Eat Out Eat Well

Holidays

Can You Deal With One Fantastic Holiday Treat A Day?

By Leave a Comment

Peppermint candy and holiday chocolates at the receptionist’s desk.  Candy canes at the dry cleaners.  A rotating selection of Christmas cookies on just about everyone’s desk.  Happy holiday food gifts from grateful clients. Your neighbor’s specialty pie. And that doesn’t include the fantastic spreads at holiday parties and family events!

It’s All So Tempting

It‘s incredibly difficult not to nibble your way through the day when you have all of these treats tempting you at every turn. How many times do your senses need to be assaulted by the sight of sparkly cookies and the holiday scent of eggnog or spiced roasted nuts before your hand reaches out and the treat is popped into your mouth?

Be Realistic

It’s the holidays and even though some of these treats are a week’s worth of calories, by depriving yourself of them you’re denying yourself the tradition of celebrating with food.

Make the distinction between mindful indulgence in the spirit of celebration as opposed to mindless indulgence in the spirit of trying to taste everything or to soothe your psyche by eating.  The first is part of the nurturing, sharing, and communal spirit of eating, the latter is an element of emotional and over eating.

Nix The Restrictive Thinking

Creating a restrictive mentality by denying yourself a treat that’s always been part of your holiday celebration means it’s just a matter of time until you start an eating fest that only ends when there’s no more left to taste. Think of this:  what would it be like to swear that you won’t eat a single Christmas cookie when those cookies have been a part of your Christmas since you were a little kid and you baked them with your Mom?

Pick One – And Make It Special

You know that you are going to indulge.  Pick your treat, limit it to one, and enjoy it. To help control the temptation, decide early in the day what your treat will be and stick with your decision. If you wait until later in the day when all the food is right in front of you and you’re hungry and tired, you’ll find that your resolve is not quite as strong!

Just remember that the added treats are added calories – on top of what your body already needs.  And, those treats are often forgotten calories – until you try to snap your jeans.  So remember to figure the treats into the overall scheme of things.

Of course, if you don’t want to indulge on any given day – no one is forcing you.  In the world of caloric checks and balances, that’s money in the band.

Make an informed choice, too.  Being informed doesn’t deprive you of deliciousness, but does arm you with an element of control.  If you know the calorie count of certain foods, you can make the best choice.  For instance, perhaps you enjoy both wine and eggnog.  If you know that one cup of eggnog has around 343 calories and 19 grams of fat and a five ounce glass of red wine has around 125 calories and no fat – which would you choose?

For more hints and tips about holiday eating get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

 

It’s A Celebration: How Many Calories Will You Be Drinking?

By Leave a Comment

Are you indulging in celebratory cheer? Toasting to the New Year?

Just a heads up: all of those drinks can really pack a caloric punch.  So, just like drinking wisely (and of course, not driving), don’t forget to factor in all those calories.

16% Of Calories?

The CDC released a report showing that adults in the US take in, on average, almost 100 calories a day from alcoholic beverages:  around 150 calories for men and a little over 50 calories for women.

On any given day, 33% of men and 18% of women get some of their calories from alcoholic beverages and of those who drink, almost 20% of men and 6% of women get more than 300 of their calories.  That’s equal to 2 or more 12 ounce beers, more than 2 and 1/2 glasses of wine (12.5 oz), or more than 4 and 1/2 ounces of spirits.

Of the people who drink, on any day they’re drinking they get approximately 16% of their total calories from alcoholic beverages – the same percentage of overall calories that children in the US get from added sugars.

A standard drink is 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer.  Think about that when someone pours with a heavy hand.  Odds are that five ounces of wine is far less than what you might pour into your glass and in most cases it’s hard to judge the amount of alcohol in eggnog or punch.

A Sampling Of Calories In Holiday Cheer

Alcohol has 7 calories a gram. Because alcohol doesn’t register as “food” in your GI tract or your brain, it doesn’t fill you up the way food would. Consequently, you can drink a lot and still not feel stuffed (perhaps drunk, but not stuffed). Alcohol also lowers your inhibitions; your resolve to not eat everything in sight often flies right out the window.

  • 12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
  • 12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol
  • 5 ounces red wine has 125 calories and 15.6 grams of alcohol
  • 5 ounces of white wine has 121 calories and 15.1 grams of alcohol
  • 1 1/2 ounces (a jigger) of 80 proof (40% alcohol) liquor has 97 calories and 14 grams of alcohol
  • Drinking light beer rather than regular saves about 50 calories a bottle
  • A frozen margarita has about 45 calories an ounce
  • A plain martini, no olives or lemon twist, has about 61 calories an ounce
  • An 8 oz white Russian made with light cream has 715 calories
  • An 8 oz cup of eggnog has about 343 calories and 19 grams of fat thanks to alcohol, heavy cream, eggs, and sugar
  • Mulled wine, a combination of red wine, sugar/honey, spices, orange and lemon peel, has about 210 to 300 calories per 5 ounces, depending on how much sweetener is added
  • One cup (8 oz) of apple cider – without any additives – has 115 calories
  • A mixed drink runs about 250 calories.  Watch your mixers — per ounce club soda has no calories, tonic has10, classic coke has 12, Canada Dry ginger ale has 11, orange juice has 15, and cranberry juice has 16
  • One hot buttered rum has 218 calories
  • One Irish coffee has 218 calories
  • One cup of coffee with cream and sugar runs at least 50 calories (more if it’s sweet and light)
  • 1 glass cider or sparkling grape juice has 120 calories
  • Champagne is a comparative caloric bargain at about 19 calories an ounce

