Best & Worst Eggnog

Best Eggnog to Buy (and the Worst)

See which eggnog brands ranked highest in our taste test, and which are better left on the supermarket shelf

As much as we applaud your good-intentioned enthusiasm in wanting to make everything yourself this holiday season, when it comes to items like eggnog, there's no shame in turning to the supermarket for help.

Click here to see the Best Eggnog to Buy (and the Worst) Slideshow

Although it's not difficult to make at home, eggnog is one of those products that is easy to check off your shopping list. The only hitch? Making sure you pick the right brand. Reach for the wrong carton in your dairy aisle and you might wind up with something that tastes more like thin, banana-bubblegum-flavored milk, rather than that creamy, lightly spiced drink you were anticipating.

Click here to see 25 Favorite Winter-Weather Drinks Slideshow

Knowing that "added stress" wasn't on your Christmas wish list, eight Daily Meal editors tested popular eggnog brands to see which are best (and which you might want to leave on the supermarket shelf). Our taste test criteria? We considered texture (does it have the desired creamy thickness?), flavor (is there a hint of holiday spices?), color (is it more yellow or white?), and level of sweetness (not too cloying, please). What's more, we conducted a second round of testing that mixed in a little dark spiced rum to help determine which tasted best with a spirited addition.

Check out the results below - the brands are listed best to worst (scores are based on a 100 point scale).

The Results

© Jane Bruce

6. Trader Joe's Premium Egg Nog
*Best Value*
Nutrition: 180 calories, 9g fat, 20g carbohydrates per serving (1/2 cup)
Tasting Notes: "Thick texture, with good spice flavor." "Too thick, like melted ice cream but not necessarily in a good way." "Not too sweet." "Thicker, more noticeable nutmeg flavor, same opening chemically-custardy flavor." "Banana flavor." "Good creamy texture." "Tastes much better with rum."

© Jane Bruce

5. Turkey Hill Grade A Eggnog
Nutrition: 190 calories, 9g fat, 23g carbohydrates per serving (1/2 cup)
Tasting Notes: "Very banana-y, kind of custardy." "Tastes like ice cream base." "Nice, not too sweet, vanilla-y." "Very average, thick, yellow." "Tastes spiked already." "Strong nutmeg, good egg flavor, creamy."

© Jane Bruce

4. Organic Valley Organic Eggnog
Nutrition: 180 calories, 10g fat, 18g carbohydrates per serving (1/2 cup)
Tasting Notes: "Lots of nutmeg, good consistency, creamy but not cloying." "Thick, heavy cinnamon and nutmeg flavors." "Spice overwhelms." "Thickness, weight, and texture is rich." "Has Christmas spices flavor." "Sweetness offset by strong notes of allspice and nutmeg, goes well with rum."

© Jane Bruce

3. Southern Comfort Vanilla Spice Egg Nog
Nutrition: 220 calories, 9g fat, 25g carbohydrates per serving (1/2 cup)
Tasting Notes: "Well-balanced flavor and aroma - easy drinking." "Good spices, maybe a little sweet, good texture." "Melted ice cream, slightly nutty." "Sugar cookie flavor." "Milky white color, tastes like a cannoli." "Slightly thinner consistency but tasty!"

© Jane Bruce

2. Hood Golden Egg Nog
Nutrition: 180 calories, 9g fat, 20g carbohydrates per serving (4 ounces)
Tasting Notes: "Rich and creamy but not too sweet." "Kind of like crème anglaise, but chilled." "Has a definite vanilla milkshake quality." "You want to keep drinking this." "Tastes homemade." "Great with rum."

© Jane Bruce

1. Ronnybrook Eggnog
*Best Overall and Best for Spiking*
Nutrition: Approximately 210 calories, 9g fat, 23g carbohydrates per serving (8 ounces)
Tasting Notes: "Very thick and well balanced, spice notes are subtle." "Creamy, rich." "Best with rum." "Tastes like what I think eggnog should be." "Happiness."

I'll actually be skipping the eggnog and opting for a glass or two of the bubbly stuff and I know my girl Cara over at The Champagne Diet will be bustin' out the bubbly as well!  Cheers & Merry Christmas.  It's Shaping Up to be a great holiday.
http://shapeupwithsusan.com

Diamonds vs. Mud with Joanne King Herring

Yesterday I had the pleasure of listening to an amazingly engaging Houstonian.  As keynote speaker at the HNN Business Expo, Joanne King Herring (the real life Texas socialite behind the movie "Charlie Wilson's War") illuminated the room with her physical beauty and vibrant storytelling.

Ms. Herring made a lot of very good points, and had the entire room laughing out loud more than a time or two; but this is what impressed me the most.  Someone in the crowd asked her how she stays so positive and to paraphrase, her reply went something like this.

