Turkey vs Beef

If we're thinking about old-school nutrition advice, "choose turkey over beef" comes to mind. We tend to associate turkey products with being lower in fat and overall calories, while still being a great source of protein.

But is there reeeeeaaaaally a difference? Last Friday I had the chance to stroll around Aldi (one of life's great pleasures) and like the creeper I am, take photos of various foods.

Let's compare!

Starting with bacon, the turkey bacon strips must be larger because you'll notice that 15 grams of that equals one strip, while pork gives you two smaller strips. Pork bacon has three times the calories of turkey bacon and double the sodium. As a refresher, the fat found in poultry, pork, and beef is saturated fats- the "bad" fats that are linked with increased harmful cholesterol in the body. If you are someone who consumes bacon regularly, which honestly- current recommendations are to rarely consume processed meat- then turkey bacon could be a better option. Turkey bacon is still considered processed, so by no means am I saying you should go hog wild. Er, bird wild.

Onto the ground meats- notice much of a difference between turkey and beef?

...

...

...me neither. I've had countless patients switch to ground turkey as a healthy alternative, but what you need to pay attention to- just like with beef- is the percent lean. If it's 93% lean, then only 7% of the volume is fat. As we can see, 93% lean beef is lower calorie/lower fat than 85% ground turkey. Label-reading is key here.

Another factor when choosing turkey vs beef vs pork is taste! What do you enjoy better? If you've been choosing ground turkey and gagging it down, well, maybe you can switch it up and have lean ground beef sometimes. I personally am not a huge fan of turkey bacon, and I have pork bacon so rarely (probably 2 slices a month on a BLT) that I choose it instead. I do the ol' bake it in the oven on a cooling rack suspended in a rimmed baking sheet so the fat melts and pools below.

When talking meat, it is important to remember that current dietary recommendations are to limit your intake of red meat and saturated fat. I want the take-home message here to be that the percentage of leanness makes a huge difference!

The perfect meal

14 hours of parenting today and I'm pretty much over it, so let's just cut the whining and get to the good stuff, mmk?

I don't want to sound overly dramatic, but if both a bowl of this shrimp curry AND my children were somehow hanging from a cliff and I could only rescue one...

...I mean...

...just LOOK at how good this is!

I'd still choose my kids OF COURSE, but man, I'd shed a few tears seeing this fall to its fate.

It has pretty much everything I like, both taste-wise and nutrition speaking. Fiber. Protein. Vitamins.

Shrimp Curry

~24 oz jumbo shrimp, thawed (I personally like raw deveined tail-off, but get whatever you like)

3 red bell peppers, seeded and diced (you could use yellow or orange. I just like how the red looks. #superficial)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup matchstick carrots

1 12 oz bag cauliflower rice, cooked to package instructions.

1 13 oz can lite coconut milk

1 tablespoon green curry paste (can do less depending on how spicy you prefer)

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground ginger (fresh would be awesome, but I only had powdered)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Fresh cilantro for garnish

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Toss in shrimp, onion, and peppers. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is pink and firm. Add garlic, carrots, and cauliflower rice. Stir to evenly mix.

Meanwhile in a pourable bowl, whisk together coconut milk, curry paste, ground coriander, turmeric, ginger, salt, and pepper. Pour over the shrimp mixture and let simmer for a few minutes.

Serve with a garnish of extra lime juice and cilantro, if desired.

Makes four heaping servings. Per serving: 353 calories, 16 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams fiber, 14 grams fat, 34 grams protein, 777 mg sodium, PLUS this gives you 227% of your daily vitamin C needs AND 248% of your daily vitamin A needs. Peppers and carrots don't mess around when it comes to packing in the nutrients.

Perfection in a bowl!

Breakthrough

There's been a noticeable change around our house.

Teddy is now a GOOD BOY.

Like, he doesn't feel compelled to chew everything. He will happily park it on the couch. Or floor. Or his kennel. For HOURS.

GOOOOOOD BOYYYYYYYYY.

In food news, I made some nachos! But not your traditional ground beef and gloopy cheese nachos. Chicken fajita nachos! With queso fresco. And lots of salsa. And lime juice. And cilantro. We're talking whole grains, lean protein, veggies x3. 'Cause there's no room for basic in 2021.

Let's do it.

Chicken Fajita Nachos

-8ish oz bag tortilla chips (blue corn is my favorite, but any corn will work)

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

-1/4 teaspoon each salt, pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika (<-- no biggie if you don't have this)

-8 oz Neufchatel cream cheese, room temperature

-8 oz light sour cream

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic (or garlic powder)

-Packet of fajita seasoning mix

-3 bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips

-1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

-6 oz queso fresco

-Pico de gallo or other salsa

-Lime wedge for garnish, optional

-Fresh cilantro, optional

Okay so this does look like quite the list of ingredients, but feel free to take a giant shortcut on the chicken. I cooked mine from raw but you could use any shredded or precooked chicken. The veggies can be cut up to a day in advance.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut up chicken into 2-3" chunks. I sauteed mine, but I suppose if you prefer grilling you could keep them as whole breasts. Season with the salt, pepper, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Heat olive oil over medium high heat and cook chicken until browned and internal temp in biggest chunk is 165 degrees or higher (super appetizing when I talk about CHUNKS, huh?). Put chicken on a cutting board and cut it up into nice shred-ish pieces. Put the chicken back into the pan. Add fajita seasoning and 1/4 cup water. My grocery store was out of seasoning so they subbed a liquid version- same deal. Let simmer for a few minutes.

In a bowl, beat together cream cheese and sour cream and garlic. Pour into chicken pan and stir that around until it's all nice and melted. Add pepper and onion strips. Cover and let simmer for ~10 minutes.

Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread chips around the pan. Spoon chicken/pepper mixture over the chips. Bake for 10-15 minutes. I'll admit that I was impatient and cooked mine at a low broil for ~5 minutes. Whatever you'd like to do!

Remove from oven and immediately top with crumbled queso fresco and salsa. Serve warm.

Remember- corn is a whole grain!

The dog might have napped beside us while he ate, but you can bet he was hunting for any scraps left behind once we were finished. Sorry pups- not much in the way of leftovers tonight!

Makes six servings. Per serving: 506 calories, 29 grams carbohydrates, 25 grams fat, 38 grams protein, 565 mg sodium