Dieters and health nuts beware—restaurants are not posting what’s really in their food.

Recent studies have indicated that many of the Calorie counts posted by chain restaurants are often inaccurate. Just how inaccurate? I’ll let the numbers do the talking:

• Just 7% of the foods tested were within 10 Calories of their posted content.
• Almost 20% of the foods tested contained 100 more Calories than stated by the restaurants that served them.
• For fast food chains, the average discrepancy was 134 Calories.

Considering that American’s obtain more than a third of their diet from restaurants, these inaccuracies are a little concerning; it means that even those who are conscientious enough to look up the Calorie content of the foods they eat are getting false information that may ultimately lead them to weight gain.

The only solution I can think of? Grab a few cookbooks (and maybe a few blog recipes?) and hit the kitchen, as the only way to know exactly what goes into the food you eat is to prepare it yourself. Your body will thank you for it:)

Do you look at nutritional information before you eat out? How often do you eat at restaurants? I often look up the nutritional information if it’s available, and I love places like Panera that have convenient nutrition calculators. I’d estimate that I eat maybe 1 or 2 meals per week outside the home—I’m far too frugal to eat out more often!

Here’s a look at the homemade eats of the day.

My appetite for chocolate has been rather insatiable lately. I made a chocolatey bowl of oat bran this morning to feed the beast.

In between classes, I made an Ellie recipe, Bibb Lettuce Wedges with De-Lightful Ranch Dressing.

My tweaks:

-I used almond milk instead of buttermilk.

-I used reduced-fat Lemonaise instead of regular mayonnaise.

-I added roasted chickpeas. I was craving something smoky, salty, and bacon-like to go with the salad, so I seasoned the chickpeas with liquid smoke, chili powder, and smoked paprika. SO GOOD. This might just be my new favorite salad topper.

When I was a kid, my mom served a tossed salad with dinner every night (perhaps that’s why I dig the greens so much?), and I would get super-psyched about crunching down on the veggies on days when ranch dressing was offered. Creamy, herby, salty—what’s not to love? Once I became aware of the hefty Calorie price tag on the stuff, however, I eased off it.

Anyway, long story short—this dressing makes an excellent substitution! Next time I might add more fresh herbs—I think dill would be a great addition, for example.

Fast forward 7 hours, and I finally arrived back in my kitchen for dinner. I made a modified Fried Egg Pizza. This version featured fresh thyme, arugula, and mushrooms.

Alright, I am off to relax with Seth and Margot. Good night!

Filed under: Meals