health
Food Court Frenzy
Alas, the winter holiday season is upon us. Then again, judging by commercials, radio stations, and public decorations, Christmas was probably unfolding itself before Thanksgiving menus were even considered. With this wonderful time of festivity comes the massive onslaught of end-of-semester papers, projects, exams, and that dreadful feeling of "What have I even been doing all this time! (Facebooking)"
Oh yeah, don't forget that joyous experience known as Christmas shopping. Nothing more annoying than standing in long lines at Best Buy or stressing over the fact that you don't know what to buy your mother except the good old scented candle and a pair of earrings. So as you're trucking around the mall, your term paper thesis competing with your shopping list in the chaos of your mind, the last thing you're probably worried about is how healthy the mall food is. I'm not going to lie-- it's pretty unhealthy. That doesn't mean you can't find anything! I've been skimming the various fast food chains and food court favorites for reasonable chow, and here's what I've found:
Panda Express
-Mushroom Chicken (130 calories, 6 g fat with 1.5 g saturated)
-Broccoli Beef (150 calories, 7 g fat with 1.5 g sat)
-Tangy Shrimp (150 calories, 5 g fat with 1 g sat)
-Side soup (88 - 110 calories, 2.2 - 3.5 g fat)
-Veggie Spring Roll (80 calories, 3.5 g fat with 1 g sat)
-Mixed Vegetables (90 calories, 7 g fat with 1 g sat)
Sbarro Pizza
-Plain, Mushroom, or Fresh Tomato & Basil New York Style Thin Crust (around 460 calories and 13-14 g fat per slice)
McDonald's
-Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich, hold the mayo (370 calories, 4.5 g fat)
-Premium Asian Salad with Grilled Chicken (300 calories, 10 g fat from the heart-healthy almonds and soybeans)
-Fruit & Yogurt Parfait (160 calories, 2 g fat)
Burger King
-BK Veggie Burger, no mayo (340 calories, 8 g fat but only 1 saturated fat)
Taco Bell
-Fresco Style Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco (170 calories, 4 g fat)
-Fresco Cruncy Taco (150 calories, 8 g fat with 2.5 g being saturated)
Subway
-6" Oven-Roasted Chicken Breast (310 calories, 5 g fat)
-6" Veggie Delite (230 calories, 3 g fat)
-Various soups: Cream of Broccoli, Minestrone, Clam Chowder, Chicken Noodle, Spanish Chicken with Rice, Tomato Garden Vegetable, Vegetable Beef (about 160 calories or less)
KFC
-Honey BBQ Sandwich (280 calories, 3.5 g fat)
-Tender Roast Sandwich, hold the sauce (300 calories, 4.5 g fat)
Chick-fil-A
-Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich (270 calories, 3 g fat)
-Chargrilled & Fruit Salad (290 calories, 8 g fat)
Jack in the Box
-Asian Chicken Salad with Grilled Chicken Strips (160 calories, 1.5 g fat)
-Chicken Fajita Pita, hold the salsa (300 calories, 9 g fat)
Halloween Week
Halloween this Friday! On a day devoted to candy, it's pretty hard to eat healthy. I say, indulge a bit! Be festive! Maybe tune in a little Vampire Weekend, paint your face, carve a pumpkin. Whatever makes you happy.
Think eating candy here and there is better than more at once? Think again. Nibbling throughout the night will continually soak your teeth in sugar and acid, and such exposure leads to tooth decay. You probably don't want to have a filling next time you're at home and your mom makes you go to the dentist. If you eat an allotted amount of sweets at one time and then brush your teeth afterwards, you'll decrease your chances of cavities.
Going to a party but don't know what you can possibly bring from your wee dorm or apartment? Some healthier and accessible recipes:
SUPER EASY
Dracula's Blood (At least you are getting calcium?)
1/2 cup cold low-fat milk
3 Tbsp. instant vanilla pudding
1 drop of red food coloring
Mix it all up. One box of pudding will make 4 servings of BLOOD.
Black Cauldron Dip (One way to trick ourselves into eating veggies)
Black food coloring
Ranch salad dressing
Prepackaged raw veggie sticks
Just mix until desired color is achieved. Or use green food coloring for "slime."
MODERATELY EASY
Bloody Popcorn Balls 
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
5 cups popped popcorn
extra butter for handling
Red food coloring
1. Place air-popped popcorn in a large bowl and set aside.
2. In a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl, combine honey, sugar, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon butter. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high or to 275 degrees F for 5-7 minutes. Add red food coloring and stir.
3. Pour honey mixture over popcorn and stir to coat with a wooden spoon then set aside to cool.
4. After thoroughly washing your hands first, butter your hands then shape popcorn into balls.
Makes 6 popcorn balls.
[From Public Health Seattle & King County]
Jack-o-Lantern Smoothies (Pour this into festive cups/glasses.) 
