Chicken pot pies. Good or bad?

 

Ever since I can remember, I've eat the venerable chicken pot pies from either Swanson or Marie Calendar. These easy to fix meals are a snap to prepare, hot and very filling. they're often my fist choice when shopping the frozen dinner isle at about $1.30. But, are they all that good for you to eat on a regular basis?

Here's both of these meals from a nutritional standpoint;

From most standpoints, both pies are very similar, and so both share some troubling statistics. The worst, in my opinion, is the salt content followed quickly by the saturated fats. This is a combo that can be tolerated by the young, but which can do a real number on older folks who might need to watch both intakes...

From a taste standpoint, I'd give a nod to the Swanson product over the offering from Marie Calendar. From a strictly health standpoint I'd treat them the same way I treat most McDonald's food - eat just every so often!

The infamous French dip! A nutritional quagmire!

As a man who has often found himself on a perennial diet, I have had to make sacrifices especially when it comes to dining out! One of my personal favorite lunch combos has always been a French Dip with a side of fries! (And, yes, while I still order this meal from time to time, I do so while cringing a bit inside). Following are some dietary notes concerning just the sandwich (Note: The fries are a complete nutritional nightmare which I simply ignore).

Very High in Fat

A plain, commercially available French dip sandwich, like you might get from a bar or restaurant, may contain over 481 calories, (with more than half of these calories coming from fat). One popular fast food French dip sandwich has 33 grams of total fat and 25 grams of saturated fat. For a healthy adult following a 2,000-calorie diet, this amount of saturated fat is more than the 15 grams recommended as the daily limit. A French dip sandwich also contains approximately 60 milligrams of cholesterol, or 20 percent of the total cholesterol an adult should have each day.

Rich in Protein

A typical French dip sandwich provides about 18 grams of protein. For a woman between 19 and 70 years old, this amount is 39 percent of her daily protein requirement; for a man of the same age, it is 32 percent. (If you happen to be following some version of the Adkins or Paleo diet plan, protein is a good thing)!

Low in Sugar and Fiber

French dip sandwiches are rich in starch, but not in simple sugars or dietary fiber. A single sandwich may contain 50 grams of total carbohydrates, with only 2 grams contributed by sugars and 1 gram from dietary fiber.(Argh! Taubes and other low-carb enthusiasts say when we eat more carbohydrates than we burn for energy, our body ends up storing them as fat, and that this is the primary cause of weight gain and other related ills. ... Your body then produces extra insulin to bring your blood sugar down).

Dangerously High in Sodium

Commercial French dip sandwiches provide essential minerals such as iron and calcium but also contain a high concentration of sodium, with a single serving supplying more than 1,000 milligrams of sodium. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that healthy adults should not consume more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day. The CDC also advises that the elderly, African-Americans and people who suffer from hypertension, kidney disease or diabetes should not consume more than 1,500 milligrams daily.

Good Source of B Vitamins

The roast beef in a French dip sandwich is a good source of a number of B vitamins, including niacin, vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6, riboflavin, Thiamin and pantothenic acid. These nutrients play a vital role in energy metabolism and in the production of red blood cells. French dip sandwiches are also high in vitamin A, which is required for proper cell reproduction, immune system health and the synthesis of the rhodopsin needed for your eyes to absorb light.

So, the bottom line for me becomes a question of frequency... as long as I order this meal very infrequently, I harbor a slim hope of dietary survival....

Steak and eggs!

The title above was somewhat misleading. My version of this popular meal also contains fried potatoes and OJ making it not that diet minded! Also, there was only one egg consumed!

Whenever you have meat and eggs together on one plate for breakfast, you are talking a high protein slug of food to begin your day. Add in the fried potatoes and that's a also definite carbo-slammer. So, this is not something for the man or woman who is trying to shed some pounds. That said, it could be a good meal for a young athlete who was trying to bulk up a bit.

The meat I often choose was a cut of top sirloin, a thick hunk of meat that grills up really well. It's sort of like a second class filet mignon.

