Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee

I look forward to Autumn for several reasons...cooler weather (um, I'm waiting...where is it?), football, warm comfort foods (pot roast is #1 on my list), and Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes! I usually don't sweeten my coffee, but for this I have to make an exception (I do ask for only 1 pump of syrup though).

A few weeks ago I came across this recipe for a DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte...just like Starbucks! And while I haven't actually tried the recipe yet, it did inspire me to flavor my iced coffee with pumpkin spices! I just add pumpkin pie spice to the coffee grounds before I add water and then allow it all to steep overnight. If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, just use a mixture of any of the following: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves...go easy on the last 3 and heavy on the cinnamon.

I add about 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice to this recipe. Then for each individual drink, I add skim milk and sweeten with condensed milk...such a treat! Happy Fall!

Craving Coffee

A little over a month ago, a marketing rep from Community Coffee contacted me to see if I would like to sample and review some of their products...Of course!!! They must have known that I was (and still am) on a huge coffee kick! Honestly, iced coffee has worked itself into my diet every day this week!

A few days later I received this package in the mail: 3 types of ground coffee (House Blend, Pecan Praline, and Cafe Special) and a travel coffee cup...how exciting!

I hardly ever drink coffee in the morning...I'm more of an afternoon cup-of-coffee girl. But when my dad is in town, he does make a pot of coffee when he wakes up and he happened to be staying with me right after the coffee came in the mail. He decided to use the Pecan Praline, which made the kitchen smell like heaven.

It was good, but I have to be honest - I try not to do artificial flavors/colors/sweeteners/etc and this one was artificially flavored. So while I wouldn't buy it for myself, the flavor was very praline-like and my dad loved it!

Like I said, I drink coffee in the afternoon for a little pick-me-up treat. And during the summer, iced coffee is the only way to go. I've mentioned in the past that I make my own cold-brewed iced coffee. So good, and so much cheaper! Needless to say, I've made several batches (with the House Blend)...Perfection! I've posted the recipe below.

Another use for brewed coffee in my kitchen is the most FABULOUS coffee ice cream ever! The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz has not failed me yet! The recipe for Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream caught my eye because it doesn't call for heavy cream, only uses 1/2 cup of half & half, and there are no egg yolks involved...must be healthy right? I made a few changes to cut the sweetness.

Cold-Brewed Ice Coffee
adapted from smittenkitchen.com (my favorite site)

makes 4 drinks

1/3 cup ground coffee
skim milk (optional)

To a jar, add the coffee and 2 cups of water. Top with the lid and shake to combine. Let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter. Rinse the jar and lid and pour the filtered coffee back into the jar.

In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk (I actually mix equal parts of coffee concentrate and milk, and leave out the water).

The concentrate will keep for at least a week without losing its flavor, so feel free to double or triple the recipe!

Other additions I like: a little sweetened condensed milk (60 cals per 1 tbsp), vanilla or almond extract, a spoon or two of half & half (40 cals per 2 tbsp)

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop

makes a little more than 1 quart (about 5 cups or 10 1/2-cup servings)

1 14 oz can sweetened condense milk (I used fat-free)
1 1/2 cups brewed espresso or very strongly brewed coffee*
1 cup half & half

Big pinch of finely ground dark roast coffee (optional)

Whisk together the condensed milk, coffee/espresso, half & half, and ground coffee (if using). Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

* To brew a very strong coffee use 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup of ground coffee...this should yield about 1 1/2 cups of very strongly brewed coffee.

Per serving (using fat-free condensed milk) - 144 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated), 26 g carbohydrates, 4 g protein (exchanges: 1/2 dairy, 1 starch, 1/2 fat)

Notes - I didn't care for the coffee grounds in the ice cream, so next time I will probably leave them out...or substitute chopped chocolate covered espresso beans!!!

Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty & Frosty-cino

I'm sure you have seen the commercial by now (I don't watch much TV and I've seen it several times).  Wendy's has 2 new Frosties on its menu:  Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty & Frotsy-cino.

Boy do these look good...in fact too good!  Let's do a little nutrition research...

The Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty comes in 1 size and has:

540 calories
20 g fat (15 g saturated, 1/2 g trans)
83 g carbohydrate (69 g sugar)
9 g protein

The good news (I'm being sarcastic) is that it provides 30% of the DV for calcium...so there must be some real milk in there somewhere!  FYI 69 g sugar = about 17 tsp or 6 tbsp! (But not all of that sugar is table sugar...some is milk sugar, lactose, which isn't sweet at all).