1 cup canned sweet potato
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp. unpacked brown sugar
1 small banana
2 cups of 1% milk (or your choice)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Cinnamon to taste
5 ice cubes or more as desired to increase volume
Blend it in a blenda! Serves about four 8-oz. glasses.
Estimated Stats per Serving: 148 calories, 1.4 g fat, 28 g carb, 2.3 g fiber, 6.8 g protein. Not bad for Halloween.
[http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=405794 ]
Breakfast in the Dorm
Bland? Boring? Doesn’t have to be! The varieties of instant oatmeal and cereal can be dizzying. Be humble with your food choices, pay attention to what you eat, and you may realize there is more flavor to food than how much you can stuff yourself with. Choose quality in health over quantity in bulk. (Ramen noodles, anyone?)
If you’re fortunate enough to have a small fridge, you can stock up on whatever fresh fruit is on sale, tons of different yogurt flavors, and milk. Activia Light yogurt is fantastic in raspberry, blueberry, vanilla, peach, or strawberry/banana. Buy a tub of plain fat-free yogurt or cottage cheese and add your own fruit, if that is less expensive. Cereals like all bran, Uncle Sam’s whole wheat flakes, grape nuts, cheerios, or unfrosted mini wheats can be paired with skim milk, plain or flavored soy milk, rice milk or almond milk. If you aren’t used to the hearty, earthy tastes of those relatively unsweetened grains, adding a few pieces of your favorite sweet cereal or berries can help ease you in.
With a carton of egg beaters, a bowl and a microwave, you can cook yourself a scrambled egg in about 1 minute. Make a b-fast sandwich or wrap with some salsa and canned black beans or refried beans, if you’d like! Got a freezer? Whole-grain frozen waffles. Got a toaster? PBJ or PB-Banana toast. Apparently, there are even toaster pastries, much like Poptarts, but with more beneficial fiber from the brand Fiber One.
If you don’t have a fridge, like me this semester, instant oatmeal is your best friend. Quaker’s Weight Control is my current go-to with flavors like Maple Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, and Banana Bread (loaded with fiber and protein). Kashi’s Hot Cereals, like Truly Vanilla or Honey & Cinnamon, are rich as well. Add water & microwave down the hall. BAM! Warm whole grain action in my belly, and I’m off to Intro.to Literature.
So maybe it’s not your mama’s homemade spread. So what? Make the best of it!
A Sweet Quick-Whip: Peanut Butter-Banana Trifles
Time: 10 minutes or less Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain fat-free or low-fat yogurt (or soy yogurt)
- 1 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter, no sugar added
- 1 Tbsp. honey (or maple syrup)
- 1 large banana, sliced
- 1 cup whole grain or multigrain cereal
In a bowl, whisk/stir together yogurt, PB & honey/syrup until smooth. Divide ¼ cup each yogurt mixture among two glasses. Top with half banana slices and half the cereal. Repeat layers one more time. FIN.
Coffee, coffee, coffee.
I don't know any other way to put this confessional: I love coffee. Not because I'm consciously craving caffeine. For me, it's all about the smooth taste, the rich aroma, and the cozy ambience associated. I love wrapping my fingers around a warm mug while burrowing into a snug nook of the coffeehouse, the rocking chair in my family room, or even that cinderblock corner of my dorm. When I wanted to help around my mom's kitchen, I would grind the dark roasted beans to a fine grain and start the coffee maker. Sharing coffee was a gateway to sharing experience, thoughts, both daily and philosophical. Coffee created a connection so that I could tell my dad I was worried about my college choices or that I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my life.
And they say loving coffee is a bad thing? Studies have shown that drinking 24 oz. of coffee a day decreases your risk of Parkinson's disease by 40% and your risk of Alzheimer's disease by about 20%. Coffee may reduce the risk of diabetes, heart attack, gallstones, kidney stones, and cirrhosis. According to You: The Owner's Manual by Michael F. Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., "caffeine is substantial . . . It can help you live three to six months longer." Apparently, coffee even has a significant amount of antioxidants (http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20050808/coffee-is-no-1-source-of-antioxidants). Supposedly just the aroma can boost your mood. You're energized, satisfied, glowing.
Of course, like anything, there are drawbacks. Coffee is probably not so good for the calcium in your bones, and no one wants osteoporosis when they're older. Adding skim milk to your coffee, having a skim milk latte or cappuccino, would combat that effect. Also, some people are caffeine-sensitive, like one of my best friends. Coffee, like other dark beverages, can stain your teeth. Great. There goes my chance at Hollywood. However, drinking water after your coffee can help rinse the residue away. Brushing your teeth or chewing gum afterwards is useful, too.
The most irritating thing about food research is that they always have contradictions. Coffee is good, coffee is bad. Soy is good, soy is bad. You can only read so much before your brain explodes and you scream at the top of your silent lungs: How can I ever make the right choice? I'm just a human being!
