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Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food

For Safe Picnic Food Don’t Forget Your Drive Time

July 2, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

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.”

Filed Under: Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food, Travel, On Vacation, In the Car Tagged With: barbecue food, food safety, picnic food, picnic safety, tailgate food

What Do You Search For Through The Vending Machine Glass Window?

June 4, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Mascot Illustration Featuring a Vending Machine

Sooner or later you will likely have your next sharing moment with a vending machine: you share your money and the machine shares its calories.

Vending machines actually have a holy history. Around 215 BC the mathematician Hero invented a type of vending device that accepted bronze coins to dispense holy water. Vending eventually became economically viable In 1888 when the Adams Gum Company put gum machines on New York City’s elevated train platforms to dispense a piece of Tutti-Frutti gum for a penny.

Now they’re everywhere: down the hall from your hotel room, in train stations, and in just about every rest stop on the road. And, they call your name when you’re especially vulnerable – when you’re stressed, tired, bored, anxious, and your blood sugar is traveling south—all of which means the allure of sweet, fatty, and salty junk food is hard to overcome.

No Choice Is Perfect — Make the Best Choice for You

When a vending machine calls your name, choose wisely. There are good, better, and best choices to be made.

  • You can almost always find packages of nuts, or popcorn, or pretzels, or dried fruit.
  • Be careful of things with too much sugar, especially if you’re driving. A big time sugar hit may give you energy as your blood sugar surges but more than likely it will be followed by a drop –which will probably make you sleepy, grouchy, and hungry for more sweet and fatty food.
  • Your choice depends on what you want: protein, sweet satisfaction, fill-you-up fiber, or salty crunch. Here are some choices – take a look at the calories, carbs, protein, and fiber of some of your favorites.

Crunchy

  • Baked Lays Potato Chips: 130 calories, 2 grams of fat, 26 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
  • Baked Doritos, Nacho Cheese: 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
  • Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers: 180 calories, 9 grams of fat, 20 grams carbs, 4 grams of protein
  • Ruffles Potato Chips: 240 calories, 15 grams of fat, 23 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
  • Cheetos, Crunchy: 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
  • Sun Chips Original: 210 calories, 10 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
  • Snyder’s of Hanover Mini Pretzels: 160 calories, no fat, 35 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
  • White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn, Smartfood: 120 calories, 8 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein

Nuts/Seeds

  • Planters Sunflower Kernels: 290 calories, 25 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs, 11 grams of protein
  • Planters Salted Peanuts: 290 calories, 25 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbs, 13 grams of protein

Cookies/Pastry/Bars

  • Mini Chips Ahoy: 270 calories, 13 grams of fat, 38 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
  • Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts (2 pastries): 410 calories, 10 grams of fat, 75 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
  • Hostess Fruit Pie, apple: 470 calories, 20 grams of fat, 70 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
  • Fig Newtons: 200 calories, 4 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
  • Quaker Chewy Low-Fat Granola Bar, Chocolate Chunk: 90 calories, 2 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein
  • Nature Valley Granola Bar, Crunchy Oats and Honey (2 bars): 190 calories, 6 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

Candy

  • Skittles: 240 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 56 grams of carbs, no protein
  • Twix (2 cookies): 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
  • 3 Musketeers, king size: 200 calories, 6 grams of fat, 36 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein
  • Peanut M&Ms: 250 calories, 13 grams of fat, 30 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein
  • Snickers, regular size: 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 33 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

 

Filed Under: Food for Fun and Thought, Snacking, Noshing, Tasting, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food Tagged With: junk food, snacks, vending machine, vending machine food, vending machine snacks

10 Ways To Tame A Way Too Spicy Dish

April 22, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

10 ways to tame a spicy dish

Have you ever gotten a little too overzealous with the chili powder – or with the amount of peppers you’ve added to that fantastic dish you’re cooking? Perhaps you very overly brave and ordered the five alarm chili at your local Tex-Mex place.

