Recipes & Tips For The Dietetic Student
The Intelligent Italian
Finally, a weekend at home. I love being with my family and our traditions. However, one of our Friday traditions happens to be one of my biggest love-hate relationships: Pizza Flair. Don’t let its name fool you. This Italian restaurant is as authentic as “Ciao, Bella” (the only Italian I know). Unfortunately, along with its authentic feel and menu comes hundreds of calories and tens of grams of fat, aka a dieter’s worst nightmare. Luckily, tonight I came prepared. I knew exactly what I wanted. One and a half slices of crispy cheese pizza, amounting to 330 calories and 10.5g of fat. Not bad. Also lucky for me, my family agreed and we ordered an enormous 16″ cheese pizza. Split between the four of us, about two slices a person (gave half of my slice to my dad, a fair trade considering he’s a great ten inches taller than me!).
Phew! A Friday diet tragedy was completely averted. I thought I’d help you get through your nights out at an Italian restaurant with my Top 5 Ways a student nutritionist can Survive an Italian Restaurant:
- Plan ahead. Even if your attending a local restaurant like Pizza Flair, do your research about your favorite meal on one of the great calorie counting websites like calorieking.com. You may have to substitute, but it will do the job.
- Eat a slice of bread OR pasta, but not both. Italian is known for its high carbohydrate content. Don’t sabotage yourself by overloading.
- Order seafood. Italian cuisine is full of seafood that’s delicious. Just make sure you don’t order it fried, and, if possible, ask for it without fat.
- Munch on a salad. Whether it’s an appetizer or your meal, salads are a great way to fill up. Order dressing on the side and dip your fork in it with each bite. You’ll be amazed at how much less dressing you use.
- Make one meal into two. You can split a plate of spaghetti with your sweetie Lady and the Tramp style or take half home in a doggie bag. You’ll save yourself hundreds of calories and a couple of bucks too!
I hope my tips help! Let me know your survival tricks for making it through an Italian meal. As always, enjoy!
No Excuses for not drinking enough water!!
Did you know our bodies are 60 percent water? Did you know that the average American only drinks 4 glasses of water a day? And yet, the average American drinks 2 cans of soda per day? We are at a place in our world where all our drinks are flavored, overly sugared, and stuffed with calories. We need to change our drinks from sugary to satisfying. There are literally NO benefits to drinking soda! It’s just a sugary liquid doughnut. The average soda has 140 calories. If you replaced those 2 cans of soda with 2 glasses of water every day for a year, you would save 102,200 calories! That’s 29 pounds! Just from drinking a little more water!
Diet sodas are not a great alternative either. Even though they don’t have any calories, a can is still packed with sodium. This sodium content makes you feel bloated and retain water. It can even prevent you from losing weight.
Alternatives:
- WATER!!!! It is nature’s choice for a refreshing beverage. Drink an average of 8 glasses (8 oz each) a day. I do this by drinking a tall glass, about 15 oz, each time I eat. So, 5 times a day. That way, I ensure that I’m getting more than enough hydration.
- Juice. I tend not to drink my calories so I don’t normally drink juice, but it is a great way to include a little flavor in your beverages, with the added vitamins, minerals, and other goodies that also come in fruits. Try to limit yourself to 1 glass a day and get your servings of fruit from whole fruits. They’re more filling and even better for you.
- Skim milk or milk substitutes. Milk is a great beverage. It is chalk full of nutrients that are needed to maintain a healthy weight and strong bones. However, stay away from fatty milk. There is no need to include this in your dairy consumption unless you are a small toddler, or underweight.
My friend will kill me for this (he is a milk-aholic), but try to vary your dairy consumption. Don’t drink all your dairy away, cheeses and yogurts have great nutritional values too like healthy bacteria and fiber. As far as milk substitutes, I love almond milk. It’s a great substitute to cow’s milk. There is a bit of a trade off between them: 1 cup of skim milk has 90 calories and 0g of fat, while the same volume of almond milk has 40 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. This amount of fat is still better than 2% milk, but obviously more than skim. However, I only use my milk for cereal (1/2 cup) so half the calories and 1.8g of fat is worth it to me. It depends on your main use of milk.
