Unlucky 13: Scary recipe ingredients

by Bethany Sanders (Subscribe to Bethany Sanders's posts)
Oct 29th 2007 11:00AM

Categories: Healthy Recipes, Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

When it comes to diet, I subscribe to the principle "everything in moderation." But when you're trying to lose weight, there's no way around the fact that some foods just add too much fat and too many calories to your meal to make them worth it. Better to use them sparing or to substitute them with something healthier.

So how to rehab a recipe? According to WebMD, you should consider how important the ingredient really is. If it's crucial for flavor, leave it in, but experiment with using less. Or you can try to cut fat and calories from other, less important ingredients. And if the item is really not a cornerstone flavor of the dish, play around with other foods to find a suitable substitute.

Here are WebMD's 13 scariest ingredients in homemade meals:

mayonnaise
bacon grease
heavy whipping cream (liquid)
puff pastry
cheese
light whipping cream
cooked sausage
bacon
butter
sour cream
cheddar cheese
pie crust
half and half

Want to see what makes these 13 foods so scary? Check out our gallery to learn more.

Unlucky 13: Scary recipe additions(click thumbnails to view gallery)

Source

Comments (22)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Willy 11-02-2007 @ 9:53AM

Cheddar cheese?!?! Forget it. I can live without the others.

dbrown 10-31-2007 @ 7:57AM

I guess then it is better to eat artificial than to eat natural. It is better to eat chemical laden foods that the body was not made to digest. Foods that contain artificial preservatives and cancer causing dyes, than to eat what was created for eating and the body is able to utilize and burn off in calories. Steroids and pesticides, artificial hormones, things we put in our bodies everyday because we as a nation are too lazy. All we want is convience in everything we do or eat. Thats why the incidence of cancer and obesity is so high! Give me real food!

HARRIS 10-31-2007 @ 8:16AM

I HAVE BEEN EATING BACON AND EGG WITH SOUR CREAM AND CHEESE AND TOAST WITH BUTTER SINCE I WAS VERY YOUNG(FIVE OR SIX) I AM NOW 86 AND WHEN I GO FOR MY CHECK UP'S EVERY THREE MONTHS. I GET GOOD HEALTH RATING.

sean 10-31-2007 @ 8:56AM

lol, those ingredients arent scary......Ingredients that are scary are things like Seaweed and Peanut Butter, Not Pie Crust!, lol.....Though, I must say, Peanut Butter is Awesome, and Seaweed is good in Hot N' Sour Soup from Hunan East!, lol (Im in a good mood to day =] )

sean 10-31-2007 @ 8:58AM

OMG, I FORGOT TOFFOO! (however you spell it), That Crap is Scary as Hell!, you would never think something that comes out of a SoyBean Could make you so scared!, lol

Nina 10-31-2007 @ 3:10PM

I cook with all of those ingredients and not one of my 4 sons has higher than a 12% body fat index. They're all active, physically fit kids with great appetites. It's not what you put in your body so much as how you use the foods your given. I think sitting around the TV sucking down soda and cheetoes is much more dangerous to a body than adding butter to your baked potatoe, along with a dollop of sour cream, and some bacon bits . . . damn, when's lunch?

Thunder Thighs 10-31-2007 @ 10:27AM

The only thing SCARY about those ingredients is NOT being able to eat them!! (shudder!) Now THAT scares me! :)

Ginny Murphy 10-31-2007 @ 11:21AM

I couldn't live without cheese! But I know it's how much cheese I eat daily that matters (and I'm not telling lol).

elizabeth howell 10-31-2007 @ 11:31AM

how about meat? yes, that fat laden indigestible substance that is full of dye, hormones, steroids, and whatever else they pump into the animals. can you say BSE (mad cow disease)?

jess 10-31-2007 @ 12:07PM

i think swansons cream of chicken is best for potatoes, the tomatoe cream makes chicken fall apart. lol

Weight 10-31-2007 @ 11:53AM

None of these foods are bad for you? If in moderation & you go to the Dr. for check-ups & blood work. My husband ate all the above & was in VERY good shape but suffered from a heart attack at age 40. Although heart disease & high cholestrol runs in his family? He didn't bother worrying. His cholestrol was 330 when he went in for a 'surprise' angio-plasty. Obviously our diets have changed? However its more about genetics.

