Category Archives: Recreation

What is the Most Healthy Thing to Eat at Burger King?

Food & Drink, Recreation, ,
Most Healthy Food at Burger King

burgerking1Well to start off with it is a question as to what you call the most healthy. Many people have different ideas of what they consider to be healthy, whether that be the items with the lowest number of calories, lowest amount of fat or indeed the carb content of food. In this article we look through the figures as provided by Burger King themselves (they are quite transparent as to the numbers that are contained in each item) and analyse the data from the different categories so that we can present it to you in a way you might find both interesting and surprising!

Please note that when quoting values, although Burger King quote their values to 1 decimal place, we have rounded their figures for ease of display. After all half a calorie is really neither here nor there with some of the numbers!

At the end of the article you can find a summary of which items tend to come out top in all categories – low calorie, low carb and low fat.

Calories

Beef, Chicken, Fish and Veggie Options Under 500 Calories
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The hamburger is lowest in calories after the salads.

Firstly we will look at the main meal type options as classified above. In this case we have sifted through the data and come up with the options that contain less than 500 calories. In order of total calories from lowest to highest they are as follows:

Garden Salad – 18
Grilled Chicken Salad – 113
Hamburger – 275
Chicken Nuggets (6) – 285
Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap – 298
Cheeseburger – 316
Whopper Junior – 344
Caesar Chicken Wrap – 346
Rodeo – 360
Chicken Nugget Burger – 367
Chicken Burger – 392
Sweet Chilli Crispy Chicken – 411
Quarter Pound Cheeseburger – 436
Chicken Nuggets (9) – 442
Double Cheeseburger – 460
Big King – 473
Bacon Double Cheese – 477
Sweet Chilli Chicken Royale – 480
Veggie Wrap – 494
Ocean Catch – 499

As you would expect, the salads do well and the chicken dishes are lower in calories than the beef dishes. Also go smaller (e.g. Whopper Jr) and you will obviously eat less calories too!

The one that you might not expect is the Veggie Wrap coming in at 494 calories, nearly 150 more than the caesar chicken wrap.

Sides Dips and Extras Under 250 Calories

We have restricted the list of sides, dips and extras to show only those under 250 calories, as obviously these are extras! So on top of whatever else you have you need to remember to add this lot on…

Tomato Ketchup Dip – 27
BK Fresh Apple Fries – 28
BBQ Dip – 30
Add Bacon – 35
Sweet Chilli Dip – 60
Add Cheese – 83
SATISFRIES (small) – 215
Fries (small) – 222
Onion Rings (5) – 232
Chilli Cheese Bites (4) – 238

Unfortunately a lot of restaurants are no longer serving the SATISFRIES as they were given the option to stop serving them by Burger King when the take up was not as much as they hoped. However, small fries at 222 are only an extra 7 calories.

Soft Drinks Under 125 Calories

Ok so we chose a cut-off of 125 calories for this section as this excluded around 50% of the drinks listed for sale. Most of the higher calorie items were different sizes (or larger servings) of Coca-Cola and Sprite and those under 125 calories are the following:

Water – 0
Regular Diet Coke – 1
Large Diet Coke – 1
Super Diet Coke – 2
Alive – 63
Regular Sprite – 112
Tropicana – 113
Milk – 123

Breakfasts – Calories

With regards to breakfast, the only item that is under 250 calories per serving is the Bacon Butty with Heinz Ketchup which comes in at 216 Kcal. Next best is 6 Mini pancakes and syrup which contain 269 calories – the rest of the breakfast options come in at over 300 calories (most of them a lot more) unless you count the add-ons like hash browns which contain 192 calories for a regular serving.

Desserts and Shakes – Calories

You would expect desserts to be heavily loaded with calories (although perhaps shakes less so) and for the most part you would be right but there are some options that appear to not actually be too bad. Top of the list coming in as the only item on the dessert menu at less than 100 calories is the Ice cream cone. Ice cream often contains less calories than people imagine – often because it contains less cream than you might imagine and more ice!

There are a couple of desserts hovering around the 130 level namely the strawberry sundae at 133 and the regular frozen lemonade at 138. You could also just sneak in a chocolate sundae at 153 calories but after that (apart from the large frozen lemonade) you are looking at over 200 calories and up to a whopping 612 for a large chocolate shake.

Carbs

Low Carbs

In recent years a low carb diet has become one of the more popular ways to eating healthily and perhaps losing some weight. Guidelines differ as to how many grams of carbohydrates are recommended for those on a low carb intake diet, and it is more a case of finding the level for you as each person is different. Certainly it is not recommended to eat less than 50g of carbohydrates a day though.

Again I have rounded out the carb numbers to the nearest gram for ease of reference.

