Instant Noodles

FreddieFrugal

Love these things. The type in packets - 20p come with a sachet you add to boiling water. But we've recently started properly planning our diet to ensure we're eating healthily. Suddenly realised after never bothering to read the packet, how hideously full of saturated fat and salt they are.

My question is are there any cheap healthier instant noodles available. Last time I looked in morrisons they had super noodles in a slightly healthier guise but also in a smaller packet and very expensive for the amount you get.

Or, is there a way I can make them healthier? Is most of the rubbish in the noodles themselves or the flavouring? Could flavour them myself with spices from the cupboard.

PasturesNew

Just read some packets of plain noodles.... and add your own flavourings/extras on demand.

Everybody's comparing different elements of a product to decide/choose if it's good/not. So paw through a few brands on the shelves.

geordie_joe

IanRi wrote: »

Suddenly realised after never bothering to read the packet, how hideously full of saturated fat and salt they are.

Just had a look at a pack, the 25p ones not the "super noodles in a slightly healthier guise" ones.

Per 100g

Saturated fat 3.4g
Salt 0.3g

I'd hardly call that "hideously full of saturated fat and salt". I think you are worrying way too much about way too little.

Steve059

Try these ...

Peanut & soy sauce: Put 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a saucepan over a low heat. Add 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, ¼ of a teaspoon of soy sauce and ¼ of a teaspoon of water. Heat gently. Toss the noodles in the sauce.

Sesame & soy sauce: Toss the noodles in 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and 2 teaspoons of soy sauce.

FreddieFrugal

geordie_joe wrote: »

Just had a look at a pack, the 25p ones not the "super noodles in a slightly healthier guise" ones.

Per 100g

Saturated fat 3.4g
Salt 0.3g

I'd hardly call that "hideously full of saturated fat and salt". I think you are worrying way too much about way too little.

Don't often just eat 100g then throw the rest away. If you round that up to a full packet that's a heck of a lot of saturates.

The ones I've got are over 50% of daily recommended limit of saturated fat! and nor far off that for salt either.

geordie_joe

IanRi wrote: »

Don't often just eat 100g then throw the rest away. If you round that up to a full packet that's a heck of a lot of saturates.

No it's not

IanRi wrote: »

The ones I've got are over 50% of daily recommended limit of saturated fat! and nor far off that for salt either.

So when did they take you into hospital, work out how much fat and salt you should eat and then force manufactures to print that on labels?

HappyMJ

IanRi wrote: »

Love these things. The type in packets - 20p come with a sachet you add to boiling water. But we've recently started properly planning our diet to ensure we're eating healthily. Suddenly realised after never bothering to read the packet, how hideously full of saturated fat and salt they are.

My question is are there any cheap healthier instant noodles available. Last time I looked in morrisons they had super noodles in a slightly healthier guise but also in a smaller packet and very expensive for the amount you get.

Or, is there a way I can make them healthier? Is most of the rubbish in the noodles themselves or the flavouring? Could flavour them myself with spices from the cupboard.

Ramen noodles aren't healthy by themselves...but who cares. Don't eat more than 1 a day stir through some vegetables and you've turned an unhealthy meal into a healthy meal.

The flavouring sachet isn't that healthy but it isn't that bad. The noodles themselves are quite high in fat but limit yourself to one 65/85 gram pack a day and it's fine. The 100 gram super noodles should be shared or split between 2 meals.

FreddieFrugal

geordie_joe wrote: »

No it's not

It actually is though. They may be 85g packets uncooked but they absorb the water they're cooked in, so they're actually over 300g when cooked. So 3.4g sat fat per 100g means there's over 10.2g in a full cooked packet.

The packet I have gives the nutritional information per 1/2 pack so easy to double.

That is a lot of fat for what I'd consider a snack item. Being between a third and a half of your NHS recommended limit. 20g for women, 30 for men. Point is it's easy to slip over if you have relatively small parts of your daily food that are really high in one element.

That's equivalent of 14 and a half packets of ready salted crisps. Or
Over half a kilo of lean beef mince. Or
1 and a 1/4 of Goodfellas pepperoni pizza.Or
4 McChicken sandwiches and 2 large fries from mcdonalds.

So yes, for the amount you get it IS very high in saturated fat.

FreddieFrugal

HappyMJ wrote: »

The 100 gram super noodles should be shared or split between 2 meals.

But I'm a hungry hungry man

FreddieFrugal

geordie_joe wrote: »

So when did they take you into hospital, work out how much fat and salt you should eat and then force manufactures to print that on labels?

No need to be such a raging fury.

If you must know OH and I are trying to be as healthy, partly for our own sake, as we possibly can be because we're wanting to try for a baby. So we're getting at least 6-7 a day fruit and veg, lots of fish, portion of salmon a week. Limiting intake of crap But I'd still like to be able to enjoy the foods I like and I've got a real craving for noodles but can't justify them when they're so blooming fatty. Hence asking if there was healthier equivalent

Our first pregnancy ended a month ago in termination because the baby had a serious defect, anencephaly, that meant it would not live more than a day past birth.

Now they don't know what causes it, they think higher dose of folic acid will reduce risk of it happening again, which OH is taking, but she and I both feel better knowing that we've made this effort to be as healthy as possible this time so we can't blame ourselves if we're unlucky enough for something like this to happen again.

VeGGie-STyLe

How much are you willing to compromise on taste/texture/smell? Because there's always 'slim noodles'! :lipsrseal