Food Choices, Claim Jumper Edition

Each year, there is a Christmas/holidays gathering with people from a previous company I worked at. It was a tradition while I was working there and we decided to continue meeting even after most of us have left the original company. This will be the 20th “party” since I left the company in 2000, and about 8-10 people still show up year after year.

Usually we meet at the TGI Fridays in Costa Mesa but it’s closed this year on the planned date so we’re meeting instead at Claim Jumper. I thought the restaurant chain went out of business but there are still a bunch left. I’ve only eaten at Claim Jumper a few times; the only thing I remember is the huge portion sizes and the ridiculous chocolate cake for dessert. The cake is still available for $12.99.

I haven’t seen a cardiac nutritionist post-bypass surgery yet (cardiac rehab starts Thursday so I will get a chance later) but everything I read said to go with a low fat and low sodium diet. Depending on where you look, low sodium could mean <3,000 mg/day, or even <2,300 mg/day. Here is the nutritional information for Claim Jumper’s menu. I was thinking of getting a chicken pot pie but that is 2,120 calories and 3,550 mg of sodium. Another favorite is Fish & Chips and that has 5,358 mg of sodium! Enough for two to three days. Even their salads have a lot of sodium; must be part of the dressing used. I guess it’s kinda obvious but if you want to eat healthy, don’t go to Claim Jumper.