CAROL 10-31-2007 @ 11:55AM

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH RESPONSE #1. THERE ARE TO MANY CHEMICALS IN OUR FOODS. THEY ARE BAD FOR OUR US AS THEY ACCUMULATE IN OUR BODIES AND ARE ESPECIALLY HARMFUL ON TODAYS YOUNG CHILDREN. THERE ARE MANY MORE CHEMICALS IN OUR ENVIRONMENT THAN THERE WERE 30 YEARS OR SO AGO. SO LET'S EAT NATURAL AND REAL FOODS.

Colorado person 10-31-2007 @ 12:05PM

I am so relived to see that beer was not on that list. Anything in moderation is cool. why would both bacon and bacon grease be on the list? Is there recipe that calls for bacon grease? A few slices of bacon a few times a week, no big deal. 1 1/2 pounds a day chased by a jar of mayo served in a pie crust with cream, sausage, and cheese, topped with butter and puff pastry? Yum maybe an idea for a quiche? And why was cooked sausage on the list? is it better to just eat it raw? and the bacon. is that cooked or raw. Aol should get their money back from the writer of that article

Bethany Sanders 10-31-2007 @ 12:12PM

Great comments, everyone! I'll agree with the cheese lovers...I can't give it up either. Everything in moderation!

Jack at Fork & Bottle 10-31-2007 @ 12:13PM

My god, this is so misguided!

You want people to cook! Most of those ingredients are just fine - if they are the quality version of them.

I score this the Incredibly Dumb Food/Health post of the week. Congratulations!

Frank C 10-31-2007 @ 12:22PM

There was a man last year that died in Texas.He ate nothing but waffles and sausage.He was 106.I don't think that any of these health preachers have the right answer.As far as eating,you can die from eating a half pound of salt at one sitting.

Tony West 10-31-2007 @ 12:21PM

Corn chips over ice cream is good. Don't try the chocolate covered carmel and peanut bar microwaved over corn chips that's pretty nasty. And really stay away from stake sauce sprinkled on lemon pie.

Lonnie 11-02-2007 @ 10:12AM

My grandparents and grandparents lived to ripe old ages and we ate eggs, milk, good meat and ice cream, pies, etc.
The food was grown right there in Iowa where we lived and nothing was imported. Our food chain is contanimated by PCBs. Try to eat local.

tamathy 10-31-2007 @ 1:10PM

This kind of stuff drives me nuts. First they tell you to eat fish because it's good for you. Then they tell you not to eat it because it's chock full of mercury. Then you find out the first study was sponsored by the fishing people, and the second study was sponsored by the beef people. There was an article on the AOL welcome screen a couple of days ago saying that saturated fat might be good for you after all. I'll take a bucket of lard any day over the processed, white flours and refined sugars, the chemicals, and all of these sugar-coated cereals and granola bars that are supposed to be "good" for you. This kind of stuff is just the beginning, along with suing fast food chains. The totalitarians on their march of "it's OK to lie and make stuff up as long as we think it's good for you" will get my bacon and butter when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. And if my grandparents are any indication, that won't be for another 50 years or so. http://www.tamathy.com

Amanda 10-31-2007 @ 1:14PM

Well, if these are the scariest things in my kitchen, then I think I have a pretty safe kitchen. We keep the major terrors out~ Microwave ovens (who wants radiation-laden food?)... Sugar (we use organic honey instead)... caffeine... soft drinks... pre-sweetened cereals... snack foods... TV dinners... store-bought candy... pesticide-laden vegetables (we grow our own organically)... genetically modified and hormone-filled meats... and we stay out of fast food restaurants.
Save your money and lay off of all of the snacks and convenience foods, and ANYONE can buy (or grow) organically instead. All you have to do is to re-arrange your priorities, time, and budget. We should all eat to live. Not live to eat. Hey, it's not rocket science, ok? Let's all get a grip and get back to basics. And yes, we can still have our mayonnaise, sour cream, cheese, etc. Just make sure that it's homemade and organic.

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