The Frosty-cino come in 2 sizes, small and large; the large has:

520 calories
12 g fat (8 g saturated, 1/2 g trans)
86 g carbohydrate (72 g sugar)
9 g protein

The small would obviously be slightly better nutritionally (it has 390 calories). 

Now...lets compare this to a 1/4 lb hamburger (with mayo):

430 calories
20 g fat (7 g saturated, 1 g trans)
38 g carbohydrate (9 g sugar)
25 g protein

Hmm. The burger looks like it might be the better option...what do you think?  Personally, I consider all of these sweet coffee drinks special treats...something that you have occasionally! If you must have coffee, drink something with less sugar and fat.  Coffee is NOT an excuse for DESSERT!

Here are some other coffee drinks for comparison:

McDonald's Iced Mocha (medium - 16 oz, with skim milk):

270 calories
8 g fat (4.5 g saturated, 0 g trans)
43 g carbohydrate (35 g sugar)
7 g protein

McDonald's Iced Vanilla Latte (medium - 16 oz, with skim milk):

150 calories
0 g fat
33 g carbohydrate (33 g sugar)
5 g protein

Starbuck's Coffee Frappuccino (grande - 16 oz, no whip):

240 calories
3 g fat (2 g saturated)
48 g carbohydrate (40 g sugar)
5 g protein

Starbuck's Caramel Frappuccino (grande - 16 oz, no whip):

270 calories
3.5 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
53 g carbohydrate (45 g sugar)
5 g protein

Starbuck's Iced Caffe Latte (grande - 16 oz, no whip, skim milk):

90 calories
0 g fat (0 g saturated)
13 g carbohydrate (11 g sugar)
8 g protein

Starbuck's Iced Caffe Latte with flavored syrup (grande - 16 oz, no whip, skim milk):

160 calories
0 g fat (0 g saturated)
31 g carbohydrate (28 g sugar)
7 g protein

FYI...adding whipped cream adds about 110 calories and 11 g fat (7 g saturated) to a grande frapp at Starbucks...don't get it!

What Does a Dietitian Eat? (Day 3)

Wednesday May 6th

• Snack - Cantaloupe (1/2 cup)
• 4 mile jog
• Breakfast - Mango smoothie 
• Lunch - Hummus (2 - 3 tbsp) with snow peas; Salad with romaine, red bell pepper, carrot, and sun-dried tomato-feta vinaigrette; Dijon-cilantro tuna salad sandwich on whole wheat toast
• Snack - Iced latte with skim milk, a splash of 1/2&1/2, and 1 packet of sugar
• Teach dance from 3:30 - 4:30 and 8:00 - 9:00 pm
  
• Dinner - Black bean soup with 2% cheddar and 0% FAGE
• Dessert - Apple

I had a little snack before my run.  I don't like running with food in my stomach, but I was hungry and needed something to keep my stomach from growling.  After my run, a smoothie sounded so good.  I blended together: 1 mango, 2 heaping tbsp Greek/vanilla yogurt, 1/3 cup cottage cheese, 1/3 cup skim milk, 1 tbsp sugar, and enough ice cubes to thicken it up...maybe a cup?  You probably think I'm crazy, and maybe I am, but I like the cottage cheese in it for 3 reasons...taste (it makes it a little tangy), texture (it thickens the smoothie and makes it creamy), and protein (without it there would only be a little protein from the milk and yogurt).

I only have smoothies for breakfast when I know lunch isn't too far away...less than 3 hours.  They are very filling at first, but not for very long.  I find that liquid calories don't have a very good satiety factor.

I had a little tuna salad leftover, but not enough to top a salad with...so I made a small sandwich and had a salad on the side.  I snacked on the hummus and snow peas while I was making lunch.

After teaching dance from 3:30 - 4:30, I needed a little pick-me-up.  Coffee with my CC's gift card!  I love not paying for coffee.  In the warm months, my standard is a grande iced latte with skim milk.  I add 1 packet of sugar and a splash of 1/2&1/2 (maybe 2 tbsp) - this adds about 50 calories to the 90 calories in my original order, and I'm okay with that.  I've learned to like coffee without all of the sugar.  I used to add 2 packets of Splenda or sugar-free vanilla syrup.  But when I made the decision not to use artificial sweeteners, I had to change my taste-buds.  I couldn't add spoonfuls of sugar to get the same sweetness I was used to...to many calories!

