Seasons 52 January 10, 2012

Yesterday was my birthday. On Sunday night my man took me out to a lovely dinner at Season 52 in Jacksonville. Although this restaurant is not totally new, it’s new to us in Jacksonville. So I wanted to give you a little review of my experience since this is a great place for the health-minded eater.

The concept of the restaurant is to feature a seasonally inspired menu that changes 4 times a year. In addition, nothing on their menu is over 475 calories!! Can you believe it?! In fact, my husband made a comment during our dinner that he couldn’t believe one of our dishes was under 500 calories.

We thoroughly enjoyed our (kid-free) super delicious meal. We had a tomato stack salad, stone crab claws, and a pork tenderloin over polenta with mushrooms and broccoli. Here are some pictures.

Tomato Stack Salad

 

Stone Crab Claws

 

So check out this restaurant next time you are looking for a healthier, yet tasty meal. It’s a great place to meet others who aren’t health minded because they won’t notice their meal is low calorie.

Helpful Nutrition Apps for your Phone November 15, 2011

Technology is great, isn’t it?! On Sunday, we had a dedication service for my son and Skyped in my brother and niece from St. Louis. That is so awesome.

Fortunately, we now have access to some amazing nutrition Apps too. I think having these tools are so important, especially with the holidays upon us. Research has shown that people who monitor their eating are more successful at loosing weight and keeping it off.

So pull up your App Store and download some of these technology gems. I assure you they will help you stay on track this holiday season and beyond. If anyone has other suggestions, please post them below. Oh, and they are all free too.

“Lose It” – Food journal that tracks your calories, fat, protein and fiber

“Calorie Counter” – Another free food journal with different whistle and bells

“AroundMe” – Will help you locate what restaurants are in your area so you can avoid the situation of , “If I knew X restaurant was just a little further down the road, I would have gone there instead.”

“Restaurant Nutrition” – List nutrition facts for over 60 restaurants

“Gate Guru” – Will show you the restaurants available at different airports, along with other valuable travel information

“Shopper” - Allows you to make grocery lists very easily. This helps me remember everything that randomly comes to mind during the day.

“Whole Foods Market Recipes” - This app can quickly help you solve the “what’s for dinner” dilemma or the “what do I do with sweet potatoes” dilemma.

“Good Food Near You”  - This app helps you locate the healthiest restaurant options closest to you. Very cool.

 

Maybe There is a Good Reason to go to Gainesville… July 13, 2010

For the past few days I have been at the Florida Dietetic Association’s Annual Symposium and have heard some great speakers. Today I had the pleasure of hearing Chef Bert Gill, of Gainesville, talk about his 3 restaurants and his commitment to using local and sustainable ingredients. It was really cool to hear his passion for this purpose but also hear about his struggles in convincing people that it’s important. So, if you every find yourself in Gainesville please visit his restaurants and support his cause. From what I hear, the food is excellent. Check out the websites because he has a tons of great recipes and even video demos. If anyone has been to any of these restaurants, please post some comments.

www.mildredsbigcityfood.com

www.tiamogainesville.com

http://www.newdealcafegainesville.com/Default.aspx

The Present Moment July 6, 2010

No, this is not a post about some deep thought I had today. The Present Moment is an amazing restaurant I tried today thanks to a suggestion from my friend Joan. The restaurant is a vegan, organic, and basically raw food restaurant. Many of the menu items would probably scare away some but I thought is was extremely innovative.

The Present Moment Cafe, located near King Street and US1 in St. Augustine

This is my first experience with a restaurant like this, so I was not sure what to expect. The menu had some crazy combos of flavors to create some traditional-like foods. Notice the entree called “Tacos of Life”. I almost felt like if I didn’t order that, I would be missing out.

We (my friend and I) ordered a sampler platter which included the massaged kale and avocado salad, the viva burrito, sunlight burger, and land and sea salad. It was a lot of food and I would recommend this choice so you get to taste a little of everything. It was quite the experience and I would recommend it to anyone who thinks being a vegetarian is boring.

The sampler platter

A Good Find at Chili’s November 9, 2009

I grew up eating at Chili’s. I love that place. Unfortunately there are not a lot of calorie appropriate options there. Most of the options on their Guitless Grill menu are tasty (Tilapia and Salmon are excellent) but you may not always want to limit yourself to this part of the menu. My favorite non-guitless entree is the Chicken Fajita Pita which has 450 calories, 17 g of fat, 43 g of protein, and 3 g fiber. Ask for the dressing on the side and you can reduce the calories even more.  Instead of fries I order their delicious kettle black beans for only an additional 110 calories, 1 g fat, 8 g protein, and 6 g fiber. Choosing beans as a side dish is a great low-cal alternative to fries and adds plant-based protein and lots of fiber.

Check out all the nutrition facts for Chili’s at: http://www.chilis.com/menu/

Eating Out October 27, 2009

This past week in my weekly nutrition class we discussed eating out. This is a major obstacle for all healthy eaters because it’s so easy to go overboard in the calorie department. My thinking on the subject is that you can eat out often and be healthy but it takes discipline and knowledge. I will start posting some of my favorite options from restaurants on here to help give you some ideas of what’s available. Sometimes I may identify an item just because it’s a calorie appropriate option. I will also highlight items that are very high in nutritional value. The goal is to find entrees that are both!

I will start out with the Cheesecake Factory…dun dun dun dun. This restaurant is known for its huge portions and super high calorie entrees. My hubby and I were taken to this restaurant a couple of weeks ago by friends. I was hesitant to go at first because of the above, but I was delightfully surprised to find a new portion of their menu called “Small Plates and Snacks.” All these items were tapas style portions and many of them look very reasonable. They still do not list the nutrition facts on their website, which I have a problem with, so I guessed at the best option that I would enjoy. I ended up with the Ahi Tartare and Arugula Salad. They were both delicious and just the right amount. I really enjoyed my experience here and was glad I didn’t have to deal with my inner battle of to eat or not to eat.

So check out this great little menu next time you are at the CF.

Please add your thoughts or great restaurant finds for other to benefit from. We need to help each other out to find healthy, delicious food.