Beef, Chicken, Fish and Veggie – Carbs

So for the best carb options I had to go with those containing under 40g as there was only one option under 30g as you can see below:

6 Chicken Nuggets (with dip) – 25
Caesar Chicken Wrap – 30
Big King – 32Cheeseburger – 32
Hamburger – 32
Whopper Junior – 33
Double Cheeseburger – 33
Bacon Double Cheese – 34
Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap – 35
Chicken Nugget Burger – 39

Sides, Dips and Extras – Carbs

So, coming in under 30g of carbohydrates are the following:

Add Bacon – <1
Add Cheese – 1
Tomato Ketchup Dip – 7
BK Fresh Apple Fries – 7
BBQ Dip – 7
Sweet Chilli Dip – 15
Chilli Cheese Bites (4) – 25
3 Mozarella Sticks (inc dip) – 27
Onion Rings (5) – 28
SATISFRIES (small) – 29
Fries (small) – 29

 Breakfast – Carbs

Ok so there are no breakfast items that are lower than 30g of carbs apart from the Hash Browns add-on which contain 22g for the regular size. Other than that the two items with the lowest carbs for breakfast, which are under 40g are the Sausage Butty with Heinz Ketchup containing 34g and the Sausage, Egg and Cheese Butty with Heinz Ketchup containing 37g.

Soft Drinks – Carbs

Any amount of diet coke has 0g of carbs so I won’t list all of the quantities, of the rest there are some that have less than 30g as follows: However, that would be quite a lot when added to a similar amount for a meal and extras so take note of what else you are having!

Water – 0
Milk – 13
Alive – 15
Tropicana – 24
Regular Sprite – 26

Dessert and Shakes – Carbs

If you are looking to reduce your carb intake then you may wish to avoid the desserts and the shakes in particular! There is one reasonably good option which again is the ice Cream Cone. This only has 16g of carbohydrates. The next best are 3 that are over 30g and they are the Frozen Lemonade Regular (33g), the Strawberry Sundae (36g) and the Chocolate Sunday (37g).

Top of the list (again) is the large chocolate shake with a whopping 113g.

Low Fat

 Low Fat Options

If you are looking for options that are low fat then we have analysed the data on fat content and found the following:

Beef, Chicken, Fish and Veggie Options

Garden Salad – 1
Grilled Chicken Salad – 3
Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap – 7
Hamburger – 10
Rodeo – 13
Cheeseburger – 13
Caesar Chicken Wrap – 14
6 Chicken Nuggets (with dip) – 14
Whopper Junior – 17
Quarter Pound Cheeseburger – 17
Chicken Royale – 17
Chicken Nugget Burger – 17
Chicken Burger – 20
Sweet Chilli Crispy Chicken – 20

It’s reasonably predictable that the salad options would come out on top but the sweet chilli chicken wrap also comes out favourably.

BurgerKing3
Soft Drinks – Low Fat

Generally speaking soft drinks do not contain much fat and the only soft drink option that contains above 1g of fat is the milk at 4.3g.

You are never going to go wrong if you opt for water though!

Sides, Dips and Extras – Low Fat

For the dips you can expect very little fat in any of them, in fact the Ketchup, Sweet Chilli and BBQ dips have no fat. Adding bacon only adds 0.4g, so not a lot but adding cheese gives you an extra 6.5g which is significant for a small extra. So at 10g and under all you can get are fries at 10g and SATISFRIES if you can get hold of them at 8.4g.

Breakfast – Low Fat

So we have narrowed down the breakfast options to the ones that contain less than 15g of fat and those are as follows:

Bacon Butty with Heinz Ketchup – 6
6 Mini Pancakes and Syrup – 10
Egg and Cheese Butty with Heinz Ketchup – 12
Sausage Butty with Heinz Ketchup – 13

You could just tip over the 15g with 9 Pancakes and the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Butty but the rest are significantly more.

Desserts and Shakes – Low Fat

As the majority of the desserts and shakes come out at under 10g of fat each (apart from the muffins, brownie and toffee sponge which are streets ahead!), we have focused on those items that contain less than 5g of fat each.

This basically covers all of the smoothies – they are all at less than 2g of fat – and the frozen lemonade which has none. The ice cream cone also still fares pretty well at 3.4g.

Overall Summary of the Healthiest

So looking at the overall picture, regardless of whether you are counting calories, carbs or fat, there are a few items that are consistently near the top of the list for all of them. There is an obvious choice of going for a Grilled Chicken Salad with a bottle of water which is the best idea if you are going to Burger King maybe with friends and are not too fussed about having a burger.

However, if you are going to Burger King with something more in mind then you might be advised to stick to maybe either a sweet chilli chicken wrap or a hamburger. Obviously water for the drink but otherwise a regular diet coke (unless you are specifically watching carbs) and then the most common item at the top of the healthy list for desserts is the ice cream cone.

Adding regular fries will bump things up a bit but may be an essential part of the meal for you.

So a quick summary gives the following:

Totals for a sweet chilli chicken wrap, regular fries, water and an ice cream cone are:

  • Calories: 619
  • Carbs: 80g
  • Fat: 20g

The Easiest Dessert Ever!

Food & Drink, Home & Garden, Lifestyles, Recreation,

This really is the quickest and best tasting dessert in my humble opinion! Anyone can make it and look like a great cook.

Really quick, easy and tasty dessert!

