Healthy Holiday

"It's that time of year"...when you have a party to attend every other evening, someone brings a Christmas "treat" to work every day, food presents are arriving at your doorstep by the second, cocktails are flowing, life is crazy and hectic leaving little time for exercise and meal planning (and lots of opportunities for eating out or picking up take-out)...I'm already feeling it!

This past weekend I had a party on Friday and Sunday night. Next weekend is the same. Then another party on Tuesday, a lunch with friends on Tuesday too, Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family and Christmas day with my mom's side. Then I leave for Atlanta for New Years...and then it's Mardi Gras...

What am I going to do? Well, I might be busy and get a little stressed, but I'm not going to gain weight. What's my plan?

• make time to exercise - I do it first thing in the morning, before my day gets going and I run out of time
• eat extra healthy when I have control - when I am eating at home, it will be lots of salads, fruits, vegetables, chicken, yogurt
• eat breakfast everyday - on a normal day I will have oatmeal or an English muffin; if it's the day after a party/big meal I will have a lighter breakfast like yogurt and fruit (maybe with some granola)
• give away (or throw away) temptations - don't feel guilty about throwing out the left-over dessert from a party or those yummy cookies someone baked for you...what's a bigger waste? throwing away food or throwing away your waist line?
• get back on track THE NEXT DAY - post-party day for me: I already have run and had pomegranate oatmeal with milk to drink; I have a salad planned for lunch, and vegetable soup with a turkey sandwich for dinner...and I'm sure I'll have an apple at some point

I try not to give away unhealthy food gifts (i.e. dessert) at Christmas, I figure everyone gets enough of them and no one really needs them. Last year I gave away homemade hummus and crackers and this year I'm doing homemade whole wheat English muffins with pumpkin butter (now you know Mel!). One of my friends, Danielle, is giving away homemade granola.

I also try to bring a healthy dish to the parties I attend. Friday night I made stuffed mushrooms. Last night the party was at my house and I served the following:

punch
stuffed mushrooms
green salad with lemon vinaigrette and Parmesan
wild rice salad
roasted yellow squash
goat cheese & spinach stuffed chicken breasts
peppermint brownie bites

One of my friends made the punch and brownies, but I made the rest and will post each of these recipes over the course of this week...so check back if you are interested!

When you have control of the menu, why not make it healthy? Dinner was so good last night and no one missed the calories! Who says you have to serve unhealthy food around the holidays?

What about at a party where I don't have control of the menu? I make sure I eat something before I go (maybe an apple) and then I don't eat things that I could have on any given day...no chips and salsa for me! Or crackers and cheese, average desserts (brownies, sugar cookies, etc), store-bought items...this way I eliminate half of my choices and don't waste calories on things that aren't special. I fill-up my plate once and then only go back for vegetable seconds.

Here is an article from CalorieKing.com with more tips for having a healthy holiday without gaining any weight. One thing in the article that I don't agree with is their suggestion for low-calorie and low-fat appetizers/snacks at a party. It recommends that you

"Try some low-fat dips with vegetable crudités, or bowls of raw nuts and dried fruits."

Nuts are not low-fat or low-cal and I wouldn't snack on them at a party...its too easy to go overboard (1/4 cup of peanuts has about 200 calories and 18 g of fat). And although dried fruit is fat free, its still calories dense (1/4 cup of raisins has about 110 calories).

Merry Christmas!

Roasted Mushroom Soup

Whenever my house phone rings early in the morning (no one has the number but close family and friends), I immediately think something is wrong. So when I heard it ringing this morning, that is what I thought. But it was good news! It was one of Hilary's friends, Taylor, calling to tell us to look outside at the SNOW!!!!

It hasn't snowed in south Louisiana in years! I remember there being enough snow one year in the early 90's that we were able to make a snowman; the ditches froze and we could "ice skate" on them (remember that Mary??); and we turned on the sprinkler to make icicles on our bushes.

Schools are closed so I'm assuming that I won't have to teach tonight...what am I going to do with myself? I guess catch up on my to-do list. And blogging about my newest soup recipe is on that list.

