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Salty Series: Entrées

FitSugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:30:00 -0700

When it comes to restaurant fare and processed food it seems sodium lurks in unexpected places and unexpected quantities. The theory is that salt makes everything taste better, so more salt means tastier food, right? Not really, but you wouldn’t know that after seeing the amounts of sodium used in some of the entrées at some popular food chains. Take a look and see what meals you should avoid, especially if high blood pressure is a health concern of yours. Just to remind you that the upper limit of daily sodium is 2,300 mg a day, which is equal to about one teaspoon. Here's a list of the top saltiest dinners you can order.

Saltiest Burger: Hardee's 2/3 pound Monster Thickburger — 2,770 mg. Most of the sodium comes from the bun and the three slices of processed cheese which make up for 780 mg.
Saltiest Pasta: Fazoli's Rigatoni Romano — 3,180 mg. This dish is made with Italian sausage, meat sauce, and cheese, all of which have high amounts of sodium. Put them together and bada-boom, baba-bing, you've got one salty dish.
Saltiest Beef Entrée: Bob Evans Steak Tips and Noodles — 4,131 mg. Think beef stroganoff soaked in gravy. The steak on its own has 638 mg of sodium. That's some salty gravy.
Saltiest Frozen Dinner: Swanson Hungry-Man XXL Roasted Carved Turkey — 4,480 mg. The label on the box says that the meal is actually two servings, but what kind of hungry man is going to share?

To see the rest of this atrocious list

Kashi Entrées: Black Bean Mango

FitSugar — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:15:00 -0700

I recently tried a new flavor of the frozen entrées from Kashi (they're the company that makes those TLC Chewy Granola Bars I love). I loved the Pesto Pasta Primavera so much, and was excited to try another vegetarian option - Black Bean Mango.

As with all of Kashi's products, I was impressed that I could pronounce every ingredient on the list, and they were all things I've heard of like canola oil, ginger, cilantro, and garlic.

I wasn't expecting this entrée to be so deliciously flavorful. It was a combination of sweet from the mangos, and spicy from the jalapeño peppers. The texture was really satisfying too. There were many tender veggies like carrots and red peppers.

There were soft and sweet mangos, and another amazing thing - you could actually see the grill lines on the roasted green peppers and onions. I thought that was a nice touch.

The protein-filled black beans were surrounded not only by rice like you usually see, but also by other chewy whole grains like oats, rye, hard red winter wheat, buckwheat, barley, and sesame seeds.

For a frozen vegan meal, this was very tasty. It only has only 340 calories, 430mg sodium, and no cholesterol (obviously). It also has 430mg of potassium, 8g of protein, 7g of fiber, 150% of your daily vitamin A needs, and 100% of your daily vitamin C needs.

Want to see what it looks like when you heat it up? Then

Kashi Entrées: Pesto Pasta Primavera

FitSugar — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 02:34:17 -0700

I've just recently tried a new product from Kashi (the company who makes those chewy granola bars I love). They are broadening their scope and have just introduced some frozen entrées to their Kashi brand, look for them in the freezer at your local health food or grocery store.

I was very excited to try one because I already have the utmost respect for anything with the Kashi name. When I looked at the back of the Pesto Pasta Primavera package, the ingredients were just what I would use if I were to make it myself: whole wheat pasta, basil, Parmesan cheese, peas, yellow carrots (yup), sweet red peppers and garlic. There wasn't anything on that list I didn't recognize, and that made me feel good.

The serving size was very filling, but because there were so many veggies, it was only 330 calories for the entire meal. Speaking of the veggies - they were actually very fresh tasting and even had a little crisp to them, so I know they weren't overcooked.

For a pasta dish, I was surprised to find out it has 12 grams of protein. It also has 7g of fiber. Out of the 11g of fat, only 2g are saturated, and there are NO trans fats. The sodium level was a little high - 790mg - but not over the top high considering you can have 2,300mg a day.

Another great thing? Since it has as many veggies as noodles, I felt energized after eating it, not exhausted like you can get with most pasta dishes.

Want to see what it really looks like? Then