1. Enjoy a cup of delicious mixed citrus fruits– orange, tangerine, grapefruit, Clementine– for breakfast plus a small carton of plain yogurt and a slice of Tuscan bread toast thinly spread with fig jam.
2. Grab a small sandwich for lunch. Unlike in the US, sandwiches in Florence are small and filled with just enough flavorful meat, cheese, and veggies to be satisfying. Order your choice at Il Due Fratellini, sit on the curb, and enjoy.
3. Make a meal of ribollita, the classic Tuscan winter soup packed with “black cabbage” (also called Tuscan kale), Swiss chard, zucchini, cannellini beans, and pieces of Tuscan bread. After eating it as a starter, I was so full that my meal ended right there.
4. Eat gelato in small sizes. The real stuff– we enjoyed it at Vivoli– is made with just milk, eggs, sugar, and real flavors. Order the smallest size cup, ask for small tasting spoons of a few different flavors, and pick your favorite.
5. Enjoy a glass of Tuscan wine. Chianti, Chianti Classico, and Brunello di Montalcino all are made from the dark, rich Sangiovese grape. A modest glass is only 100 to 150 calories.
6. Walk everywhere. Florence is a surprisingly small and accessible city with historic and gastronomic sites at every turn.

I’m leaving for Florence, Italy, Thursday, February 11th to attend a food trends conference. It winds up on the 16th.

The conference kicks off on Friday with a presentation about the Tuscan landscape with stories about Florentine and Tuscan cuisine and a short history of how foods like extra-virgin olive oil, zolfini beans, truffles, and many other foods are used in the Tuscan kitchen. What’s not to love?! When I get back my postings will resume. Thanks for stopping by!

Last night, we had the pleasure of eating in Greek restaurant called Ethos, located at 1st Avenue and 50th Street in Manhattan. Pretty restaurant, good service, delicious food. Using their menu as a guide, here are a few healthier picks when you’re dining Greek.

1. Tsatziki – Even if it’s made with whole milk yogurt (not sure if it is), you can’t go wrong with this garlicky cucumber-yogurt dip that’s lower in fat and higher in calcium than dips made with sour cream.
2. Gigantes – My personal favorite, they’re super-sized lima beans simmered in an herb and tomato sauce. Rich in fiber, which can be lacking in most restaurant dishes.
3. Greek salad – The trick is to eat smart (check out 400-Calorie Fix for a guide to portion). Say yes to the tomato, cucumber, red peppers, lettuce, and olives, with about a thumb-sized ounce of feta, one or two stuffed grape leaves, and dressing on the side used sparingly.
4. Grilled fish or seafood – Whichever you like best, including whole fish, fillets, shrimp, or octopus.
5. Bread – Limit pita to four or six triangles, depending on the size. Pita calories can add up quickly.

Tuesday, February 2
Added 3 parsnips, 3 carrots, and 3 onions to an Indian soup mix of lentils, split peas, and barley, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and curry powder.

Wednesday, February 3
Down to the wire with just a couple of carrots, a few potatoes, and some very small onions. Next pick-up is Saturday!

[ Photo credit: lapoli via Flickr ]

1. Slimmer, high calcium dips — Make your own Greek-style yogurt by placing plain yogurt in a coffee filter and allowing whey to drain off. Use instead of sour cream.
2. MUFA-rich Mexican bean dip – Whip up a bowl of Black Bean-Chipotle Dip from my new book, 400 Calorie Fix, and visit the book website for other snack ideas.
3. All-white protein-packed chicken wings – Oven-fry chicken breast strips and coat with wing sauce. Look for my recipe in 101 Optimal Life Foods, by David Grotto, RD, LDN, and coming soon to the Almond Board of California website.
   
4. Grease-free pita chips – Separate pita bread into two disks, cut into 8 wedges, and bake at 250° F until crisp.
5. Brit-inspired beer– Cut beer calories in half by making a beer shandy with equal amounts of beer and calorie-free lemonade.