I LOVE mushrooms, so when I received a recipe in my email for Roasted Mushroom Soup, I knew I had to make it that day. There were a few steps in the recipe that I didn't like, so I googled for another version. I ended up using a combination of the two. I made a few ingredient modifications too.

The soup is thick and creamy, but only because of pureed mushrooms and not because there is a lot of cream. The recipe only calls for 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, but it is completely optional. I almost left it out, because the soup was already so creamy. I'm going to include the nutrition info for both versions...with and without the cream...and you can decide - nutritionally it doesn't make much of a difference.

Roasted Mushroom Soup
adapted from Countryliving.com and Epicurious.com

makes 8 1-cup servings

2 pounds cremini mushrooms, sliced into ½-inch pieces
about 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps cut into ½-inch pieces
2 large garlic clove, unpeeled
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
½ teaspoon black pepper, divided

1 tablespoon butter
2 shallots, finely sliced (about ½ cup)
4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth, divided
¾ cup white wine (I used chardonnay, but any white would work)
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped (or ¾ teaspoon dried)

2 tablespoons heavy cream (or half & half, both optional)
juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400°F. Divide mushrooms and whole garlic cloves between 2 large baking sheets (with rims). To each baking sheet add 1 tablespoon oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Toss to coat and spread mushrooms and garlic into a single layer. Roast for 30 minutes, switching pans from top and bottom shelves half way through.

As soon as you remove the mushrooms from the oven, add about a ¼ cup of broth (or more) to each pan and scrape up any brown bits...this is called deglazing. Set aside to cool slightly.

Once cooled, remove garlic cloves from pan then peel and mince (or press). Puree half of mushrooms with enough broth so that the blender can blend (about 2 cups for me). Set mushroom puree aside.

Meanwhile, melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add shallot and garlic and sauté until shallot is tender, about 8 minutes. Add wine and simmer until almost all of liquid evaporates, about 2 minutes. Add flour; stir 2 minutes (reduce heat if browning too quickly). Add remaining broth and thyme; stir working out any flour/onion clumps. Stir in remaining cooked mushroom pieces/juices and mushroom puree. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add cream (if using) and lemon juice; taste and reseason with salt and pepper if needed.

Per serving (with cream) - 148 calories, 6 g fat (2 g saturated), 13 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 7 g protein (exchanges: 1 fat, 2 vegetable, 1 protein)

Per serving (without cream) - 135 calories, 5 g fat (1 g saturated), 13 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 7 g protein (exchanges: 1 fat, 2 vegetable, 1 protein)

Notes - The soup can be made ahead of time - cool slightly, then cover and refrigerate, bring to simmer before serving, thinning with additional broth or water if necessary; you could use red onion instead of shallot; my soup was really thick, so I added water to each individual serving instead of thinning out the whole batch; you could use a mixture of creminis (baby portobellos) and button mushrooms instead...shiitakes are expensive and can be hard to find!


Lagniappe...

Having a low-calorie soup (like this one) as a first course may be able to help you lose weight...read about it here!

Strawberries Romanoff

(This post has been updated here.)

Have you ever had strawberries Romanoff at La Madeleine? I've never tried it, but I always think it looks pretty good...can you go wrong with strawberries and cream?

According to "The Food Lover's Companion" (the food encyclopedia Mel gave me a few years ago also available online)

"this deliciously decadent dessert is made by soaking strawberries in orange juice and curaçao or cointreau, then serving them topped with whipped cream. It's one of many dishes named after the Russian royal family by French chefs."

One of my clients asked that I modify a copycat version of the dish on Recipezaar.com to make it more healthful. Not a prob! I changed a few things and made it for myself, and guess what? It's so good! So I decided to share it with all of you. The original recipe serves 4 and the ingredients are as follows:

½ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon brandy or vanilla
½ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
4 cups fresh strawberries

This version doesn't call for soaking the berries in orange juice and orange liqueur (although it's not a bad idea). The problem with this recipe isn't the strawberries (obviously), but the cream, sour cream, and sugar. Heavy cream has 50 calories and 5 g fat (3.5 saturated) per tablespoon. Sour cream has the same calories/fat per 2 tablespoons. And then there's the sugar...18 teaspoons total which adds 270 calories...and aren't strawberries already sweet??

