Eat Out Eat Well

Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts

Do Your Road Trips Mean Dashboard Dining?

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person eating in car

How many ketchup drips, chocolate smears, coffee stains, and greasy crumbs do you have in your car (or on your clothes)?

Is your road trip an endless food-fest of fast food, junk food, and all kinds of snacks — with your dashboard or vacant passenger seat acting as your table?

If you’re nodding your head, you’re a dashboard diner. What is it about mini-mart and rest stop food that seems to touch that primal urge to eat sweet and/or salty stuff that’s probably loaded with calories and lacking in nutrition?

The Trap And The Danger

When you walk through rest stop or gas station doors, there’s an endless stream of high carb, high fat, high calorie, and processed food just begging you to plunk down your money so you can immediately indulge (watch how many people start eating the food they’ve bought before they even pay).

The real danger – aside from the damage to your waistline and poor nutrition — is that high-carb processed foods spike then crash your blood sugar — making you really tired and cranky.

  • Drowsy drivers are most definitely not safe drivers.
  • Cranky drivers make life miserable for everyone in the car – not a great tone to set if you’re going on vacation.

 Some Mini-Mart And Rest-Stop “Gotchas”

Candy is an impulse purchase; 49 percent of shoppers admit to unplanned purchases of candy. It seems that we want to treat ourselves and candy is an affordable luxury.

Check out the placement of candy the next time you’re in a mini-mart or rest stop — it’s positioned to grab your attention. Vividly colored wrappers reach out to you from high-traffic areas of the store: the checkout area, the aisle that leads to the check out, and on the way to the restrooms.

Visually, you’re going to be assaulted by the unending display of colorful packages, so have a plan for what you will and will not buy. If you’ve decided you want M&Ms go straight to them and don’t get sidetracked by the large display of new kinds of chips, seasonal displays, or the latest and greatest deal on a king-sized package of some kind of candy.

Coffee, unlike candy, coffee isn’t an impulse purchase. Nearly 96% of customers intend to buy a cup of coffee before they walk in. Here’s the impulse buy: stores put candy, baked goods, and chips — near the coffee to entice you to buy them. As a man standing in line at a gas station mini-mart muttered, “I stop here for coffee every morning and I’ve gained 20 pounds since they put in the Krispy Kreme donut display between the door and the cash register.”

Helpful Tips

Nuts have protein and crunch, won’t cause swings in your blood sugar, and are almost always stocked. Tread a little gently — nuts aren’t low in calories. For a one-ounce serving of nuts you might find at rest stops:

  • 49 shelled pistachios, 162 calories
  • 23 almonds, 169 calories
  • 18 cashews, 163 calories
  • 19 pecans, 201 calories
  • 10-12 macadamias, 203 calories
  • 39 peanuts (technically a legume), dry roasted, 170 calories

Some mini-marts have fruit (bonus: oranges and bananas come in their own natural wrapper and don’t have to be washed) and almost all have dried fruit — but balance the higher sugar content of the dried fruit with the fat and protein in the nuts.

Sometimes you can find individual bowls of Cheerios or whole grain cereals, although check labels because some cereals are loaded with sugar. Grab a small container of low-fat milk or a container of yogurt to go with it.

Protein bars can be good, better, and best. Check the labels for higher protein and lower sugar. Some can be the equivalent of a candy bar and are so large (with so many calories) that they are made to be meal replacements. A protein bar for a snack should be around 150 calories. Meal replacement bars have around 300 calories or more. Look for at least 15 grams of protein.

If you’re really hungry, choose a sandwich or burrito over donuts, pastry, and cookies. Check out how fresh it is, though. What’s appealing early in the morning when the shelves are first stocked might not be so appealing at 10PM when it’s been sitting around all day and lots of people have picked up the sandwich, squeezed it, and put it back again.

Beef jerky or beef sticks (or nuggets) are good, portable protein snacks. A one-ounce serving usually has around 80 calories and 5 grams of fat or less.

A hard-boiled egg is a good choice, too. Just make sure it’s been refrigerated and hasn’t been sitting around for a couple of days!

If you really want crunchy stuff, stick with popcorn, pretzels, soy crisps, or baked or popped chips in single-serve bags to keep portions in check. Sometimes bags might look small, but contain multiple servings. Remember that the salty stuff will make you thirsty so stock up on water. There’s something to be said for snacks that take time to eat one by one when you’re driving.

Remember to drink water. It’s easy to confuse thirst with hunger so you can end up eating extra calories when a glass of water is really all you need. If plain water doesn’t cut it, try drinking flavored still or sparkling water. Dehydration can cause fatigue and there’s some evidence that even mild dehydration can slow metabolism and drain your energy.

For Safe Picnic Food Don’t Forget Your Drive Time

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Keep Picnic Food Safe

The picnic food that’s sitting in your car might turn out to be a big problem.  Packaged food  — like crackers — usually do fine in high temperatures, but meat, dairy, cut-up fresh fruit, salads, and prepared foods are another story.

Perishable food may contain bacteria that can cause food-borne illnesses. Food that sits in a temperature danger zone while in your car, at a picnic, or campsite can cause those bad guys to multiply exponentially.

