Eating with Family and Friends

Marshmallow PEEPS: Fluorescent Squishiness You Either Love or Hate

March 27, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

If you have a thing for the fluorescent marshmallow bunnies and chicks that were hatched over 50 years ago, you’re not alone. They got their name – PEEPS — because they were originally modeled after the yellow chick.

Every year, PEEPS are the subject of lots of design contests (you’d be amazed what you can make out of peeps) and scientific experiments (some claim them to be indestructible). Just Born, the parent company of PEEPS, claims to produce enough PEEPS in one year to circle the Earth twice. Their website even boasts a fan club and a section for recipes.

Millions of Peeps

Each Easter season, Americans buy more than 700 million Marshmallow Peeps shaped like chicks, bunnies, and eggs, making them the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy.
As many as 4.2 million Marshmallow Peeps, bunnies, and other shapes can be made each day.
In 1953, it took 27 hours to create a Marshmallow Peep. Today it takes six minutes.
Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue, and white.
Peeps seem to be almost indestructible and are famous for their two-year shelf life. Scientists at Emory University claimed that Peeps eyes “wouldn’t dissolve in anything.” They tried to dissolve Peeps with water, sulfuric acid, and sodium hydroxide. No luck.

Do You Like Your PEEPS Soft Or Crunchy?

People have definite Peeps preferences. Some like them nice and soft, others like to leave them out in the air to age to perfection and acquire a little crunch on the outside.

They’ve been microwaved (careful, they expand and can really make a mess in your microwave), frozen, roasted, used to top hot chocolate, and added to recipes. Because their outer sugar coating tends to burn, they don’t toast well on sticks like regular marshmallows.

What’s In Them?

Send a PEEP to a lab for analysis and you’ll find sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, less than 0.5% of the following ingredients: yellow #5 (tartrazine), potassium sorbate (a preservative), natural flavors, dye, and carnauba wax
They’re gluten and nut free but are not Kosher
You can get sugar free PEEPS that are made with Splenda
Five little chicks (42g, one serving size) will set you back 140 calories, 0g fat, 1g protein, and 36g carbs

The newest issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is now in the iTunes store — it’s ranked #2 in the Health, Mind, and Body iPad paid apps category!!! Get yours now.

Stopping For Some Fast Food? Here Are Some Calorie Saving Tips

March 21, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Are you too busy to cook and figure, “What the heck, I’ll just grab something quick?” What’s quick: mostly diner food, pizza, donuts, and just about any kind of fast food: basically, cheap calories and a whole lot of fat and carbs? Slick marketing, convenience, and cheap calories really push you to order the “value meal” or to ‘supersize.”

There are some easy small changes you can make that won’t drastically change your meal. They don’t focus on skipping dessert or having a cup of broth instead of a burger, but rather on choosing to make slight alterations in what you would usually order.

Here’s how to save a few calories when you eat at fast food (or fast casual) restaurants:

Go easy on the sauce and dressings: There are lots of calories in mayo, sour cream, salad dressing and other “special” sauces, like those that come with burgers. The amount on your sandwich or salad often depends on the “hand” of the person preparing your food. The best way to control this is to ask for the sauce or dressing on the side and add it (or not) yourself. You really can do this in fast food burger places!
Opt for chicken or fish as long as it’s not fried/breaded/or called crispy – which is just an alias for fried. Order it grilled, baked or broiled. Just be aware that lots of the sauces have a ton of sugar in them. Make your best choice (check the labels or nutrition info) and dip sparingly.
Order your burger or chicken without bacon or cheese: A serving size of meat is 2-3 ounces — about the size of a deck of cards. You’re probably getting well over that with a single meat patty. One slice of bacon adds about 43 calories, but how many sandwiches come with only one slice? One slice of American cheese clocks in at 94 calories.
Downsize. Order a kid’s meal or a junior burger. Opt for regular sizes instead of large sizes: It may seem like a good “value” but there are lots of extra calories, fat, and sugar in beefed up sizes. You’ll still be satisfied. Here’s a comparison. At Burger King, a Triple Whopper burger has 1,020 calories, 65g fat, 57g carbs, 3g fiber, 58g protein. You could get one of these, instead: Plain regular burger: 240 calories, 8g fat, 31g carbs, 1g fiber, 12g protein (280 calories and 12g fat for a cheeseburger; Whopper Jr. without mayo, 1 burger: 260 calories, 10g fat, 28g carbs, 2g fiber, 13g protein; MorningStar Veggie Burger without mayo, 1 burger: 320 calories, 7g fat, 43g carbs, 7g fiber, 22g protein
Do you really need (read “need” not “want”) the fries, curly fries, potato sticks, or onion rings? You can order salad or a baked potato, instead (as long as you don’t smother the potato in butter and/or sour cream). If you absolutely must have fries, order a small or a kid’s size. Large fries can tack on around 500 calories compared to a small order at around 300 calories.
Avoid combo specials: they might have wallet appeal but you get, on average, 55% more calories for 17% more. money. What’s more important, your waistline or your wallet?
Thin crust it: Go for a thin-crust pizza with veggies instead of a thick-crust or deep dish with meat and extra cheese.
Skip the sides: Eating a burger or sandwich by itself is often filling enough. If you do want a side, consider ordering a fruit cup or side salad. Most fast food restaurants now offer them.
Don’t drink your calories. Soda isn’t the only sugary drink. Sweetened tea, sports drinks, non-diet flavored water, juice, flavored milk, and shakes are sugary drinks, too. A 12 ounce can of coke has 140 calories and 39 grams of sugar. Eight ounces of orange juice has 110 calories and 25 grams of carbs.
Treat yourself – but swap out your treats. Go for low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt (careful of the toppings), fruit popsicles, and sherbets instead of ice cream or cookies. Add sprinkles — they have a lot fewer calories than caramel or chocolate sauce.
Salads aren’t always the best pick. The dressing, the cheese, the croutons, and other mix-ins can add a ton of calories.

