Do you go out to eat? What do you order?

[Thystle]

Considering the distinct lack of TF in restaraunts... do you ever go out to eat? And if you do what do you order?

(And no I don't mean fast food)




Just curious.

[memory maker]

: subbing to find out too
I know some of our local restaurants sell organic, local meats. We try and frequent those restaurants when we can afford to go out

[WildIris]

We rarely go out to eat. The most recent time was for DH's company Christmas party, which was at an upscale restaurant. I try to avoid all sugars (so, no alcohol or desserts), white flour/simple carbs (no pasta), and because of thyroid disease I need to be careful about iodine (no seafood). And I rarely order chicken out, because it never tastes as good as the pastured chicken I make at home. It does make eating out tricky!

To drink, I ordered sparkling water (like Pelligrino/Perrier) with lemon.
Appetizer: shrimp cocktail (all the other appetizers involved white flour/simple carbs or were other forms of seafood, so I took my chances with the shrimp... luckily, they did not bother me. Must have been freshwater shrimp.)
Salad: caesar salad w/o anchovies.
Dinner: prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans
Dessert: I had one bite of plain cheesecake, no crust; it didn't taste very good so didn't want more.

At another recent holiday party (buffet style), I had very similar to the above: Pelligrino water, Brie cheese w/fruit, salad greens w/unidentified creamy dressing, cream of mushroom soup, prime rib, and for dessert, the custardy inside part of some kind of mini-tart with a bit of fruit on top.

[gina2328]

I usually like to go to an Italian restaurant, but I make sure they cook in butter or olive oil, and the dressings are 100% olive oil based. Then, I usually order a wild seafood like Tuna or other that is wild or lamb, that is usually raised on pasture. : Sometimes a French restaurant will cook in butter or olive oil. I also have a couple of restaurants that are favorites in the area that meet the criteria's of the Italian restaurant, serve lots of wild seafood and cook in Olive oil, but is a bit pricey so we don't eat there very often. But the food there is very good.

I can't believe how many times I have called a restaurant and asked what oil they use to cook the food. 99% of the time the answer is "vegetable oil", "soybean oil" or "canola oil". So sad, how did this ever happen, was it based on saving money, health or both. Its just absurd. Of course, they are surprised that someone is calling and asking that weird question. No one calls and asks that weird question.

[Brookesmom]

I get a lot of ethnic carry out. (well, I could eat there but with the kids being little...) They tend to have more veggies too than bready starch items.

Some of my favorites: thai coconut curry dishes with chicken or shrimp and brown rice if they have it, indian food (not too much rice) with yogurt (raita) and lamb curry and mango pickles, etc.

There are also a few places that try for local and organic that are more upscale and Mediterranean. Lamb or duck or steak with a demi glace is always nice, with some traditional mashed potatoes with cream and butter and veggies with butter (getting myself HUNGRY now!) They are usually fancier than we want to take the kids to though and pricier, so we don't go often right now. Maybe one day, sigh... I do love to eat more than I love to clean it all up.

Oh, also a nice Chipotle carnitas burrito with niman ranch pork, black beans and salsa and I don't eat most of the flour tortilla. I'm still looking for a good place to get carne asada tacos on traditional corn tortillas and long cooked posole (soak hominy corn) soup.

Basically, going out is always somewhat of a compromise TF speaking, though my need for a break from prep and cleaning another meal wins out in these cases.

I'd love some more ideas too!

-Kelly

[cristeen]

Usually if we go out it's for Thai, and I order a curry dish. My fave is duck, so that's what I usually get.

If we order in, it's Chinese, and we get stir-fried dishes. Beef with Tomatoes, Lamb with ginger, Szechuan Eggplant.

Anywhere else, I generally get a piece of meat. Steak, ribs, pork chop, etc. A baked potato is fairly safe, and a salad with blue cheese dressing. Or else a dish like shrimp or calamari in garlic butter, so long as it doesn't have rice or pasta with it.

There are very few places that are impossible to eat at. Most anywhere has at least one meat lovers dish... even if I do have to specify "no sauce, no rice, no pasta, no XXX..."

[quietserena]

We went out to eat this morning after Eid prayers. We don't usually go out to eat though I have a burger weakness and if they ever sell them at the mosque I get two.

Went to IHOP. Not your best place I suppose....

DH and I had vegetable omelettes and hash browns. And coffee.

I thought later that that's pretty close to what we eat at home so I guess that's ok.

There's always ways to make it better (better eggs, organic veggies) but this was better than getting pancakes or something..

[desertpenguin]

i like Cracker Barrel, because they at least have butter instead of margarine. i would love to go to more ethnic restaurants but dh is a super picky eater and likes barely any ethnic food, except for mexican food and OK doesn't have real mexican food from what we have observed. they have some alright places, but it is not the mexican food we know and love, it's OK's version of mexican food.

