Deep-fat Frying for the Soul

This week, we’re going to discuss fried foods and why we like them so much. When we think of fried foods, we think of stuff like French fries, onion rings, chicken strips, etc. Deep-fat fryers are very common in almost every restaurant across America, and they can be a big moneymaker, especially in places like dive bars. The foods above aren’t the only things that can be fried, however; did you know you can fry a candy bar and a piece of pizza?

One of the newer traditions for Thanksgiving over the last couple decades or so has been to deep-fry a turkey. When a turkey has been deep-fried in peanut oil, it brings out the flavor of the bird so well while also having the juiciness and crispiness of the skin, creating a flavor explosion. This method is much faster than roasting a bird in the oven, which is why many people have chosen to deep-fry a turkey instead of using the oven. Cooking a turkey in a fryer can take about 30 minutes or so, depending on the size of the bird.

Frying foods can also be bad for our health. It seems that many of our food choices in America involve a hot, oily fryer to prepare them, but we eat the foods frequently. Many restaurants have resorted to using oils that contain no trans fats or has less cholesterol in them due to society looking for healthier alternatives to our crispy, deep-fried and fattening meals. Deep-fat frying will always be around and will always be a questionable way to prepare all our meals, but when used in moderation, frying your food will save you time and also give your food an added dimension that cannot be achieved by using an oven.

Do you eat deep-fried foods? What are some of your deep-fried favorites? Go ahead and create a list of how often you eat fried foods and what you tend to gravitate towards when you do. Would you eat those foods if they were cooked in an oven? Would they taste better? Let me know what you think about deep frying versus oven cooking.

Water: Mother Nature's Best Beverage

The topic we will be discussing today is water and why we need to incorporate this into our diets better. Water is something that we are surrounded by, whether it is salty or fresh, and it is vital to our survival. It can also be a good tool for dieting because of its flushing effects, and it also keeps us hydrated.

There are many different bottled water suppliers out there, but did you know that quite a bit of bottled water is actually from municipal sources? That means it is basically tap water, which is something we can get easily from our sinks at any time. This doesn’t mean that the water is bad, though some municipal supplies can be polluted with chemicals or other infectious bacteria.

How do we get more water into our daily lives, you ask? Well, try replacing that cup of coffee with a cold glass of water in the mornings. Even though water has no caffeine in it, it can be very refreshing in the morning because it is a great cure for the morning dry mouth. Many people don’t drink enough water on a daily basis, and this can lead to ill health effects such as dehydration and water intoxication (the latter is for drinking too much water).

Water is what makes the world work, in my opinion. I feel this way because our planet is covered with water, and this water has a huge effect on our daily lives. The weather can be spawned from water; fish need water to survive, and all land mammals need water at some point to survive. Without water, we would not be able to survive.

Try doing a count on how many glasses of water you drink in a day. If you are not drinking enough, find ways to incorporate more of it into your daily diet. If you get to a gallon a day, then you are definitely hydrating yourself properly. So pick up a cold glass (or bottle) of water and enjoy Mother Nature’s best beverage.

Soup for You!

This time, let’s talk about soup. We discussed different salad options in the previous post, so let’s look at the salad’s second cousin: soup. Like salads, soups are offered as part of a meal at many restaurants instead of a salad. There are many different options, such as chowders, Minestrone, chicken noodle, and so on. Soups can be warming to the soul, especially on a cold, winter day, but these can also have high fat and sodium contents, which is bad for our health.

Let’s look at chicken noodle soup for a moment. This is a classic soup for any age. Remember when your mother made homemade chicken noodle soup when you were sick? The feeling of the warm broth and the chicken just makes you feel better; however, due to the stocks that these soups are made of, the sodium content can be just as high as a large order of fries. Reducing sodium in this soup would be beneficial because it is enjoyed by people young and old, and by reducing the sodium content, it can be enjoyed without the feeling of being too salty for our bodies.

Now let’s talk chowder. These cream-based soups come in many different varieties, such as clam and chicken and corn. A soup like a New England Clam Chowder is a staple on the East coast, but it is also loaded with fat. The cream that makes the base of the soup is dairy, of course, and the fat content of that and the other ingredients makes it about half of our daily caloric intake. These soups have begun to have the fat content reduced, though they are still rich with calories. So when you think about having that chowder before your steak dinner, try going for a Minestrone instead. It’s a simple vegetarian classic and can be enjoyed by most anyone.