Dinner was from the freezer.  Whenever I make soup I always freeze half for a night when I don't have time to or feel like cooking.  The black bean soup has a Mexican flavor, so cheese and sour cream were the 2 toppings I automatically thought of, but I used 0% Greek yogurt for the sour cream...I think it tastes just like sour cream (that's probably why I can't eat it plain!).  

I try not to have a real dessert every night...meaning no added sugar.  That's the way things where when I was growing up too.  My mom would cut up an apple for us if we wanted something sweet.  Some nights we would have a planned dessert with dinner, such as a frozen fruit pie (a la mode, of course!) or spice cake (it was from a box, but she always made her own frosting and it was my favorite).  But usually it was fruit, no questions asked.  Thanks mom for passing on so many healthy habits! 

What Does a Dietitian Eat?

When working with clients, I get the question a lot..."what do YOU eat?" Whether the person asking is trying to lose (or gain) weight or just eat more healthfully, they are usually interested in what I eat on a daily basis. I admit, I'm sort of a health nut...I eat a salad at least once a day, start the day off with a whole grain, buy very little packaged/processed food, and rarely eat out during the week (that's mostly because I love to cook). There are, however, no foods that are off-limit to me. I will eat fried food, candy, cake, cookies, pizza, pasta, cheese, chips, movie theater popcorn (without butter of course), ice cream, steak, hamburgers...just not on a regular basis.

So this week I'm going to post everyday to let you know what I eat. Get ready for the Saturday post...its Game Day in Tiger Stadium and that means tailgate food and lots of it!

Monday October 20th

• Breakfast - Oatmeal with pears, walnuts, maple syrup; skim milk
• Snack - Iced coffee* with skim milk and fat free condensed milk
• Lunch - Grilled peanut butter and banana/strawberry sandwich on white bread; water
• Snack - Apple; hummus and whole wheat toast
• Dinner - Salad with chicken, roasted green beans, butter lettuce, and oregano-Dijon-lemon vinaigrette; french onion soup with whole wheat croutons; water
• Dessert - Fruit salad with a little strawberry yogurt

Approximately: 1651 calories (24% fat, 17% protein, 59% carbs); 9.8 g saturated fat (5%), 69 mg cholesterol, 22 g fiber, 1108 mg calcium

Comments: I try to stay around 1600 calories per day, but some days I may be a little lower and some days higher. I don't count calories, though. I try to think of food groups (click here to figure out the number of food group servings you need). For example my breakfast always has a whole grain, a fruit, a healthy fat, and a protein source... respectively for this day oats, pears, walnuts, and milk. If I'm going to snack, I try to only have fruit, dairy, and vegetables...iced coffee (dairy from the milk), apple, fruit salad with yogurt (broke the rule with the hummus...but its still healthy and a good source of protein and fiber). If I don't have a salad at lunch I try to have one at dinner...its the easiest way to get my veggies in.

The recommendations are based on the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) and are specific for age and gender. So I, a 27 year old girl, should aim for the following:

• Percentage of total calories: 45 - 65% carbs, 20 - 35% fat, 10 - 35% protein (and less than 10% saturated fat according to the Dietary Guidelines)
• at least 25 g fiber
• less than 300 mg cholesterol
• at least 1000 mg calcium

There are plenty of other recommendations for vitamins and minerals...these are just a few that I chose to mention. They are also all found on the nutrition facts label on all food products.

I encourage you to visit the Mayo Clinic's Healthy Weight Pyramid Tool (also linked above). Once you fill in your info, you can print out a copy of your complete pyramid and a serving size list. They also offer lots of weight management recipes.

* I found this recipe for iced coffee over the summer and I can't get enough of it! I use part coffee concentrate (the coffee your are left with once its strained) and part skim milk (instead of water) and sweeten just slightly with sugar or condensed milk (the fat free kind has about 60 calorie per tablespoon just like sugar). You could sweeten it with anything you like or leave it unsweetened. Because the the coffee is cold-brewed, it doesn't become bitter and tastes so much better. The recipe says it makes 2 servings, but I get more than that (I guess I don't like mine very strong). And the best part (besides the great taste)...you will save all of the money that you would normally spend at Starbucks or CC's (am I the only iced coffee fanatic that pays $3 plus for an iced latte or coffee?)

Until tomorrow!