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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL Dieter’s corner: Do you really want fries with that? Let’s talk about fast foods. I’ve got my favorite places and probably you do, too, but I’m also aware that those meals-in-a-bag are one rea son that there’s hn obesity epidemic in this country, and that so many of us are on weight-loss diets, including yours truly. Let’s start with some examples: If you’re not used to counting calories, just look at it this way. Assume that in order to lose weight you have to stick to 1,400 calo ries per day. You go through the drive Restaurant Report Card Houston County Environmental Health inspectors visited the following food service estab lishments between Oct. 30-Nov. 3. Major problems are corrected before the health inspector leaves the premises. A rating of 90-100 in considered excellent, 80-89 is good, 70-79 is sat isfactory. Key to type of discrepancies found: A. Employee Hygiene Maters B. Food Handling Techniques C. Temperature Control of Foods or Food Sources D. Facility/Equipment Problems E. Storage of Cleaning Products/ Toxic Materials Organization Score ■ 3 Star, 1521 Moody Road, Warner Robins 100 ■ Allen’s Stonebaked Pizzaria, 117-1 Russell Parkway, Warner Robins 95 ■ Anderson’s Bakery & Catering, 104 Heard Road, Kathleen 100 ■ Atlanta Bread Company, 2624-A Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 88C ■ BJ’s Orioles Nest, 2001 Moody Road, Warner Robins 92 ■ Big Dog BBQ #4, 854 North Houston Road, Warner Robins 92 ■ Buffalo’s Case, 3061 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 83 ■ Burger King, 2010 Watson Blvd. 100 ■ Captain D’s, 513 North Davis Drive, Warner Robins 96 ■ Chen’s Wok/Galleria Mall, 2922 Watson Blvd, Centerville 92 ■ Civic Center, 700 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 100 ■ Comfort Inn/ Mini Kitchen, 95 S. Highway 247, Warner Robins 98 ■ Country Inn & Suites, 220 Margie Drive, Warner Robins 88 ■ Cracker Barrel, 2700 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 88 ■ Cricket’s Bar & Grill, 1249 Russell Parkway, Warner Robins 100 ■ Dairy Queen, 1224 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 98 ■ Don’t Place Cafe’, 759 Highway 147 South, Bonaire, 91C ■ Drip Drop Case, 206 Russell Parkway, Warner Robins 99 ■ Fincher’s Barbecue, 519 N. Davis Drive, Warner Robins 91 ■ Holiday Inn Lounge, 2024 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins, 99 ■ International City Golf Course, 100 Sandy Run, Warner Robins 95 ■ J&B Catering, 214 Windsor Drive, Warner Robins 100 ■ Krystal, 1638 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 97 ■ Larry’s Giant Subs, 3035 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 97 ■ Little Caesar’s, 2063 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 90 ■ McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, 2720 Watson Blvd, Warner Robins 97 ■ Papa John's Pizza, 100-H North Houston Lake Road, Centerville 92 ■ Shenanagan’s Case, 1291 Houston Lake Road, Warner Robins, 93E ■ Subway, 1001-C Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 97 ■ Subway, 809 Highway, Warner Robins 94 ■ Sushi Thai, 2624 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins 99 ■ Taco Bell, 1998 Watson Ave., Warner Robins 94 ■ Waffle House, 310 Russell Parkway, Warner Robins, 95 ■ Wok ‘n’ Roll, 789 Highway 96, Bonaire 81C Phases you go through with wine We truly are creatures of habit. If you don’t think so, ask your self sometime why you buy your gas at the same place all the time. Or why you eat at the same restaurants and order the same dish over and over. We get into ruts and tend to stay a while. A lot of people are the same way about their wine. They have those comfort able selections that they buy again and again. Some people know that they are in a rut, but just don’t know how to break out. Others keep the blind ers on and barely see all the other choices available. It happens to me too, but I have to break out. It wouldn’t do to write a col umn and only drink a few wines on any kind of regular basis. So I read a lot of wine publications to see what’s new, go to tastings whenever possible, talk to people