Some choices to consider:

McDonald’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait, 1 parfait: 160 calories, 2g fat, 31g carbs, 4g protein

McDonald’s Apple Dippers with Low Fat Caramel Dip: 100 calories, 0.5g fat

Subway Egg White Muffin Melts, 1 sandwich, except mega and sausage varieties): 140 – 210 calories, 3.5 – 8g fat, 18 – 20g carbs, 12 – 19g protein

Taco Bell Fresco Chicken Soft Taco, 1 taco: 170 calories, 4g fat, 22g carbs, 12g protein

Burger King Whopper Jr. without Mayo: 260 calories, 10g fat, 29g carbs, 13g protein

Burger King Quaker Oatmeal, 1 order: 140 – 270 calories, 3.5 – 4g fat, 23 – 55g carbs, 3 – 5g fiber, 5g protein – the fruit topped maple flavor includes 100 calories of dried cranberries, raisins, cherries, and blueberries

Burger King Egg & Cheese Muffin Sandwich, 1 sandwich: 220 calories, 9g fat, 22g carbs, 1g fiber, 12g protein

KFC Grilled Chicken Breast, 1 piece: 210 calories, 8g fat, 0g carbs, 34g protein

Carl’s Jr. Hawaiian Grilled Chicken Salad, 1 salad without wontons or dressing): 260 calories, 8g fat, 34g carbs, 22g protein

Wendy’s Small Chili, 1 small order: 220 calories, 7g fat, 22g carbs, 18g protein

Denny’s Fit Fare Light Choices (under 550 calories) such as Cranberry Apple chicken Salad or Chicken Avocado Sandwich

Dunkin” Donuts Roast Beef Pretzel Roll Sandwich: 1 sandwich: 440 calories, 7g fat

Some Choices To Think Hard About (and not in a good way):

Taco Bell Chipotle Steak Taco Salad, 1 salad: 900 calories, 57g fat, 68g carbs, 28g protein

Wendy’s Baconator Double, 1 burger: 980 calories, 63g fat, 46g carbs, 58g protein

Burger King Triple Whopper, 1 burger: 1,140 calories, 75g fat, 51g carbs, 67g protein

BK Ultimate Breakfast Platter, 1 platter: 1,450 calories, 84g fat, 34g carbs, 5g fiber, 40g protein

French Toast and Bacon: 1850 calories, 65 g sat. fat

Denny’s Macho Nacho Burger: 1020 calories, up to 1530 calories with fries

Chili’s Southwestern Chicken Pizza, 9 inches: 1550 calories

Chicken Fajitas served with heaps of sour cream, shredded cheese, refried beans, and fried rice: (average) 1320 calories, 47 g fat

The newest issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is now in the iTunes store — it’s ranked #2 in the Health, Mind, and Body iPad paid apps category!!! Get yours now.

Irish Soda Bread: Farl, Cake, Spotted Dog?

March 13, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

A loaf of Irish Soda Bread with raisins on baking sheet.