[Whenever I 'grill' up meat like this inside, I often use two pieces of equipment; a convection tabletop oven and a small Foreman grill. I first heat up the Foreman and cook the steak for just a minute before transferring it to the oven set on broil. That part of the cooking process usually is for about three minutes on a side. When done correctly you get the grill marks, yet have a just barely done interior]!

The fried potatoes consisted of one small Russet that had been peeled and then thickly sliced in to 'dollar' shaped pieces. These were quick cooked in hot oil, then removed to a paper towel and the sprinkled with a salt substitute.

If everything is done in a smooth fashion, the whole cooking process takes only about ten minutes!

Enjoying pasta even while dieting!

For anyone who has had to go on a diet, I would agree that it can be tough! Food  that you might really like, as in potatoes, pasta and bread are generally included on the list of stuff you can't eat!

In my case, I look at all foods mainly in terms of just two factors; carbs and calories! If you can reign those dudes into some semblance of reason, then any diet you might try, will likely be successful. The carbohydrate intake, in particular, needs to be monitored very carefully. (I try for less than 160 grams per day). Note that going below 50 grams can throw your metabolism into a state of ketosis. A potentially bad thing for you to find yourself in - see this article for more.

Click to enlarge.

As you can see in the picture above, that's a whole lot of pasta with a simple meatless tomato sauce! And is that garlic bread? Yes. I'm guilty on both counts. But at 277 calories (290 with the Parmesan and red wine I added), this was still a very can do lunch! After having a bowl of oats for my breakfast with half a cup of milk, I had a good idea of what I could enjoy for afternoon snack and dinner!

Following was the entire day that followed. Note that I was able to reserve calories for those inevitable late night snacks....

Click to enlarge.

Egg on toast with home fries!

One of my very large pleasures in life has been the many egg on toast with a side of home fries styled meal-a-deals I've eaten over the years. And, sure, there are a lot of people who might view such a meal with a jaundiced eye. High cholesterol and two 'whites', namely the bread and the potatoes. Both dietary no-nos for individuals trying to stay slim and trim.

OK, so I make amends by not eating this stuff each and every morning. But, let me tell you that there are some redeeming qualities....

Note that the spreadsheet I threw together is 'mostly' correct. Where it falls down is in the reporting of the fried potatoes with perhaps too high levels of salt. My best guess concerning the fried potatoes is that it is close, while the salt level may be a tad high as I used salt substitute. Lastly, I like A1 Sauce on my potatoes. Try it and see what you think!

Critique: The All American hot dog!

Why does this look like a very fucked up vagina?

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates Americans consume 20 billion hot dogs a year - more than twice the retail sales figures. That works out to about 70 hot dogs per person each year. Hot dogs are served in 95 percent of homes in the United States.

That is one heck of a boatload of dawgs! (For myself, I think that the total would be a much more conservative rate of consumption... maybe 68 hot dogs a year). Whatever the actual count, I thought to examine this very popular pastime in a bit more detail!

Right off the bat, let it be known that (like eggs), there are many variations you can eat out there; you have all sorts of meat wieners combined with many kinds of buns which are slathered with more crap than I could ever recount here. For this review, I decided to concentrate on your average run of the mill dog and bun! Here's a list of what I used for this post...

A disclaimer: This particular combination of ingredients was not the best a health conscious person could buy, nor was it the worst. (It was the kind of stuff I was able to easily purchase at my local Country Mart located in Forsyth Missouri).

I decided not to add anything about taste as that would be a waste of time. If you do not like to enjoy a good hot dog, you are very likely beyond the administrations of medical science....

What's actually in a common wiener?

All hot dogs (those that are sold commercially in the US) are cured and cooked sausages that consist of mainly pork, beef, chicken and turkey or a combination of meat and poultry. Meats used in hot dogs come from the muscle of the animal and looks much like what you buy in the grocer's case. Other ingredients include water, curing agents and spices, such as garlic, salt, sugar, ground mustard, nutmeg, coriander and white pepper. And that don't sound too bad... [Rumors that some dogs contain ground up eyeballs, beaks and other sordid and sick animal body parts. Not true, those are only sold to some West Coast consumers!]

