Eat Out Eat Well

Snacking, Noshing, Tasting

Movies, Popcorn, and the Oscars, too!

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Popcorn and the Oscars

When you think movie, do you also think popcorn? A good percentage of movie viewing people do.

And what’s the biggest movie night of the year? The Academy Awards, of course.

Oscar has been around for a long time – the first Academy Awards ceremony was in 1929 – but the main snack food that’s associated with movies has been around a lot longer.

The Evolution of Popcorn

The puffy goodness we know as popcorn is a strain of corn (from maize) cultivated in Central America about 8,000 years ago. North American whalers probably brought popcorn to New England from Chile in the early 19th century. Popping popcorn was fun and its appeal spread rapidly across the country.

By the mid 1800’s popcorn was widely available, especially at places like circuses and fairs. The invention of the steam-powered popcorn maker in 1885 meant popcorn could be made anywhere. Amazingly, the only place where it wasn’t usually available was in theaters, which typically had carpeted floors. Theater owners didn’t want popcorn “dirtying” up the place (have you ever tried to vacuum up popcorn from carpeted floors).

Popcorn and Movies

Because of its popularity, theater owners began to allow popcorn vendors to sell popcorn outside their theaters. During the Great Depression people looked for cheap diversions and movies were it and popcorn — at 5 to 10 cents a bag — was an affordable luxury.

Theater owners began to lease their lobbies to popcorn vendors, but then figured out they could make more money by selling it themselves. Selling popcorn, candy, and soda from their own concession stands meant higher profits. Sugar shortages during World War II made sweet treats hard to come by, and popcorn became the main snack. By 1945 over half of the popcorn eaten in the US was consumed in movie theaters.

Popcorn is still king. Americans eat, on average, about 13 gallons of popcorn a year. It’s cheap to make and allows for a huge price mark-up. You might pay $5 for a bag of popcorn, but it costs the theater about 50 cents. Plain popcorn doesn’t have all that much flavor, so yellow oil (it isn’t butter) and salt are added to make it tasty and make you thirsty. So, you buy a soda. No wonder movie theaters make an estimated 85 percent profit from concession sales, with those sales accounting for 46 percent of overall profits.

Popcorn Recipes

This Sunday as you prop your feet up to watch the glamorous stars grab their golden statues, make sure you have a good supply of popcorn on hand. You don’t have to settle for the plain variety – unless you want to. There are some fantastic popcorn recipes with names like Bacon Bourbon Caramel Popcorn, Cinnamon Candy Popcorn (which is red, like the red carpet), Pizza Popcorn, Peanut Butter Popcorn, and Endless Caramel Corn.

For even more popcorn recipes to accompany your cheers, boos, oohs, and ahs on Oscar night, check out:

Food Network’s 50 Flavored Popcorn Recipes

19 Ways to Flavor Popcorn

30 Healthy Popcorn Recipes That Satisfy Every Snack Craving

Popcorn Recipes

What Do You Eat With Your Movie?

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Movie Calories

When you enter a movie theater lobby what do you usually notice first?  After the cost of the ticket, it’s probably the delicious smell of freshly popped (maybe or maybe not) popcorn. It’s no accident that the concession stand with it’s popcorn popper and glass cases filled with the candy that reminds you that you were once a carefree kid — is right smack in the middle of the lobby.  It’s there to send your already conditioned eyes, nose, and salivary glands an urgent message:  “Buy some, eat some”!

There’s No Escaping the Movie Theater Munching

Even if you make it through the lobby without buckets and boxes in hand, all you have to do is sit down in the theater with someone near you noisily munching away.  Up you go – back to the lobby and the concession stand.

It’s amazing what triggers us to eat. There’s a research study by the Cornell food lab that shows that people overeat when they have large portions — even when they don’t like the food. Moviegoers given stale popcorn in big buckets ate 34% more than people who were given the medium size of the same stale popcorn. People who had large buckets of fresh popcorn ate 45% more than people with the medium size.