It’s not too hard to find green bagels, beer, and even green milkshakes on St. Patrick’s Day in the US. Of course there’s also corned beef and cabbage – and “Irish soda bread” — with a cruciform slashed on top. Have you ever wondered why the shape of the cross is slashed on the tope of the bread – and why it’s known as soda bread?

Soda Bread and Native Americans

The earliest reference to the chemical reaction that makes soda bread rise is actually credited to American Indians. Centuries before soda bread became popular in Ireland, they added pearl-ash (potash), the natural soda in wood ashes, along with an acidic ingredient, to make their breads rise.

Soda bread became popular in Ireland when bicarbonate of soda, also known as bread soda, became available to use as a leavening agent. Bread soda made it possible to work with the “soft” wheat grown in Ireland’s climate. “Hard” wheat flour, the main kind used in the US today, needs yeast to rise properly. “Soft” wheat flour doesn’t work well with yeast but is great for “quick breads” like soda bread.

According to The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread the earliest published recipe or soda bread was in a London magazine in 1836 – also later repeated in several US papers – that refers to a “receipt for making soda bread” found in a newspaper in Northern Ireland. The praise: “there is no bread to be had equal to it for invigorating the body, promoting digestion, strengthening the stomach, and improving the state of the bowels.” Sounds like tasting good wasn’t a big priority!

In 19th century Ireland, making bread was part of daily life and most families lived in farmhouses where kitchens had open hearths, not ovens. Bread soda meant that anyone who didn’t have an oven (most people in Ireland in the 1800’s didn’t) could make soda bread.

The bread soda wasn’t perishable, was relatively inexpensive and buttermilk, a by-product of making butter, and the soft wheat for flour, both necessary components of soda bread, were commonly available. The bread was cooked on a griddle or in a bastible, a big cast-iron pot with a lid that could be put right into coals or a turf fire.

Brown Or White; Cake Or Farl?

“Plain” soda bread often appears with a main meal — to soak up gravy – or at breakfast. It comes both brown and white, and in two main types, cake and farl.

Traditional brown Irish soda bread is basic table bread made from whole meal flour, baking soda (bread soda), salt, and buttermilk. White soda bread, made with white flour, is considered slightly more refined than brown soda bead and is sometimes considered a more special occasion bread.

Cake tends to be found more in the south of Ireland while people in Northern Ireland seem to prefer farl — although both can be found in the North and South, sometimes with different names.

Cake is soda bread that is kneaded, shaped into a flattish round, then deeply cut with a cross on the top. Now it’s normally baked in an oven.

For farl the dough is rolled into a rough circle and cut all the way through — like a cross — into four pieces or farls (“farl” is a generic term for a triangular piece of baking). It’s usually baked in a heavy frying pan, on a griddle, or on top of the range or stove. It’s flatter and moister than cake. Each farl is split in half “the wide way” before it’s eaten and is best when hot. It’s also allowed to cool and then grilled or fried as part of other dishes — especially the Ulster Fry, a local breakfast where golden and crispy soda bread and potato farls have been fried in reserved bacon fat and are served with Irish bacon, sausage, black pudding, tomato and egg.

What’s Spotted Dog?

There are regional variations of the basic soda bread recipe – even though some purists would say there should be no additions to the dough.

In Donegal caraway seeds were traditionally put in the bread. In earlier and leaner times when raisins or dried fruit were luxuries, a fistful of them or maybe even a little sugar or an egg — if either could be spared — would have been put into the white flour version of the bread during the harvest as a treat for the working men.

The non-traditional varieties of soda breads that are made with raisins, caraway, orange zest, and other add-ins are often called Spotted Dog.

What About The Cross On Top?

Before baking, a cross is traditionally cut on the top of the soda bread loaf with a knife – often said to ward off the devil and to protect the household.

Legend and symbolism aside, there’s a practical reason for the cruciform shape to be cut into the top of the dough. Slashing the dough lets heat penetrate into the thickest part of the bread and allows the bread to stretch and expand as it rises.

Slashing a round loaf with a cruciform shape ends up dividing the bread into quadrants that can be easily broken apart (the breaking of the bread). But, since Ireland is a Catholic country, the symbolism of the cross can also be interpreted as blessing (crossing) the bread and giving thanks.

One serving (74 g) of Irish Soda Bread with raisins and caraway seeds has 214 calories, 3.67g fat, 41.51g carbs, 4.86g protein.

The Spring issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is now available on iTunes. Get it now!