Calories per gram!

After doing much research, I determined that there are about 2.3 calories per gram in this particular dawg. So, at 57 grams for the Frankfurter and 46 grams for the wiener, that came to only about 230 calories! Really, not all that bad even after adding some additional toppings.

The toppings!

For myself, I like a fairly standard group of stuff to throw on board; mustard, ketchup, minced onions, hot pepper and relish! I also like to lightly brown the inside of the bun for that finished look! 

In the end, you have thrown together a great tasting treat for low cost and a minimal impact on your waistline... enjoy!

Critique: Always Save Pork & Beans!

I've always felt that if a food product comes out of a can, it's probably not the best choice you could make from a  nutritional perspective.

Many 'canned' foods you can buy at the local stores are high in one sort of preservative or another. Salt is quite often used, or one could say, even abused. Let's examine a single 130 gram or 1/2 cup serving of a popular item known as pork and beans, for instance. A quick glance at the nutritional label is less than encouraging for what is essentially a bean dish. The single highlight, if you will, is the exceptionally high fiber content coming in at 6 grams. Applause for that! But, I'm afraid it's all down hill from there.

Other than the HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) which is a dietary no-no in any food, you also have a boatload of salt (440 mg) not to mention fairly high levels of saturated fat (.5 g). This is not the kind of 'food' I would have ever eaten when I was young, had I known any better. There are far better choices in the produce section. That said, it's even worst when you add in a Frankfurter and a slice slice of toast to the mix. I won't go into the dietary horrors of a meal I enjoy too often as this post is all about the beans!

My suggestion for companies that choose to make and to distribute products like this would be to perhaps give consumers some alternatives. For instance, how about a can of pork and beans without the HFCS and perhaps more potassium chloride and a bit lest of the sodium version. I'm not sure as to the cost or the taste, but I could tell you that I would have a more favorable view of companies that tried it.

Subway Cold cut sandwich at home!

Subway offers a 6" Cold cut sandwich that is one of my favorites for about $3.75! Sadly, by the time you add in some chips and a drink you'll likely be over six bucks! And that cost was one reason, I sometimes like to make one of these up at my home. Sure, my sandwiches are nowhere as pretty as the commercial ones are, and I don't add in stuff like cheese. But, I feel that when you count the cost savings, that they are ever bit as tasty!

For this particular lunch, I elected to have a bit of deli coleslaw and a dab of three bean salad. Nutritionally, I came up with this:

For a 'beverage', I selected a glass of water with some Crystal Lite added that cost just a few pennies! All thing considered, that was not too shabby a meal deal!

Atomic hot dog II!

'Every man is really a boy inside and every boy likes to experiment to the point of distraction...'

Some time ago, I did a post on what I called an 'Atomic Hot Dog'. It was basically a plain Jane affair that I bombed with some diced Habanero peppers. As these peppers are one of the hottest known to humankind, all I did was to blister my mouth rather severely! That was definitely not what I was looking for!

This time around, I opted to mellow out the heat, just a tad, by forgoing the Habanero route in favor of something of a milder persuasion. So, for this test, I decided first on visiting my local grocery market to see what they had to offer. As it was just 22 degrees outside, I bundled up pretty well before venturing out. You see, I'd discovered years ago that I got slower, depending on how low the temperature got. (After doing a bit of math, I determined that somewhere around 4 degrees above zero, I would likely lock up all together)! On this particular day in January, although I shuffled around like an old man returning soup to a kitchen, I made the trip OK.

At the store, I discovered a jar of deli sliced hot cherry peppers that looked like they might be rather tasty while not being too hot. While I was there, I also picked up a package of Ball Park buns. The frankfurters were already in my fridge – Oscar Meyer Jumbo franks! Those, along with some condiments and relish and I was all set! Allez cuisine!

One would think that slinging together a hot dog would be a breeze, and you'd be right if you weren't me! I like to make the simple, complex and the complex impossible! So, saying, I spent a good hour figuring out;

Proper bun heating.