And here is the update on my CSA bounty:

Thursday, January 28
Shredded and braised the entire head of cabbage with 1 sliced onion, 1 chopped Granny Smith apple, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and 1 teaspoon caraway seeds. Best after 24 hours in the fridge.

Saturday, January 30
Homemade whole wheat crust pizza topped with a thin layer of pureed tomatoes, 1 1/2 pounds of sliced, caramelized onions, 1 pound of trimmed, sliced, blanched Russian kale, and grated part-skim mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Sunday, January 31
Roasted 1 1/2 pounds of beets at 425° F until soft, peeled, sliced, and topped with balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of salt.

Monday, February 1
Cut several potatoes and remaining celery root into small cubes, drizzled with olive oil, and roasted. Seasoned with McCormick’s salt-free Italian seasoning blend and a sprinkle of sea salt.

As in past years, I joined the Bialas Farms winter CSA this year for access to seeming oxymoron of farm-fresh vegetables in January and February. The first load of veggies came and went, leaving us with just a few carrots at the end of the two week period between deliveries. Here’s what we received in the second batch, picked up last Saturday, and the start of a daily account of what we’re doing with it.

Beets, 2 pounds
Butternut squash, 2 pounds
Cabbage, 3 pounds
Carrots, 3 pounds
Celery root, 1 pound
Onions, 3 pounds
Parsnips, 1 pound
Potatoes (small), 4 pounds
Russian kale, 1 pound

Saturday, January 23 – Monday, January 25
3 carrots, 5 cabbage leaves, 3 potatoes added to a stir-fry

Tuesday, January 26
Big pan of roasted veggies – 3 beets, 3 carrots, 1/4 of the celery root, 6 onions, 2 parsnips, 6 potatoes – seasoned with olive oil, herbes de Provence, kosher salt and served with baked salmon topped with herbed goat cheese.

Wednesday, January 27
2 carrots, a chunk of celeriac, and 3 small onions, all diced and added to slow-cooker 3-bean soup.

It depends. High calorie ingredients like cream, butter, and cheese certainly can set back the best waist-watching efforts. So can big portion sizes. Researchers from Cornell University found that recipe portions have grown by about 35% in the cookbook classic, Joy of Cooking,. This means that a portion that was, say, 300 calories in an earlier edition, now is 400 calories. It takes only 25 days-worth of an extra 100 calories to gain a pound! So what can you do?

My colleague JoAnn Hattner, a San Francisco-based dietitian, suggests serving smaller portions and pairing higher calorie favorites (read it here: sfgate.com), like her creamy baked oysters, with lower calorie dishes. And get guidance from books like 400 Calorie Fix that feature tasty and even indulgent recipes in right-size portions.

The January 20 food section of the New York Times featured an article on the culture of snacking in the U.S., Snack Time Never Ends. In the article, columnist Jennifer Steinhauer laments the fact that American children are plied with snacks at every turn, in school, on the ball field, in the car, and at after-school activities. Certainly we snacked when I was a kid, but snacks were at set times, sometimes mid-morning, always mid-afternoon, and sometimes in the evening (back when my dad ate a piece of cherry pie while watching his favorite prime time shows). Snack had a mission – to quiet our hunger between meals, give us a kick of energy, and add nutrition. Not anymore. Snack is what kids do.

Now that I am of an age where I have to think about calories, I am very circumspect about my snacks. They have to be filling – I don’t want to down 300 calories in, say, a candy bar, just to be hungry 30 minutes later later. They have to be nutritious – every calorie really counts. They have a beginning, middle, and end – no non-stop snacking. And they have to taste good. That goes without saying. So here is a list of 5 great snacks for kids of all ages, in no particular order:

