Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts

What Are Good Road Trip Snacks?

August 7, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN 1 Comment

Eating While You Drive Can Be Tricky

Have you ever tried to eat a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and pickles? It’s hard enough to do when you can eat over a plate on a stable table – trying to eat it in a car means ending up holding two pieces of bread with a lap full of pickles and tomatoes.

Road trip food should meet certain “save your clothes and car” requirements:

It won’t fall apart, isn’t sticky or slimy, isn’t juicy/watery, and won’t break into a million little pieces when you try to eat it
It fits into a cooler (remember ice packs) or doesn’t need to be refrigerated
It’s reasonably healthy and tasty
It’s grab and go –you don’t need a knife, fork, or spoon to eat it (unless you pull over and have your own picnic) and it doesn’t need to be assembled
It doesn’t stink – how long do you want to drive smelling of onions, garlic, or stinky cheese.
Remember napkins, moist towelettes, and something for garbage.

Road Trip Snacks That Are Easy To Eat

Grab and go food is the name of the game. It’s dangerous to be distracted while you’re driving, so if you can eat something that’s non-messy and easily held in one hand, the food distraction is minimized.

Candy bars and bags of chips are pretty easy to eat — especially if you don’t mind chocolate smears on you and your car, fingers stained orange from chips, and crumbs everywhere you look. But how do you feel after eating them? If that candy bar is going to make you feel drowsy or lousy, maybe something that’s a little more nutritious and packs some protein is a better idea.

Some Suggestions

This is by no means an extensive list – it is meant to get you to think about what fuels you and leaves you feeling energetic, not grumpy and tired.

Anything in a pita: Pick your favorite protein food and some not too slippery vegetables and pile them into a pita. Make sure you just create a pocket and don’t cut all the way through. The pocket and the texture of the pita hold the interior ingredients in nicely.

Cheese and crackers: Try some cheese sticks or the smaller easy open wax encased snack-sized cheeses (Baby Bel). Bread sticks and whole grain crackers pair well with cheese and fruit.

Grapes, cherry or grape tomatoes, baby carrots or any other hand held fruit or vegetables: Great road trip fruit and vegetables because they are bite-sized and not messy – with no residue. Apples and pears are easy handheld food, too, although you have leftover residue (easily solved with a garbage bag) and possible juice down the arm.

Nuts: tasty, nutritious, with some protein – and easy to eat one by one. Pairs well with some dried fruit and/or cheese.

Peanut butter (or almond or sunflower butter) and jelly sandwiches: choose dense bread that won’t get soggy. Sandwich the jelly between the nut butter – spread the nut butter on both pieces of bread and put the jelly inside so it’s less likely to ooze out.

Jerky: High in protein, comes in single serve portions, and easy to eat while you’re driving.

Leftover pizza, grilled chicken, or other meat.

Already peeled hard-boiled eggs.

Whole grain cereal with crunch: combine it with some dried fruit and/or nuts and you have your own trail.

Granola or protein bars: they come in lots of flavors and textures – just read the label, especially the grams of protein to make sure you’re not eating a candy bar in disguise.

Popcorn: check the label for added ingredients, but popcorn can be a great crunchy snack that’s not a caloric disaster (unless it has a lot of added fat and sugar).

If You Hit the Vending Machines for a Snack or Two …

It’s almost inevitable that sooner or later you’ll have your next sharing moment with a vending machine: you share your money and the machine shares its calories.

When you’re tempted to kick a vending machine when it’s swallowed your money with no food in return – be gentle — they actually have a holy history!

Around 215 BC the mathematician Hero invented a vending device that accepted bronze coins to dispense holy water. Vending didn’t really became economically viable until 1888 when the Adams Gum Company put gum machines on New York City’s elevated train platforms. You got a piece of Tutti-Frutti gum for a penny.

Now they’re everywhere: in your hotel, in train stations, and just about every rest stop. They call your name when you’re especially vulnerable: you’re stressed, tired, bored, and your blood sugar is traveling south—all of which means the sweet, fatty, and salty junk food behind those glass windows is all the more alluring.

When a vending machine calls your name, choose wisely. There are good, better, and best choices to be made.

