Healthy Eggplant Parmesan

My mom's side of the family is Italian, and so I have been raised with a love of pasta, bread, and red wine. As I mentioned in my last post, all foods should be enjoyed in moderation. Life is too short to not eat the things you love! As we head into what is supposed to be a beautiful fall weekend, I thought I would share my family recipe for Eggplant Parmesan.

My grandmother died a few years ago, and my grandfather has since married a woman who also lost her spouse. She and my grandpa created this dish using my grandmother's eggplant recipe and her husband's sauce recipe.

Eggplant Parmesan
Serves 6

Marinara Sauce
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
Pinch of oregano and thyme
1 bay leaf
1 14 oz. can tomato sauce
1 14.oz can diced tomatoes with garlic, basil and oregano

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add onions and saute 5 to 7 minutes until soft. Stir in garlic, oregano, and thyme and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomato sauce and canned tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Eggplant
1 large eggplant
1/2 cup egg whites
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Peel eggplant and slice into 1/4 inch slices. Rinse, drain, and pat dry with paper towels. Dip the slices lightly in egg whites and sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs. Place on cookie sheet and bake in 500 degree oven until brown and crisp on one side; then turn (approximately 10 minutes on first side; turn for 5 minutes). Layer sauce, eggplant, and cheese in a glass casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese melts.

Pair with a vegetable and a small slice of Italian bread for a well balanced meal! We chose steamed broccoli and ciabatta bread.

Eggplant Parmesan contains: 298 calories, 13.5 grams of fat
Entire meal pictured contains: 423 calories, 14 grams of fat

This recipe satisfies an Italian food craving without making it impossible to zip your favorite jeans. The fat content from the cheese and the fiber from the eggplant and broccoli will keep you full for much longer than a huge plate of pasta would. If you wanted to lower the fat content, you can cut back on the cheese and just put it on top of the dish.

I hope everyone will enjoy this recipe that is truly a marriage of two families. Have a great weekend!

Everything in Moderation: Portion Control

When it comes to food, it isn't what you eat, but how much you eat. After all, the French eat bread, chocolate, cheese, pasta and rich sauces, and France has the lowest obesity rate in all of Europe! How can this be?! The secret is a combination of moderation and portion control.

In a world where portion sizes continue to grow (along with our waistlines), determining the correct serving size can be tricky. In this post, I will teach you what an actual serving size of some common foods looks like by using a few simple visual aids.

Meat, Fish, and Poultry
Suggested Serving Size: 3-4 ounces
About the same size as a deck of cards.


Bread
Suggesting Serving Size: 1 ounce
About the same size as a CD.



Pasta, Rice, Veggies, Fruits
Suggested Serving Size: 1 cup
About the same size as your fist

Dairy
Cheese
Suggested Serving Size: 1 ounce
About the same size as 6 dice.

Ice Cream
Suggested Serving Size: 1/2 cup
About the size of a baseball
 

Peanut Butter
Suggested Serving Size: 2 Tablespoons
About the size of a ping pong ball

Butter
Suggested Serving Size: 1 teaspoon
About the size of the tip of your thumb


So... are you surprised at how small some of these sizes are in comparison to what you normally consume as a serving? I challenge you to look at what you are eating over the next week, and see how it compares to these visual aids. I think you will be surprised at how much we tend to overestimate what a serving really is. Controlling portion sizes is an easy way to reduce calories while still enjoying your favorite foods.

Now, you may find that the correct serving size of your favorite food doesn't fill you up. I mean... did you see the picture of what 1 cup of pasta looks like? That's not going to do it for anyone. Adding a salad and a vegetable, such as broccoli, to your pasta dinner will fill you up without adding a bunch of calories to your meal.

For more information on channeling your inner skinny French girl, as well as some great recipes, visit French Women Don't Get Fat author Mireille Guiliano's website here!

Portion Distortion

Recently, there was a whole lot of fuss when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a ban that would eliminate the sale of sugar sweetened beverages over 16 ounces in stores, movie theatres, restaurants, sports venues, etc. I have been following this issue for a while, and actually wrote a paper on it for an English class this summer. My mom mentioned they were talking about it on the Today show this morning, and I thought I'd share my feelings on the ban.

During his time as Mayor, Bloomberg has championed several health initiatives that were unpopular at first, but have since had a ripple effect and been accepted all over the country. For instance, New York City was the first to ban trans fat and to force fast food restaurants to put calorie counts on their menu boards. 

Bloomberg has always had critics who think he is attempting to create a Nanny State. In fact, he was given the unfortunate nickname "Nanny Bloomberg" after proposing the soda ban. Instead of looking at this as an issue of government control, I think it is important to look at Bloomberg's intentions. Even though soda is the largest source of calories in the US diet, for me...this ban isn't about soda. It is about portion size. Soda is just an easy place to start. I promise I will talk about my issues with soda on here at some point... but it seemed a little soapbox-ish for my first real entry :-) 

According to the CDC, the number of obese Americans has increased by a staggering 214% between 1950 and 2000. You know what else has increased since 1950? Portion size. A report in the Journal of Public Health Policy found that portion sizes offered by fast food chains are two to five times bigger; soft drinks have expanded in size by 52%, and snacks, whether they be potato chips, pretzels, or crackers, are 60% larger!

The Difference Between 1950 and 2000

You may be asking what the big deal is, or thinking, "just don't eat the whole thing!" Studies have shown that the more food is put in front of us, the more we will eat, regardless of how hungry we actually are. If you are given a 6.9 ounce order of fries, you're probably not going to stop after consuming 2.4 ounces of them.

So, how do we combat this? The profit for large food corporations have never been better, so I don't think we can expect to see shrinking portion sizes any time soon. Therefore, it is up to us to educate ourselves on portion sizes and take control of what we are putting in our mouths. 

In my next blog, I will talk about what a typical portion size of a variety of foods should be, and teach you a few easy ways to police your portion sizes without doing any measuring or calorie counting. 

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With A Single Step

If you know me well, you know that I love blogs, and have a few that I follow religiously. I have been playing with the idea of starting my own for a couple of years now, but never felt I had anything to write about that would really make a difference for anyone reading it. Lots of big changes have happened for me in the past year, and I finally feel like I have something to contribute to the blogosphere.

In March, I quit my full time job in the non-profit arts world to go back to school full time at the University of Cincinnati, where I am studying to earn my Bachelor of Science Degree in Dietetics. This is a huge change from my first degree, which was a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance! Algebra? Statistics? CHEMISTRY? Oh my. Dusting the cobwebs off my science and math skills has been a challenging and incredibly rewarding experience.

Because I am insane, I have managed to complete an entire year of school since the end of March. The Dietetics program is usually completed in 5 years, which includes your internship. My goal is to complete the entire thing in 3 years. When I am finished, I will be qualified to work as a Registered Dietitian. I haven't decided what field I want to work in, but I am interested in exploring school nutrition, pediatric and adolescent nutrition, sports nutrition, and clinical work with weight loss patients. It is my hope that this blog can one day be a resource for my patients as well as my friends.

I have been amazed at the number of friends who have asked me diet related questions since I started school, and I thought this would be a fun way to share what I am learning about food and nutrition. I will be sharing recipes, fun facts, reviews of healthy products, exercise tips, and whatever else I happen to learn along the way. And, since I will be spending so much time in a science lab, I can promise some fun stories and mishaps in the process.

I have learned so much already, and I can't wait to share my knowledge and passion about all things food and nutrition with you!