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Eating Out, Cheap and Trim

In yesterday's WSJ Suzanne Barlyn rated five restaurants for their calorie and fat accuracy so you might have an idea how to reduce a 2,000-3,000 calorie meal in a restaurant to a more reasonable 600-700 calorie one. Here's the article on-line, but Barlyn has also written some excellent stuff about budgeting and eating healthy which you can find here.

We have had a "Friday night date" for about 40 years, and when our children were young we used to go out to eat with them about twice a month, usually for breakfast after church either at Paul's Pantry or Friendly's in Grandview, or a week-night at Tommy's Pizza on Lane Ave. (We'd call ahead even for table service because our little guy was pretty active). Social engagements or business appointments might send us to restaurants another 2-3 times a month. I think we're below the six times a week eating out that I heard on the radio the other day. One thing the women's movement of the 1970s did was create the modern family's dependency on the restaurant culture--and our growing obesity problem.

My suggestions, which were not included in Barlyn's article since she was evaluating specific menus at Applebee's and Friday's, are:

1) Choose friends or a group you enjoy so that the conversation and socializing are more important than the food.

2) Begin at noon/lunch. If you're going out for dinner, don't go out for lunch, but if you have to because of invitations or business, scale it way back.

3) Eat a small, crisp sliced apple or drink a glass of water before you leave the house, especially if you expect a wait.

4) Park further away from the restaurant than you need to--don't take the place right in front. The extra exercise will do you good, and someone else will love you for doing that.

5) Order your favorite--if you are dieting or even just maintaining/watching--don't use a restaurant menu to punish yourself. You'll soon fall off the wagon if you try to drastically change your diet.

6) Order a to-go or take-out box WHEN YOU ORDER your meal.

7) When the meal is served, put 1/2 or 1/3 in the box and set the box out of view. I've only seen one restaurant meal in my adult life that didn't include a full day's allowance for calories, fat and sodium, and that didn't include dessert or drinks.

8) If you've ordered a salad, always ask for dressing on the side, but DO NOT pour it on your salad.

9) Dip your fork in the dressing, then stab the lettuce. You'll never notice the difference, and you might just be pleased to taste the greens and veggies (at least if they aren't fresh you'll know it!).

10) Pass on the drinks if you're watching calories or pennies, whether a diet soda or wine. You'll not only cut the calories, but it will make a huge difference in the bill and tip. Diet soda, I'm convinced, has contributed to our obesity problem.

11) Slow down, think about what you're chewing and tasting. Pause to reflect, enjoy the company, your friends, spouse, etc. You can probably burn a few calories just by discussing the Buckeyes, or the election, or your latest surgery.

12) Skip the items labeled low-fat, or low-carb--especially cheese or ice cream. They often don't taste good and can just create a hunger for real sugar, or real fat. Eat less and enjoy real food. Want Death-by-Chocolate? Split the real thing with 2 other diners. The first ingredient in a low-fat dressing is water. If you can't resist gobs of dressing on your salad, order the real stuff and mix in some water.

13) I personally like the "senior" option (although my favorite restaurant doesn't have it). The portions are smaller, although I don't think it is as thrifty or as low-cal as halving the regular portion and your husband eating it for lunch the next day.

My all time favorite meal at a favorite restaurant, Schmidt's in German Village

Bahama Mama Sandwich $6.95
A grilled link of their original Bahama Mama (very hot sausage) on a toasted New England Split Top bun.

If you order with a side of chunky applesauce, you can justify not taking 1/2 of it home

Now if you have some suggestions, maybe we can bump this up to 20?