10 Tips For Eating Well In A Restaurant

March 7, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

1. Prep before you go so you know what’s on the menu

Research the menu ahead of time either online or in person
Choose a restaurant with an accommodating menu
Learn the approximate calorie count of the dishes you order a lot
Decide, before you go, what you’ll order and stick to your decision

2. Create your personal cheat sheet of red light and green light foods

Understand what words and descriptions should raise red flags
Recognize the value of broiled versus crispy – the trouble with stir-fry – and the true meaning of country-style
Learn the best types of foods to choose in ethnic restaurants

3. What’s your plan?

Will you have an appetizer or are you going to trade that for dessert? Will you have bread or a second glass of wine?
Do your dinner companions always order a multi-course meal and expect you to do the same?
What pitfalls might you face and how will you deal with them?

4. Pick – or ask for – a table in a quiet spot

People who sit in the more distracting parts of restaurants (by a window, bar, or in front of a TV) eat more. A lot of swirling activity and noise makes it easy to lose track of how much you’re putting into your mouth.

5. Don’t be seduced by mouth-watering descriptions

Be particularly aware of descriptions that use sensory terms like “velvety” cheesecake or nostalgic ones like “Grandma’s” lasagna
Words that evoke taste, texture, or that appeal to emotions increase sales and influence the way you think the food tastes.

6. Be the first — or last — to order

If you’ve decided to order grilled fish, when your friend orders a cheeseburger you might have second thoughts. To avoid temptation, order first. If you can’t, close your menu and commit to your choice.
Order last if you’re asking for a lot of changes. After everyone else has ordered they’re not interested in listening to your requests. You might get better attention from the waiter with no other questions after yours.

7. Ask for what you want (nicely) – and avoid too many substitutions at peak times for the restaurant

Ask for what you want … nicely
Don’t expect your changes to be accommodated during very busy times
Before ordering, ask questions like:
- How is it dish prepared; can it be grilled instead of fried?
- What are the sides with the meal; can I have a vegetable instead of pasta/rice/potato?
- Is it a big portion; can I get it in an appetizer size?

8. Choose meals that are served close to their original state

Can you picture what your food was before it landed on your plate?
Avoid food smothered in sauce, cheese, or butter
Ask for sauces/dressings on the side so you are in control of the amount and can see what’s underneath

9. Be mindful of portion sizes and be aware of what’s on your fork and going into your mouth

Overeating happens because of portion size, who you’re with, where you are, how things look, plate size, aroma, and distractions
It’s easy to keep putting food in your mouth when it’s right in front of you – especially if you’re tired, bored, angry, or really starving.
If you don’t like it, don’t eat it out of habit or courtesy

10. Have your own personal bag of tricks – and be ready to use them

Sometimes a little white lie about why you’re not eating something is perfectly acceptable
If you ask for substitutions or order off the menu, use explanations like “I need to eat heart healthy” or “I have a severe allergy”
Give the food you don’t want to finish to someone else at the table
If all else fails, after you’ve eaten what you want, make your food inedible by “accidentally” dumping salt or spilling water on it.

Some Really Sensible and Easy To Follow Dietary Guidelines

February 24, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

The nutrition world seems to be filled with guidelines on what to eat, what not to eat, where to eat it, and at what time. That’s all well and good – except when the advice is contradictory or close to impossible to accomplish.

Want some straight-forward, sensible guidelines that focus more of how to eat rather that precisely what to eat?

According to Marion Nestle’s blog, Food Politics, Brazil has designed dietary guidelines to help protect against undernutrition and to prevent the health consequences of overweight and obesity. (You can find the guidelines here, but if you don’t read Portuguese, you’ll have a bit of trouble.) Fortunately, Food Politics provides us with a translation of the guidelines.

There are three “golden rules:”

“Make foods and freshly prepared dishes and meals the basis of your diet.
Be sure oils, fats, sugar and salt are used in moderation in culinary preparations.
Limit the intake of ready-to-consume products and avoid those that are ultra-processed.”

The ten guidelines:

“Prepare meals from staple and fresh foods.
Use oils, fats, sugar and salt in moderation.
Limit consumption of ready-to-consume food and drink products
Eat regular meals, paying attention, and in appropriate environments.
Eat in company whenever possible.
Buy food at places that offer varieties of fresh foods. Avoid those that mainly sell products ready for consumption.
Develop, practice, share and enjoy your skills in food preparation and cooking.
Plan your time to give meals and eating proper time and space.
When you eat out, choose restaurants that serve freshly made dishes and meals. Avoid fast food chains.
Be critical of the commercial advertisement of food products.”

It’s not always easy or affordable to find the freshest foods and to take the time to make them. But for the majority of the time, the guidelines sound downright sensible and pretty doable, don’t you think?