[Shazer]

Usually I go for a steak and salad. Or a piece of fish. With a ten-month-old, I don't enjoy eating out these days. But DH and I used to eat out a lot and I always ordered the plainest meat on the menu and had veggies on the side. I always asked for real butter or olive oil.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by quietserena

Went to IHOP. Not your best place I suppose....

DH and I had vegetable omelettes and hash browns. And coffee.

There's always ways to make it better (better eggs, organic veggies) but this was better than getting pancakes or something..

Just FYI, IHOP puts pancake batter in their omelettes... so you might as well have eaten the pancakes with a side of eggs. You specifically have to tell the waitress to tell the chef no pancake batter in your omelette, most of the waitresses don't even know that it's in there.

[WildIris]

Originally Posted by cristeen

Just FYI, IHOP puts pancake batter in their omelettes... so you might as well have eaten the pancakes with a side of eggs. You specifically have to tell the waitress to tell the chef no pancake batter in your omelette, most of the waitresses don't even know that it's in there.

Ewwwwwww, why would they do this? How do you know?

Iris

[Ruthla]

Never mind TF- I personally don't think it's a big deal to have the occasional "not TF" meal, but my concern is allergens. I'm sensitive to both dairy and wheat/gluten, and I'm honestly afraid to eat anywhere but home, unless it's a packaged GF food.

To further complicate matters, there are exactly two kosher restaurants in my area. A pizza place and a bagel place. Before going GF, I would order a tuna salad platter at either place. Now I'm not even sure if that would be safe to do. The thing is, I really want to take DD1 out for special Mommy/Daughter time when she gets her period for the first time (hasn't happened yet but it's likely to happen in the next few months) and I don't know if I'll be able to do that. It just won't be the same if I eat before we go somewhere and have an iced tea while she has pizza or a bagel.

[thomlynn]

Here is a good article from WAPF with tips for eating out.

http://www.westonaprice.org/transition/vacation.html

[caedmyn]

I kind of just order whatever, although I do stay away from margarine and fried foods. I'd rather enjoy my meal even if it isn't the healthiest instead of ordering the healthiest choice and wishing I'd ordered something different because it didn't taste all that great That said, though, I went on a weekend trip with the women in DH's family and ate whatever I wanted...and frankly, none of it really tasted all that great. I guess I'm just used to real food!

I do stay away from Denny's type restaurants as they really aren't much better than fast food IMO (I don't eat fast food at all, blech). My favorite restaurant is Chipotle, if I can find one--many of their meats are at least natural, and if I get it in a bowl (no tortilla) it's a pretty healthy meal for eating out (other than the cilantro white rice, but it's so good: )

[lafemmedesfemmes]

we eat out infrequently enough that i just order what i want and don't worry too much about staying within our usual tf guidelines. it's a treat and we treat it as such.

personally, i'm partial to sushi (but not shellfish, as i'm allergic), rare to medium-rare cuts of beef or lamb or fish, salads, and i'm always a sucker for alfredo sauce.

christina

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by WildIris

Ewwwwwww, why would they do this? How do you know?

An acquaintance who is a celiac had a reaction after eating a supposedly "safe" omelette. In asking why, she found that out. It's been confirmed by several people who have learned to ask first... usually the waitress has to go back and specifically ask the chef, because they have no idea the chefs are doing that.

[desertpenguin]

Originally Posted by cristeen

An acquaintance who is a celiac had a reaction after eating a supposedly "safe" omelette. In asking why, she found that out. It's been confirmed by several people who have learned to ask first... usually the waitress has to go back and specifically ask the chef, because they have no idea the chefs are doing that.

it does say somewhere on their menu that they put the pancake batter in the eggs to make them light and fluffy.

[zoebird]

there aren't a lot of organic/etc restaurants in the area, but we do go to higher-end restaurants (not fast food), and order good stuff.

we do go to a lot of ethnic places that are very traditional (no msg, or other junk), which we find helpful. we go to thai, morrocan, turkish, french (crepes! oh my god! so good, the savory ones such as one with mushrooms, creme fraiche, eggs!), a place called "classic diner" which just has amazing food (not TF, but really good--no junk--and we get omellets when we're out).

oh, and mexican. i love real, authentic mexican food.

[Periwinkle]

My formula: Pick a meat prepared simply (grilled, etc.) with no sauces. Pick a vegetable (steamed - I add butter at the table from the bread basket if I want). Order a salad w/ olive oil & vinegar. Drink water or red wine. That pretty much sums it up.

[quietserena]

Originally Posted by cristeen

An acquaintance who is a celiac had a reaction after eating a supposedly "safe" omelette. In asking why, she found that out. It's been confirmed by several people who have learned to ask first... usually the waitress has to go back and specifically ask the chef, because they have no idea the chefs are doing that.