Moderation. Having a cup or two of coffee every day? Probably not the end of the world. I like my coffee black or with a little skim or soy milk. I'm an amateur for a coffee connoisseur, but here are a few I know to be tasty: Dunkin Donuts, Green Mountain, La Madeleine's French Roast, Community Coffee. The coffee ‘smoothies' at Smoothie King? Insanely delicious and a much safer bet than the loaded iced coffees, mocha shakes, and java chillers of various other chains. (Beware.) According to my father, the coffee nut I inherit from, even McDonald's premium roast is just fine. (You may have to ask how fresh the coffee is. From my experience working there, the pot is just left on the burner for a long time. Burnt coffee is a no-go.)
What's important is to keep track of what you add to your coffee. Skip the pure creamers, syrups, and sugar packets. Spice it up with a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg. Coffee should energize you, not weigh you down!
Since Starbucks is pretty much accessible anywhere and has installed sites on some college campuses, here are a few recommendations for you to get your coffee fix without overdoing it.
Safe Starbucks Stints (Tall)
- Hot Brewed Coffee (without sugar or cream) - 5 calories
- Nonfat Cappuccino - 60 calories
- Nonfat Caffé Latte - 100 calories
- Nonfat Caramel Macchiato, hot or iced - 140 calories, 1 g fat
- Nonfat Sugar-Free Vanilla Latte, hot or iced - 90 calories
- Iced Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte - 60 calories
- Caffé Americano, hot or iced - 10 calories [note: this is not milky like your caffé latte or sweet; it's plain espresso with hot water... aka very bitter for most people]
- Iced Coffee "with classic syrup" - 60 calories
- Iced Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte - 60 calories
New to the scene, the healthy menu at Starbucks is useful for college students in a hurry. Such options include: whole-grain oatmeal with dried fruits or nuts; a whole-grain pastry baked with berries; a chewy fruit & nut bar; a multigrain roll with your choice of almond butter or fruit preserves; an apple bran muffin; or a protein plate of cheddar cheese, fruit, hard-boiled egg, whole-wheat bagel and peanut butter.
Makes my instant oatmeal packet seem kind of forlorn...
Some Sites to Check Out on Coffee:
- http://www.webmd.com/community/healthy-weight-8/coffee ("The Buzz on Coffee" on WebMD Health News)
- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4346042/ ("Water good, coffee bad? Ain't necessarily so" on MSNBC Health)
The Fitness Guru with a Plan
For those under the age of 30, health is rarely a top priority. But, a certain fitness guru from the Windy City has a simple plan of action to get college students in shape by the year 2010. Join our Chicago writer, Dennise Pineda for the details.
So the foodventure begins.
Rinsing the dark green grape leaves in the sink, fluffing the hot rice spiced with cinnamon, my mother was passing Lebanese heritage to me through pots and pans. For the labor-intensive recipe of dolmas, or stuffed grape leaves, we spent hours preparing and rolling little bundles of tastebud joy for the special occasion of my father's birthday. Stuffed grape leaves are his favorite. As a "chip off the old block," they are also mine.
Needless to say, as a college student, I do not have time to spend hours working on my great-grandmother's recipe nor the money to purchase "exotic" or fancy ingredients. I no longer have my own kitchen. My mom and I aren't cooking dinner anymore; I'm eating at a dining hall where everything is pre-selected and cooked for me. I want to eat healthy, but the environment and options have completely changed. The last thing I want to hear is the looming Freshman 15.
Simply put, convenience and nutrition don’t go hand-in-hand without some planning and good references. When you’re a college student, running from class to work to clubs to impromptu friend gatherings, it can be hard to eat right. With a whirlwind of brain-consuming activities, we tend to overlook one of the most basic yet important aspects of our lives: our health. (Especially around this time of year! Notice any classmates sniffling and downing coughdrops like M&Ms?)
Learn about food, and we learn about ourselves. We learn how to give our bodies enough energy to feel good and fight sickness. We learn about our heritage through family recipes passed down. We celebrate our holidays with feasts. We share conversation, memories, confidance over food with our friends. Food brings us together.
Now? Food is bringing me to you. My name’s Ann Cochran. In brevity, I’m a short, stubborn “health-nut” with a penchant for dessert, coffee, and cereal. (Make sense? Nooope!) Am I a bonafide nutritionist or gourmet chef? Nope. But I want to learn how to make good choices when I’m browsing the dining halls, when I’m overwhelmed by the zillion ways to dress up a cup of coffee at Starbucks, when I’m on the run and faced with fast-food chains. If I have access to a small kitchen, or even just a microwave, I want to know how best to cook easy, quick, delicious meals. I’m going to collect tips and techniques here, saute it with a little extra virgin olive oil, and spice it with some crushed red pepper for your convenience.
Don’t you want to live well, live long, live light? Live with zest. Live your life!
-Ann
P.S. Next time: The Skinny on Starbucks!