So that's where I made the changes. I swapped plain nonfat yogurt for the sour cream, left the heavy cream alone, and reduced the sugar to 7 ½ teaspoons. I used a 6 ounce container of Dannon All Natural plain nonfat yogurt which is ¾ of a cup instead of ½ of a cup like the original recipe...this helps "dilute" the calories in the whipped cream even further. I also increased the fruit and made 6 servings instead of 4.

You may wonder why I left the heavy cream alone...it is very high in fat after all. For some, fat-free Cool Whip would be an option, but I don't use Cool Whip. I don't think it tastes very good and its not made from anything natural like cream or milk (have you seen the commercial for Reddi-wip..."cream or oil?"). Here is the ingredient list from Cool Whip (the fat-free kind):

Ingredients: WATER, CORN SYRUP, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL* (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE (FROM MILK), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, XANTHAN AND GUAR GUMS, POLYSORBATE 60, POLYSORBATE 65, SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, BETA CAROTENE (COLOR).
*ADDS A NEGLIGIBLE AMOUNT OF FAT

You be the judge...

I'm sticking with whipped cream lightened with nonfat yogurt.

Strawberries Romanoff
adapted from Recipezaar.com

Makes 6 servings

6 oz container nonfat plain yogurt (I like Dannon All-Natural)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or brandy
½ cup heavy cream
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
6 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

Mix yogurt, brown sugar, and vanilla or brandy in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, whip cream and sugar until thick and fluffy.

Gently fold half of cream into yogurt mixture. Add the remaining cream and fold to combine.

Serve over fresh strawberries.

Per serving
before – 296 calories, 18 g fat (11 g saturated), 33 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein (exchanges: 3 ½ fat, 1 starch, 1 fruit)

after –152 calories, 8 g fat (5 g saturated), 18 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein (exchanges: 1 ½ fat, ¼ starch, 1 fruit)

Black Bean (Pumpkin) Soup

I've had this recipe saved since June and have been waiting for the right time to make it. I had one can of pumpkin left in my pantry and I was either going to make yeasted chocolate-chip pumpkin bread or black bean pumpkin soup...but, considering all of the dessert I've had over the past week (lemon icebox pie and banana bread at Mel's, pumpkin cream cheese cupcake from Jess, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and rum cake on Thanksgiving, and M&M's at the LSU/Arkansas game...they weren't lucky this week!) I decided to go with the soup.

I put the pumpkin in parenthesis in the title because you won't even know its in the soup...you can't taste it (Hilary, who hates pumpkin, has eaten the soup twice and hasn't suspected a thing). It adds a thickness to the soup that makes it so rich and creamy...but there is no cream and the soup is very low-fat (4 g per 1 cup).

Things to know about beans:

1) they are a great source of fiber (15 g per cup...60 % of daily value), protein (15 g per cup), and folate...something women in child-bearing years need in order to prevent certain birth defects (64 % of daily value per cup)

2) they are high in carbohydrates, but don't be scared low-carb dieters...these are complex carbohydrates - the kind that are digested and released into your bloodstream more slowly which helps stabilize blood sugar levels (and may help with weight management)

3) the high levels of fiber help stabilize blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, prevent constipation and other digestive disorders (IBS and diverticulosis)

4) they are rich in antioxidants, and the darker the skin the better...so black beans are extra rich!

So eat up...beans are so good for you!

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup
adapted from Epicurious.com

Makes 9 1-cup servings

2 tablespoons butter (preferably unsalted)
1 large onion, chopped
1 shallot minced (you could omit this)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
three 15 ½ ounce cans (or two 25 ounce cans) black beans (about 4 ½ cups), rinsed and drained
1 cup canned tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 cups beef broth
one 15 ounce can pumpkin pureé (about 1 ½ cups)
½ cup dry Sherry (or any dry white wine)
2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar (optional)

In a 6-quart dutch oven or other large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add the onion and shallot; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown. Add garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper and cook for about 2 minutes more.

