Eat Out Eat Well

Snacking, Noshing, Tasting

A Box Of Chocolates

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In the US chocolate candy outsells all other types of candy combined, by 2 to 1.  Around seven billion pounds of chocolate candy are manufactured each year in the US and during the week before Valentine’s Day about 1.1 billion boxed chocolates,  about 58 million pounds, will be sold.

There are 2300 calories, 140 grams of fat, 270 grams of carbs, and 31 grams of protein in a pound of milk chocolate. A lot has been said about the heart healthy benefits of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, but it’s important to remember that chocolate is still a high calorie, high fat treat.

But Isn’t Chocolate Good For Me?

In moderation—and, depending on the type—the answer is yes. Chocolate’s health benefits come from cocoa and dark chocolate has more cocoa than milk chocolate.  White chocolate, without any cocoa in it, isn’t really chocolate. German scientists studied 19,357 people for a decade and found that those who ate the most chocolate (average 7.5 grams a day) had lower blood pressure and a 39% lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke than people who ate the smallest amount (1.7 grams a day).

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, contains flavonols which have antioxidant properties. Those Valentine’s chocolates can be caloric and moderately high in fat, one-third of it the type of saturated fat that is not heart healthy. Extra ingredients like crème and caramel fillings can add lots of extra fat and calories.

If you see “Chocolate Liquor” in the ingredients list of chocolate candy, it is not alcoholic but a thick paste of ground cocoa beans, or nibs.  The higher the amount of chocolate liquor, the greater the amount of beneficial flavonoids and in chocolate vocabulary, “cocoa” and “cacao” are synonymous as are “beans” and “nibs.”

Just So You Know

A treat is something that’s usually associated with pleasure and on Valentine’s Day, with love.  To celebrate the occasion it’s just fine to enjoy a piece or two.

  • Hershey’s Kisses, 9 pieces:  230 calories, 12g fat
  • Hershey’s Special Dark Hearts, 5 pieces:  220 calories, 7g fat
  • Reese’s Peanut Butter Hearts, snack size:  170 calories, 10g fat
  • Russell Stover boxed chocolates, 2 pieces:  150 calories, 4g fat
  • Dove Dark Chocolate Hearts, 5 pieces:  210 calories, 13g fat
  • Godiva boxed chocolates, 4 pieces:  210 calories, 12g fat

What Does Your Favorite Candy Heart Say?

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“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,”  “Sweet Talk.” Sweethearts Conversation Hearts, the small heart-shaped pastel colored candy with the familiar sayings have been a Valentine’s Day treat since 1902. Their manufacturer, NECCO, the New England Confectionery Company, in business since 1847, produces more than 8 billion of the candy conversation hearts a year.

In the 1860’s the New England Confectionary Company began printing sayings on candy like “Married in Pink, He will take to drink,”or “Married in White, you have chosen right,” and “Married in Satin, Love will not be lasting.” (Not such a good send-off for being married in pink or satin!!!)

The conversation heart sayings have been updated over the years with new ones added periodically. The candy is quite popular — NECCO sells out of their hearts — 100,000 pounds a day — in six weeks.

A few years ago NECCO asked the public how they wanted to express their love and in 2010 they introduced new flavors and sayings. The new flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry new sayings include “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” and “Me + You.”

Although you’d be hard pressed to call them nutritious, candy hearts are fat free, sodium free, and a caloric bargain at about 3 calories apiece for the small hearts and about 6 calories apiece for the larger “Motto” hearts.

In my mind, candy hearts and paper Valentines are absolutely linked with elementary school Valentine’s Day celebrations.  How about you?

 

Superbowl: Eating Or Watching Or Both?

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Seriously.  Hand to mouth munching on chips, dips, and wings.  A swig or two or three.  A cookie here and there.  And then there’s the “real food” at halftime – or maybe there was pizza first followed by a selection of subs.

By the end of the game do you have a clue about how much – or even what — you have popped into your mouth?

You may – or may not – be riveted to the TV screen rooting hard for your team, but you may also be going along for the ride – happy to be at a party where there’s plenty of food and shouting and enthusiasm – a classic set-up for mindless and distracted eating which is what can happen when there’s no “structured meal,”  a lack planning, and when you give into “head hunger” and “see it and eat it,” as opposed to actual physical hunger.

What Makes Us Eat Too Much?

