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5 Airlines That Offer Healthy Food Fare

Heather Dale — Thu, 05 May 2011 11:52:08 PDT

When you are purchasing a flight, do you have a favorite airline that you always book with? Or do you just go for the best deal? And what makes you have an airline preference - the service, the extra leg room, or maybe it's the amazing snacks and meals? For me, if the airline has awesome service, great in-flight entertainment, and other perks, it tends to have delicious food as well.

Last year, the Diet Detective conducted an Airline Food Survey, which rated how healthy the food is aboard the top US airlines. After examining the economy class menus of several airlines' domestic flights and taking into consideration the Diet Detective's results - not to mention some of my own personal biases - here are the top five airlines that I think are serving up the healthiest snacks and meals.

Yummy Links: From Beer and Cheese to Anne Burrell

YumSugar — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 12:15:26 PST

Tips for pairing cheese and beer. - Serious Eats
One chef urges you to eat your Christmas tree. - The New York Times
Ten Winter beers to ensure a hoppy New Year. - The Atlantic
2010 was the year of the novelty sandwich. - Eater
The state of dessert today. - Grub Street NY
How to avoid airport and airline food. - Huffington Post Food
Chef Anne Burrell on hosting a perfect New Year's Day brunch. - Eatocracy

Would You Eat This Diet?

partysugar — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:30:15 PST

Recently I was sent a box of meals by Freshology. Like the Zone, Freshology is a diet delivery program that helps celebrities lose weight and eat healthy. I was given four days worth of packaged meals in containers that resembled airplane food. Although the food was made "fresh," I was disappointed. Iceberg lettuce? Soy chicken? Not the tastiest or most nutritious of ingredients, especially when they were packaged three days earlier. Still, the meal plan could be great for someone who doesn't like or have time to cook. What do you think? Would you want to try Freshology?

Everyone's a Critic, But It Takes an Expert to Be Good

YumSugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:18:51 PDT

Sure, anyone can be a critic, but isn't the info always a bit more intriguing when it's coming from an expert? The folks at Good magazine thought so, and they've enlisted several experts to help critique select foods.

So who did they bring in? A teacher to talk about apples, a pilot to talk about airplane food, a cop to talk about doughnuts, and a rock star to talk about whiskey. Here are some of my favorite excerpts.

Andrea Peterson, teacher, on apples:

I absolutely love apples, and believe it or not, several times a year, a student actually does give me one. . . . If I had my pick, though, instead of apples, I’d love to be getting Starbucks gift cards.

Patrick Smith, pilot, on airplane food:

People don’t want a fancy French restaurant at 30,000 feet; they just want something to eat, and a distraction on a long flight. . . . Economy travelers don’t want to live out some bourgeois fantasy of the 1940s. Give me a damn sandwich or some pasta.

Two more, just

read more. Andrew Smith, cop, on doughnuts:

I think the cop/doughnut thing came around because cops, working late at night, need coffee to stay awake, and the only way to get coffee in the wee morning hours is at the all-night doughnut places. . . . The only thing I would say cops like more are sunflower seeds, based on all the damn seeds I find on the floor of my police car.

Patterson Hood, rock star, on whiskey:

You can go anywhere in the world, it’s always the same. A McDonald’s hamburger may be different in Amsterdam, but the bottle of Jack Daniel’s is exactly the same as the bottle of Jack Daniel’s in Nashville or Singapore.

To read the entire quotes - some are quite funny! - be sure to check out the full feature at Good magazine. Source

Best Bites in Flight

FitSugar — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:30:00 PST

One of the toughest parts about traveling is figuring out what to eat when in the airport and even while on the plane. With airlines not offering much when it comes to food these days, our choices are limited. What's even more limited? Healthy food choices. Luckily the Diet Detective has deciphered through all the food on major airlines in an effort to find the best options in flight.

Here are highlights:

United: Go for either the Rightbite or the Smartpack snack box. The Smartpack is all natural, trans-fat free, and vegetarian friendly, but it has a lot of food and can be high in calories for one person, so you would have to share it.

There's many more so

Continental: Both sandwich options are fine; impressive that they offer light mayo.
Jet Blue: If you’re really hungry, try the nuts; they have protein and good fat and will satisfy you. Eat them one at a time.
American: If you really want a snack, or if a meal is not offered, your best bet is the Nut Blend.
US Airways: Ask for the Snack Pack and eat only one-third of the fruit and nut mix (give the rest away or save it) and the chicken salad; skip the fruit bar and the cookies and you’re good to go.
Delta: Go with the peanuts from the snack basket for the most satisfying and nutritious of the snack choices. Among the snack box offerings, the raisins would be the only keeper.
Northwest: All flights offer a choice of Pringles or the Good Sense Snack Mix. Pick the mix - it will be significantly more satisfying and give you more energy.
Southwest: Go for the nuts and skip the pretzels. If you purchase the snack pack, eat the dried fruit and the nuts and skip the crackers and cookies.