• Cookies and milk. Any kind of cookies (don’t kid yourself into thinking that some are that much healthier than others), as long as they weigh an ounce max (125-150 calories). Dunk in milk (80-100 calories per cup of skim or low-fat, and packed with calcium and protein).
• Peanut butter on graham crackers. For the peanut butter, smooth or chunky, natural or regular, whichever you like best (180 calories in 2 tablespoons); all types have a bit of protein, some fiber, and plenty of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. A couple squares of cinnamon (my favorite), honey, or chocolate have about 60 calories, and some brands are made from whole grain.
• Yogurt parfait. I don’t love super-sweet, so my parfait has a cup of calcium-rich low-fat plain yogurt (120-150 calories, depending on the brand) layered with a couple handfuls of cereal (maybe 80 calories) and a cup of frozen berries or half a banana, sliced (about 50 calories).
• Baked sweet potato. It’s a bit unusual, but what a great snack. Toss a medium-size sweet potato (100 calories) in the microwave until it’s mushy, slice open, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar or your favorite sweetener. It’s packed with fiber and important vitamins and minerals, and it’s really filling.
• Popcorn. Not movie theater popcorn. The stuff you make yourself in the microwave or in the air popper. Figure up to 100 calories for three cups. While it’s still hot, toss with 4 tablespoons of grated reduced fat cheese, any flavor (80 calories).

[ Photo credit: Denise Cross via Flickr ]

I got a lot of questions from the photo studio during the photo shoot for 400 Calorie Fix. Does the Cosi Signature Salad Light include bread in its 400-or-so calories? (No.) Do the 370 calories in the Baja Fresh Baja Ensalada with Savory Pork Carnitas include the extra packet of tortilla chips? (No.) What about the extra dressing or barbecue sauce tossed into the fast food bag? (No.) So I started thinking about restaurant calorie counts and how accurate they really are.

Researchers in Boston posed the same question in a study published in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. They found that the average actual calories in 29 different restaurant foods were slightly higher than what was stated, although some dishes has twice as many calories as the number posted. BUT, extra items that were provided free of charge along with the main item – bread, chips, and the like – more than DOUBLED the calories in the meal. So if you go into a quick-serve restaurant thinking that you’re ordering a 400 calorie meal, you might actually be served 800 calories.

How can you avoid falling into the calorie trap? Unfortunately, the folks serving your food probably don’t know which items are and are not included in the calorie calculations. So don’t even ask. Instead, you’ll need to do some sleuthing ahead of time on the restaurant website, or get ideas from the meals in 400 Calorie Fix.

Remember – if it looks like an extra food item, the calories probably are extra also. And the best news is that a growing number of restaurants are increasing their calorie-smart offerings, making it easier for you to follow your diet wherever you eat.

If you eat in New York City, Westchester County, New York, or any of a number of other cities and counties across the country, you may have noticed calorie counts on restaurant menus and signboards. Some of the numbers are reassuring – a plain cup of coffee at Starbucks is only 5 calories and a soft serve cone at McDonald’s weighs in at 150 (not many calories for a perfectly satisfying dessert). But others are pretty discouraging, like the 750-calorie tuna salad sandwich at my beloved Panera Bread; that’s almost half the calories I need for the whole day. I have to admit that the numbers on menus do affect what I order.

Not everyone notices the calorie counts or does anything about them. In fact, in some urban neighborhoods, patrons ordered higher calorie fast food meals when calories were posted. And in working on the 400 Calorie Fix, the new book that I co-authored with Prevention’s Liz Vaccariello, I learned that the average fast food order is over 800 calories! That’s why it is important to use calorie counts as a way to order a more sensible meal, like the study participants [http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2009.160226v1] who ordered 250 fewer calories when the restaurant supplied calorie info plus info on daily calorie needs.

Here are a few simple guidelines:

• Decide ahead of time on your own personal calorie limit, whether 400, 500, or 600 calories, and stick to it. (Adults generally need 1,600 to 2,000 or so calories per day.)
• Look for ways to fill up on lower calorie fare like salads (light dressing is best), non-creamy soups, and fruit. I’m also a big fan of yogurt parfaits.
• Save money by cutting your meal in half, making it last for two meals. Keep the leftovers in the fridge for no more than a day.