Popcorn Attempt

                This past weekend, I had a few friends over, and I made some popcorn. It was bad popcorn. Think a tad charred and too salty. I had tried to make kettle corn. I have successfully made it in the past, but have not in the past many years. Standard kernels popped over the stove top in oil I can do. But adding sugar and caramelizing it to perfection without getting it burned—I can’t replicate my past results! This is where my popcorn ended up: in the garbage can.

popcorn that didn't work out

 How to pop popcorn kernels the simpler way:

1. You need a large pot. Cover the bottom with oil, and add 2 kernels of popcorn.
2. Heat on medium to high flame until both kernels pop.
3. Now add enough kernels to cover the bottom of the pot.
4. Once you hear the kernels start to pop, give the pot a shake every 10 seconds or so to prevent burning.
5. When the popping slows down, turn the stove off.
6. Pour the popcorn into a paper bag, sprinkle with salt, and shake well

                When you do that, you should get this:

                Onto the nutrition now. Popcorn itself is considered a whole grain. Three cups of air-popped popcorn contains 90 calories, 3 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber. Popcorn popped over the stove top in oil and microwave popcorn are another story. The added fats and/or sugar in those make the popcorn a high calorie food. The calorie content in those versions can be double or more the calories in air-popped popcorn. Be an educated eater!

                If anyone has advice on how to make kettle corn, let me know!

Healthy Potatoes?

                Somehow, potatoes have gotten a bad rap. In the United States, potatoes are the most commonly consumed vegetables[1]. Yes, potatoes are technically a vegetable, although from a macronutrient standpoint, they are a carbohydrate food, with 15gm of carbohydrates in ½ cup. They are high in vitamin C and potassium, like many other vegetables. Sweet potatoes have an added bonus of vitamin A. 

Are potatoes healthy? They definitely can be part of a healthy diet for most people. We all need carbohydrates, and potatoes are definitely an option there. Just keep an eye out for the portion size…and how they are prepared.

Nutrient Content of Various Potato Dishes[2]

	Calories	Carbohydrate (g)	Fat (g)	Fiber (g)
Small white potato, with skin (138g)	134	37	0	4
Small sweet potato, no skin (138g)	105	24	0	3
½ cup mashed potatoes, made with oil (115g)	121	15	6	2
Medium size fast food serving  French fries (117g)	378	50	18	5

                Now you can ask, “which are better: white potatoes or sweet potatoes?” You will notice some nutrient differences. Overall, I would say to just have a variety of carbohydrate foods. Maybe today’s dinner will have sweet potatoes, tomorrow’s dinner will have white potatoes, the next night winter squash, and another night a whole grain pita. Yes there are some nutrient differences, but they are minute in the scheme of an entire diet. Choose a carbohydrate, and more often than not, choose the carbohydrate that has fiber and less added oil or fat.

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[1] State of the plate: 2015 study on America’s consumption of fruits & vegetables. Produce for Better Health Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2017. <https://www.pbhfoundation.org/pdfs/about/res/pbh_res/State_of_the_Plate_2015_WEB_Bookmarked.pdf>

[2] USDA Food Composition Databases. United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed November 8, 2017. < https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list>

Snacks

                What is a healthy snack? What is a snack anyway?  Any food can be a snack. Strictly speaking, a snack is something we eat between meals. Remember, though, that we don’t necessarily need to be eating between meals. Sometimes we eat between meals out of habit. For example, every day I eat a cheese stick at 10am, so today I will also eat a cheese stick at 10am. I may or may not even be hungry. From a nutrition standpoint, the goal of a snack is provide necessary energy and nutrients between meals. Snacks can also prevent us from getting too hungry before the next meal. This is important, because when we are too hungry, it becomes very hard to make good decisions of what to eat and how much to eat at the next meal.  A general guideline is that most people need to eat every 3-4 hours or so. If your meals are 4 hours apart, a snack between them is likely not necessary. It is generally a good idea to have a snack if you would be going 6-8 hours between meals.

                Now I can move on to what a healthy snack is. (As a disclaimer, this may not apply to you if you have a medical condition that changes your nutrition requirements.) In general, a healthy snack will have protein or fiber in it. That is important because both of those nutrients help us stay full. Usually a snack is fairly low in calories so it does not become a meal by itself.  

                Below you will find a list of suggested ideas for snacks. Notice that they all contain different amounts of nutrients and calories.

	Calories	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Protein (g)	Fat (g)
1 hardboiled  egg	70	0	0	7	4
¼ cup peanuts	207	6	3	9	18
½ cup almonds	207	8	5	8	18
½ can tuna fish with ½ Tbsp mayo on 2 rice cakes	195	80	3	18	7
1 Tbsp nut butter on 1 slice whole grain bread	177	18	3	8	9
6oz low fat plain Greek yogurt	125	7	0	17	3
6oz low fat plain Greek yogurt with 4 strawberries	140	11	1	17	3
1 low fat cheese stick	50	1	0	7	3
1 cup 1% milk	102	12	0	8	2
½ cup low fat cottage cheese	81	3	0	14	1
1 cup carrot strips	50	11	3	1	0
1 cup pepper sticks	18	4	2	1	0
1 Tbsp hummus with 1 cup carrot sticks	75	13	4	2	1
10 cherry tomatoes	31	7	2	2	0
¼ packed cup raisins	123	33	2	1	0
1 cup grapes	62	16	1	1	0
1 medium apple	95	25	4	0	0
1 medium banana	105	27	3	1	0
1 medium orange	62	15	3	1	0
2 cups air popped popcorn	62	12	2	2	1

                In the comments section below, let me know which snacks you are interested in learning the nutrition information for.

Is honey better?

Were you wondering if honey is better than sugar? “Well, it’s natural,” you might say, “so it must be better.”

Let’s take a look and compare.

	Honey	Table Sugar	Brown Sugar
Calories per teaspoon	22	16	17
Chemical makeup	mostly fructose and glucose	sucrose	sucrose
What it becomes in your body	glucose	glucose	glucose
What else is in it?	very small amounts of vitamins and minerals	nothing	Molasses, very small amounts of minerals

If you are aiming for the lowest calories, white sugar is the one. The amount of vitamins and minerals in honey and brown sugar are so small, that they frankly add an insignificant amount to what you eat in a day. If your goal is to eat more vitamins and minerals, have a fruit or vegetable as a snack, as honey and brown sugar are not good sources of those.

If you are wondering what to add to your tea or coffee, I would suggest choosing whichever one you like best, and limiting it to 1 teaspoon. Although they differ slightly in calories, in the scheme of things, a 6 calorie difference is not going to alter much.

Good nutrition is not going to come from choosing honey or table sugar or brown sugar. Good nutrition involves an attitude you have when making food choices the entire day.