Meanwhile, in a blender (or food processor), blend half of each of the following: beans, tomatoes, beef broth, and pumpkin. Once the onions have softened and the garlic and seasonings have been added, add the first batch of the bean mixture. Repeat with the remaining beans, tomatoes, beef broth, and pumpkin; add to the soup pot.

Add the sherry (if using), stir to combine, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Just before serving, stir in the vinegar. Taste and re-season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve soup as is or garnished with light sour cream or plain low-fat yogurt.

Per 1-cup serving - 300 calories, 4 g fat (2 g saturated), 49 g carbohydrates, 16 g fiber, 17 g protein (exchanges: 1 fat, 2 protein, 3 starch, ½ vegetable)

Notes - The recipe originally called for 4 tablespoons of butter, but I only used 2. It also called for ½ pound of diced ham, but I left it out...I figured I was getting enough protein from the beans. The dry sherry could be omitted or you could substitute any dry (i.e. not sweet) white wine. Serve ½ cup portions as a side dish or 1 to 1-½ cup portions as an entree. I froze half of the soup in 2 cup servings to reheat on a night when I don't have time to or feel like cooking.

Feta Chicken with Yellow Squash

I admit, I do not try all of the recipes that I post...those that I list with nutrition information, notes, and a link to the recipe are ones that I think sound good, but have never actually made. This one, however, I made Sunday night and it's so good. This is when a camera will come in handy...if I had a picture to post, I'd be more convincing!

I love chicken...its easy, inexpensive, and very lean. I always have it in my freezer. My mom cooked chicken all of the time when we were growing up...I remember saying with my brother and sister "chicken again?"...my kids will definitely say the same one day!

I love feta....salty, creamy, delish! And like most soft cheeses, it's lower in fat (75 cals and 6g fat per 1 oz serving).

I love squash...during the summer I like it grilled and in the winter I like it roasted. I like that the vegetable side is incorporated into the main dish...one less side dish to prepare!

So this recipe is perfect for me! It originally called for zucchini (which would be just as good), but I had yellow squash in the fridge so yellow squash it was. I served it with a side salad (just butterleaf lettuce and a Dijon vinaigrette) and sourdough toast.

Feta Chicken with Zucchini
adapted from realsimple.com

Makes 4 servings

3 teaspoons olive oil
2 lemons
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds or 6 oz each)
salt and pepper
4 medium yellow squash
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced (or pressed)
1/2 cup crumbled Feta

Preheat oven to 400° F. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of the oil in a roasting pan (or spray with cooking spray). Thinly slice the lemons. Place half the slices in the pan.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels (I actually like to use coffee filters because they don't stick to the chicken). Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Place it on top of the lemon slices.

Slice each squash in half lengthwise, then slice each half into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons. In a bowl, combine the squash, Italian seasoning, garlic, remaining 2 teaspoons of oil, remaining lemon slices; season with salt and pepper and toss. Spread the squash mixture around the chicken.

Roast 15 minutes and then remove from oven and sprinkle the feta over the top of the chicken. Return to the oven and continue roasting until the chicken is cooked through, another 5 to 10 minutes (at the very end I turned on the broiler to brown the cheese a little...just for a few minutes). Serve.

Per serving - 293 calories, 10 g fat (4 g saturated), 10 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 43 g protein (exchanges: 2 fat, 6 protein, 2 vegetables)

Notes - The original recipe called for 2 medium zucchini and so I used 4 small yellow squash. But once everything cooked, the squash really shrunk and I wished I had used more. That's why I'm calling for 4 medium. So, even though it may look like alot of squash when you are spreading it around the chicken, go with it. I also cut each breast in half before serving...6 ounces of chicken (and 43 g protein) is alot in 1 meal for a girl (my dad ate the whole breast). The lemon slices aren't meant to be eaten...just for flavor and moisture.

Enjoy!

All We Can Do Is Keep Breathing

Have you heard the Ingrid Michaelson song "Keep Breathing"? Its at the top of my playlist right now...love it! She sings that when life gets crazy and out of control all you can do is keep breathing.