If you’re going to eat it, at least give some thought to what you’re doing.  Would a small size bag of popcorn rather than jumbo bucket do it for you?  How about a regular candy bar instead of a king size?  If the popcorn, pretzels, or nachos are stale and nasty do you really want them?  Can you ditch the soda for plain old water or a sugar free drink (most 12 ounce sodas have between 9 and 10 teaspoons of sugar)? You could bring some healthy snacks with you — like a lower calorie protein bar or trail mix (a crunchy apple doesn’t lend itself to quiet eating).

FYI:  Some Popular Movie Theater Snacks – And Their Calorie Counts

(Note the serving sizes, movie theater boxes of candy are often huge and may be double or triple the size shown below and what’s considered a large popcorn in one theater chain might be a medium in another. The number of cups of popcorn sounds crazy – but that’s how much is in the bucket or bag that’s commonly available.)

Popcorn, Nachos, Soft Pretzel

  • Buttered popcorn, small, 5 cups:  470 calories, 35g fat
  • Buttered popcorn, large, 20 cups:  1640 calories, 126g fat
  • Cheese nachos, large (4 ounces):  1100 calories, 60g fat
  • Soft pretzel, large (5 ounces):  480 calories, 5g fat

Soda and Lemonade

  • Coke, small (18 ounces: 218 calories, 0g fat
  • Coke, large (44 ounces):  534 calories, 0g fat
  • Minute Maid Lemonade (18 ounces):  248 calories, 0g fat
  • Minute Maid Lemonade (44 ounces):  605 calories, 0g fat

Candy

  • Junior Mints, 3-ounce box:  360 calories, 7g fat
  • SnoCaps, 3.1-ounce box:  300 calories, 15g fat
  • Milk Duds, 3-ounce box:  370 calories, 12g fat
  • Raisinets, 3.5-ounce bag:  400 calories, 16g fat
  • Goobers, 3.5-ounce box:  500 calories, 35g fat
  • Twizzlers, 6-ounce bag:  570 calories, 4g fat
  • M&Ms, 5.3-ounce bag:  750 calories, 32g fat
  • Peanut M&Ms, 5.3-ounce bag:  790 calories, 40g fat
  • Reese’s Pieces, 8-ounce bag:  1160 calories, 60g fat

Super Bowl and Food: What Will You Be Eating?

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Super Bowl and Food

It’s amazing how food has become associated with football — from tailgating to Super Bowl parties to the selection of food sold in stadiums. Where there’s football there also seems to be many opportunities to eat, often mindlessly.

Even when you’re surrounded by a smorgasbord of highly caloric, fatty, salty, and sweet foods there are plenty of opportunities for eating deliciously well if you are a bit more mindful about your choices.

Some common Super Bowl food

  • 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
  • Regular 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 with cheese:  1 slice (1/8 of a 12” pie), 140 calories, 3g fat, 20g carbs, 8g protein
  • Pizza, pepperoni:  1 slice (1/8 12” pie), 181 calories, 7g fat, 20g carbs, 10g protein
  • Grilled chicken breast:  one 4.2 oz breast, 180 calories, 4g fat, 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, .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