What healthy drinks are you currently learning about in your college nutritional program? Do you drink enough water every day? Enjoy!
The Perfect Breakfast For College Students
This breakfast is great. I made this recipe as a breakfast for dinner last night and my friends gobbled it up! Even better, it had less than half the calories of a “normal” French toast, bacon, fruit, and yogurt breakfast!
Featherweight French Toast 2 slices of Pepperidge Farms light toast (45 calories a slice) 1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract 2 tablespoons Mrs. Butterworth's Sugar Free syrup
- Combine the egg substitute, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a shallow dish for dipping.
- Dip your bread into the egg combination.
- Place in a non-stick pan (spray with non-stick spray) for a few minutes. Flip the bread once it becomes firmer.
- Cook until the bread is golden brown on both sides.
- Once done cooking, remove the bread from the pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and Splenda to taste. (Remember: Cinnamon has a VERY strong flavor. Use it sparingly.)
- Add your syrup on top for the finishing touch.
Nutrition Facts: (2 slices) 140 calories, 0.7g fat, 25g carbohydrates
Now that your toast is done, cook 2 strips of turkey bacon in a pan until they are nice and crispy. My favorite is Butterball Lower Sodium Turkey Bacon. Just a reminder, turkey bacon isn’t as fatty as regular bacon, so it won’t get as crispy as you might expect.
Nutrition Facts: (2 slices) 50 calories, 3g fat, 0g carbohydrates
To complete your meal, cut yourself half a medium sized banana (a medium banana is about 7 inches long), measure out half a cup of fresh blueberries, and grab a Dannon Light and Fit yogurt from the fridge.
Nutrition Facts: (half a banana) 53 calories, 0.3g fat, 12g carbohydrates
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup blueberries) 21 calories, 0g fat, 4g carbohydrates
Nutrition Facts: (6oz. Dannon Light and Fit) 80 calories, 0g fat, 15g carbohydrates
And voila! You have just created a meal of French toast, bacon, fruit, and yogurt for under 350 calories! It’s so fulling you won’t even miss the extra fat and calories you left behind. Give it a try for yourself, you’ll never look at French toast the same way again. Let me know what you think!
Total Meal Nutrition Facts: (1 meal) 344 calories, 4g fat, 56 carbohydrates
PB&C Crispies
If you’re anything like me, you are a chocoholic. I love anything chocolate. My friend even says I like, “Chocolate chocolate dipped in chocolate covered in chocolate.” So, I’m always trying to find new ways to incorporate my addiction to my healthy lifestyle, which isn’t easy considering the nutritional value of chocolate – or lack there of. Here’s a great way to get your chocolate fix without wrecking your diet, with a little peanut butter, too!
PB&C Crispies 7 cups Kix puffed cereal 3 cups miniature marshmallows 2 tablespoons Land O Lakes whipped butter 2 tablespoons Nestle Semi-Sweet Morsels (miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips) 1/2 tablespoon Jif Natural creamy peanut butter
- Melt the whipped butter in a large pot on medium heat.
- Add the miniature marshmallows and allow them to melt completely.
- Once the marshmallows are melted, take the pot of the burner. Add the Kix cereal to the pot and mix until the ingredients are entirely integrated.
- Pour the mixture into a 9×13 pan. To make a smooth layer of crispies, spray your hands with non-stick spray and work with the mixture into the desired shape. It will keep your hands from getting all marshmallowy! Cool, huh?
- Measure out the semi-sweet chocolate chips and pour into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 2 cycles of 30 seconds, stirring after both cycles.
- Add the peanut butter to the melted chocolate and mix. Microwave the mixture for 10 seconds to keep its liquid consistency.
- Spoon the chocolate, peanut butter mixture into a small sandwich bag. Snip a small piece of a corner off of the sandwich bag to make a piping bag.
- Drizzle the chocolate, peanut butter mixture over the treats.
- Allow the crispies to sit until the chocolate dries, and then cut into 25 bars
- ….Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts: (1 crisipie) 54 calories, 1.2g fat, 10g carbohydrates
Let me know what you think!