So what's to be learned from this? Bring your own food from home, not only will you save dough, but you'll also save yourself from trying to figure out what to eat. Source

How Well Do You Know Airplane Food?

partysugar — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:18:55 PDT

On October 11, 1919, the first airline meals were served in a flight from London to Paris. To commemorate the date, I've put together a little quiz about inflight meals. Take it now and find out how much you know about airplane food!

Source

Take the Quiz

Do You Like Airplane Food?

partysugar — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:03:38 PDT

Image Source

Hawaiian Airlines to Offer a "Tasting Menu"

YumSugar — Tue, 01 May 2007 12:31:19 PDT

We've had a few discussions about the sad state of airplane food, and we all know that first class customers usually get better meals than us lowly coach customers. The food in the front of the plane is usually nicer and presented better than that in the back of the plane, but Hawaiian Airlines isn't happy with just nicer & presented better. They've decided to take their first-clas menu to the next level by offering a three entree "tasting menu" complete with a specially made Pomegranate Passion beverage and mochi ice cream. Hawaiian Airline's President and CEO, Mark Dunkerley, stated:

"People want greater control over their travel experience. That's why we're giving customers more choices in every aspect of their travel on Hawaiian, from booking online to checking in for flights, and now with their dining in First Class."

I wish someone would send me first class to check it out... *sigh*

Since I know that's not happening anytime soon, I'll just have to talk about it instead. There are a total of 20 entrees designed for the tasting menu, but only 5 will be available at a time. For lunch and dinner, FC customers will select three of the five entrees to create their meal. For breakfast they will select two of three entrees as well as a plate of assorted fruit. What if they run out of your option? Oh don't worry, they won't since they bring along one of each per FC person. My theory is if you're really nice and since you've already paid enough to be in FC, they'll probably let you choose 4 (or all 5!) if you ask really nicely. To learn more about the entrees,

read more The entrees have all been created by award-winning Hawaii Regional Cuisine Chef Beverly Gannon and include Hawaiian Crab Cake with a Zesty Pineapple Salsa, Rock Shrimp and Lemon Pepper Ravioli with Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Sauce, and Chicken Tandoori with a tangy Makhani Sauce. So if you're travelling from SF to Honolulu, or on any of Hawaiian's eight other West Coast routes, and you're flying first class, you're in for a treat. Those of you flying coach, don't be too sad, Hawaiian still offers complimentary meal service with a choice of one of three entrees designed by Chef Gannon. Source: PR Newswire Image Source

Off To Market: Airplane Snacks

partysugar — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 09:58:57 PST

I am an avid traveler and fly often, sometimes shorter flights from Oakland to San Diego and sometimes longer flights from San Francisco to exotic international destinations involving Spanish speaking countries.

If you fly like I do, you'll have noticed a dramatic difference in air travel recently. Gone are the free food and meals! Sure if the flight is a quick one and under two hours, no free food is necessary. However if the flight crosses the nation, that's six hours with nothing but a tiny bag of peanuts. In a few weeks I'll be visiting my friend Andrew in NYC and I need your help readers! I want you to send me your best ideas for airplane snacks. The food can be premade at a gourmet supermarket or recipes of your own for travel friendly snacks. Save your finds to the Yum Market on TeamSugar with the keyword tag, Airplane Snacks. Likewise, add your recipes to the recipe database, once again tagged with Airplane Snacks.

To learn more about the Yum Market and posting recipes to the database, please read geeksugar's detailed description.

The Most-Overlooked Tax Deductions

Kiplinger — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:50:44 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Every year, the IRS dutifully reports the most common blunders that taxpayers make on their returns. And every year, at or near the top of the “oops” list is forgetting to enter their Social Security number at the top of the tax form - or making a mistake when entering those nine digits.

But think about it for a minute: Do you think that’s the most common mistake . . . or simply the easiest to notice?

One thing we know for sure is that the opportunity to make mistakes is almost unlimited, and missed deductions can be the most costly. About 45 million of us itemize on our 1040s - claiming more than $1 trillion worth of deductions. That’s right: $1,000,000,000,000, a number rarely spoken out loud until Congress started tying itself up in knots trying to deal with the budget deficit and national debt.

Another 92 million taxpayers claim about $700 billion worth using standard deductions - and some of you who take the easy way out probably shortchange yourselves. (If you turned 65 in 2011, remember that you now deserve a bigger standard deduction than the younger folks.)

Yes, friends, tax time is a dangerous time. It’s all too easy to miss a trick and pay too much. Years ago, the fellow who ran the IRS at the time told Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine that he figured millions of taxpayers overpay their taxes every year by overlooking just one of the money-savers listed below