Category — eating out

Are you planning to enjoy a meal out at a favorite restaurant this weekend?  Take a look at the Healthy Dining Finder to check out restaurants with nutritionist-approved menu items.  You can type in your location and price range to find exactly what you’re looking for!

Have you perused “Eat This Not That” yet?  The book’s been gaining a lot of traction, especially in light of its review of the worst foods served on the menus of some of our favorite restaurants.

FT.com (Financial Times) is reporting that Chilis Grill has removed its popular “Awesome Blossom” from its appetizer menu after “Eat This Not That” authors, David Zinczenko and and Matt Goulding, added the item to its list of “20 Worst Foods in America”.

Au revoir to the almost 3000 calorie starter.

Many restaurants are becoming increasingly aware of food allergy issues and are getting better at publicizing allergen information in their facilities and on-line.  There is still more to be done.

Take a look at this piece in the Orlando Sentinel about the challenges faced by people with food allergies when they go out to eat   The piece discusses how many restaurants are now publishing information on allergens and some are even providing special menus, but eating out can still be pretty scary for those living with food allergies.

(Oops!  The link to this article seems to be broken.  We will see if we can find it in the archives).

Condiments are stealthy. 

An easy trick for watching for fat and sodium when you’re out is to ask that salad dressings, sauces, butter, sour cream, etc. be served on the side.  Add only small amounts to enhance the flavor of your dish.

The same goes for condiments like ketchup, mustard, relish and pickles if you’re trying to watch your sodium intake.

Trust me, a little goes a long way.

Okay, I couldn’t resist sharing another fascinating excerpt from “Chew On This” (Houghton Mifflin Books, 2006).

In a section discussing artificial flavorings, the authors list ingredients needed to concoct a typical at-home strawberry milk shake – “ice, cream, strawberries, sugar, and a touch of vanilla”. 

I get that.

They then print the ingredients found in a typical fast-food strawberry milk shake – “milkfat and nonfat milk, sugar, sweet whey, high fructose corn syrup, guar gum, mono- and diglycerides, cellulose gum, sodium phosphate, carageenan, citric acid, red food coloring #40, and artificial strawberry flavor”. 

Hmmmm.

The FDA permits the use of that phrase – “artificial strawberry flavor”.  This, however, is what that additive really contains – here goes:

“amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, diporpyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hyroxyphrenyl-2-butanone (10% solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, y-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh?

My oldest daughter is an avid reader and couldn’t wait to get her eager hands on the 6th grade summer reading list.  This list is a combination of fiction and non-fiction titles, some catching the eye of both of us right away.

“Chew On This”, by Eric Scholosser and Charles Wilson, is the book by my daughter’s bed right now.  It documents the inception, growth, mass production practices, and health realities of a part of our world we all take for granted – fast food.

I will, on occasion in this blog, point out some of the more poignant (read heartrending) particulars that I end up not being able to pry out of my head.

Here are just a few morsels from the inside flap.  Did you know that…

1) “Americans now spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, and recorded music – combined”?

2) “A child of ten who is diagnosed with Type II diabetes can expect to lose seventeen to twenty-six years of his or her life”?

3) “The Golden Arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross”?

Are you kidding???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was standing at the counter of a favorite local ice cream place yesterday with my kiddos and a man in the line next to me ordered a cone for his son with the words “And my son has a nut allergy”.  The clerk nodded in an understanding way which seemed to give the dad a sense of calm.

I couldn’t help asking how he handles such situations.  I’m wondering if he scrutinizes the scooper’s moves to make sure she uses a cleaned ice cream scoop.  I’m noting to myself that there’s no way he can control what nut contaminants might have already been introduced to his son’s favorite flavor before they even stepped up to the window.

The man smiled, shrugged his shoulders and gripped the Epipen he carries around all the time just in case.  It’s summer; it was hot; he wanted to enjoy an ice cream cone with his son.

For those of you with a nut allergy at home, how do you manage the marvelous trip to the ice cream counter in the summertime???

I know we’re all cutting back these days, but it still feels good to enjoy a night out at a favorite restaurant once in a while.

I spoke earlier about “cleaning the plate” as in eating everything in front of you even after you’re full.  I think this happens a lot when we go out to eat, and restaurant portions can certainly be excessive.  It happens to me at least.

Here are a couple tricks to keep yourself from overriding those innate messages from your fullness sensors.

1. When ordering a meal, try splitting it with a friend – simply ask for two plates.

2. Try asking your server to place half of the meal in a “doggie bag” before it is served and you can enjoy the rest later.

We’re all familiar with the ubiquitous children’s menu at most restaurants – grilled cheese, hot dog, mac n’ cheese, chicken fingers…

While usually an easy destination for the youthful menu reviewer, the familiar items on the Kid’s Menu are typically very far from healthy.  Growing bodies need far more nutrition and far fewer calories, less fat and less sodium than these items will provide.

Next time you’re out, try ordering a healthier choice from the main menu and split it with your little companion (restaurant portions are usually quite large – enough to share).

Or work with your child to order familiar (but not very healthy) dishes in a more nutritious way – grilled instead of fried, whole wheat instead of white, dressing on the side…

There may be initial resistance, but the example you’re setting is an excellent one!