Healthy Eating Tips For Restaurants
May 11, 2012 24 Comments
Snack Girl, the person, wants to "walk the talk" of her website. She confronts many situations where it isn't easy to follow her own advice.
Recently, I went to a restaurant for a celebration of my daughter's eighth birthday. She had requested this lunch as a gift - and my husband, son, and I were happy to comply. When we sat down, I was distracted by ensuring my five year old didn't dump his drink all over the table (etc.) so I didn't get a chance to read the menu.
My husband ordered a burger (no!), my son ordered macaroni and cheese (no!) and my daughter ordered sliders (no!). What was I going to order? "Ummmm. I will have the grilled salmon.", I stated proudly.
I would get Omega-3 fatty acids, broccoli, carrots and some mashed potatoes that I don't have to finish. Hurray!
See that photo up there? That is the picture that I took after eating one bite of my grilled salmon which was cooked perfectly. I just couldn't believe it - there was butter sauce all over the plate! One issue with being Snack Girl is that I can quote the calories and saturated fat in one tablespoon of butter (100 calories, 7 grams of saturated fat). Yikes!
How many tablespoons did they put on this lovely fish?
I asked to see the menu to see if I could claim they had made a mistake - but there it was "Grilled Salmon, Carrots, Broccoli, Mashed Potatoes, and Butter Sauce". Oooops.
Sometimes I feel like I have to interrogate the waitstaff to get exactly what I want. The problem here is that I ASSUMED you wouldn't put 4 tablespoons of butter on salmon and I didn't take the time to read the menu.
It was so frustrating because I had avoided the fries, bread, soda, jalapeno poppers - you name it - and managed to find something I really wanted to eat.
Here is my short list of tips to keep in mind when ordering in restaurants:
- Order grilled not fried.
- Put any kind of sauce (salad dressing, mayonnaise, butter, hollandaise) on the SIDE.
- Substitute a side salad for the fries.
Finally, when you are celebrating with your family, do your best and enjoy yourself. I managed to laugh at my mistake and YES! I had the cake and ice cream for dessert :)
How do you deal with eating healthy and restaurants?
Other posts you might like:
How Eating Locally Could Help You Lose Ten Pounds
See that sign up there? I drove past that spot yesterday on my way home from the office....
Ten Healthy Convenience Store Snacks
Check out that photo above. See anything you want to eat? Aaah, the convenience store.....
