Thursday, August 20, 2009

Ottawa Citizen Nutrition Watch Week 14 - Big Food Inc. at Home



As I mentioned, the update from my sources strongly suggest that published nutritional analyses for Citizen recipes will be a done deal - just not for a while longer.

The lesson this week? Just because you cooked it at home doesn't necessarily make it healthier than restaurant fare - you've got to know the numbers to determine whether or not it's healthy and nutritious.

(For those of you who aren't sure what this is all about see this post)

For now, I'll just keep on calculating, but really, if I can still find time to do this with a one week old and 3 kids under 5, what's the hold up?:

Hall's Orchard Fresh Pink Applesauce
(per recipe assuming 2 tablespoons of honey and 12 apples): 1,106 calories, 1g saturated fat, 2mg sodium, 287g total carbs.

PEI Smoked Salmon with Pasta and Lemon Dill Cream Cheese Sauce
(per serving): 701 calories, 14g saturated fat, 794mg sodium, 89g total carbs.

[My note: The headline says don't let Big Food Inc. cook for your kids - this dish isn't any better nutritionally than Big Food's servings. It's salty, it's got nutritionally bereft white pasta and it has loads of saturated fat]

Simply Steamed Island Blue Mussels with 3 Different Flavours

(per serving beer flavour): 656 calories, 4g saturated fat, 1,982mg sodium, 31g total carbs.
(per serving orange curry flavour): 619 calories, 3g saturated fat, 1,949mg sodium, 32g total carbs.
(per serving wine flavour): 655 calories, 4g saturated fat, 2,027mg sodium, 26g total carbs

[My note: And once again, Big Food Inc. doesn't necessarily hold a candle to these high calorie, high sodium dishes]


Organic PEI Field Greens with Apple Vinaigrette and Pumpkin Seeds
(per serving assuming use of 1/8 teaspoon of salt to taste for entire dish): 181 calories, 1g saturated fat, 91mg sodium, 11g total carbs.

Watermelon Salad
(per serving if serving 8 and using 2 tablespoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt): 261 calories, 1g saturated fat, 91mg sodium, 52g total carbs.

[All recipes calculated using Mastercook 9.0. Today it took roughly 2 minutes per recipe]