, and, well, it kind of reminds me of cake batter. There's this strange powerful taste going on here that I have yet to master. It's almost tingly. Oh sure I try a little every time I serve him a cup of it, but it just never works for me. [2015 note: this holds true to this day, I still haven't mastered this stuff]

Here's a little tip. I never actually serve it in it's solid form. I stir it up and give it a soft serve consistency. My son adores it this way and will eat the whole cup, sometimes two.

if rice dream sounds a lot like almond dream or soy dream, it's because it's all the same company. (Scary, isn't it?)

Oh, that reminds me.... no, calm down Dubba.... Just do me a favor and never insult food allergies in the comments section on this blog, go take your uninformed attitude somewhere else. I get it's hard to understand if you don't have to deal with it, but there are tons of kids (and adults) who have trouble. Let's do our best to help them, not insult them.

Final 2015 Note: The old label use to say that good manufacturing processes are used to avoid cross contamination because it was made on the same equipment as nut products. The new label just says made in the same plant as nuts. I have no idea if that's an upgrade or a downgrade, so interpret as you will or contact the manufacturer if you are concerned.