Hunger doesn’t prompt most of us to overeat. Family, friends, plate size, packaging, lighting, candles, smells, distractions, environments, and feelings all do.    We make about 200+ food related decisions a day – like deciding between pizza or wings; a sandwich or salad; chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie; light beer or diet coke; kitchen table or chair in front of the TV.  That’s about 200+ daily opportunities to be mindful or mindless – and probably a whole lot more when faced with a flow of food and an exciting game.

Food And Football

 

It’s amazing how food has become associated with football — from tailgating to Superbowl parties.  There are plenty of choices for eating deliciously well if you are more mindful than mindless about your selection of food.

Stick with grilled meat, veggies, baked chips rather than fried, plain bread, a pita, or wrap rather than biscuits or cornbread. Go for salsa and skip the guacamole.  Turkey, baked ham, and grilled chicken are better choices than wings and fried chicken.

Examples Of Potential Pitfalls And Some Saving Graces:

Tostada with guacamole:  2 pieces (9.3 oz), 360 calories, 23g fat, 32g carbs, 12g protein

Salsa:  1 tablespoon 4 calories, .04g fat, 1g carbs, .2g protein

Nacho flavored tortilla chips, reduced fat:  1 oz, 126 calories, 4g fat, 20g carbs, 2g protein

Nacho flavored tortilla chips:  1oz, 141 calories, 7g fat, 18g carbs, 1g protein

Potato chips:  1oz, 152 calories, 10g fat, 15g carbs, 2g protein

Potato chips, reduced fat:  1 oz, 134 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs, 2g protein

Raw baby carrots:  1 medium, 4 calories, 0 fat, .8g carbs, 0 protein

Pizza Hut cheese pizza:  1 slice (1/8 of a 12” medium pan pizza), 240 calories, 10g fat, 27g carbs, 11g protein

Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza:  1 slice (1/8 of a 12” medium pan pizza), 250 calories, 12g fat, 26g carbs, 11g protein

Grilled chicken breast:  one 4.2 oz breast, 180 calories, 4g fate, 0 carbs, 35g protein

KFC Fiery hot Buffalo wing:  one 1oz wing, 80 calories, 5g fat, g carbs, 4g protein

KFC extra crispy drumstick:  one 2oz piece, 150 calories, 6g carbs, 11g protein

Chili (Wendy’s, with saltine crackers):  8 oz, 187 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs, 14g protein

Wheat bread:  1 slice, .9 oz., 65 calories, 1g fat,, 12g carbs, 2g protein

Italian combo on ciabatta (Panera):  1 sandwich, 1lb. 7 oz, 1050 calories, 47g fat, 94g carbs, 61g protein

Subway 6g of fat or less turkey breast & ham on wheat sandwich:  8.3oz, 296 calories, 4g fat, 48g carbs, 19g protein

Chocolate chip cookie:  2-1/4” from refrigerated dough. 59 calories, 3g fat, 8g carbs, 0.6g protein

Chocolate ice cream, Cold Stone Creamery:   5oz (like it), 326 calories, 20g fat, 33g carbs, 5g protein

Apple:  medium, 95 calories, .4g fat, 25g carbs, .5g protein

What’s on your menu?

GO GIANTS!

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Do Your Drink Calories Equal The Calories In A Meal?

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You may really look forward to happy hour or that before dinner drink.  Time to relax and enjoy the company of friends or family.  Not necessarily a bad thing.  Unfortunately, it’s way too easy to underestimate or forget about the calories lurking in that glass.

Calories You Drink Don’t Fill You Up

When you drink your calories your body doesn’t actually feel satisfied. Except for perhaps milk or other protein drinks, fluid intake doesn’t typically trigger production of the hormones that tell your brain that you’ve fed your stomach.  Most liquid calories don’t produce “satiety” or the feeling of “being full,” which your brain takes as the cue to stop eating.

This is especially true if you’re slowly sipping your drink — but research has shown that even if the temporary bloat you feel after rapidly downing a beer is no substitute for satiety.

(FYI: even if you don’t feel full, the alcohol you’ve drunk still has 7 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram for carbohydrates and protein and 9 calories per gram for fat.)

Beer:  Light Or Not

Even light beer – although a calorie saver – still has calories that add up. Light beer isn’t like diet soda – calorie and fat free. It does have fewer calories than regular beer but it still has, on average, 100 or more calories for 12 ounces (yes, there are light beers with fewer calories – these are average calorie counts).  Regular beer ranges from about 140-200+ calories, depending on the type of beer.

Alcohol And Mixers

An average shot (1.5 oz) of 80-proof alcohol has around 96 calories. The higher the alcoholic content (proof), the greater the number of calories.