Prepping those condiments!

&

The correct method of heating your wiener!

Handling those buns – No one I know particularly likes eating a cold bun. Buns are supposed to be warm, brown and something you can really sink your teeth in! To that end, I like to give my buns a quick do over in a convection oven.

The condiments – In order to insure the maximum taste impact, I typically throw a teaspoon of sliced onions into a food processor with a like amount of hot peppers. The resulting mush insures that whatever heat therein that exists while hot my mouth all at once. To this mix at the last minute, I'll typically add a small amount of pickle relish, mustard and ketchup.

Getting you wiener hot – OK, everything was in readiness with the exception of that wiener. Should it be pan fried, microwaved or boiled in water? Heavy questions those. Personally, I generally opt to heat mine in some boiling water for about five minutes before slipping it quickly into a hot bun that's been lubed up with the aforementioned condiments....wait...what?

Well, this 'creation' proved to be way too time consuming even as it was very tasty! Thanks goodness it only cost about a buck and came in at ~275 calories! And finally, on a nutritional note, frankfurters are a real diet no-no. They contain corn syrup, salt and high levels of saturated fats! So, consume sparingly!

An ETM with fried potatoes breakfast! WHAT?

ETM stands for Egg, toast and milk. (My acronym for an often eaten morning repast)! This breakfast has a lot going for it... for the most part. Let me count the ways...

DA EGG - 46 grams at 90 calories

More than half the protein of an egg is found in the egg white along with vitamin B2 and lower amounts of fat and cholesterol than the yolk. The whites are rich sources of selenium, vitamin D, B6, B12 and minerals such as zinc, iron and copper. Eggs are close to a perfect human food as they are almost entirely absorbed in the small intestine. And yes, they are high in cholesterol, although recent research has shown the impact of that has been much maligned according to this WebMD post!

RYE TOAST (dry – no butter) - 32 grams at 80 calories

Since its gluten is less elastic than wheat's, and it holds less gas during the leavening process, breads made with rye flour are more compact and dense. Since it is difficult to separate the germ and bran from the endosperm of rye, rye flour usually retains a large quantity of nutrients, unlike refined wheat flour. Bottom line, rye bread is much better for you than white ever will be!

MILK - 100 grams at 64 calories

Whole milk is a rich source of calcium, a mineral essential for healthy bones and teeth. Cow's milk is also often fortified with vitamin D, which is also beneficial for bone health. And sure, 100 grams in a glass ain't all that much!

The above three come in at at diet healthy 234 calories and were I to leave it at that, I could pat myself on the back and move on. However, us guys have a way of mucking up even the most well intentioned efforts, and so I also like to often add in a serving of fried potatoes... so, sue me!

FRIED POTATOES - 126 grams at 240 calories

OK, I know we've all been rather brainwashed when it comes to eating French fries, but just hold on! My method of cutting a fresh Russet potato into slices and then browning that in olive oil is world's apart from the junk food you might get at McDonald's! Without going into too much detail, the potatoes made my way offer up a lot less surface area for the oil to cling to. In addition, I never burn them ( a really bad idea), but rather just get them to the cooked stage. These are then dried on a paper towel and sprinkled with a salt substitute. The end result is a high carb addition that many nutritionists can live with!

There you have it! This meal-a-deal came in at about 474 calories and was everything a growing boy needs to stay fit and trim.. now where did I put the chips and beer?

Notes: Other condiments used in this preparation were I Can't Believe it's Not Butter and A1 sauce!

A nutritional salad blast!

My salads not only taste good, but they are nutritious as well! A mix of romaine, broccoli shoots, celery, bell pepper and sliced radish that was topped with a sliced smoked ham! The dressing is a mix of 1 tbsp each of apple cider vinegar and virgin olive oil with a ¼ teaspoon of Dijon mustard that is well mixed!

It's an eggish & stir fry morning! And, you know what? That's not such a bad thing!

Beef stir fry, egg, toast and 2% milk!