Even Though Your Options Aren’t Perfect, Make The Best Choice For You

Try to pick something with some protein. Too much sugar will spike then crash your blood sugar making you cranky, drowsy, and hungry for more sweet and fatty food. Not good for driving or for the other passengers in the car.
You can almost always find packages of nuts, or popcorn, or pretzels, or dried fruit.
Your choice depends on what you want: protein or sweet satisfaction, fill-you-up fiber or salty crunch.

Common Vending Machine Choices

Crunchy

Baked Lays Potato Chips: 130 calories, 2 grams of fat, 26 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein

Baked Doritos, Nacho Cheese: 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein

Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers: 180 calories, 9 grams of fat, 20 grams carbs, 4 grams of protein

Ruffles Potato Chips: 240 calories, 15 grams of fat, 23 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein. 12 Ruffles potato chips have 160 calories, 10g fat

Cheetos, Crunchy: 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein

Fritos (28g, about 32 chips): 160 calories, 10g fat

Sun Chips Original: 210 calories, 10 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein

Snyder’s of Hanover Mini Pretzels: 160 calories, no fat, 35 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein.

Rold Gold Pretzel sticks (28g, 48 pretzels): 100 calories, 0g fat

White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn, Smartfood: 120 calories, 8 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein

Nuts/Seeds

Planters Sunflower Kernels: 290 calories, 25 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs, 11 grams of protein

Planters Salted Peanuts: 290 calories, 25 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbs, 13 grams of protein

Planter’s Dry Roasted Peanuts, one ounce: 170 calories, 14g fat, 2g sugars

Blue Diamond Almonds, one ounce: 170 calories, 14g fat 0 sugars

Planter’s Nut & Chocolate Trail Mix, one ounce: 160 calories, 10g fat, 13g sugars

Cookies/Pastry/Bars

Mini Chips Ahoy: 270 calories, 13 grams of fat, 38 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein

Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts (2 pastries): 410 calories, 10 grams of fat, 75 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

Hostess Fruit Pie, apple: 470 calories, 20 grams of fat, 70 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

Fig Newtons: 200 calories, 4 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein

Quaker Chewy Low-Fat Granola Bar, Chocolate Chunk: 90 calories, 2 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein

Nature Valley Granola Bar, Crunchy Oats and Honey (2 bars): 190 calories, 6 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

Candy

Skittles: 240 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 56 grams of carbs, no protein

Twix (2 cookies): 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein

3 Musketeers, king size: 200 calories, 6 grams of fat, 36 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein

Peanut M&Ms: 250 calories, 13 grams of fat, 30 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein

Snickers, regular size: 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 33 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

Is there a road trip in your future?

The Summer issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is ready to help you eat well when you’re in the car or grabbing some food at rest stops or roadside diners.

Get it now from iTunes or the Google Play Store for $1.99 an issue or $4.99 for a yearly subscription (four seasonal issues).

Will The Food Sitting In Your Hot Car Make You Sick?

July 25, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Can food that stays in a hot car for a long time make you sick?

It’s hot outside. When you open your car door after it’s been sitting in the parking lot you’re hit with a blast of heat that seems hotter than an oven.

The Temperature Rises Quickly Inside A Closed Car

Very quickly — even when it’s only moderately warm outside.

A study found that at 9AM when the outside temperature was 82 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car was 109 degrees. At 1:30PM, when the outside temperature rose to 112 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car reached 124 degrees.

Cracking the windows helps, but only a little bit. With four windows cracked, at 10AM when the temperature was 88 degrees outside, inside the car it was 103 degrees. At 2PM when the outside temperature rose to 110 degrees, the internal temperature rose to 123 degrees. Certainly not safe conditions for living creatures, especially kids and dogs both of whom are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat.

Hot Weather and Food-borne Illness

Hot weather and food-borne illness can be evil partners. Forty-eight million people are affected by food-borne illnesses each year which, in the US, result in an estimated 3,000 deaths. More than 250 food-borne diseases have been identified. They are common and preventable public health challenges.

Most food-borne illnesses can be prevented with proper cooking or processing, both of which destroy harmful bacteria. It’s really important to keep cold food cold and hot food hot because food that stays set out for a long time can enter “The Danger Zone,” or temperatures between 41˚F and 140˚F where bacteria multiply most rapidly.