It happens — but what do you do?  You can burn the heck out of everyone’s mouth, sweat profusely, toss the whole dish into the garbage, feed the compost pile, or maybe somehow salvage what you’ve made.

There are those of you who routinely look for the spiciest food around and are probably thinking – so what’s the problem?  But, for those of you – like me – who would prefer not to have your mouth on fire – there are ways to calm down an over-spiced dish. After some research, here’s a bunch of suggestions (in no particular order). Maybe some will work for your dish, or maybe not, but file them in your memory and give one or two a try when you’re staring at a pot of over-spiced food. If you’ve set your mouth on fire in a restaurant, remember to quench it with some dairy!

What To Do and Things To Try

  1. Know your peppers– they vary in the amount of heat they have.  You can always decrease the amount you use. Be sure to remove the inner membranes and seeds – that’s where the majority of the heat resides. Capsaicin is the active component in chili peppers and the amount varies according to the variety and maturity of the pepper. Habanero peppers are always extremely hot while ancho and paprika peppers can be as mild as a bell pepper.
  2. To change a three alarm dish to a one alarm, dilute the heat. Make another batch of the recipe and omit the “heat” ingredient. Then combine the non-spiced batch with the over-spiced batch. Now you have a double recipe with diluted heat and you can freeze the extra. You can also add more stock, broth, canned tomatoes, or beans depending on the recipe – just make certain there is no added seasoning.
  3. A can or two of refried beans or mashed canned beans helps dilute the heat, thickens chili, increases the fiber and protein content, and gives you more servings without the higher cost of more meat.
  4. Dairy helps neutralize the spice in a dish and in your mouth. You can use (full fat is best) milk, sour cream, or yogurt.  Other suggestions are whipping cream or evaporated milk. If you don’t have the time or inclination to incorporate dairy into the dish, offer sour cream or yogurt on the side.
  5. Serve chili or curry over rice.  The rice tones down the spices and adds bulk to the recipe. Bread and other grains also help.
  6. Add some potatoes or another starchy vegetable, like corn. You probably won’t even notice the corn in chili.  If you use potatoes, peel and cube a couple and mix them in. Leave them in until they are cooked through, they’ll absorb some of the spice. Remove them (or not, depending on taste) and serve.
  7. Try stirring in a couple tablespoons of peanut butter(you could also use almond or other nut butters or tahini) to cut the heat. Depending on the dish, it won’t really alter the taste but might give a little more depth to the flavor and make chili seem a little creamier.  Because it may not be an expected ingredient, be certain that no one has nut or peanut allergies.
  8. Add some lime, lemon, vinegar or something acidic that won’t mess with the other flavors. Acid cuts through heat.
  9. You don’t want to turn your dish into dessert, but sugar goes a long way toward neutralizing the spiciness. So does honey. Add a teaspoon at a time and keep tasting.  Some people use sweet or semi-sweet chocolate to mask the spice, but not so much that the dish ends up tasting like chocolate. Sugar combined with an acid like vinegar or lemon or lime juice works particularly well.
  10. Any number of other additions can help tame the heat without radically affecting flavor.  Add a can of crushed pineapple to your chili — it will essentially disappear but will also helping to counteract the heat.  Other kinds of fruit and carrots may work, too.

Filed Under: Shopping, Cooking, Baking, Snacking, Noshing, Tasting, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food Tagged With: chili peppers, hot and spicy food, spicy food

Stadium Food: What Do You Eat?

April 15, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

MSGSnacksGraphicSnacks at Madison Square Garden

It is the beginning of baseball season, but more importantly – at least in my family – it’s the beginning of hockey playoffs. To call us True Blue New York Rangers fans might be an understatement.

So what do you eat when you go to a game? Many stadiums now offer “gourmet” and “specialty” food – at Madison Square Garden you can buy both sushi and gluten free sandwiches – but from my observation, most fans at sporting events still opt for burgers and dogs, popcorn and peanuts, soda and beer. Every year, especially at ballparks, there seem to be some new “upscale” additions, but from those I’ve heard advertised this year, the size, calories, and price are almost guaranteed to make your clothing a bit more snug and your wallet a bit lighter.

