Wine, Weight and Healthy Cocktails-Cheers!

Cool Hand Cuke from Colonie Restaurant

Our August newsletter focused on healthy summer cocktails. You see, for the most part, our clients like to drink. Our view is that if you’re going to indulge in sweets or cocktails or anything else we'll help you  find the healthiest manner to do so. I’ll also remind you that three of the four Foodtrainers graduated from Tulane University, let’s just say you can trust us on this topic. And if you're housebound because of Irene, these tips may come in handy (fingers crossed, we're flying East today). 

While drinks are often referred to as “empty calories” many studies conclude that moderate drinking may not be as bad for your weight as you’d expect. While we don’t suggest non-drinkers start imbibing, moderate drinkers actually have lower weight, blood pressure and triglycerides than low or non-drinkers. We give clients a weekly budget and generally suggest four or fewer drinks for female clients and seven or fewer for male clients trying to lose weight.

While alcohol itself may not be that terrible for your weight it can affect your appetite.  The more you drink, the more your appetite will increase which is a reason to balance drinking over multiple days. One drink max on any given day is ideal. Interestingly. white wine seems to have less of an effect on appetite than other alcohol.

For your one drink, the following are great picks:

Crop Organic Vodka- in flavors such as cucumber and tomato.

Tanteo Jalapeno Tequila- see below for my new favorite cocktail.

VnC Cocktail- another ready to pour margarita like what’s her names.

Redbridge Beer- a great gluten free option.

Although “on the rocks” is a great choice (and slows down the drinking), there are some fantastic mixer options:

ModMix Organic Mixers- USDA certified organic ingredients in flavors such as lavender lemon drop and French martini.

McClure’s Bloody Mary Mix- you may recall how I feel about McClure’s pickles, well my feelings are just as strong for this bloody mary mix. Please do not relegate bloody’s to brunch only.

SlimRitas and SlimRimmers-I love these chile verde, rosemary sea salt and pink himalayan mineral salt rimmers.

End of Summer Jalapeno Margarita

I ‘ve seen cucumber in a lot of cocktails this summer. I had this margarita at our friends Tracey and Andy’s house and was hooked. They suggest making a batch of cucumber puree as well as lime juice ready to go.

2oz Tanteo Jalapeno Tequila
1 oz. English Cucumber Puree  (slice into spears and toss in the food processor, worth the effort)
1 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
½ oz. Agave/water – (use warm water and agave and stir)
Cucumber Wheel for garnish
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, pour over ice and garnish with cucumber wheel. Ole


If you're going to drink, you may need a bar snack. Try ChickPz I heard about these from EA, The Spicy RD. I love the sesame flavor and kids think they taste like Cracker Jacks. The prize? High fiber, high protein and you can eat the whole bag. 

So don’t overdo it but eat, drink (a little) and be merry .

What has been your drink of choice this summer? Any cocktail trends you’ve noticed? What do you think of veggies in your drinks?

Blackberry Farm

I am writing this from post from Blackberry Farm. I’m here giving a series of short talks to some guests participating in a motivational boot camp.  If you aren’t familiar with Blackberry Farm it’s a farm to table property in the Smoky Mountains. All of the produce served here is produced on the farm. Last night on the way to dinner we passed the truffle farm and saw the building where the cheese and jam are made. Before dinner, I met the participants as they returned from a hike.

I introduced people, singles and couples, from Texas, Mississippi and Westchester to Foodtraining. The premise of the talk is that we all know the “shoulds” in terms of exercise.  Yet there is a gap between what we know we should do and what we actually do. Whether it’s cooking or exercise or snacking or drinking we each have our behavioral Achilles heel. My proposed antidote to these weak areas is planning (more on that later). It was my first talk I’ve ever done with a glass of champagne in my hand. I raised a glass to the group and we headed into dinner.

Dinner was a delicious four-course meal with a wine for each course. I worked with Sam Beall, the proprietor of Blackberry, offering a few suggestions (they clearly don’t need my help). We started with a Beet Carpaccio served with Hen of the Woods mushrooms and “crispy buckwheat.” Buckwheat is gluten free and the crunch in the salad was fantastic. The following course was a vegetable soup utilizing the last kale of the season here. Also in the soup were the flowers from the kale this time of year. These flowers have a name but two wines in, it’s no wonder I cannot recall it. Our entrée was Guinea Hen serves with ramps (wild leeks) and brown “basmati rice grits”.  The flavor of the ramps with these polenta-like grits was insanely good. I chose not to lick my plate but scraped it clean. And finally, on a beautiful slab of slate we were served Blackberry Farm’s “Singing Brook” cheese with Honey Turnips.

It was one of those nights where I felt the rest of the world was so far away. Marc and I were seated with Mary Celeste and Sam Beall who live at Blackberry Farm with their four children. Marc was next to a couple married when they were in their 50’s in the French Quarter. Stories were shared about travel and cooking and wine and more. As I relaxed from a long week I realized I was supposed to talk “sleep tips” after dinner. Everyone grabbed his or her tea or coffee (or remaining wine) and we walked down a path to another house. In a living room-like setting we all talked about sleep which I didn’t think would be too hard after all that good food and wine.

What do you feel is your Achilles heel when it comes to nutrition or exercise? Are you at all sat to say goodbye to root vegetables or kale as spring arrives? What are your favorite meal memories where the menu and company seemed perfect?

Cholesterol Composite

Ask a few people what foods to eat to lower cholesterol and you’ll probably get answers such as oat bran or red wine. These are perfectly reasonable answers. Yet how much is adding a little bran or soy or Shiraz really going to do if your cholesterol is concerning? Not all that much. There was a plan I had heard about a few years ago called The Portfolio Diet. This was a regime developed in Canada aiming to lower cholesterol. The creators of this plan put together a host of foods with cholesterol lowering properties. The results were astounding and published in multiple medical journals. Participants who followed this regime closely lowered cholesterol levels by 20 percent. The catch? Their plan is not for everyone, it is verges on veganism. It is also fairly high in soy and missing certain ingredients I feel would benefit those trying to lower their cholesterol or avoid going on cholesterol meds. So while I love the concept of a portfolio of foods, I have my own portfolio or “cholesterol composite.”

When Blisstree asked me for 25 cholesterol lowering tips I was reminded of this multipronged approach. Truth be told, I narrowed it down to 26 but could’ve given them 50 tips because when it comes to your arteries and your cholesterol-lowering foods, the more (foods) the merrier…or should I say the more blissful?

Click here for my 26 cholesterol ways to lower cholesterol including alcohol
How is your cholesterol? What foods have you heard help lower it? Any surprises on the 26 tips list?