Food in the News

It's time to get a little newsy about food. According to a recent story by The New York Times, the Food and Drug Administration wants to encourage manufacturers to print important nutritional information, including calories counts, smack dab on the front of food packages. That means that soon, that box of cookies, sugary cereal or even veggie crisps will tell you exactly how many guilty calories you're about to consume.

Essentially, the F.D.A.'s goal is to give food shoppers a jolt of reality before reaching for less than healthy snacks and treats. The problem is, official serving sizes for many packaged foods are just to small, and this means the calorie amounts that accompany them can be misleading. To fix this situation, the F.D.A. is going to define serving sizes for certain junk foods in terms of how we really eat.

For us, this is a pretty scary thought. We'll admit, we've gone through a pint of ice cream before without looking at exactly how many servings we were taking in. And really, how many of us can always muster the will power to eat just one serving and then put down that bag of chips?

So maybe a big reality check in the cookies and candy aisle isn't such a bad idea. There's a lot of confusion between serving sizes and fat and calorie counts, so many people think they're eating one serving and getting this many calories, when they're not. In today's world, in which a cheese steak or pizza pie is just a phone call away, it's difficult to tell how much we really eat in a day, a week or even in one meal. But eating anything we want is possible, we're just going to have to eyeball those food labels carefully and see how much of those delicious cookies we can eat. But the difference between how servings are doled out in the food industry and how much people actually eat is suprising... from the Times article:

"For ice cream, the serving size is half a cup. For packaged muffins, it is often half a muffin. For cookies it is generally one ounce, equal to two Double Stuf Oreos. For most children’s breakfast cereals, a serving is three-quarters of a cup."

If the F.D.A. pushes for major snack manufacturers to really stick those calories on the front packages of chips, will people strive to eat healthier and eat the proper servings of their guilty pleasures? It has potential. And because, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34 percent of adults are obese, it may be necessary.

Until then, we're going to enjoy our proper serving (okay, maybe a serving and a half) of potato chips and wonder what our shopping experiences will be like when the truth about food appears in aisles 1 through 9.

Keep craving!

Skor Bar Cheesecake

So we tried this one out- half from a recipe off of cooks.com and some improving when some aspects of the recipe didn't go according to plan. But after 5 errand trips for forgotten ingredients and some last minute re-writes, it actually turned out incredibly delicious- try it! Its impressive tasting and looking and is a great pick me up.

Crust:

1 and 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs

6 tbsp unsalted butter melted

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

- preheat over to 350 degrees, butter the springform pan then combine crumbs, butter and brown sugar and press crumbs up the bottom and up 1 inch of the sides- Refrigerate one hour.

Filling:

2 ibs cream cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

5 large eggs

2 and 1/2 vanilla extract

2 tsp lemon juice

- using an electric mixer beat cream cheese in a bowl then add sugar, beat add eggs, beat then add extract and lemon juice.

- pour filling into crust and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes until it rises 1/2 inch above the pan

- cover and refrigerate until chilled- 6 hours (can be made a day ahead)

Topping:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup whole milk

2 tbsp unsalted butter

5 hershey bars

-mix butter, cream and milk until combined over low heat. Break chocolate into pieces and slowly mix in until combined. Pour over cake

- break skor bars into pieces and put on top of the chocolate sauce, refrigerate for one hour until sauce sets.

- I know this seems like a lot of work, and we won't lie- it was. But it turned out amazing. Until next time, keep craving!

Snowed In

So for today, our second consecutive snow day, we thought we'd concentrate on some comfort recipes. Its tough figuring out what to eat when you can't get your car out of the lot to go to super fresh and you're not in the mood for the classic staples like salad. Staying in all day definitely makes you hungry, so we did some research and found some easy to make alterations on classic winter treats.

Hot Chocolate:

Take Ina Garten's advice and add an extra 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract or a teaspoon of instant coffee or espresso power.

Or if you feel like starting from scratch- try Paula Deen's White Hot Chocolate:

- 1 cup white chocolate chips

-1 cup heavy cream

-4 cups half and half

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- Whipped Cream

Mac and Cheese:

You may only have kraft in the pantry, but by taking some ideas from the Neelys, you can transform it into something new. Try adding chopped bacon, parmesan cheese and potato chips to the top of the mac and cheese, then cook in the oven till golden.

Chicken Soup:

We all have some variation of this in our cabinets, and it's the perfect winter staple. To add interest, try adding some cooked pasta (your choice) or a splash of lemon juice like in Giada De Laurentiis' Lemon Chicken Soup with Spaghetti.

Until next time- keep warm and keep craving!