She said that she gets up every day and counts her blessings first, before she even thinks about her troubles.  She said that if you get in the habit of doing this, you'll soon realize just how many blessings you really do have.  She referred to her blessings as "diamonds" and her troubles as "mud" saying "Now why would you have so many beautiful diamonds and then want to throw mud all over them?"  I don't know if it's because I love diamonds or hate mud, but this little quote will be permanently etched in my brain.  So simple yet so eloquent.

I purchased her book "Diplomacy & Diamonds" and was fortunate enough to get it signed by her.  I'll post my review when I finish reading it, but something tells me that it is going to be a very good read indeed.

So Shape Up Your Attitude & learn a lesson or two from this inspirational, charming yet formidable Southern Belle.

http://shapeupwithsusan.com

10 Healthy Breakfasts in 10 Minutes or Less

Who says breakfast has to be boring or a laborious undertaking? These beautiful, healthy breakfasts can be made in 10 minutes or less. There are tons of research studies showing why breakfast is important, but I've broken it down to these top 10 reasons.

1. HEALTHY EATING HABITS – It is well established that people who eat breakfast consume less fat and cholesterol and more vitamins, minerals, and fiber than people who skip breakfast.
2. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT – the National Weight Control Registry reported that people who eat breakfast have an easier time managing their weight than people who skip breakfast.
3. PORTION CONTROL – In general, people who eat breakfast have an easier time controlling their caloric intake throughout the day than those who don’t.
4. REDUCED RISK OF DIABETES – A report by the American Heart Association showed that people who eat breakfast are significantly less likely to develop diabetes than people who skip breakfast.
5. MORE ENERGY – A healthy breakfast can provide your body with the nutrients that you need to stay energized for several hours.
6. FITNESS – It is believed that people who eat breakfast have more energy and therefore may participate in more physical activity than people who skip breakfast.
7. FOCUS – According to the American Dietetic Association, people who eat breakfast have an easier time focusing and are more productive throughout the morning than people who skip breakfast.
8. MEMORY – Eating breakfast improves memory and learning.
9. BETTER MOOD – Skipping breakfast can make you feel grumpy and fatigued throughout the day. Taking just 10 minutes to eat something in the morning can really improve your mood.
10. BE A GOOD ROLE MODEL – Help your children to develop healthy eating habits at an early age by encouraging them to eat breakfast. If they see you eating breakfast, they are more likely to eat breakfast too.

Slow cooking oats or steel-cut oats with kiwi, mango, banana, green grapes, and honey

Organic flax waffles with warm peanut butter, banana slices, and chopped walnuts and a glass of 1% milk

Sesame Ezekiel toast with reduced fat cottage cheese, tomato slices, and parsley garnish

Tofu scramble with red peppers, zucchini, onions, and mushrooms….and tofu.

A classic: peanut butter and jelly on an English muffin (or toast or mini whole wheat bagel)

Breakfast bruschetta: French baguette with scrambled eggs, thin layer of reduced fat cream cheese, diced cherry tomatoes, and fresh parsley

Mini whole wheat waffles with mango chunks, honey, and powdered sugar

Whole wheat toast with scrambled eggs (or egg whites/substitute) with fresh sauteed spinach, provolone cheese, and marinara dipping sauce

Fruit bruschetta: organic chocolate cherry bread (from Whole Foods) topped with honey roasted peanut butter, fresh cantaloupe, strawberries, honey, and powdered sugar

http://shapeupwithsusan.com 

The Top 10 Belly-Fat Burning Foods

1.   Oatmeal
2.   Almonds
3.   Olive Oil
4.   Eggs

5.   Whey Protein
6.   Berries
7.   Lean Meats
8.   Whole Grains
9.   Peanut Butter
10. Green Veggies

 

http://shapeupwithsusan.com 

Want to look better in jeans? The Muffin-Top Workout.

Bye, Bye muffin top!

It’s called the muffin top—that back-of-the-hips area that bulges over the waistband of our favorite jeans. “It’s body fat, plain and simple. And the fastest way to get rid of it is by doing cardio intervals,” says Los Angeles trainer Valerie Waters, who works with celebs, including the notably “bloop”-less Jennifer Garner. By mixing intense bursts with slower periods, intervals torch calories faster than exercising at a steady pace. (Even better, a study found that after two weeks of interval training, women burned 36 percent more fat during moderate exercise.) Do Waters’ interval plan and sculpting moves, below, three times a week to make long T-shirts an option, not a necessity.

The muffin-busting plan

These intervals work with any cardio exercise you like—such as walking, biking or jogging.
Start off with a five-minute warm-up at a low-to-moderate intensity to get your blood flowing.
Pick up the pace for one minute; the effort required should be about a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10—1 being effortless and 10 being extremely tough. Speed isn’t the only way to boost intensity; try increasing the treadmill incline, running stairs or hopping onto a tough cardio machine like a stair-stepper.
Recover for one to two minutes at an easier pace—about a 5 on your toughness scale.
Repeat those hard and easy intervals for a total of 20 minutes. Once you get the interval rhythm down, throw in some spurts in which you’re working at an 8 or 9 on your intensity scale to challenge your body and burn even more fat.
Cool down for five minutes at a light pace. These exercises will tone and “cinch in” the whole area, says Waters. In other words, they devour muffins.

http://shapeupwithsusan.com

Yummy Asian Lobster Salad? YES PLEASE!!!!

