Response: Alex Santaga's Chicken vs Chicken Nuggets

In Alex's post she discusses the nutritional differences between real unprocessed chicken and chicken nuggets, much like those that you would find at McDonald's. There is an overwhelming difference nutritionally between these two subsets of chicken. Alex explains that unprocessed chicken "is a low calorie, low trans fat, and a good source of vitamin B6 and protein". Many of us don't usually associate McDonald's chicken nuggets with actually being real chicken, but as a good choice for a late night snack while under the influence. After reading her post it made me think twice about ever consuming this fake chicken ever again. I followed her blog to a link of what was titled "McDonald's Fail" which was footage of a fried chicken head that was supposedly found in a McDonald's restaurant. Although very humorous, it was quite disturbing at the same time. After reading her post i was very interested to find out exactly what is in a McNugget. Interestingly enough Michael Pollan discusses this very topic in his second book, "An Omnivores Dilemma."

“The ingredients listed in the flyer suggest a lot of thought goes into a nugget, that and a lot of corn. Of the thirty-eight ingredients it takes to make a McNugget, I counted thirteen that can be derived from corn: the corn-fed chicken itself; modified cornstarch (to bind the pulverized chicken meat); mono-, tri-, and diglycerides (emulsifiers, which keep the fats and water from separating); dextrose; lecithin (another emulsifier); chicken broth (to restore some of the flavor that processing leeches out); yellow corn flour and more modified cornstarch (for the batter); cornstarch (a filler); vegetable shortening; partially hydrogenated corn oil; and citric acid as a preservative. A couple of other plants take part in the nugget: There's some wheat in the batter, and on any given day the hydrogenated oil could come from soybeans, canola, or cotton rather than corn, depending on the market price and availability."

I was very surprised to read that these chicken nuggets were actually more corn than chicken. So a tip to the wise: do not consume Mcnuggets ever again in your brief existence.

A meal fit for a woman.

Being the house mother of our apartment i decided that i would make a feast for my roommate and I. I decided that i was going to make steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. I started off the meal by gathering all of the necessary ingredients at the very convenient Madison Fresh Market, located just beneath my apartment. I grabbed two very lean steaks, two stalks of broccoli, and a bag of Ore-Ida's Steam and Mash potatoes. It didn't take a great deal of time to plan out my all American meal, and luckily the store had all of my required ingredients. The steak took all of 12 minutes too cook after the oven was at the proper temperature, and the broccoli was done in about the same time. What was really interesting though, were the steam and mash potatoes. They were done in about 5 minutes and tasted like my mom's homemade mashed potatoes.

As we devoured our meals, it was disappointing to me to realize that it took us less time to eat the meal than it did to prepare it. I guess it makes sense though, considering we just got out of a three and a half hour practice. After eating, we quickly cleaned up our mess of pots and pans and placed them in the dishwasher. Being an athlete it is a rare occasion to prepare a meal for myself because of the time crunch. I felt quite satisfied with myself though, making a well balanced meal in my own apartment is a pretty big deal. I didn't even use low-fat processed foods in the process. I agree with Pollan with regards to these foods. Our society is so focused on quick meals that are "good for you". In actuality, the food that we are consuming isn't real food at all. In the article, "Processed foods, aren't real foods at all" the author discusses the science behind these processed foods, and the affects they have on our bodies. Luckily my meal didn't consist of any processed foods which in turn made my meal that much more enjoyable.