For more hints and tips for handling celebrations get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

Photo Source

 

 

How To Slim Down Your Holiday Baking

By Leave a Comment

Bake With Less Sugar And Butter (You Can Really Get Away With It)

Does holiday season mean, among other things, baking lots of cookies:  spritz, rolled, ginger bread men, meringues, pies, biscuits, breads, and whatever other recipe sounds good?  Maybe not fruit cake.

The total number of butter and sugar calories in all of these baked delights would be so staggering it would absolutely spoil the deliciousness.

There are ways to lower the calories in baked goods without drastically affecting the taste or texture.  In most cases, no one will even notice.

Some Baking Substitutions To Try

  • Decrease the amount of fat and sugar called for in your recipe.  Decreasing the amount of sugar by a third doesn’t even really affect the taste – although sometimes you need to experiment to see how it might affect the texture, too.
  • For brownies, fruit breads, and cake-like cookies, use ¼ cup of applesauce and ¼ cup of vegetable oil or butter instead of a half cup of oil or butter – OR — replace half the butter or oil with unsweetened applesauce, pureed pumpkin, or mashed bananas. For every half-cup of oil you replace with pureed pumpkin, you’ll save more than 900 calories and 100 grams of fat  — and pumpkin keeps baked goods moist.
  • Use 2 egg whites or ¼ cup egg substitute for one egg; use 3 egg whites and 1 egg yolk for 2 whole eggs.
  • Decrease the amount of sugar in your recipe by up to a half and add ginger, lemon zest, cinnamon, or cloves to spark the flavor.
  • Substitute nonfat sweetened condensed milk for sweetened condensed milk.
  • Use evaporated skim milk instead of evaporated milk.
  • Instead of sour cream use nonfat or low fat sour cream, pureed low-fat cottage cheese, or low or nonfat Greek yogurt.
  • Substitute low or nonfat cream cheese for full fat cream cheese.
  • Substitute non-fat, 1%, or 2% milk for whole milk and half and half for cream.
  • Substitute 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, chopped dried fruit, or chopped nuts for 1 cup of chocolate chips.
  • Swap 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon of oil or water for one ounce of baking chocolate.
  • For frosting use sliced fresh fruit with a dusting of powdered sugar, sweetened and flavored (vanilla, peppermint) nonfat cream cheese, or nonfat whipping cream.
  • Use whole wheat flour (12g of fiber per cup) or ground flax for up to half of your recipe’s white flour. Regular whole wheat flour will make baked goods heavier and denser.  Try using white whole wheat four that is higher in fiber and nutrients than refined flour but is lighter than regular whole wheat flour.
  • For fruit pies, use half the sugar called for in the recipe – a savings of 774 calories for every cup of sugar you don’t use.
  • Substitute part-skim ricotta cheese for cream cheese in cheesecake, which doubles the protein and cuts the fat by about 60 grams for each substituted cup.

Tastes Aren’t Calorie Free

It’s amazing how little tastes and nibbles are so easy to forget in the calorie ledger.  Just remember — the dough from the bowl has the same number of calories as the baked cookie – and they add up pretty quickly!  Dump the bowls and beaters into the sink as soon as you’re finished with them to help resist the temptation of licking the batter off of the beaters and out of the bowls.

For more hints and tips about holiday eating get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

What’s A Latke – And Is It Always Made From Potatoes?

By Leave a Comment

Not a fritter and not a flat dough circle hot off the griddle, a latke — commonly called a potato pancake — is traditionally made from potatoes, grated onions, and some form or combination of binders like eggs, flour, and matzoh meal. The potatoes aren’t the fancy kind.  Russets (Idaho potatoes) are commonly used because they brown well and have a high starch content which sops up moisture making for a tender interior.

Potato pancakes are common in many parts of the world.  Why not – they’re easy and inexpensive to make using locally grown vegetables, especially ones that store well like potatoes.

Potato pancakes of all kinds are often flavored with garlic or other seasonings, then shallow-fried in oil in a pan.  Some are made with sweet potatoes, other vegetables, chickpeas, cheese, or whatever else the cook wants to add – and how far he or she wishes to fly in the face of tradition.

Hanukkah Food

Latkes, a Yiddish derivation from the Ukrainian word (oldka) that translates to pancake or fritter, are a favorite Hanukkah food. The Ukranian word is a diminutive of an Old Russian word (olad’ya) that stems way back to elaia, the Ancient Greek word for “olive.” Fast forward many centuries and about five languages and latkes are “little tiny things made of (olive) oil.”