So what do you choose when there are food vendors about every 20 feet hawking dogs, hot pretzels, fried everything, and mega-sized desserts?

Classic Stadium Food – Make Good Choices

If you’ve got a will of iron you could ignore the food and drinks.  But, if you don’t — or don’t want to — you can try to minimize the caloric damage without taking away the fun.  If you know you’re going to be having a stadium meal, do some thinking and planning.  The best choices aren’t always the obvious ones.

Must you have both peanuts and popcorn?  Can you make do with a regular hot dog instead of a foot-long?  Can you keep it to one or two beers instead of three?  Can you choose the small popcorn instead of the jumbo tub? Can you ditch the soda — or maybe the second one — and replace it with water?

It’s all about choices. Here’s some info about 10 foods that most likely will call your name at one time or another:

Hamburger:   A plain 6-ounce burger made of food stand beef (they’re not using extra lean – the more fat, the juicier it is) on a bun has about 490 calories. Cheese and other toppings can significantly up the ante.

6-ounce grilled chicken sandwich: 280 calories – not a bad choice.  6 ounces of chicken tenders clock in at 446 calories.  Barbecue dipping sauce adds 30 calories a tablespoon.

Hot Dogs: Most sold-out baseball stadiums can sell 16,000 hot dogs a day. A regular hot dog with mustard has about 290 calories — that’s 180 for the 2-ounce dog, 110 for the bun, zilch for regular yellow mustard. Two tablespoons of sauerkraut adds another 5-10 calories and a punch of flavor, 2 tablespoons of ketchup adds 30, and 2 tablespoons of relish another 40. A Nathan’s hot dog racks up 320 calories; a foot-long Hebrew National 510 calories.

Pizza: Stadium pizza is generally larger than a usual slice, about 1/6 of a 16-inch pie (instead of 1/8) making it about 435 calories a slice – don’t forget that toppings add calories.

French Fries and Nachos: A large serving of French fries has about 500 calories. A serving of Hardee’s chili cheese fries has 700 calories and 350 of them come from fat. A 12-ounce serving of super nachos with cheese: (40 chips, 4 ounces of cheese) has about 1,500 calories! Plain French fries look like a caloric bargain by comparison.

Cracker Jack (officially cracker jack, not jacks): candy coated popcorn with some peanuts. A 3.5-ounce stadium size box has 420 calories but also has 7g of protein and 3.5g of fiber.             

Cotton Candy: nothing but heated and artificially colored sugar that’s spun into threads with added air. Cotton candy on a stick or wrapped around a paper cone (about an ounce) has around 105 calories; a 2-ounce bag (common size) has 210. A lot of sugar, but not a lot of calories – albeit empty ones.

Peanuts in the Shell: What would a baseball game be without a bag of peanuts? Stadiums can sell as many as 6,000 bags on game days. An 8-ounce bag has 840 calories; a 12-ounce bag has 1,260. Yes, they have some protein and fiber.  But wow on the calories.

Soft Pretzel: One large soft pretzel has 483 calories – giant soft pretzels (7-8 ounces) have about 700 calories.

Ice Cream: Your team’s mini-helmet filled with swirly Carvel, 550-590 calories. A Good Humor Chocolate Éclair has 160 calories, 8g fat, 11g sugar; a Fudgsicle Fudge Bar has 100 calories, 2.5g fat, 13g sugars; a Klondike sandwich, 81g has 250 calories, 17g fat, 18g sugars.

Popcorn: At Yankee Stadium a jumbo-sized souvenir bag has 1,484 calories and a souvenir bucket has 2,473 calories. On average, a 3-ounce bag of all brands (plain/ready-to-eat) has 480 calories and 24g fat.