If You Want To Save Some Calories …

  • Stick with grilled meat, veggies, or baked chips rather than fried. Turkey, baked ham, and grilled chicken are better choices than wings and fried chicken.
  • Plain bread, pitas, or wraps are less caloric than biscuits or cornbread.
  • Go for salsa and skip the guacamole. Guacamole is made with healthy avocados, but is quite high in calories. You can always alternate guacamole and salsa, too.
  • Minimize calories by dipping chicken wings into hot sauce instead of Buffalo or Blue Cheese sauce.
  • Try using celery for crunch and as a dipper instead of chips.
  • Go for thin crust rather than thick doughy crust pizza. Choose the slices with vegetables, not pepperoni or meatballs. If you’re not embarrassed, try blotting up the free-floating oil that sits on top of a greasy slice (soak up even a teaspoon of oil saves you 40 calories and 5 grams of fat).
  • Cut your slice of pizza in half. When you go back for seconds, eat the second half. You’ll feel like you’re eating two slices, but you’re eating only one.
  • Try fruit for dessert – or have just one cookie or a small piece of pie – leave some of the crust on your plate. Home made pie crust has around 150 calories (single crust pie), so leaving some pie crust on your plate can save you some significant calories.
  • Alcohol adds calories and dulls your mindful eating. Try alternating water or diet soda with beer or alcohol. That can decrease your alcohol calories (alcohol has 7 calories/gram) by 50%.
  • Put your food on a plate rather than constantly picking, it’s a form of portion control. And step back from the buffet. If you can’t reach out and grab it and you can’t see it, you won’t eat it.

Three “I Didn’t Know That!” Calorie Savers

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Calorie Savers

  1. Don’t be duped by turkey, fish, and veggie burgers and sandwiches. They sound healthier and less caloric than beef, but that might not be the case. At Red Robin a grilled turkey burger has 578 calories, 29g fat. Burger King’s Premium Alaskan Fish sandwich has 530 calories, 28g fat while a Whopper Jr. without mayo has 260 calories, 10g fat. A Sedona Black Bean Burger at TGI Fridays has 870 calories, 49g fat.

  2. Chinese food — even broccoli has calories. If you think you’re getting off easy because of all of the vegetables in Chinese food, think again. There are 466 calories in a cup and a half of beef and broccoli stir-fry (and about a day’s worth of sodium). One cup of fried rice has 333 calories. If you include a vegetable spring roll for 63 calories and three fortune cookies for about 100 calories, your meal clocks in at around 1000 calories. Cut down a little bit, you probably won’t even notice.

  3. Avoid eating from a large open bag. Count out your chips, crackers, and pretzels or only eat from a single portion size bag. Who can stop when there’s an open bag of salty, crunchy food right in front of you? It’s amazingly easy to keep mindlessly eating until the bag is empty. A dive to the bottom of a 9 ounce bag of chips (without dip) is 1,260 calories. One serving, about 15 chips, is 140 calories.

Want To Walk Off Your Halloween Candy? Go This Far . . .

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DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 31, 2014: Decorative pumpkins filled with assorted Halloween chocolate candy made by Mars, Incorporated and the Hershey Company.

Here’s another way to think about Halloween candy — how much walking will it take to work off the candy calories?

According to walking.com:

  • 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc. is about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 2 Hershey’s Kisses are about 50 calories. You’d need to walk 0.5 miles, 0.80 kilometers, or 1000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 2 Brachs caramels are about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) is about 55 calories. You’d need to walk 0.55 miles, 0.88 kilometers, or 1100 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, is 90 calories. You’d need to walk 0.9 miles, 1.45 kilometers, or 1800 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is 33 calories. You’d need to walk 0.33 miles, 0.53 kilometers, or 660 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 275 calories. You’d need to walk 2.75 miles, 4.43 kilometers, or 5500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 500 calories. You’d need to walk 5 miles, 8.06 kilometers, or 10000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 small Tootsie Roll is 25 calories. You’d need to walk 0.25 miles, 0.40 kilometers, or 500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

If You Ate . . .

2 Brachs caramels, 2 Hershey’s Kisses, 1 small Tootsie Roll, 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.), 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.), 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.)… the grand total is 1188 calories. You’d need to walk 11.88 miles, 19.16 kilometers, or 23,760 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

For kids — as a guideline, to burn off 7000 calories a one hundred pound child would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours.

Don’t Worry Too Much …

Just remember – we and our bodies have an amazing ability to compensate for occasional holiday overeating – as long as those holidays don’t turn into weeks that turn into months.

So, enjoy your trick or treating and all of the ghosts, princesses, pirates, animals, cars, trains, skeletons, witches, and any other creature that rings your doorbell shouting “trick or treat.”

Happy Halloween!