Question:
Boston Market foods

I love the Boston Market food like mashed potatoes, creamed spinich, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. However, would these foods be allowed on the puree diet? They have lots of things added to them I am sure...but not a bad idea huh? :-)    — Denise F. (posted on June 22, 2001)

June 22, 2001
Check out BostonMarket.com they have the nutritional values of all their foods listed there. The mashed potatoes look ok, 260 calories-9grms fat-per 181 grams (what that converts to in ounces I have no idea!) but the creamed spinach tops out at 20 grams of fat per serving, YIKES!
   — DolcezzaVT

June 22, 2001
I've looked at their foods that are sold at the grocery store. All seem very high in fat. I'd be careful...probably healthier to make your own mased potatoes, etc.
   — tlg6056

June 22, 2001
Those mashed potatoes are extremely high in fat....when you work it all out almost 70% of the calories come from fat!!!!!!!!! That's WAY too high to even consider.....I'd suggest mashing your own in chicken stock and herbs to make them tasty.
   — Jo C.

June 22, 2001
I actually calculated the fat % of the mashed potatoes to be 31%. Which is not too bad of a percentage. (I try to keep what I eat at less than 30%).A serving has 260 calories and 81 of those calories are from fat (9gms of fat x 9 calories per gram). That calculates to about 31% fat calories. I will admit that I used the nutrition info posted by a previous answer. I did not check out the website to see if these numbers given were accurate. I would say that the potatoes are okay, if eaten in moderation -like everything!!
   — [Anonymous]

June 22, 2001
Thanks whoever you are!!! Is there a site where you can get info on how to convert and figure it all out? Guess I've been doing it all whonky...why anon?
   — Jo C.

June 22, 2001
Hi Jo, I must confess it was I who posted anon. I am not in the business of correcting people and really didn't want to offend you. To figure out the % of fat in foods, take the amount of fat grams listed and multiply that times 9 (which is the # of calories in 1 gram of fat). Then see what percent this number is of the total calories listed. That's the OFFICIAL way to do it. I have a simpler, much rougher way that lets me calculate this much faster. Divide the total calories listed by 3. If the number of fat calories listed (or fat grams x 9), is more than this number then it is too high in fat for me. Example... item has 240 calories. There are 11 grams of fat or 99 fat calories. 240 divided by three is 80. So 99 fat calories is more than 30% fat for this item. It really isn't as complicated as it sounds. I am probably not explaining this very well. Most times you won't even have to do the step of multiplying fat grams x 9 because this is almost always listed on the package. It is located right under total calories and will say number of calories from fat. So, just divide the total calories by 3 and if the number is more than the fat calories listed, then it is okay to eat. I hope I have not totally confused you. To make more sense, get some packages from your pantry and play around with the numbers. It will make more sense when you can "see" what I am talking about. I hope I have not completely confused you. Have a great night. Shelley
   — Shelley.