OK, I'll admit that I have a couple of really bad food addictions, namely eggs and beef! My eggs are fried (horrors of horrors) and my beef is mixed with olive oil, peppers and onions to form a most satisfying and potentially cancerous stir fry! Is there any hope for me? At the ripe old age of 64, do I really care? Well, let's get down to it....

First off, the jury is now out as to a number of culinary topics relating to some foods. Saturated fats have been in the news as of late. Gee. And, it seems that the original studies done in the 50's and 60's were very flawed!! 'Heavens to Murgatroid' as the character Snagglepuss may have put it! Did the the experts lie? Yeah, probably so, as it turns out. In reality, these types of fats may not actually be bad for you, over the long term! Go figure....

Well, what about that evil beef your eating, you complete and utter savage? Same deal, folks... studies by many scientists who have looked at humankind's diet over millions of years, have been struck by how very healthy the Paleolithic man was! No evidence has been found of heart disease, coronary problems, tooth decay or actually any disease in early man such as we all suffer from today. (If you question this statement, please do you own research)! The facts are, these early people died most of gross injury and predation by other animals! (Had they had all the comforts of modern technology and medicine, they might all have lived as long as Moses). A cravat: the Paleo diet includes lot of fresh vegetables and fruits!

OK, OK – so granted that the stir fry thing just might be acceptable, what about them fried eggs! The average egg yolk contains enough cholesterol to sink the Titanic, right? Well, actually that pretty much wrong also. While eggs do add a goodly amount of cholesterol to the blood stream, the key issue is the ratio of so-called bad cholesterol (HDL) to good cholesterol (LDL) exists at any one time in a person's blood. When the ratio's are pretty close to being equal, well that's really not such a bad thing as it turns out. The human body produces cholesterol naturally and this substance is a needed ingredient to good health. It's when the ratio gets out of whack – either way, that you might want to be concerned. So, get you blood cholesterol levels measured on a regular basis, exercise frequently and eat! Eat what you crave, but in moderation. Then, run out and explore the world!

"The human body is a biological process of incredible complexity. It was designed to grow strongly, heal itself through a period of time and then age to a point of failure. God did well..."

Tuna salad sandwiches and nutrition!

As is generally known by many, tuna salad is a simple mix of tuna, mayo and relish. I generally like to make up just enough for two sandwiches by purchasing the small 3 ounce cans at the local grocery store. I make sure to buy my tuna packed in water as opposed to oil as I feel this is more healthy.

Recipe

1 3 oz can Tuna, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp (34 g) Mayo

1 (34 g) tbsp relish

Directions

Mix well and use about ½ of the tuna salad per whole sandwich. Simple, fast and delicious!

I like to make just ½ a sandwich which also helps to make this recipe stretch even further! Here's the nutritional breakout:

Calories: 126

Cal from fat: 38

Cholesterol: 11

Sodium: 200

Carbs: 15

Protein: 8

Combining this with a simple garden salad would satisfy even the most strict of diets!

Critique: Van Camp’s ‘Pork n Beans’ with a wiener!

So, what’s with this? The times have gotten so slow, I’m now doing critiques on canned goods? Well, yes I am!

You see, I’ve always had a soft spot for this bean dish ever since I was a child. Some winters, when it got cold outside, my Mom would place a hot bowl of Van Camps Pork N Beans in front of me and I can still remember the great aroma. Yeah, pork and beans, a slice of toast and some milk…those times were good.

Today, in 2012, I still like this stuff both from a standpoint of good taste and nutrition. This mix of beans, tomato sauce and pork is loaded with fiber. It also contains a goodly amount of iron and zinc! Half a cup yields only about 124 calories, so when used as a side as shown here; it’s not exactly a diet buster. But, here’s the deal that makes this side dish into a real meal…of sorts. An all beef wiener and a side of green beans with milk! With those additions you’ve escalated everything up to about 400 calories! That’s a diet friendly number while providing everyone with a great tasting meal.

Currently, you can purchase a 15 ounce can for under a buck. I think I paid .69 cents. This is still a good bargain all around that provides high caliber protein along with much needed fiber. I give Pork n Beans a score of 8!