Dining Out - Eat Smart

According to the National Restaurant Association, 78 percent of the adults agree that going out to eat gives them an opportunity to socialize and is a better use of their time than cooking and cleaning up. At the same time, 73 percent say they try to eat healthier now at restaurants than they did a couple of years ago.

Dining out can post serious problems for people trying to both eat out and eat smart. Restaurant foods notoriously contain oil, butter, cheese, meat drippings, fatty meat and other saturated fats. Most of the foods are pan fried, deep dried, sauteed, grill fried or fried. Restaurant meals can be extremely high in salt, sugar and saturated fats, mostly from animal sources such as beef, pork, lamb, veal and poultry where cholesterol is found.

At this point, you the consumer have a couple of options. Number one, you can eat what the restaurant serves you or number two, stop going to restaurants. There is a third option to have a basic understanding of salt, sugar, fat and cholesterol in foods and reconcile your dining out with eating smart. Your dining experience can be both enjoyable and healthful.

Ask questions about ingredients and how the meal is prepared. Most establishments will be happy to help you if you just ask. Often personnel are very knowledgeable about food content and cooking methods. Be innovative, avoid the menu items you know to stay away from such as French fries, fried chicken, fried hamburgers, milkshakes, pickles, potato chips, processed cold cuts, sour cream, Thousand Island Dressing and so forth. Create substitutions to strip away the unhealthy elements of the menu items but preserve the taste and semblance of the dish.

Try a club sandwich without the bacon. Skip cream soups in favor of chicken or beef broth. Ask your server for pasta, mushrooms or a slice of tomato to add. Instead of sour cream on your baked potato try salsa. If you are having lobster or steamed clams, use fresh lemon wedges instead o f butter. For breakfast order your eggs poached or boiled, not fried. Have Eggs Benedict or Eggs Florentine without the Hollandaise sauce.

There are many enjoyable restaurant foods that will conform to eating smart. Don't take the approach that you can't eat out any longer because you are eating smart. Open your mind to the endless possibilities available and get into the main stream of life. Ask questions, make substitutions, become educated and enjoy.

Scott Tranter is also known as the Diner Wizard.

He is a leading authority on finding, developing and maintaining the passion in your career. His gift of teaching others how to pursue and achieve their passion is magical and will ignite enthusiasm and be the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment! He has successfully opened 12 restaurants and serves as a consultant to a chain in California, as well as a consultant to a culinary arts trade school. He is currently a restaurant owner/operator. He is a ServSafe Instructor/Proctor for the National Restaurant Association and a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. He writes a food column entitled "Cooking Class." Please visit his website at http://www.dinerwizard.com.

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