Eat Out Eat Well

Love Those Candy Hearts . . .

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“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,”  “Sweet Talk.” The brightly colored hearts 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, expects to sell more than 8 billion candy conversation hearts this year.

The original candies with printed sayings were called “motto hearts.”  The 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.

NECCO has introduced new flavors and sayings for 2010. New flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry and 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, they 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.

What Do You Eat During A Snowstorm?

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Chocolate chip cookies. That’s what a friend said to me as we waited for our kids to get off of the school bus after early dismissal from school because of snow.  Walking down the street to our houses, the snow was blowing sideways and the kids were ecstatic to be flinging snowballs at each other.  “Why do I always want to bake chocolate chip cookies when it snows?” was her question.

Who knows?  Although I’ve found no scientific study to back this up, I think we retreat to comfort food when we’re housebound – food that is simple, familiar, and often has emotional ties and pleasant memories, especially of childhood.

With the major snowfalls in the East this past week, there have been lots of recipes posted on the web for snow ice cream, maple syrup over snow – most of which caution using freshly fallen clean snow! Most of the recipes and food talk has been about hearty, belly satisfying food and sweet, perhaps soul satisfying food.

Right now my view from my windows is of snow coming down heavily and blowing sideways.  I can’t help but wonder if my friend – or maybe her kids – made chocolate chip cookies today.

The good thing is that having a snowball fight or shoveling snow (for a 150 pound person,15 minutes of shoveling burns about 100 calories) is one way to burning off some those comfort food calories.

How Many Chemicals Are You Wearing?

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How many chemicals are you wearing today?

The SocialDieter usually talks about food that you put INTO your body, but results of this UK poll of 2016 women and what they put ON their bodies is a real eye opener.

As reported in Reuters, the average British woman who uses deodorant, body and facial moisturizer, perfume, hair products, lipstick, foundation, and other make-up, unknowingly adorns her body with about 515 chemicals every day. Apparently, moisturizers contain around 30 chemicals and perfume up to 400 chemicals in their ingredients.  It seems the more high tech we get in trying to improve the way we look and smell, them more chemicals we layer on.

More amazing stats: of the women who took part in the study, more than 1/3 did not know the key ingredients in the toiletries they use and 9% were aware of most of the ingredients in their cosmetics.  More than 70% of women polled said that they weren’t concerned about the number of chemicals they were slathering on their skin, and only 1 in 10 shopped for chemical-free toiletries.

So, what chemical soup is your skin wearing today? We’re becoming more conscious about what’s in the food we put into our bodies — perhaps it’s time to become more aware about what’s in the products we put on our bodies, too. Even if you already are, would you have guessed that the average number of chemicals in those products is 515?

Supergood and Superbad Superbowl Food

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Superbowl cookies

Superbowl:  football, commercials, halftime show, and food!

It’s amazing how food has become associated with football — from tailgating to the food for the game — which of course culminates in the Superbowl party.  There are plenty of choices and anyone can eat well — and even have room for an indulgence — if you have a plan and don’t get sidetracked by the array of very caloric and usually very fatty foods.

This list is just to point out some examples of potential pitfalls and some saving graces. Stick with grilled meat, veggies, baked chips rather than fried if you must have them, plain bread 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.  Try fruit for dessert.  Alcohol adds calories and dulls your mindful eating.  If you drink, intersperse each drink with water or club soda.  Take care of yourself and still have fun.  You’ll like yourself even more on Monday.

Enjoy the game. The SocialDieter would love to be watching the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.  There’s always next year!

Examples of food often found on Superbowl party tables:

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 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 carg=bs, 10g 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, .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

Ever Wonder About Restaurant Reviews (and reviewers)?

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Who were some of the famous restaurant reviewers?  Did they really keep their identity secret?  Did their reviews have a significant effect on the restaurant’s performance?

If you want to read about restaurant reviews and restaurant reviewers – and how the process has changed over the years, check out  Robert Sietsema’s, “Everyone Eats . . . but that doesn’t make you a restaurant critic,” the feature article in the January/February 2010 edition of the Columbia Journalism Review.

Sietsma, the restaurant critic for the Village Voice, talks about the different approaches of some famous reviewers and the effect the internet has had on restaurant reviewing through the proliferation of food blogs.

You can also read an interview with him in Gothamist where he also talks about his cover story for the Village Voice in which he calls Iron Chef America bogus after attending a taping of the show at the Food Network’s Chelsea studios.

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