  • 80-proof vodka (40% alcohol; the most common type) has 64 calories per 1oz
  • 86-proof vodka (43% alcohol) has 70 calories/1 oz
  • 90-proof vodka (45% alcohol) has 73 calories/1 oz
  • 100-proof vodka (50% alcohol) has 82 calories/1 oz

When you start adding mixers, the calories can more than double.

  • 8 oz of orange juice has 112 calories
  • 8 oz of tonic has 83 calories
  • 8 oz of ginger ale has 83 calories
  • 8 oz of tomato juice has 41 calories

How Full Is Your Wine Glass?

Unfortunately, the standard serving of wine (5 oz)  and liquor (1.5 oz) is probably smaller than you think.

Most standard servings of wine have 125-150 calories, but the calories can double depending on the size of the glass and how far it’s filled up.  Sweet and dessert wines are more caloric than table wine and champagne.

Try filling up a glass –using water—to simulate the amount of wine you would usually pour, and then measure that amount in a measuring cup.  You might be shocked to find that the serving you’re used to pouring is double the standard serving size.

Fancy Cocktails May Be The Equivalent Of Dessert

Highly caloric, extremely creative, and often quite large cocktails can actually be desserts in disguise. Chocolaty, creamy, rim coated with sugar cocktails may be delicious, but they’re loaded with calories (even if they have fruit in them).

Jumbo and super-sized drinks with double shots and extra mixers could add up to 1,000 calories or more (a single giant glass of TGI Friday’s frozen mudslide has around 1,100 calories), so don’t forget to factor them in.

 

Half And Half,Cream, Or Milk – What’s In Your Coffee – And What’s The Difference?

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Here’s what they have in common:  they’re all made from cow’s milk but with different percentages of butterfat.  Cream is the fat that naturally rises to the top of whole milk.

Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (36-40% butterfat) doubles in volume and holds peaks when it’s whipped. It’s used for filling or decorating pies, pastries, and other desserts.

A lighter form of whipping cream (32% fat) and heavy cream (40% fat) are both good for toppings.

Half and half is light cream (10-18% butterfat) that’s made by separately pasteurizing milk and cream and then homogenizing equal parts together so they don’t separate. The best use for half and half is in beverages like coffee.  It doesn’t whip, it’s not great to use alone, and is not a good substitute for cream in recipes.

In case you spot these on menus or in the market: Clotted or Devonshire cream (55-60% fat) doesn’t need to be whipped. Usually imported, the thick, yellowish cream is made by heating unpasteurized milk until the cream sits on top, then cooling the milk and skimming off the cream.

Crème Fraiche (30% fat) is a thick and smooth heavy cream with a nutty, slightly sour taste.  Used as topping for fruit or pies, it’s made by culturing pasteurized cream with special bacteria.

The difference between whole milk, 2%, 1%, and skim milk has to do with the amount of fat.  Whole milk contains 3.25% butterfat.

How To Buy

Expiration dates are on the carton or bottle found in the refrigerated milk section.  Abide by the expiration date and store up to 10 days in the refrigerator. In terms of health, they all have dairy benefits (calcium, protein, vitamin D) but cream and full fat milk should be used sparingly because of high fat content.

Milk And Cream Nutrition

All information is for a one cup (8 ounce) serving.  For the creams, calorie counts are also given for a tablespoon measure for anyone who puts more like a tablespoon rather than a cup of cream in their coffee.

  • Heavy (also whipping) cream:   821 calories; 88.06g fat; 6.64g carbs; 4.88g protein (1tbsp=51 calories)
  • Coffee (table) cream also called light cream:  468 calories; 46.34g fat; 8.78g carbs; 6.48g protein (1 tbsp=29 calories)
  • Half & Half:  315 calories; 27.83g fat; 10.41g carbs; 7.16g protein (1tbsp=20 calories)
  • Whole milk:  146 calories; 7.93g fat; 11.03g carbs; 7.86g protein (1tbsp=9 calories)
  • 2% milk:  122 calories; 4.81g fat; 11.42g carbs; 8.05g fat
  • 1% milk:  102 calories; 2.37g fat; 12.18g carbs; 8.22g protein
  • Non-fat/skim milk:  85.8 calories; 0.4g fat; 11.9g carbs; 8.4g protein
  • Chocolate milk (whole):  208 calories; 8.48g fat; 25.85g carbs; 7.92g protein
  • Chocolate milk (lowfat):  158 calories; 2.5g fat; 26.1g carbs; 8.1g protein