What About The Prepared Food You Just Bought?

Extreme heat is certainly not a safe environment for fresh and prepared food, either. Pity the poor groceries or take-out you just bought that’s sitting in extremely hot temperatures in the back of your car. Shelf, cupboard, and boxed food may be fine, but for meat, deli, dairy, cut food like fresh fruit, and prepared foods (salad, fried chicken, Chinese take-out, pizza) it’s not a good situation. Why?

When you give bacteria the conditions they like: warmth, moisture, and nutrients, they’ll grow. A single bacterium that divides every half hour can result in 17 million offspring in 12 hours.

Consequently, the food you just bought might spoil because bacteria present in the food have multiplied like rabbits in your car in the hot conditions that are ideal for food spoilage. Perishable food can stay safely unrefrigerated only for two hours if the air temperature is under 90 degrees – and only for one hour if the temperature is 90 degrees or higher. Follow this rule for picnics, barbecues, and buffets, too.

Take Pity on Your Food and Protect Your Family and Guests

Be aware of the type of food you’re buying. If you have perishable items, take some of these steps:

Think about your route and how many errands you have to do. Stop at the cleaners or for coffee before grocery shopping — not afterward when your groceries will be baking in the car.

Make wise choices. When it’s hot outside, take your perishable items straight home. If you know you can’t go straight home take steps to keep your purchases cool – or buy food that doesn’t need refrigeration.

To be on the safe side, think about keeping a cooler, cold packs, or insulated bags in your car for perishable items. Make sure the cooler hasn’t turned into a portable oven because it’s been sitting in the car for so long.

Buy a bag of ice if you need to for keeping cold stuff cold and frozen stuff frozen on the way home. Or, bring some frozen gel packs with you.

If you’re on a road trip, remember that food in your car is vulnerable. The trip to the beach and then spreading your food out on a table or a blanket means that if it’s not in a cooler, it’s been in hot conditions for a long time. Just think — in the winter your car might be colder than your refrigerator. Then there’s no problem stopping for coffee on the way home!

Road trip: is there one in your future?

The Summer issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is ready to help you eat well when you’re in the car or grabbing some food at rest stops or roadside diners.

Get it now from iTunes or the Google Play Store for $1.99 an issue or $4.99 for a yearly subscription (four seasonal issues).

Calories and Alcohol In Beer: How Many and How Much?

July 17, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Have you ever noticed that alcohol doesn’t fill you up the way food does? Here’s why: it doesn’t register as “food” in your GI tract or your brain.

The bad news: it doesn’t fill you up but it does have calories — 7 calories a gram – more than carbs and protein which have 4 calories a gram and fat which has 9. So, even though it might not seem as though you’re putting calories into your body, you could be taking in a lot of calories and not feel stuffed (perhaps drunk, but not stuffed).

How Much Alcohol is in Beer?

A standard drink in the United States is equal to 14.0 grams (0.6 ounces) of pure alcohol. Generally, that’s the amount of pure alcohol found in:

12 ounces of beer
8 ounces of malt liquor
5 ounces of wine
1.5 ounces or a “shot” of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor (e.g., gin, rum, vodka, or whiskey)

Is Beer or Wine Safer to Drink than Liquor?

No. Don’t be fooled. One 12-ounce beer has about the same amount of alcohol as one 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5-ounce shot of liquor. It’s the amount of alcohol consumed that affects a person most, not the type of alcoholic drink.

How Many Calories Are in Your (12 ounce) Beer Bottle?

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale: 330 calories
Samuel Adams Boston Lager: 180 calories
Guinness Extra Stout: 176 calories
Pete’s Wicked Ale: 174 calories
Harpoon IPA: 170 calories
Heineken: 166 calories
Killian’s Irish Red: 163 calories
Long Trail: 163 calories
Molson Ice: 160 calories
Samuel Adams Brown Ale: 160 calories
Budweiser: 144 calories
Corona Light: 105 calories
Coors Light: 102 calories
Heineken Light: 99 calories
Budweiser Select: 99 calories
Miller Light: 96 calories
Amstel Light: 95 calories
Anheuser Busch Natural Light: 95 calories
Michelob Ultra: 95 calories
Miller MGD 64: 64 calories
Beck’s Premier Light: 64 calories

Calorie Saver:

Analyze your beer choice. Since there’s a very wide variation in the calories in beer, can you be satisfied with one of the lower calorie brews?