Most bacteria don’t go crazy below 40°F or above 140°F. The temperature range in between 40 and 120 degrees, known as the “Danger Zone,” is where they multiply rapidly and can reach harmful levels. A single bacterium that divides every half hour can result in 17 million offspring in 12 hours!

Car Temperatures Can Be Brutal

The temperature rises quickly inside a closed car — 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 it was 112 degrees outside and 124 degrees inside a closed car.

Cracking the windows helped, but only a little.  At 10AM, with four windows cracked, it was 88 degrees outside but 103 degrees inside the car.  At 2PM at 110 degrees outside it was 123 degrees inside the car.

Picnic Food and Temperature Control

To prevent bacteria in food from rapidly multiplying food has to be kept within a temperature range.

  • Don’t let your picnic food stay in the “Danger Zone” (between 40° F and 140° F) for more than 2 hours, or only for one hour if the outdoor temperature is higher than 90° F. This bears repeating: perishable food can stay safely unrefrigerated for two hours if the air temperature is less than 90 degrees and only for one hour if the temperature is 90 degrees or higher.
  • Keep hot foods hot: above 140°F.  Keep cold foods cold:  below 40°F.
  • Remember to include preparation, storage, serving, and transportation time in determining how long food has been out of the fridge or off the heat.

Transporting, Preparing, And Serving    

To prevent food-borne diseases, food safety is crucial both when you transport your food and when you prepare and serve it.

  • If you’re buying prepared food, dairy or other perishable food, or food to grill, do what you have to do to keep hot food hot and cold food cold.
  • Think about your route and how many errands you have to run. Buy beer and paper plates before you pick up your food — not after food shopping while your purchased food bakes in the car.
  • Keep a cooler, cold packs, or insulated bags in your car for perishable items.  Buy a bag of ice if necessary. Make sure your cooler hasn’t turned into a portable oven because it’s been sitting in the car for too long.
  • Be certain that raw meat and poultry are wrapped securely to prevent their juices from cross-contaminating other foods and from dripping on fruit and veggies that you’ve already washed.

At The Picnic Site

Food spoilage and cross-contamination are major warm weather challenges, especially when you’re at remote sites (like a camps or parks) without kitchens and running water. Cross-contamination during preparation, grilling, and serving food is a prime cause of food-borne illness.

  • How will you keep things clean – not just the food, but the platters, utensils, and your hands?  Is there a source of potable (drinking) water that you can use for cooking and cleaning? You don’t want to use water that’s not safe to drink to wash your food or utensils.  If there isn’t, bring water or pack clean, wet cloths, moist towelettes, or paper towels for cleaning your hands and surfaces.
  • Wash your hands before and after handling food, and don’t use the same platter and utensils for both raw and cooked meat and poultry.
  • Keep hot food hot and cold food cold the entire picnic. The temperature spikes in direct sunlight so keep coolers in the shade.
  • Food shouldn’t be out of the cooler or off the grill for more than 2 hours (one hour when the temperature is above 90°F).
  • Keep perishable food like meat, chicken, and mayonnaise-based salads in the fridge and don’t stock the cooler until right before you leave home. Keep the cooler in the coolest part of the car while you’re traveling.
  • If you’re going on a long trip consider freezing the food and putting it into the cooler frozen, allowing it to defrost (to a cold temperature, not warm) in transit.
  • Hot take-out food like ribs and chicken should be eaten within two hours of when it was plucked from the store. If you buy it well before you’re planning to leave, first chill the food in your refrigerator and pack it in an insulated cooler just before you leave.
  • Pack beverages in one cooler and perishable foods in another so the perishable foods won’t be repeatedly exposed to warm outdoor air temperatures when the cooler if opened repeatedly for drinks. A full cooler will hold its cold temperature longer than one that’s partially full. Pack plenty of extra ice or freezer packs to maintain a constant cold temperature.

 Throw out any perishable food from road trips, picnics, or barbecues that’s been out too long or that has not adequately chilled or heated. “If in doubt, throw it out.”

What’s the Difference Between Ice Cream and Gelato?

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Difference Between Ice Cream and Gelato

They are both cold and delicious.  There are an astounding number of flavors of each with varying degrees of fat, calorie, sugar, and dairy content – along with fruit, candy, and cookie add-ins, depending on the flavor.  And 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/or other assorted toppings still isn’t going to rank at the top of the health-o-meter or the bottom of the calorie counter.

What is Ice Cream and What is 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 ice cream and gelato 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 allows air to be incorporated. Most commercial ice cream contains about 50% air while gelato contains much less, generally 20-35%, which produces 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 the 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, which generally feel heavier, 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):

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

Low Calorie And Healthy Snacks That Pair Well With Wine

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Healthy Snack Options with Wine

At a wine bar, it‘s common to order a cheese plate that comes with a variety of cheese, nuts, and dried fruit.  That  means a lot of fat, calories, and sugar — clocking in at around 650 calories a serving in a normal cheese plate. It’s nice to pair delicious cheese with wine, but there are lower calorie alternatives that can also pair nicely with your wine selection.

Infographic ourtesy of Fix.com