I’m all about this orange dream recipe- I love all things orange since I was a kid, when push up pops were one of my favorites! But now that I’m sticking to a lower carb, sugar free lifestyle I really wanted to replicate the creamy, orange-vanilla flavors of an orange dream. By jove, I think I’ve got it!

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The real trick is to get the flavor of orange without using orange juice concentrate, since it’s essentially a concentrated form of fruit sugar (with 13 grams of sugar per ounce!) I used to make a recipe that called for 6 ounces of orange juice concentrate AND a half cup of powdered sugar. Clearly, that’s out.

To get that authentic, juicy orange flavor, I turned to a pure orange essential oil.

<tangent alert!>
Now, I’m normally VERY cautious about ingestion or even casual use of essential oils in water. Orange essential oil from a high quality source is something that I’m more comfortable with. First, they’re simply cold pressed from the rinds, meaning that if you’ve ever peeled an orange and seen that burst of intense orange scent come out of the peel, then you’ve expressed orange essential oil! It’s as concentrated as nature made it to be (and the extraction process is not intensifying it any more than it occurs in nature.)

The other reason I’m comfortable with it is that orange oil and rind or zest have been used for long periods of time to add that authentic, fresh orange smell and taste by home cooks and by many commercial products from drinks to facial creams. And unlike adding essential oils to water, this recipe includes other ingredients that can bond to the oil, and don’t allow it to just float free on the top of the water and give you mega zaps of essential oil that can overwhelm and damage the delicate mucous membranes in your digestive tract. So for me, this falls within “responsible use” of essential oils as flavoring. 🙂 Your mileage (and opinions) may vary.

I chose to use NOW orange essential oil (affiliate link) for this recipe, since their company uses state of the art testing equipment to make sure that every batch of oil is free from any impurities, adulteration, or pesticides. Even though it’s not labeled organic, the gas chromatography ensures that there is no pesticide residue in their oils. I’m really cool with that. And with their prices!

P.S. You can choose their organic orange oil (affiliate link) if you feel more comfortable with that. I just buy the regular.

P.P.S. Their company doesn’t know that I exist, and this is not a paid endorsement. 🙂 There are other companies that I really respect and recommend as well, and you can find them here in my Amazon Essential Oil store.

SO where was I? Oh yes. THIS…

Let’s make this yummy Orange Dream recipe!

Are you a Trim Healthy Mama? This recipe can be any of the THM types: S, Crossover, E, or FP. I give instructions on converting it in the notes!

Orange Dream Recipe Pin & Printable

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Low Carb Orange Dream Recipe

This orange dream recipe is sugar free, low carb, and SO creamy-dreamy!

Author: Gwen

Ingredients

½ cup low or no fat cottage cheese. (I prefer Daisy 2%)
1½-2 cups ice cubes
1 cup almond or cashew milk (or any low carb carton milk of your choice)
2-3 drops pure orange essential oil or to taste
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon Sweet Blend or sugar free sweetener of your choice
2 Tablespoons carton egg whites, optional but recommended for frothiness
1 medium orange or 2 small tangerine or mandarin oranges, peeled & seeded or ¼ cup canned mandarin orange slices, optional as a healthy slow carb source (for a THM E recipe)
2 Tablespoons half & half or heavy whipping cream (for a THM S or Crossover recipe)
1 baby carrot, optional to add color
tiny pinch of turmeric, optional to add color

Instructions

Start with the smaller amount of ice, and add all ingredients to your blender.
Blend until thick, frothy, and smooth.
Taste and adjust sweetness, orange flavor, etc. to your liking.
Blenders vary SO much- adjust the ice to get the texture you like. If it's too icy, use less next time. If it's too watery, add more ice until you hit the perfect creamy, dreamy texture.
Enjoy!

Notes

For a THM E meal or snack: add the optional fruit to give the recipe a healthy slow carb source with the natural fiber in the fruit.
For a THM FP meal or snack: skip the fruit. You can add a scoop of protein powder or add additional egg whites to get the protein content up for a meal.
For a THM S: Skip the fruit/carbs, and add the cream or half and half as a healthy fat source.
For a THM Crossover: Add both the fruit/carb source and the cream or half & half as a healthy fat source. gwens nest recipes stamp