Road trip: is there one in your future?

The Summer issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is ready to help you eat well when you’re in the car or grabbing some food at rest stops or roadside diners.

Get it now from iTunes or the Google Play Store for $1.99 an issue or $4.99 for a yearly subscription (four seasonal issues).

If You Consider Toppings an Ice Cream Essential, Check These Out

July 10, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

You can put just about anything on ice cream, but the standard fare — toppings like hot fudge, whipped cream, peanuts, walnuts in syrup, crushed heath bar, caramel sauce – can add hundreds of calories and not much nutrition to your sundae or cone.

Some common ice cream toppings:

Smucker’s Spoonable Hot Fudge Topping, 2 tablespoons: 140 calories, 4g fat, 24g carbs, 2g protein
Smucker’s Spoonable Pecans in Syrup Topping, 1 tablespoon: 170 calories, 10g fat, 20g carbs, 1g protein
Regular Redi Whip, 2 tablespoons: 20 calories, 2g fat, 1g carbs
Fat Free Redi Whip. 2 tablespoons, 5 calories, 0g fat, 1g carbs
Cool Whip, extra creamy, 2 tablespoons: 32 calories
Cool whip, light, 2 tbsp,16 calories
Cool Whip, fat-free: 2 tbsp, 15 calories, 43.5g carbs, 0 protein
Regular M&M’s, 10 pieces: 103 calories, 5.2g fat, 12.1g carbs, 1.9g protein
Peanut M&M’s, about 16 pieces: 200 calories, 10.15g fat, 23.48g carbs, 3.72g protein
Peanuts, one ounce: 160 calories, 14g fat, 5g carbs, 7g protein
Rainbow Sprinkles (Mr. Sprinkles), 1 teaspoon: 20 calories, 0.5g fat, 3g carbs, 0g protein
Chocolate Sprinkles (jimmies), 1 tablespoon: 35 calories, 0g fat, 6g carbs, 0g protein
Smucker’s Spoonable Light Hot Fudge Topping, Fat Free, 2 tablespoons: 90 calories, 23g carbs, 2g protein
10 mini marshmallows: 22 calories, 0 fat, 5.7g carbs, .1g protein
18 gummi bears: 140 calories, 0 fat, 43.5g carbs, 0 protein

Think Outside The Box For Lower Calorie, but Still Delicious, Toppings

The world is your oyster in terms of toppings, so why not think about fruit, cereal, or a crushed up 100-calorie pack of anything? Here are some suggestions:

Smucker’s Spoonable Pineapple Topping, 2 tablespoons: 100 calories, 0g fat
1 mini box of raisins (0.5 ounces): 42 calories, 0.1g fat, 11.1g carbs, 0.4g protein
One medium banana: 105 calories, 0 fat, 27g carbs, 1g protein
One cup strawberry halves: 49 calories, 0.5g fat, 11.7g carbs, 1g protein
Sugar-free Jello pudding: 60 calories
One cup Froot Loops: 118 calories, 0.6g fat, 26.7g carbs, 1.4g protein
One cup blueberries: 83 calories, 0.5g fat, 21g carbs, 1.1g protein
Crushed pretzel sticks, 1 ounce: 110 calories, 1g fat, 23g carbs, 3g protein

Eat Out Eat Well Magazine Issue 03 Summer 2014 — Road Trips! Eat Out Eat Well Magazine Issue 03
Summer 2014

Is there a road trip in your future?

The Summer issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is ready to help you eat well when you’re in the car or eating at rest stops or roadside diners.

Get it now from iTunes for $1.99 an issue or $4.99 for a yearly subscription (four seasonal issues). Soon to be available for android, too.

