Thursday, November 5, 2009

Fiesta con NUTRITION!

Wow! I was expecting a good turn-out for the giveaway...but the response has far exceeded my expectations! Thank you to my new followers...I look forward to hearing from you and reading your work, as well!



If you look to the right there you'll see my newest poll is asking about your preferred housing for your taco stuffing! This past week I made tacos and came across several options on hand in our house. While I typically go for a corn tortilla, I hate how small they are and how easily they rip. So, I opted for some hard shells you'll see below. I then, of course, got to comparing the nutrition on these taco shells and may have had a change of heart...
I just may be a hard shell chick.

So, let's compare...

 
Serving size is 1 tortilla.
130 calories, 3 grams of fat (1.5 saturated), 3 grams of fiber, 290 mg sodium




First word on the list of ingredients: "enriched" -- BLASPHEMY!!! And looking at that list, there's TONS of 8-syllable words on there (that's my way of saying "there's way too many preservatives")





 
Choice 2: Old El Paso hard taco shells
My Pick of the week!





 
A MUCH abbreviated list of ingredients and a single preservative 
(can't escape them all, but glad to see it's limited....)




 
First note: the serving size is THREE shells.
150 calories, 7 grams of fat (3 g saturated -- 3 grams MUFA!), 135 mg sodium, 1 gram of fiber.

I love the healthy fat (despite the higher saturated fat), and I love that the sodium is low!!'





Choice 3: Mission Yellow Corn tortillas




 
Serving size is 2 tortillas
110 calories, 1.5 grams of fat (no saturated fat), 10 mg sodium, 3 grams of fiber

So, which taco shell would you choose at my house?

I think the corn tortillas are the most wholesome. I love the fact that they are SOOOO low in sodium, a good source of fiber, and contain NO saturated fat! However, they're too flimsy for me! The ones at restaurants are always better than those in the stores...

C'est la vie that the healthiest option is not my favorite...but I DO think that the Old El Paso hard shells are a GREAT option for tacos shells. I love that the shells are low in sodium and have more than half the fat coming from MUFA's and PUFA's. For a 3-shell serving, they're also the lowest in carbohydrates (important for diabetics!).

The Mission Life Balance are a good source of fiber but higher in calories. They're also packed with preservatives and the main ingredient is enriched bleached wheat flour (noooo!).

In short: soft shell corn, hard shell corn, and last...flour.
 
Have a wonderful Thursday and check back for the winner of the giveaway tomorrow!!

4 comments:

  1. I'm totally a soft shell taco girl..growing up I loved hard shells but I'm the complete opposite now! I think I would also choose the corn tortillas.. the life balance ones look SO healthy but that ingredients list scares me!!

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  2. Nicole,
    I love the title of your post;you go girl! I also like the fact of low sodium. You might want to check out a tofu burrito, which I made, but with a soft shell. (http://fromadietitiansperspective.blogspot.com/2009/11/sharing-my-lunch-with-you-today-my.html)

    Have a great day!
    ~Anthony

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  3. Great review! I love making taco salads with tons of veggies, beans, and a crumbled hardshell taco :) Salsa makes great dressing!

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  4. Enriched flour is mandated by law. Even the healthiest of breads have enriched flours. So the "First word on the list of ingredients" isn't really blasphemy as much as it is mandatory.

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