American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by Chinese restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western tastes, and differs significantly from the cuisine of China. Some restaurants advertise their status by writing "Western food" on their signs in Chinese or by using the term Chinese American in their signage. It alerts those who seek more traditional dishes, while still attracting those who are either unable to read Chinese or are looking for westernized fare.

Hot on the heels of a bill that proposes to ban obese customers from dining in restaurants, a new bill bans restaurants from hiding calories inside mixed green salads, paillards of chicken breast, mashed potatoes and chicken club sandwiches. I wish.

The complete meal is just 263 calories including dessert!

Giada De Laurentiis, host of Everyday Italian on the Food Network cooks with a lot of pasta, chicken, olive oil and Italian meats such as Pruscuitto and Pancetta. How many calories does each serving contain and how much does it cost?

The food served at neighborhood casual-dining chain restaurants is positively loaded with fat, calories and sodium, in amounts far surpassing those usually found in fast-food meals. Sodium ranged from a low of 245 milligrams (lightly dressed salad) to 4,450 (chicken fajitas). Also see http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/11/07/calorie_confidential

My favorite, the Chocolate Iced Kreme Filled, is a whopping 350 calories. Seems a lot, till you figure that its about the same as a McChicken (http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.index1.html) or a Whopper Jr. (http://www.bk.com/Nutrition/PDFs/brochure.pdf). I think I'll stick with the doughnut. How about you?