Are Our Nachos Healthy

10:16 AM in Aqua, are, healthy, nachos, our

When we wrote about our one-year meal plan a few months back, we had nachos in the mix for a not-insignificant number of meals.  After all, they take only a few minutes to prepare, are undisputedly delicious, and, with all the vegetables we tend to heap on top of the chips and cheese, surely not a poor choice nutritionally...right?

While the first two points are self-evident (and/or subjective), the last point was an assumption (or hypothesis) that we could put to the test.  A few minutes with the nutrition labels on our ingredients, and some additional help from the ol internets, and we could actually see (with numbers!) how our nachos stack up.

First, we need an approximate recipe, so heres a what makes up a fairly typical 8" plate of nachos for us:

THL Plate O Nachos
21 tortilla chips (a couple handfuls)
2.5 oz. shredded cheese
0.5 cup salsa
0.5 cup plain yogurt (instead of sour cream)
1 cup chopped greens (often, lettuce)
0.25 cup chopped avocado
0.25 cup chopped tomato
0.25 cup chopped sweet red pepper
0.25 cup chopped chicken

Now, if we pull the nutrition info off the chips, cheese, salsa, and yogurt in our pantry and fridge (Sprouts brand for the first three, Mountain High brand for the yogurt), along with nutrition info from the Self Database (for romaine lettuce, avocado, tomato, pepper, and chicken), we can put together a sort of nutrition label and compare to the recommended daily values from the FDA.

So, if were eating the nachos for one of our three meals (i.e., if we should hit about a third of our %RDV for each category), it looks like were pretty close for calories, a little high on the fat, cholesterol, sodium and protein, and a little low on the carbs.  Were also rockin the vitamins A and C, thanks to the lettuce and peppers.  But can these nachos make up a significant fraction of a healthy diet?  The nachos obviously arent perfectly balanced, but if our other two meals of the day are a little more carb-heavy (like oatmeal and PBJ sandwiches!), it looks like we probably wont get too far out of whack.

But for some extra perspective, we could also compare our nachos to other entrees that we might eat instead, if we werent so lazy busy.  We found data for another version of chicken nachos grande, and also for taco salad, quiche, spaghetti, chili, and the quintessential example of nutritionally-challenged food, a Big Mac.

Somewhat surprisingly, even with the veggies, our nachos dont stack up particularly well against anything but the other nachos, except for vitamins A and C, and calcium.  (Normalizing everything to 100-gram portions makes our nachos look better, but thats not very realistic if were actually eating the whole plate!)  Guess we better not make a regular habit of nachos for supper, unless we cut back on the chips and cheese, and ramp up on the other toppings. 

New house rule: nachos cannot be an entree if chips and cheese are initially visible through the layer of vegetable matter on top.

Thanks for keeping us in check, science!

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A Free Healthy Meal Seven Days a Week for Children and Youth in Albuquerque

12:33 PM in a, albuquerque, and, Aqua, children, days, for, free, healthy, in, meal, seven, week, youth

Are you between the ages of 3 to 18 or have a child who is in that age range? If so, you can receive a free healthy meal at the Presbyterian Hospital cafeteria between 1:00 and 7:00 p.m., seven days a week.

The cafeteria is located on level 5-2, north side of the hospital, located at 1100 Central Ave. SE (map)

No identification is necessary, and any child or youth of 3-18 years of age qualifies.

You will need to order from a cashier and sign a log showing that you received a meal. The meal must be eaten at the hospital. A voucher is not necessary. 

The program is sponsored by Presbyterian Community Health.

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Fish Seafood and Healthy Eating

6:54 AM in and, Aqua, eating, fish, healthy, seafood

Grill it, poach it, broil it, bake it. Any way you cook it, fish really is brain food. Not only that, but according to research, also food for your heart, prostate and more. Fish, particularly fatty fish, is an excellent source of the Omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Omega-3 has been shown to be beneficial to our health in a myriad of ways. The American Heart Association recommends two servings per week of fish such as salmon, char, mackerel and herring because they contain more Omega-3 than lighter fish such as cod or halibut.

The full article can be found at Northernaquafarms.com Seafood Section

This 633 word article is also published at Ezine articles and is available for free use by other publishers. The article and usage terms are located at This link

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