My life has been crazy since November started and as a result I haven't posted anything since November 3rd! In addition to my normal schedule (teaching dance from 3:30 - 9:00 pm Monday through Thursday and 1:00 - 6:00 pm on Sundays) I've been doing a lot of extra choreography: 2 dances for the Saintsations, a duet for 2 kids at the studio, a solo for a high school dancer, and a competition number for the senior company at Tari's School of Dance.

I've also starting working with several high school girls on weight management...I'm on the verge of officially starting my own business...it's so exciting! I love working with this age group (no offense TWL members). I feel that if you can teach young girls healthy eating habits then they will pass what they know on to their families once they get married and have kids.

On top of all of this, LSU has played 4 (going on 5) straight home games. When LSU plays at home my entire Saturday is filled with tailgating, watching band/Golden Girl practice, helping my sister get ready, more tailgating, the game, and finally more tailgating. I also flew to Houston last Friday to watch the Houston Met's fall show and flew home the following morning to get back for the game. Sunday I "worked" from 11:30 am - 7:00 pm. Last night (after teaching from 3:30 - 7:00 pm) I went to Tigerama to watch Hil perform and didn't get home until 12:30 am.

But now I can breathe! Its 10:00 am on Tuesday morning and I am still in bed, blogging. And next week the studio is closed for Thanksgiving so I can really relax.

The following recipes are all slow-cooker recipes. When life gets really hectic, a common problem with getting a home cooked meal on the table is not enough time. With a little planning ahead and by using a slow cooker, you can have dinner ready when you walk in the door at the end of the day. I've already blogged once about slow-cooker meals.

Planning your meals ahead of time can help save time, money, stress, a trip through the drive thru...It will save you from going to the store multiple times a week. You won't have to think about "what's for dinner" each day. And if you have the ingredients to make a recipe on hand, you will probably go ahead and do it as opposed to eating out at a restaurant or getting take out. And as a result you will eat healthier, less processed food.

Before I head to the grocery store, I make a list with the staples I buy every week: apples, yogurt, milk, lettuce, baby carrots, red bell pepper, green onions, cottage cheese. I check to see if I'm out of English muffins (I keep these in the freezer), natural peanut or other nut butter, oatmeal, and nuts. And then I pick my recipes for the week and add the ingredients I need to the list. And this always includes the ingredients for my "salad of the week" and seasonal fruits to snack on.

I actually write down what I plan on eating for the week...and although I don't use it, I found this meal planning worksheet and thought it might be helpful.

Now, I know most of you are thinking right now..."she doesn't have kids", "she doesn't have a whole family to cook for", etc...and you are right! But as you can see above I am really busy, and if I don't plan ahead one of two things happens (1) I don't have enough food for the week and have to eat out more...wasting my calories, or (2) I end up making several trips to the store, usually on my way home from teaching dance late at night ...wasting my time.

My thought is "if you buy it, you will eat it", so buy lots of fruits and vegetables so that you have them to eat and buy fewer processed foods so that you don't have them to eat.

The salad recipe was sent to me by at TWL member. If any of you have any recipes you would like to share with me, I'd love to have them so that I can share them with everyone else! Leave the links as a comment.

Strawberry Salad with Cinnamon Vinaigrette -

• Per serving - 153 calories, 12 g fat (2 g saturated), 11 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 2 g fiber (exchanges ½ fruit, 1 vegetable, 2 fat)
• Notes - Prep everything ahead of time (except the avocado) so that you have a quick lunch ready all week - store everything in separate containers in the refrigerator; make the salad more filling (so that it can be lunch by itself) by adding more veggies (lettuces, red bell pepper, green beans, shredded carrots…) and some lean protein (chicken, turkey, beans); notice the serving size...it makes 12 2/3 cup servings - if you double the size of your serving, don't double the fats (dressing, avocado, pecans); if you don't have raspberry vinegar, just use balsamic or red/white wine

