Truth in Advertising: Healthy Eating

Having to watch your sugar, cholesterol, and/or sodium intake is rather enlightening. You begin looking at labels—I mean really looking. You start wondering just how much of the “food” you are eating is actual food, and how much is filler or preservatives.

Now, I’m not a nutritionist, nor am I a vegan, vegetarian, or Paleo eater. At least not yet on the latter, and I will nvever be a vegan. I like meat too much—get you mind out of the gutter, y’all! But it’s true—fish, chicken, pork, steak—I like ‘em all.

I also don’t really care for too many veggies, and rarely do I like them unadorned. But I’m working on that one. One thing I am becoming attuned to is fresh vs frozen vs canned or jarred.

Of course, fresh is best, with frozen is a close second for healthy eating with convenience. Canned and jarred you have to really watch---not only for the measurements of the ingredients, but for the serving size as well. This label warning goes for anything packaged.

For example, two different brands of honey. One has only 15 calories, the other 60. If that was all you looked at, it would be a no-brainer. But, the first one’s serving size is a teaspoon (tsp), and the second one is a tablespoon (Tbsp). Now, you have to be able to convert, and do the math. For those who cannot, I’ll do this one for you. One tablespoon equals three teaspoons, so take the 15 calories from the first honey, and multiply by three, to get 45 calories. So, the first honey is still better, calorie-wise, than the second, but not by as much as a first viewing would have you believe.

Another thing I began to pay attention to is the actual list of ingredients. If they were messing with us on serving sizes, what else were they misleading us on? For example, a box of broccoli au gratin rice should be rice, broccoli, and cheese, shouldn’t it? Well, if that’s what you thought, you’d be wrong, as I was. There are enough preservatives, chemicals, and colors to make your head spin. Now, I’m not blaming the folks who make this boxed “food”, because without preservatives, they would not be able to sell their product in such large quantities, and the shelf life would be minimal. However, I can realize that this is not the natural food that I am looking to put into my body.

With this in mind, I have recently switched back to actual butter, after reading numerous articles warning that margarine was more closely related to plastic than to milk. That article was bullshit according to Snopes, but margarine does contain poly- and monounsaturated fats, which are shown to be far more unhealthy than regular saturated fats. Besides, butter is cream. Period. Maybe a bit of sea salt. Look at a list of the ingredients in margarine and you will find quite a few more than that.

Same with cheese—we have recently switched to real cheese from so-called “cheese product”. Cheese product is not even close to natural. It’s more convenient to eat than pure cheese, as it comes in those little individually wrapped packages, but real cheese tastes SO much better.

The local farmer’s market in my new home town apparently has fresh eggs. I’ve been reading that the eggs you buy at the grocery store can be around thirty days old by the time we buy them. I’m looking forward to tasting some farm-fresh eggs.

Little by little, I am becoming more informed about my food, in an effort to live a healthier and, barring accident or unforeseeable illness, longer life. 

Five For Friday: Favorite Foods/Pasta

Holy alliteration, Batman! This one was hubby’s idea, probably due to the fact that we are both in process of losing weight and food is nearly constantly on our minds. So, in no particular order, five of my favorite pasta dishes:

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1.  Macaroni & cheese—Mom used to make this every Monday night, with hot dogs on the side. She made it from scratch, making her own rue and everything. It was AWESOME! Now, Gramma used to make it with the hot dogs IN the casserole, but I just don’t care for that. My oldest boy loves it, as that used to be dinner in our younger & broker days; we’d buy a pack of hot dogs for 75 cents and get a care package from one of our parents with Kraft or store brand boxed mac & cheese, and—voila!—dinner for my two boys on nights when I worked. When we could afford it and up until the last few years, I also made it from scratch; now I make it from Velveeta, which is just as yummy and less work.

2.  Fettuccine Alfredo—This is the meal I order every time hubby & I go to the Olive Garden. At home, I use the Great Value sauce. At Olive Garden, I get the Seafood Alfredo. If this was lower calories or without them at all, I’d probably eat it nearly every day. I’ve only ever had one bad fettuccine alfredo, and I am sorry to say that it was in the beautiful state of my birth, New Hampshire, at a little Mom & Pop restaurant.

3.  Tuna Casserole—Mom used to make this from scratch, too. At my house, I sometimes bake it, sometimes not. My hubby & I are the only ones that like it baked, and when I do throw it in the oven, I’ll add peas. My youngest boy is absolutely nuts about it, even though he doesn’t like mushrooms; the oldest one is sick to death of it. This is another one of those things that I could easily eat all the time.

4.  Lasagna—I make this every Christmas as a “I bake, you eat when you want it” meal. We usually have some Italian or French bread (the soft variety) with it, as well as a nice crisp salad. I love a properly done lasagna and mine is quite the hit. I don’t do veggie/vegan lasagna—I like my meat. Take that any way you want to.

5.  Chicken Parmesan—okay, not really an entirely pasta meal, but meh—it’s my blog, I’ll do as I like. At home, we do a cheap version of this, with Tyson chicken patties and serve it with rotini noodles. I love the flavor combination when the sauce seeps into the chicken, and with melted mozzarella on top. Oy!

So, do you hate me now? Are you going to run out to your local Italian restaurant and load up on the carbs tonight? See you on the treadmill tomorrow!