Ice Cream and Gelato: A Cheat Sheet

July 8, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

The cold deliciousness of ice cream and gelato is hard to beat. There are an astounding number of flavors with varying degrees of fat, calorie, sugar, and dairy content. The sad truth is that no matter how innovative food scientists and savvy marketers have become, a three-scoop sundae with hot fudge, whipped cream, and other assorted toppings still isn’t going to rank at the top of the health-o-meter.

The Difference Between Ice Cream And Gelato

In the US, the government regulates what can be called ice cream, but in some other countries ice cream can mean all frozen desserts.

Ice cream and gelato are usually dairy-based but differ in texture, fat and air content, and ingredients. Because gelato is made and stored at a higher temperature than ice cream, it’s softer, smoother, and quicker to melt.

Both are usually made from sugar, milk, eggs, and flavorings — although gelato is often made from fresh fruit. Gelato has less butterfat than ice cream, usually about 4 to 8% compared to ice cream’s 10 to 20%.

Gelato has a higher sugar content than ice cream, and the sugar/water combination acts like anti-freeze, preventing the gelato from freezing solid. Most US commercial ice creams are frozen in an assembly line freezing process while gelato is frozen very quickly in small batches.

Both ice cream and gelato are churned during the freezing process, which incorporates air. Most commercial ice cream contains about 50% air while gelato contains much less, generally 20-35%, producing a denser product with more intense flavor.

Ice cream is sold by weight, not by size, so a pint of cheaper ice cream which is fluffed up with more air than premium or artisanal ice creams will feel lighter than better brands which are pumped up with just enough air to make the ice cream nice and smooth. Compare pints of different levels of quality when they’re fresh out of the freezer. Which one is heavier in your hand? Not surprisingly, the premium brands will also be higher in calories, probably have more intense flavor, and be higher in price.

Ice cream, with its higher fat content, can be stored frozen for months. High-quality artisan gelato, when stored carefully at consistent, low temperatures, only keeps its peak flavor and smooth texture for several days.

How Much Butterfat?

According to US federal standards, a frozen dessert must have a minimum of 10% milk fat to be called ice cream. Economy brands usually have the least amount of fat and super premium brands have more. Milk fat content of less than 10% makes the product ice milk or light ice cream.

Premium ice cream has between 11% and 15% butterfat, which makes it richer, denser, higher in calories.

Regular ice cream – what you usually find in the larger containers in the market — is somewhat less dense and contains 10% to 11% butterfat (perfect for milkshakes).

Economy ice cream, by law, has 10% butterfat.

Light ice cream has either 50% less fat or 33% fewer calories than the producer’s regular ice cream. Here’s the hitch: because of the higher starting point for fat content especially in premium brands, light versions of premium ice cream can have more fat and calories than the regular version of other brands.

Reduced fat ice cream must, by law, have 25% less fat than the regular ice cream produced by the same vendor.

Soft serve ice cream is the same as regular ice cream but is served at a higher temperature.

French Style Ice Cream also called glace, has a custard base that includes eggs, which makes it silky and rich.

Gelato (plural, gelati) has more milk than cream (if any) so its fat content is significantly lower. It doesn’t saturate your taste buds as much as ice cream so the flavor seems more intense. It’s often flavored with fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate, and other natural flavors. Gelato is served at a higher temperature than ice cream making it look more like frozen yogurt or whipped cream than ice cream.

How Many Calories?

There’s a huge variation in nutrition so it’s best to check labels if you’re counting calories, fats, and/or carbs. These are the general caloric ranges for “naked” ice cream and gelato (without sauce, toppings, nuts, and whipped cream):

3.5 ounces of milk-based gelato has between 120 and 160 calories, 4g to 8g of fat, and 30 g to 45g of carbs; milk and soy-based gelato has between 3g and 5g of protein.

3.5 ounces of American ice cream (not churned, light, or reduced fat) averages 240 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 24g carbs.

3.5 ounces of light ice cream can vary between 100 to close to 200 calories depending upon whether it is just light or if it is slow churned light. The flavor and the add-ins can significantly raise the calorie count.

Tip: Order a small serving of ice cream or gelato instead of a medium or large. You’ll probably be just as satisfied. Even if you indulge in your favorite full-fat flavor, you’ll save as many as 550 calories with a 5-ounce size of ice cream instead of a 12-ounce size.