Hanukkah (or Chanukah), the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish celebration that commemorates the second century BC victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians. After the victory Judah called on his followers to cleanse the Second Temple, rebuild its altar, and light its menorah, the gold candelabrum with seven branches representing knowledge and creation.

The Temple needed to be rededicated by lighting the eternal light present in every Jewish house of worship — which shouldn’t be extinguished once lit. There was only one pitcher of untainted sacramental oil, barely enough to burn for one day, but miraculously, the small amount of oil continued to burn for eight days and eight nights.

Fried foods like latkes (also called levivot) and soofganiyot (donuts) are eaten on Hanukkah because they are cooked in oil, a reminder of the miracle of the single pitcher of oil in The Temple, which lasted for eight days instead of one.

Want Crisp — Not Soggy — Latkes?

Latkes should have a deeply browned crust with lacy edges. They don’t have smooth and mashed-potato-like insides – they’re made from shredded or grated potatoes, not mashed.  Potatoes and onions, especially when they’re grated, ooze moisture, so they and other ingredients need to be dried with paper towels or have the moisture squeezed out before frying or they’ll be soggy.

  • Oil doesn’t go into the latkes, but since they’re fried, it’s an essential ingredient. Don’t skimp on the amount you put into the frying pan. You need enough so the latkes will cook evenly. If you use too little, the outsides get too dark before the insides are cooked through. Olive oil might have too low a smoke point for latke frying, so use another kind of oil like canola, grapeseed, or peanut – all of which have high enough smoke points.
  • Oil that isn’t hot enough seeps into food and makes it greasy. If you add oil to the pan when you’ve got batter in it, the oil probably isn’t going to be hot enough. Wait for the oil to get hot enough before adding the food – you’ll end up needing to add little, if any, to finish an entire batch. Test to see if the oil is hot enough by dropping a bit of batter into the pan. If it sizzles and the batter rises to the surface, the oil is hot enough and you’ll end up with crispy, but not greasy, latkes.
  • When you drop the batter into the oil, don’t crowd the pan or you’ll bring down the temperature of the oil. The latkes will be tough to turn and without space they might form one giant pancake.
  • Leave them alone until they get a nice golden crust on the bottom. They’re ready when both sides are deep brown and crusty. They darken as they cool so be careful that they’re not too dark — verging on burned. Remove each latke with two forks or a slotted spatula and fork, briefly holding it vertically over the frying pan to drip. Put them on layers of paper towels, which will sop up any extra oil.

For more hints and tips about holiday eating get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

Photo credit

Is There A Polar Bear In Your Box Of Animal Crackers?

By Leave a Comment

Holiday animal crackers — in the classic box with the string handle and a holiday polar bear cub and mama in a snow globe on a starry blue background – can probably be found in your local market.  What kid (and some adults) wouldn’t want to grab a box or two!  But is there a polar bear on the inside, too?

A Bit Or Two About Those Little “Crackers”

Animal crackers, those easy to pop into your mouth crackers (cookies) in the shape of zoo or circus animals, are made from a layered dough– the way biscuits are made — but are sweet like cookies. The classic ones are light colored, slightly sweet, and crunchy – but some companies make frosted or chocolate flavored kinds, too.

Biscuits called “Animals” arrived on American shores from England in the late 19th century. Around the start of the 20th century, domestic bakeries, predecessors of the National Biscuit Company, now called “Nabisco Brands,” started producing “Barnum’s Animals” which looked like the circus animals found in the Barnum and Bailey circus.

Originally the package looked like a circus cage on wheels and full of animals. Perforated paper wheels used to continue under the bottom of the box and could be opened up allowing the circus cage box to stand on its wheels.

The little box with the string that we know and love – and can still buy (although without the perforated wheels) — was designed for the 1902 Christmas season – and sold for five cents. The string was for hanging the box from Christmas tree.  Obviously a design that was a home run, although now sold for about two bucks a box.

Is There Circus In The Box?

In 1948, the name of the cookies officially became “Barnum’s Animal Crackers” although the animals have changed over the years.  There have  been 54 different animals – but not all of them play together in the same box.

Today, each package has 22 crackers and a toss up of animals. Lions, tigers, bears, and elephants will probably always be a part of the menagerie – but dogs and jaguars have yielded to hyenas and gorillas. I expected to find a whole bunch of polar bears in my holiday box with the polar bear on the front, but the winter white animal was nowhere to be found.   Here’s a selection of what I did find.

How Many???

More than 40 million bright red, yellow, or blue circus boxes, each with a variety of animals, are sold each year in the United States and abroad. An animal cracker takes about four minutes to bake and 15,000 cartons and 300,000 crackers are made each shift – which uses up about thirty miles of string for the packages, or nearly 8,000 miles of string a year.

Although the circus box has gone through updates and changes over the years, it remains bright, colorful and fun. There have been three different and limited edition boxes produced in the last decade, still the same shape and size, but with a different design on the outside of the box.

Ingredients And Nutrition

Here’s what you’ll find in a box.  Note that there are two servings, not one in each box so adjust the nutrition accordingly.