Candy:

  • Junior Mints, 3-ounce box:  360 calories, 7g fat
  • Sno Caps, 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

Filed Under: Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts, Eating with Family and Friends, Manage Your Weight, Snacking, Noshing, Tasting, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food Tagged With: calories in amusement park food, calories in ballpark food, calories in stadium food

8 Ways To Save Calories When You Order Fast Food

March 18, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

fast-food-calorie-savers

Tip 1. Know your setting: pace yourself in the “speed eating” environment of fast food restaurants. Restaurant decor of fast food restaurants is not an accident — it is designed with the intention of getting you to eat and run. The red and gold color schemes in many fast food and Chinese restaurants encourage you to chow down quickly.

Tip 2. Go easy on sauces and dressings: There are lots of calories in mayo, sour cream, salad dressing and other “special” sauces, like those often found on burgers. The amount on your sandwich or salad often depends on the “hand” of the person preparing your food or how much you pour on. The best way to control this is to ask for the sauce or dressing on the side and add it (or not) by yourself. You really can do this — even in fast food burger places! Source: McDonald’s USA Nutrition Facts for Popular Menu Items

  • McDonald’s Creamy ranch Sauce (0.8 ounces): 110 calories, 110 calories from fat
  • Newman’s Own Low Fat Sesame ginger Dressing ( 1.5 ounces) 90 calories, 25 calories from fat
  • McDonald’s Spicy Buffalo Sauce (0.8 ounces): 35 calories, 30 calories from fat
  • Newman’s Own Creamy Southwest Dressing (1.5 ounces): 120 calories, 70 calories from fat
  • Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing (2 ounces): 200 calories, 150 calories from fat
  • McDonald’s Sweet ‘N Sour Sauce (1 Package): 50 calories, no fat
  • McDonald’s Honey Mustard Sauce (0.8 ounces): 60 calories,, 35 calories from fat
  • McDonald’s Tartar Sauce Cup (1 ounce): 140 calories, 130 calories from fat

Tip 3. 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. Another sauce alert: lots of the sauces have a ton of sugar in them. Make your best choice (check the labels or nutrition info) and dip sparingly. Source: McDonald’s USA Nutrition Facts for Popular Menu Items

  • McDonald’s Premium McWrap Chicken & Bacon (Crispy): 610 calories, 280 calories from fat
  • McDonald’s Premium McWrap Chicken & Ranch (Grilled): 450 calories, 160 calories from fat

Tip 4. Order your burger or chicken sandwich without bacon or cheese: A serving size of meat is about 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.

Tip 5. Do you really need (read “need” not “want”) fries, curly fries, potato sticks, or onion rings? You can order salad or a baked potato instead (as long as you don’t smother them in butter and/or sour cream or salad dressing). If you absolutely must have fries, order a small or a kid’s size. Large fries can tack on around 500 calories. Larger sizes may seem like a good “value” but the beefed up sizes also beef up the calories, fat, and sugar.

Tip 6. 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?

Tip 7. Survey 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 instead of French fries or onion rings. Most fast food restaurants now offer them. Source: McDonald’s USA Nutrition Facts for Popular Menu Items

  • McDonald’s Side Salad (3.1 ounces): 20 calories, no fat
  • McDonald’s Apple Slices (1.2 ounces): 15 calories, no fat
  • McDonald’s Large French Fries: 510 calories, 220 calories from fat
  • McDonald’s Medium French Fries: 340 calories, 140 calories from fat
  • McDonald’s Kids’ Fries: 110 calories, 50 calories from fat

Tip 8. 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 (about 10 teaspoons). Eight ounces of orange juice has 110 calories and 25 grams of carbs. At Burger King, a small classic coca cola has 190 calories and 51g carbs; a medium classic coca cola has 290 calories and 79 carbs. Decreasing – or eliminating — the amount of sugary soda that you drink is an easy way to save calories.

 

Easter Candy Facts and FunFor 99 cents you can get the lowdown on Easter Candy.  Check out my ebook Easter Candy Facts and Fun on Amazon.  You’ll spend less than you would on jelly beans.  It’s also way fewer calories than a chocolate bunny!

Filed Under: Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts, Manage Your Weight, Restaurants, Diners, Fast Food, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food Tagged With: calories, calories in fast food, save calories

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