Ingredients:

SALAD:
¾ pound cooked lobster meat, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 cups thinly sliced Chinese cabbage ½ red bell pepper, thinly sliced 4 scallions, thinly sliced ½ ounce toasted sesame seeds DRESSING: 2 tablespoons unsweetened rice vinegar 2 tablespoons Tamari soy sauce 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Directions:
1. For the salad: In a large serving bowl, combine lobster, cabbage, bell pepper, scallions and sesame seeds.
2. For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk the rice vinegar, Tamari soy sauce, ginger and sesame and canola oils together.
3. Pour dressing over salad and toss gently to coat.  Season with fresh ground black pepper and salt.

Nutritional Information
Per Serving:

Net Carbs: 7 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
Protein: 40 grams
Fat: 14 grams
Calories: 325

Recipe Information:

Makes: 2 servings
Prep Time: 0:15:00
Marinate Time: 0:00:00
Cook Time: 0:00:00
Cool Time: 0:00:00

http://shapeupwithsusan.com

The Secret to Killer Abs

What is the one fitness goal you wish you could achieve? If you're like most people, you want six-pack abs. It seems easy: Do hundreds of crunches a day and wait for your abs to magically appear. But, after a few months of that you might be wondering: Where's my six-pack?

It Takes More Than Ab Exercises
As you may have found, crunches aren't enough to flatten your abs. Ab exercises will build strength, especially if you focus on core strength but, if there's a layer of fat there, you'll never see them. You've probably heard that spot reducing is about is effective as spitting in the wind, but when you work your abs in an effort to reduce the belly flab, spot reducing is exactly what you're trying to do. The body can't be forced to lose fat in a particular area by exercising the muscles directly under that area. What you should be focusing on is losing body fat and gaining a little muscle.
Start with Your Diet
The first step to losing body fat is changing your diet.

1. Eat more often. Eating several small meals throughout the day will boost your metabolism and help you burn more calories.
2. Eat Fewer Calories. Create a mild caloric deficit by monitoring your portion sizes and making sure that you're eating less than you're burning. It's easier to eat fewer calories if you fill up on high fiber foods with a focus on whole grains, fruits, vegetables and other nutrient-dense foods.
3. Drink More Water. Sometimes hunger pangs are actually your body's plea for water.

Start an Exercise Routine
Once you've reduced your calorie intake, its time to start working out. Diet without exercise will lead to some weight loss, but at some point you'll reach a plateau. Exercise can get you past plateaus while preserving your muscle mass. Your program should include:

• 3-5 days of cardio a week for 30 to 60 minutes in your THR zone. Any cardio will do--doing what you like will make workouts more fun. You should also work at a variety of intsensities to get the most out of your workouts.
• Weight training that targets all of your muscle groups 2-3 non-consecutive days a week, abs included. You don't have to work your abs every day and, in fact, that can be counterproductive. You're much better off focusing your energy on working the larger muscle groups and activities that help you burn more calories overall, like cardio.
• Stretching after your workouts for flexibility and relaxation
• Warm ups before each workout, cool-downs after and plenty of water in between

Consider your Genetics and Lifestyle
The truth is, even if you do everything right and start losing body fat, there's no guarantee you'll lose it from your abs. Your body stores and loses fat according to your genes, so you can't control where or when you lose fat from certain places. We all store excess fat somewhere - for women it's often around the lower belly, hips and thighs. For men, it's often around the middle and back.
So, does that mean it's impossible to lose fat there? Not at all. But, it may take awhile and it may never completely go away. The only way to know is to follow your healthy diet, exercise regularly and allow your body to respond.
You also have to think about your lifestyle. It could be that you could achieve flat abs if you managed to take your body fat to lower levels - but what if that requires more exercise or stricter attention to your diet than you have the time or energy for? If that's the case, you may need to forget about getting flat abs and adjust your goals to fit the way you live.
Should You Still Do Ab Exercises?
You might be wondering if there's any point to working your abs now that you know that ab exercises aren't going to help reduce the fat around your belly. The answer is yes and no. Yes, you still want to work your abs (your entire core, in fact) but maybe not with the usual moves like crunches and sit ups.
I'm a big fan of working multiple muscles at the same time to build strength, work on stability and burn more calories during your workout. When it comes to your abs, there are a number of great exercises and tools you can use to strengthen your core with more dynamic moves. One of the best ab tools you can invest in is an exercise ball which can be used for a variety of moves in your core workout. Because you must stabilize your body on the ball, you use more muscle groups than traditional ab exercises.

Bottom line, you're not going to get those six pack abs unless you get up, get moving and make some adjustments to your lifestyle.  Who's up for the challenge?

http://shapeupwithsusan.com