Slow Cooker Rosemary and Red Pepper Chicken -

• Per serving - 200 calories, 4.4 g fat (1.2 g saturated), 4.9 g carbohydrates, 31.9 g protein, 0.7 g fiber (exchanges ½ vegetable, 4 protein, 1 fat)
• Notes - You could use white wine instead of vermouth; Here are some notes I gathered from the comment section: 1) needs more liquid...chicken broth, water, can of chopped tomatoes, or wine (but if you do this double the cornstarch mixture), 2) needs double the rosemary and oregano, 3) serve over pasta

Slow Cooker Chicken Creole -

• Per serving - 191 calories, 1.8 g fat (0.4 g saturated), 14.3 g carbohydrates, 29.6 g protein, 2.7 g fiber (exchanges 2 vegetable, 4 protein, 1 fat)
• Notes - From the comment section: 1) it's spicy...you may want to adjust the amount of jalapeno, 2) you may want to add some tomato paste and okra (frozen would be fine)

Jeanne's Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce -

• Per serving - 210 calories, 9.3 g fat, 19.9 g carbohydrates, 14.2 g protein, 5.7 g fiber (exchanges 2 vegetable, 2 protein, 2 fat)
• Notes - When buying tomato products, read the labels and try to purchase brands without sugar (in any form) as an ingredient; ¼ of a cup of olive oil seems like a lot to me (even though ¼ cup = 4 Tbsp = 12 tsp…and the recipe makes 12 servings…so each serving only ends up with 1 tsp of oil, but there is fat from the sausage and beef too)...I would probably start out with just 2 tablespoons; the sausage is optional; you could substitute 1 1/2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning instead of all of the separate seasonings; make the whole recipe and freeze half to use later; make it vegetarian by omitting the sausage, beef, and turkey and using 24 - 32 oz of sliced mushrooms

Slow Cooker Fajitas -

• Per serving - 335 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated), 32 g carbohydrates, 29 g protein, 2 g fiber (exchanges 1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 3 protein, 2 fat)
  Notes - Sirloin is one of the leaner cuts of beef, however, you could substitute chicken breasts and save even more calories and fat grams; try to find whole wheat tortillas that are around 120 calories…or less; notice the serving is 1 fajita for 335 cals...serve with a side salad (such as carrot-cumin slaw) or a bowl of tortilla soup (such as Campbell's Select Harvest Mexican-Style Chicken Tortilla)

Curried Lentil Soup -

• Per serving - 169 calories, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 34 g carbohydrates, 9 g protein, 2 g fiber (exchanges 1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 protein)
• Notes - I would use chicken or vegetable broth in place of the hot water

Lagniappe...

The last thing I want to share with you is a web-site where you can map the distance that you walk/run/bike...

When I run outdoors (sometimes its just too pretty to get on a treadmill!), I'm always interested in knowing how far I went...and this website tells me. Under "Map New Run" you enter your starting address and then on a map you click along the path you took.

Guess How Many Calories...

So, I'm sitting here watching TV and a commercial for this new Kentucky Fried Chicken meal comes on. KFC describes the "Variety Big Box Meal" like this:

"Hungry for all of your KFC favorites and can’t pick just one? Now you don’t have to. Your rumbling stomach doesn’t stand a chance against our new Variety Big Box Meal, which includes a drumstick, a Crispy Strip, an individual box of Popcorn Chicken, two Homestyle sides, a biscuit and a refreshing 32-oz. drink. Fill up on all your favorites!"

I immediately went to the website to look for the nutrition information. It wasn't listed on the Nutrition Guide, but they did have a nutrition calculator. I guess because there are so many components to the meal, you have to calculate it yourself. So I did. I chose mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans (I had to pick at least 1 healthy thing) as my 2 sides and a large Pepsi as my beverage.

And the nutrition totals? Drum roll please....

1450 calories, 64 g fat (98% of DV), 13 g saturated fat (63% DV), 4.5 g trans fat, 175 mg cholesterol (59% DV), 4150 mg sodium (173% DV), 160 g carbs, 79 g sugar (from the Pepsi), 62 g protein

And the incredible thing is that this is made for 1 person...it's not a family style meal!

So the next time you are at KFC, please don't order this!