The first kit I had contained a Tuna Salad lunch. I expected it to be pretty awful but it was in fact quite good, and reminded me of times past when I used to enjoy tuna salad more often. When I was at the grocery store yesterday I noticed that they had the little pouches of tuna on sale for $1.20 each, hmmmmm,
that would be perfect for my first clone recipe. Here is a link to the tuna salad sold on Nutrisystem. It is available from Nutrisystem as an a la carte item for $2.99.
If you have 10 minutes on your day off, or 10 minutes to spare the night before you go to work, then I have an easy and inexpensive clone recipe for you. The tuna was $1.20, and the water chestnuts $1.00. The rest of the ingredients are things you most likely have in your pantry. There are enough water chestnuts for 3 servings of the tuna or for use in another recipe. If you want to save even more money simply use onions or pickles instead, but to mimic theirs you need the water chestnuts.
Here is our target to make the perfect clone. Our tuna salad should have 130 calories, 6.5g fat, 280mg of
sodium, 3g of carb, and 13g of protein. The two basic ingredients here are tuna and mayo. Neither has much in the way of carbs, the tuna having all the protein, and the mayo all the fat.
For this recipe you will need:
1 Starkist Low Sodium Tuna in the pouch 2.6 oz.
1/2T of mayonnaise or 1T light mayonnaise (50 cal. per tablespoon)
8 - 10 slices of water chestnuts roughly chopped
Fresh onion or onion powder to taste (optional)
Pickle relish to taste (optional)
1. Chop chestnuts, and onions if using them.
2. Empty tuna into bowl and add chopped chestnuts
3. Measure out mayo or light mayo. Break up chunks of tuna into smaller pieces and mix well with fork.
4. Enjoy or pack for later use. I served mine over bagged lettuce, accented with grape tomatoes, and baby carrots. Nutrisystem serving instructions say to add a small dinner roll which I did.
Ok, now for the math. Our pouch of tuna contained 70 calories, 140mg of sodium, and 17g of protein.
The mayo if using full fat contains 45 calories with about 5g of fat, and about 40mg of sodium. Then we have a few misc. calories/carbs from the water chestnuts, and onions or pickle relish, but not many. With a target of 130 calories, we are where we need to be, with 17g protein for ours vs. 13g for theirs, and 5.5g of fat vs. 6.5g fat. We came out great on the sodium too with just under 180mg.
Conclusion
I'm very happy with this Tuna salad clone. By comparison, theirs was a bit creamier than mine. If you like your tuna a bit sloppier and less meaty, then I would use the light mayo and go for a full tablespoon. All and all it turned out great and made a full 2/3 cup serving. That combined with the lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots as well as a roll made a very filling and satisfying lunch.
I'm not sure that is always so, Joseph Bartlett. I'm not a fan of nutrisystems because I don't like the meals that much and because I found that even the diabetic version raised my blood sugar too much. However, I went over to South Beach and this is what I think:
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, when i started, I had had an extremely stressful year with family illness and deaths. I also have lupus as well as diabetes. I had been eating improperly and had gained a whole lot. I also hadn't been exercising because I was just so worn out and tired.
I have lost quite a lot of my weight on SB and am now exercising. I do not take a free day, but I do have a "cook for myself" day each week. I expect to expand those as time goes on.
This system has done at least 3 things for me besides helping me lose - 1) I am experiencing what true portions should look like as I eat their products, 2)I am getting used to cooking the SBD way on my cook for myself day 3)I am not having to cook when I feel awful. This was what was my main problem - I felt horrible with a lupus flare or the anxiety an depression I was experiencing last year. Cooking things I could eat that were healthy, low calorie or low carb and which did not bother my acid reflux (from lupus drugs) was time consuming and energy stealing. So, I'd eat things that were not so healthy, or not at all, which not only caused weight gain but anemia as well as fluctuating blood sugar not to mention more fatigue and discouragement.
These things can get us through hard times as well as train us for what our bodies need.
No one is going to stay on this stuff longer than they have to - they are expensive and I would miss my own cooking, anyway.
Be glad someone is trying to be healthy, don't criticize their method. They will succeed in the end and work out a plan in the end or they won't - your criticisms won't change anything one iota.
Thank you for keeping this page up. After failing on almost everything, Nutrisystem was the only thing I ever did that made me feel healthy and I also lost weight. I got off track when I tried to substitute those cup of soup things for theirs, and it was down hill from there. I think you are right, they look similar but they aren't. Like you said, sodium and all that. So I am looking for a way to get back to Nutrisystem in a way that I can afford. This awesome tuna recipe is great! Like you said, I do like their tuna pouch. I don't eat the roll because I'm diabetic, that's just life, but I sub in some veggies and eat it on that. GREAT POST. Thank you.
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