in the business, and most of all, force myself to buy and try new things. You’ll never know what you’re missing if you don’t try it and see for yourself. At one time, I found Australian wines very excit ing. They were producing Grrrreaf Deals D© y©u have scmettiimt Dresses t© sell and It’s under uwnt» s -rr % If, sc, t all ©ur Cof nputer p artK _ mint run cn I . through at Arby’s and order the wholesome-sounding Market Fresh Chicken Salad Sandwich. That’s 769 calo ries right there. Even with a diet drink and no fries, that sandwich constitutes more than half of your calories for the day. Or head for Wendy’s drive-through, and get the Mandarin Salad. It seems like a good deal, diet-wise - but once you’ve added the almonds, the Chinese noo dles and dressing that come with it, you’re up to 620 calories. Or you could try the Taco Salad at Taco Bell for 790 a large number of varietals that were getting great press, the values were there, and I was happily tasting one after another. Now, I almost never buy one and find them boring. They’re not. It’s just a phase I’m in. For Brian Goodell The Wine Guy Morris News Service a time, I snatched up Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand as fast as I could find them. I drank a lot of Monkey Bay, Matua Valley, Cloudy Bay, and liked them all. I still like them a lot, but don’t buy them nearly as often as I used to. I’m not in that phase anymore. I couldn’t leave the store without at least one Rhone red during one of my phases. It might be a Cote Rotie, Chateauneuf Du Pape, Gigondas, Crozes Hermitage, or a plain old Cote du Rhone, but if you looked at my wine rack, that’s what you would find. That was a good phase. I may go back to that one soon, but it’s tough on the calories. Now, about fries, you’d come out ahead with a Snickers Bar (273 calories). Just to take one example, Burger King’s large fries come to 460 calories, with 24.5 grams of fat. Have that with a Double £ Charlotte Perkins Lifestyle Editor Whopper with Cheese (990 calories) and you’ve had pocketbook. Vieux Telegraphe at $54.99 is one of life’s many pleasures, but Parallel 45 for $10.99 isn’t bad either. The average Rhone red of any kind of quality will gen erally cost you more than a twenty dollar bill, but for food wines with subtle rich ness and complexity, it’s hard to find a better region of the world. Of course my Italian phase was terrific, with Tre Donne Barbera D’Alba, Masi Valpolicella Superiore, the occasional Pio Cesare Barbaresco, various Vino Nobile’s and Montepulciano D’Abruzzi’s, as well as some very good whites and spar klers. Maybe my next phase will be Spanish wines, or German Rieslings. Perhaps California Cabernet Sauvignon will grace my table often. No matter what it is, there is more great wine being made than I will ever have the opportunity to taste. I’m enjoying the journey, though. Remember, that’s what it’s really all about. To share your stories, ask questions, or just to talk wine, write me at goodellwineguy@sbcglobal. net. Until next time, happy pours. FOOD your food for the day. (Also, your fat and salt). To be fair, at most of these places, you can get a grilled chicken sandwich and a diet drink and you’ll be fine pro vided you check to make sure the sandwich doesn’t have a 1/4 cup of mayonnaise under that lettuce. Subway (and other sub sandwich places) offer good options for low fat sandwich es. Try the six-inch Subway club on the Italian or wheat bread for 320 calories, and pass on the cheese and that Macadamia nut cookie. Shall we discuss break fast? Cheerleaders and cold pizza Have you ever achieved a lifelong dream only to find out that it isn’t everything you thought it would be? That happened to me last week. I was eating break fast with not one but two beautiful cheerleaders. This is a bachelor’s dream. Maybe it was a letdown because 1. I’m no longer a bachelor, 2. I was eating cold pizza in the Rock 105 radio studio and 3) I had two disc jockeys —Mark and Dahmer - horning in on my cheerleader time.’ Actually, I was part of a judging panel, joined by two Roar cheerleaders. We were called upon to choose the best cold pizza in town. The meat-loaded slice from Santioni’s at Sawgrass of Ponte Vedra won. I was chosen because cold pizza is the one aspect of food where I can truly claim expertise. I was a longtime bachelor and not much of a cook in those days. While the cheerleaders were good sports and ate and judged the pizza like pros, does it really make sense to drag beautiful women into a radio studio when only the DJs can see them? It’s radio. But I guess that’s one of the perks of being a wacky morning team. They set before us seven slices of pizza that were ordered and delivered the day before. The pies were left in the studio and served to us the next morning. That’s just the way a bachelor would do it. True cold pizza has to be left on the coffee table or kitchen counter over night. Hardly a health ful thing to do, but I fig ure the stale crust has the beginnings of penicil lin mold growing on it, so that will safeguard me. To truly enjoy cold pizza bachelor-style, you have to wash it down with the last jUrate May! Cal 917-1823 GILBERT APPLIANCE, INC. 925 Jernigan St., • Perry, GA 478-987-2284 ALL FRIGIDAIRE LAUNDRY APPLIANCES Marked Down To Be Moved Out. RANGES AS LOW AS If you make a biscuit at home from scratch, it’s going to be around 100 calories. If you go to McDonald’s, that biscuit (just plain) is 240 calories - which is about average for fast-food bis cuits. Add in bacon, egg and cheese and you’re up to 450- 500 calories at most places. The reason fast-food biscuits taste good, by the way, is that they’re full of fat. You let one get cold and try it and you’ll see what I mean. So, to sum up, it’s a good idea to get organized so that you have breakfast at home and take your lunch to work, whether it’s a can of soup couple of swallows of that unfinished Miller Lite from the night before. All this morning team had to offer me was Mountain Dew. Two sips of that soda and I was looking for the “burp” bu t - ton to kill my m icro phone. W e judged seven pizzas (three shops failed to deliver their prom ised pizzas - Dahmer made sure to give them an on-air scolding). In my book, a quality cold pizza should be thin crust - deep dish style gets too soggy over night. It’s like chewing on a tomato sauce-covered sponge. But the thin crust still needs to be pliable. If you can hold a slice by the wide end and the tip doesn’t dip, then the pie has become too stiff. Cold pizza shouldn’t resemble a shingle. Of course, the cheese will be hard but not al dente . It i 7Kn&. Veyqtyb Chicken, Seafood & BBQ Ondew Fully Cooked Dinners and Side Dishes. Cakes and Pies. Deadline Nov. 16, 2006 704 Carroll Street • Perry, GA 31069 988-9867 SFRIGIDAIRE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2006 < with a few crackers, a simple sandwich with an apple, or a frozen diet entree. The calorie counts above came from www.calorie count.com. There are numer ous sites for dieters on the Web, and this is one of the most useful. Guilt-free find of the week Bigelow Spiced Chai Tea (decaffeinated). Make it in a teapot or just mike it in a cup of water. Try it with a little milk and sweetener. Chai is spicy and has a deeper fla vor than most teas. This is a real treat now that the weather’s cooled off. Dan MacDonald Columnist Morris News Service shouldn’t resemble plastic. Chipping a tooth on the cheese is a bad sign. Toppings need to retain their integrity. I appreciate sausage that still has some bite and oregano that pro vides some zing. Pepperoni slices are going to be chewy, but I shouldn’t have to work on it like a wad of Double Bubble. I’m not sure the contest was Jacksonville’s finest radio moment. How enter taining is it to listen to peo ple chew? I’m sure people were turning the radio dial at wrist-spraining speed as they woke up to hear Mark chomping into the micro phone. But the DJs were enthusi astic. Though the cheerlead ers and I paced ourselves with small bites, Mark and Dahmer pounded the pie, taking several big bites out of each sample. Genny, the voice of reason on this morning team, opted out by using a tiny Halloween costume as her excuse. True or not, she was smart to abstain. Because as my stomach churned later in the day, I realized that day-old pizza is noth ing to cheer about. 3C