Your wine and Calories

I know. Who cares about calories when you are enjoying wine? I try to not care about this either. Actually, I never really think about it. However, I have had some e-mails asking me to at least show you some numbers. Well, thanks to the USDA National Nutrient Database, I had an easy way of looking up all the most popular wine varieties.


Don't worry though. Wine is still the healthiest of your adult beverages. I used 5 oz as the serving size for the wines. Safety guidelines also refer to a 5 oz serving of wine as one drink. Since a 750 ml bottle of wine typically has about 25 fl oz of wine. You are usually able to get 5 servings from each bottle.

Here are the varieties and the amount of calories in each serving:

Whites

Riesling	118
Pinot Grigio	122
Sauv. Blanc	119
Chardonnay	113
Champagne, Brut	131
Avg. Whites	121

Reds

Pinot Noir	121
Syrah	122
Zinfandel	129
Merlot	122
Cabernet Sauv.	122
Port, Ruby	185	(4 oz)
Avg. Reds	125

Now that you know how much each glass has, you can work it in to your daily intake. Here's something to keep in mind. Cut out one soda or one starbucks coffee and you could easily replace it with a rewarding glass of port after dinner. You can even have that square of dark chocolate too.

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Guac it out, Guac it out. Easy Guacamole.

Earlier this month I talked about the benefits of avocado. I gave you some ideas of how you could use it in your meals but I didn't really give you a recipe to make some good guacamole. The nice thing about a reliable, turn some heads guacamole, is that you can make a little for yourself or a lot for a party. It's a perfect snack between meals and goes great in sandwiches to replace mayo. Well enough about guac. Let me just show you.

Mix it with salsa. Use it as a spread. If you're feeling festive, find some margaritas and throw a party. The meal is done.

Here is the list for a small bowl:

• 2 ripe avocados, see my other post to learn how to pick them out
• 1 small bowl
• approx. 1/8 tsp pepper
• approx. 1/4 tsp salt
• apx. 1/2 tsp onion powder
• apx. 1/8 tsp dried oregano (3 pinches)
• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
• juice from half a lime or lemon

The reason most ingredients are approximated is because I usually just wing the recipe when I make this guacamole. The olive oil is key because it gives the guac a smooth and creamy consistency. You have to salt and pepper it to taste. I've always said that you have to play with your food so here's your first true chance.

1. Cut the avocado in half. Spoon out the green insides while avoiding any dark parts. Discard the seed.
2. Mash the avocado in a small bowl until soft and smooth.
3. Add the salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano and olive oil to the avocado. Mix well.
4. Add the lime/lemon juice. Continue mixing.
5. Taste. Add S & P to taste and/or 1/4 tsp of olive oil.
6. Serve as you wish.

Give this recipe a couple tries before you make a party sized amount. It's pretty simple so you shouldn't have a hard time finding the right combination that YOU enjoy. However, if you want to just follow the recipe as is, you will not be disappointed.

This was an appetizer to some ground turkey tacos and mexican rice. We had the guacamole with some baked tostitos and picante sauce. And yes, margaritas too. Just craving the summer heat I guess.

Click here for the printer-friendly version.

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Have you had an avocado lately?

So enough about wine. I'm going to tell you a little secret. Fat is good for you. No, seriously it is. Did you know that cholesterol is a building block to the walls of your cells? Scientific word time: Phosholipid bilayer. Translation: Fat molecules layered in a double layer. Translation to that: This is the outer boundary to your cells.

So why am I telling you this? Well, to just prove that not all fat is bad. I know the catch phrase is trans fat right now. Do you know what that means? If not, read up on it at wikipedia. But to see if you know at least some of the differences between the fats. Match the following with the correct type of fat. Here are the types: Unsaturated, Trans, and saturated fat.

• Butter
• Canola Oil
• Margarine

Butter is not a trans fat, it's mostly saturated fat. Canola (Poor Man's olive oil) is unsaturated and Margarine is trans. So ask yourself, which one do you cook with?


Well, besides these obvious sources of fats, did you know that a source of good fat (UNSATURATED) is the avocado. Don't believe me? Read the nutritional label. It is a perfect replacement for sandwiches, salads or dips. Want to replace the ranch dressing? Cut up some avocado, sprinkle some olive oil and squeeze a lime over the salad. Trying to cut back on the mayo? Go make some fresh guacamole and spread it on. Same goes for dips. That is if there are any avocados left after the Super Bowl shopping spree.

Before I get ahead of myself, let me ask, would you know how to pick out a ripe avocado. First of all, I'm talking about Hass avocados. You either find them in a green color or in the black color like the picture above. Let me make this clear. All green is not ripe, some black is okay, all black is best. The secret is to find an avocado that still has a bit of firmness but that gives when you squeeze the top and bottom of it.

Now that you have some fresh ripe avocados. You can play with them. Remember, I want you to play with your food. Slice the avocado in half, take out the pit, and then decide whether you want guac or avocado chunks/slices. If you go with slices, drizzle some olive oil, squeeze some lime on top and s&p it to taste.

My favorite is to make guac. It's a great snack in between meals. I could eat it like yogurt, but baked tostitos hit the spot as does a quick turkey sandwich. If you have a great recipe for guacamole, well then you know what to do. If not, well I'll soon follow up with an easy and healthy guacamole recipe. I just don't want to overwhelm you for one day...

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