What do you prefer before your meal: Soup or salad? I, myself, prefer a salad before my meal, but if a restaurant has a unique soup that catches my attention, I wouldn’t mind straying from our leafy friends in a bowl for a hot bowl of soup. If you go to a restaurant within the next week, tell me if they offer a soup or salad before the meal. I want to know what you chose and why. Are you hungry for Mom’s chicken noodle soup yet?

Dressed-up Leafy Greens in a Bowl

The focus of this post is different salad options. There are many different variations out there—some are healthy, some are unhealthy. We all have different tastes and opinions when it comes to salads, so let’s discuss our leafy friends in a bowl.

Salads are usually served before a meal, especially in nicer restaurants where the salad is included in the price of the meal. Many restaurants offer options for these salads, such as a Caesar. We can also enjoy a salad as a main course, thanks to restaurants that offer salad bars as the main attraction, among other things; restaurants have come to offer many more salad options, whether big or small. Salads can be healthy for us, but it’s the little toppings and dressings that we douse them with that makes them unhealthy for us. When we use dressings like ranch, the caloric content increases thus making that healthy option unhealthy. Some of the healthier options are to use oil and vinegar, or just not use any dressing at all. That last option may seem boring, but that is how I eat many of my salads and the taste is much better, in my opinion.

Let’s look at toppings now. Croutons are a staple of many salads, along with bacon bits and chow-mein noodles. Many of these toppings are loaded with butter and/or fried, which makes them unhealthy for us in larger quantities; however, real bacon bits used in moderation can be a healthier option for a salad topping. If you really want to find a good crunch for salads, add some sunflower kernels in. What toppings do you like on your salads?

Try eating a salad without dressing and see how you like it. In addition, take a look at some of your salad dressings in the refrigerator. What are the nutrition facts for those dressings? If they are high in calories and fat, maybe think twice about using it and opting for the no-dressing option instead. Give it a shot!

Part Three: Combining Healthy and Unhealthy Snacking

We have arrived at Part Three: Combining healthy and unhealthy snacking without feeling guilty. How do you feel about healthy snacking? Unhealthy snacking? It is not impossible to combine the two into our daily lives because let’s face it—unhealthy snacks taste so much better! We will discuss some of the ways to balance the two, or create a yin and yang effect, so to speak.

Some of the things we can do to balance both types of snacking is to pick one unhealthy snack a day and have that be your indulgence. It can be buttered popcorn, cookies, or anything your heart desires. Pick that one unhealthy snack a day and go about your usual routine; one unhealthy snack a day shouldn’t hurt too many diets, especially if you keep them in check.

Another suggestion for balancing snacks even further is to have a list of your favorite unhealthy snacks, then choose one per week to be your indulging time. This will equal to four times a month, which would appeal to most health-conscious individuals that crave Oreos or chicken wings.

Speaking of chicken wings, they can be a good thing to eat because they come with carrots and celery, but be sure to ask for them on a separate plate because cold carrots and celery are much better than limp, soggy vegetables. One suggestion for chicken wings is to get them without sauces. Doing this can decrease the caloric intake and reduce the levels of sodium. Even though they are typically deep-fried, they can still be a good choice once in a while.

This concludes the three-part series on healthy and unhealthy snacking. Stay tuned for next week when we will discuss different salad options.

Part Two: Unhealthy Snacking

Now that we have talked about healthy snacking, let’s move on and talk about unhealthy snacking. This is something that many of us are guilty of, whether it’s eating those French fries or maybe that buttered popcorn at the movies. Nonetheless, we are all guilty of having those moods where we want something unhealthy for us. Overconsumption of these goodies, however, can lead to numerous health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, to name a few.

Looking at the various snacks that are available on the market, we have everything we could possibly want: chips, cookies, candy, and so on. These are snacks that have been around for generations, and snack-food companies make a good chunk of their profits off these products; this is why junk food has been pushed on us throughout the years because it is a moneymaker. To combat the healthy movement, snack food companies have begun producing healthier versions of their snacks to appeal to those who want to indulge.

The world of snacking has grown exponentially over the last few decades, and as mentioned before, is a huge moneymaking business worldwide. People are always going to want to have their snacks, whether they are healthy or unhealthy, and we will continue to spend our money on them. Many of the goodies that we enjoy will spoil appetites and diets, but it can be worth it, if kept in moderation. My challenge this time is to keep track of what snacks you like and how often you enjoy them. If you are on a diet, what are you doing to keep these snacks at a minimum? If you’re daring, post your results. Until then, chip’s ahoy!