I made up this recipe a short while ago when I wanted to do some individual desserts for the adults at my son’s birthday party. It had to be something quick and easy as I had loads of other stuff to prepare and I was running short of time! What I came up with was not only simple but also really tasty, easy to make in small or large quantities but also made use of the old baby food jars I had saved for just such an occasion!

dessert-ingredientsYou can also make this dessert in ramekins, old creme brulee dishes (you know the glass ones that you sometimes get when you buy them) or just in any small bowls you might have. You could probably do a large one in a flan dish too but I haven’t tried that yet.

What you need:

  • butter (optional)
  • digestive biscuits
  • yoghurt
  • squirty cream

Quantities obviously depend on how many you are going to make but you need about a small knob of butter, 1 digestive biscuit  and about 4 large teaspoons of yoghurt per serving, plus a squirt of cream.

How to make it – well there are 2 ways, the quick way and the really quick way!

digestives and butterWell the really quick way is to crumble a digestive biscuit up into the pot you are going to serve it in. The slightly less quick way is to put a small knob of butter in the microwave for 10 seconds and mix the crumbled digestive into that. if you are making a batch, melt about an ounce of butter in the microwave or on the hob and add half a packet of crushed digestives to that. Put the biscuit mixture into the bottom of the dish and press it down. If you have used butter you may want to put this in the fridge for an hour but you don’t have to as it tastes just as good if you don’t. 🙂

yeo lemon curdNext step is to choose your yogurt – basically any flavour will do but may favourite to use for this is Yeo Valley Lemon Curd Yoghurt – it makes the end result taste similar to a lemon meringue pie. But really, any flavour will do as the end result is just like a cheesecake too.

biscuits and yoghurtAdd your yoghurt into your pot – if you are using the baby food jars then add until it’s just over half full so that you can still put the lid on for transportation if required.

baby-food-jar-dessertThen just squirt some cream on top and it’s done! The beauty of using the baby food jars is that you can see the layers of the dessert through the sides, and of course you can transport a bulk load in a box if you have all the lids too. If you want to do this as a desert at a dinner party then use ramekins or small glass pots to look even better.

Great use of old baby food jars for a dessert
Use baby food jars with lids for easy transportation if you are taking these desserts to another venue.

Can I Watch TV on my Sky Box Without a Subscription?

Entertainment, Recreation

So it got to the point where I needed to cancel my Sky subscription as I could no longer afford it and I was wondering if I could still watch TV on my Sky box without a subscription. After all there are a number of free to air channels on there that I don’t need to pay for. But I wasn’t sure if I needed to view the TV using Freesat or Freeview, neither of which I had connected to my TV.  Continue reading Can I Watch TV on my Sky Box Without a Subscription? →

How to Blow an Egg

Children, Fun Stuff, Recreation

Blowing eggs is a traditional thing to do at Easter to create painted eggs to use for gifts or just as decoration. It is a fun activity to do with your kids at Easter time so if you are looking for directions as to how to blow an egg then you have come to the right place!

How to blow an eggYou don’t need much in order to blow an egg but you might just need a steady pair of hands. Things you need when blowing an egg are essentially:

  • A pin or needle
  • A cocktail stick
  • A fresh egg!

It is best that the egg has been out of the fridge for a bit before you blow it but it is still fine to blow an egg that has come straight out of the fridge, it is just that the egg itself will be a little less viscous and hence it will make it a bit easier to get the contents out.

How to Blow an Egg

So, to blow an egg, the first thing you need to do is to put 2 holes into the egg. The holes can be anywhere in the egg but it is easier to blow it if the holes are at the bottom and the top of the egg. However, if you find flaws in the egg that may be easier to put a hole in then by all means use those.

One of the holes can be pretty small – you do not need a big hole to blow through. However, the other hole needs to be slightly larger so that the contents of the egg can come out. Start making the holes with a pin or needle as this will be the easiest way to make a small hole in the shell without breaking it.

DSCF2454The slightly harder part is to enlarge one of the holes without cracking the egg so be very careful when doing this (with the pin).

Once one of the holes is large enough to get a cocktail stick into, put the stick in and push it in and out so that it breaks the yolk. If you mush the egg up inside a bit then it makes it easier for the contents of the egg to come out.

When you have done this, you can start blowing out the contents of the egg. Put your lips to the smaller hole and blow until the egg starts coming out of the larger hole – if the egg does not start to come out then try and break it up a bit more with the cocktail stick.

Blow out the contents of the egg
Blow out the contents of the egg

Once you have blown out all of the contents of the egg put some water in the egg and swish it about to clean out the inside. Do this a couple of times to make sure that the egg is clean inside. When you have done this put the egg in the microwave for around 10-20 seconds to dry it out.

If everything you have used to blow the egg has been clean then you can always use the egg itself to make scrambled eggs or anything you want to – you don’t have to throw it away!

Once the egg is clean and dry you can proceed to paint it. Many types of paint are suitable for this including craft paint and acrylic paint – you can also use glass paint in small tubes to make lines on the painted egg.