I'm going to Boston to see my practically perfect daughter on Friday! And though she's a cooking machine (www.tworecipes.blogspot.com) I figure we'll be eating out a lot. This trip is obviously for pleasure, but you might travel for your job and have no choice but to frequent restaurants for your meals day after day. It's time to talk about ordering from a menu!
Portions are extraordinarily large in most restaurants. Unless you're in a terribly fancy place that convinces you to sell a kidney for their stingy portions, you will be served way more than you should eat. Get this in your head.
Look to see if they have a lunch menu and a dinner menu. "Lunch menu" equals smaller portions for smaller prices.
Some restaurants will let you order off it even if it's dinnertime. Others will tell you it's ok, but they will charge you a couple dollars more. Unless you have the set-up to doggy-bag the other half of your dinner-sized meal to heat up the next day for round 2, you're better off paying the extra bucks.
If this restaurant brings chips or bread to mindlessly munch on while you wait for your food, don't get carried away.
If you order a salad, ask for your dressing on the side. Even if you end up using it all, it's your choice, not theirs.
If you like soup as a starter, enjoy broth based soups instead of cream based ones. Keep the cheese and croutons to a minimum.
Look for entrees that are grilled or baked. Avoid fried.
Sauces. Creamy white sauces will pile on additional saturated fat calories. Ditto for gravies. Red, tomato based sauces are fine.
Sides. Baked potatoes are great sources of fiber and potassium. (Did you know a baked potato has more potassium than a banana?) It's the toppers for the potato that make this such a bad idea. Instead of the usual butter, sour cream, bacon and cheese, tray a little salsa. Try sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Try a douse or two of some low fat salad dressing you've asked your waiter to bring.
Sides. Look for vegetables without sauces. Steamed or grilled veggies are good choices. Fired or creamed aren't.
Pizza. Dang. These are so all over the place it's hard to advise, other than to say that the culprits are actually the cheeses and toppings. If you're careful about ordering crispy-as-you-can-get crust, then add veggie toppings, 2 or 3 pieces are a fine meal.
Mexican food. Corn tortillas are healthier for you than flour, and you can ask for an order while everyone else is mindlessly munching on chips. (See #3.) If you have a choice between whole beans (borrachas-sp?) or refried, go with the whole. Sadly, they add lard to refried beans. Look for things not smothered in cheese sauces or dripping in oil. OH, and I read once that the worst, absolute worst culprit-fat grams-wise on a Mexican house menu was a cheese stuffed chili relleno. Go figure.
Sandwiches. Remember the deck of cards comparison to how much protein you should be eating at any one meal? And that cheese isn't a freebie? And the standard for a serving of starch is the size and width of a slice of one piece of normal loaf bread? So you be the jury. When that sandwich comes, have the good sense to make it healthy and not over the top.
That's enough. Except for this: did you know that most restaurants who have a website post their menus? You could always know before you go, so you don't make last-minute-hungry-as-a-bear bad choices!
I hope your weekend fills you up like mine is going to!
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