Happy Father’s Day dear families!

Although this holiday is usually associated with buying dad a tie/electronic gizmo/golg club/fishing gear and enjoying a BBQ meal, we’d like to take a minute to ponder the paternal role in a family’s healthy eating habits.

Not just moms – Nutrition is a job for both mom and dad. If mom is serving up a salad and fish, but dad pops a frozen cheeseburger in the microwave, kids get a mixed message about what to eat. Even more subtle gestures, such as jokes about salads and refraining from brocolli at dinner tells the kids, especially boys, what is considered “manly” food, and what is for girls and sissies. It’s bad enough we have “Hungry Man” TV Dinners for guys and “Lean Cuisine” for gals.

Meal times – It’s hard to find time to sit together for a family meal every day. Breakfast is grab and go, lunch is at school/work, and dinnertime is often spent working extra hours, an evening shift, or stuck in traffic. However, multiple studies have shown that families that eat together often tend to grow more responsible teens that stay away from drugs, perform better at school, and in general make their dads proud. So make the effort, if not daily, at least on weekends, to eat together.

Snack time - There’s a lot of temptation when it comes to snacking. it seems like every place your turn, you can get a doughnut, bag of chips, and a 20 oz slurpee. Sure, these are convenient ways to calm a growling tummy on the road or when coming home after a long day out of the house. But with a few minutes of preparation, you and your kids can enjoy a healthy snack of carrot sticks, apple slices, strawberries, peanut butter filled celery sticks, and more.

Role model – If mom is the sole person charged with grocery shopping and food preparation, while dad’s job is just to comment on the dishes based on taste (and wash the plates after the meal), it will be very hard to switch from greasy, salty comfort foods to healthier fare. By participating in the preparation process, dads can learn alot about what works and what doesn’t. Plus, there’sa good chance the children will want to join in as well. And when kids help prepare a dish, there’s an increased chance they’ll try it too.

Exercise – If your idea of getting fit is getting off the La-Z-Boy to get some more ice cream before the next game starts on ESPN, what is junior going to think? How about spending time tossing a ball around outside? And no, Wii Fit does not count.

Vices – What kind of message do children get when they see dad drinking daily, smoking, and engaging in other habits that are hard to break?

To summarize, you dad, are a family breadwinner, but your responsibilities also include making sure it’s whole wheat bread, and that it’s serve with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and lean dairy and meat.

Moms – please forward to your hubbies…

good luck!

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Very healthy! Or at least that’s what new research, sponsored by ConAgra, has shown. Here’s the press release:

ConAgra Foods announced today new research that shows people who ate Healthy Choice(R) really did get healthier. Participants in the 24-week study, on average, lost 18 pounds – all as fat – trimmed their waistlines by about three inches, and lowered their cholesterol by 12 points. Leading cardiologist Dr. James Rippe, founder and director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute, led the research team that conducted the study, which was presented during the 2009 Experimental Biology Conference April 18-22 in New Orleans, La.

get it all here…

Excuse us while we scratch our heads. How can The Rippe Institute conduct a truly objective study when it is being heftily paid by a company with a vested interest in a specific outcome?

Reading into the study, the people eating Helthy Choice got healthier because they were forced to excercise, eat only fruits, vegetables, lean meat and dairy, and whole grains. Oh, and one Healthy Choice meal once a day. How can the weight loss be attributed specifically to the frozen meal?

This press release is part of a huge rebranding of the Healthy Choice empire, including the introduction of new products, reformulation of some existing lines, and new packaging. ConAgra is estimated to be spending close to $100 million on this effort, including National TV Ads starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and web activities.

What you need to know:

While frozen dinners have made some headway over the past few years in terms of nutritional content, they still lag far behind home made food on several fronts:

1. high levels of salt – in the clip above, Julia Louis Dreyfus is stuffing herself silly with Sweet Asian Potstickers containing 600mg of sodium. That’s a quarter of the daily maximum value.

2. high levels of sugar – 19 grams or 4 teaspoonfuls. Hey, is this dessert?

3. too many ingredients* – here’s what’s inside the Sweet Asian Potstickers:

Vegetable Potstickers: (Filling [Cabbage, Vermicelli {Mung Bean, Water}, Baked Tofu (Tofu [Water, Whole Soybeans, Nigari], Tamari [Water, Soybeans, Salt, Alcohol, Wheat], Natural Flavors, Spices), Bulgur Wheat, Precooked Rice, Water Chestnuts, Green Beans, Onions, Carrots, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Sesame Oil, Evaporated Cane Juice, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Spice], Wrapper [Wheat Flour, Water, Corn Starch, Soybean and/or Canola Oil]). Cooked Whole Grain Brown Rice, Water, Sugar, Carrots, Red Peppers, Sake, Rice Vinegar, Scallions, Corn Starch, Wheat, Soybeans, Spices, Sesame Oil, Garlic Puree, Salt, Locust Gum

To be fair, most of the list above is actually understandable, and there are no freaky additives or preservatives in this dish. So when the food scientists want to, they can dish out healthy fare…

* We could not find the ingredient information on the Healthy Choice website. The customer support group did reply promptly to our email, though.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you really really can’t prepare your own food, and must grab something from the Frozen Dinner Aisle, take a look at health brands such as Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine first. The brand does not automatically promise you’ll get a nutritious dish, but it improves the chances.

Proceed to check the ingredient list, scanning for unpronounceable chemicals, and then look at the sodium count. It should be in the neighborhood of  400-500mg or less. The sugar count should be lower than 12 grams. Usually the calorie count will be decent, because manufacturers know that’s the only number most people look at.

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Lean Cuisine, A Nestle brand of frozen dinners, is very popular with dieters. “Lean Cuisine” is considered a nutrient content claim by the FDA, so all products under this brand are required to meet the “lean” criteria per serving: less than 10 grams of fat, less than 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol.

We decided to take a look at Lean Cuisine’s Shrimp and Angel Hair Pasta described by Nestle as:

Shrimp and angel hair pasta in a creamy seafood sauce with accents of sherry, tossed with red peppers.

Read more…

Shocking but true -  the average American eats 6 frozen meals a month.

The first TV dinner appeared in 1953 under the Swanson brand as a solution for busy moms who had begun joining the workforce and could no longer spend hours in the kitchen preparing daily meals. The dinner included turkey, corn bread and gravy, buttered peas and sweet potatoes. It cost $0.98.

This was the beginning of a revolution. Combining an entree and two sides in a three part aluminum container that could be heated, eaten from, and then discarded proved to be a great convenience for consumers.

Read on for some fascinating facts…

Read more…

The USDA has announced a recall by Nestle / Stouffer’s of the following Three Lean Cuisine products:
*  9.5-ounce packages of “LEAN CUISINE PESTO CHICKEN WITH BOW TIE PASTA” brand frozen meals.
* 10.5-ounce packages of “LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN MEDITERRANEAN” brand frozen meals.
* 12.5-ounce packages of “LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN TUSCAN” brand frozen meals.

The problem was discovered after the company received consumer complaints and a report of one injury. The company identified the objects as small pieces of hard plastic.

Here are the full details.

Lean Cusine Chicken Mediterranean

Lean Cuisine Chicken Tuscan

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