Eating out doesn't have to be a splurge

I enjoy eating out but recently have stopped because of the eating plan I am on. I have cut out all sugar, wheat, dairy, rice, beans, corn, soy, and more. I feel so much better and my brain works now! But I missed meeting up with friends, girls nights out, and having dinner out with my husband. 

This week I threw all caution to the wind and agreed to meet a friend at, of all places, the Cheesecake Factory. Nothing tempting there, right? 

I did what all good people on eating plans do before they go to a restaurant and looked online at their menu. I found a roasted chicken dish that I could have but it was similar to what I had been eating at home. 

Then I saw Cashew Chicken. Oh man did that sound good. I looked over the whole menu and there were salads that would be okay (as long as the dressing was vinaigrette) and there was a turkey sandwich if I didn't eat the bread. So okay I had options. 

When we met at the restaurant the Cashew Chicken still called out to me. I love stir fries and I wanted it. It came over a bed of steamed rice. No can do. I have never seen a restaurant that would serve stir fries without the rice. 

I summoned my courage and asked the waiter if it could be done. He said yes and asked if I wanted an extra vegetable instead? That sounded weird to me, but I asked for my options. 

Asparagus?  Eh. Sounded like an odd combination. 
Carrots? Nope, too sugary. 
Spinach? Hmmm. Cashew chicken and spinach. That sounded okay so I agreed to that. 

Oh my gosh! What came out was way better than I expected. 

I received a huge bowl with sauteed chicken and cashews on a huge bed of lightly steamed spinach. It was incredible! Such a great combination! I was in heaven. 

Everything in my bowl was okay to eat and in scarfing down my bowl full of yumminess, I forgot to take a picture. Which means I will just have to go back and order it again so you can see how fabulous the whole plate was! (heh heh)


Thank you Cheesecake Factory for helping me stick to my eating plan! Who would have thought? 


This experience taught me that I can go out to eat if I work with the wait staff and ask them for options. 

Since I didn't have pics of my own fabulous dinner, I grabbed a few shots from the Cheesecake Factory website so you can see some other options. Lettuce wraps are usually good (watch for the rice noodles and too many starchy veggies on the side, as well as sweetened dipping sauces), or the herbed chicken I mentioned earlier (above).

So the next time you are in a place that serves something on rice, try a vegetable instead. It was so darn good! 

Tonight is a friend's birthday and we are heading to a local Mexican food place. Stay tuned to see how well I stick to plan. 

Wish me luck!
Laureen

Traveling Healthy: Cooking in my Hotel Room without Setting off the Fire Alarm

I love science. Science experiments are fun to me. Any experiment is fun for the most part. I am on business travel for a few weeks and I really want to stick to this eating plan. It's been more difficult than I thought because I am having trouble finding cooked organic food in the area. I have this lovely little family owned organic grocery near my home. 

Here they have gargantuan stores with restaurants inside the grocery. Seriously. It is the oddest thing. I have been taking pictures and sending them home to my husband. 

But most of the food isn't organic. My solution? Purchase a Rival Electric Skillet from Amazon and have it shipped to the hotel. I am an Amazon Prime member, so it arrived in 2 days. 

When it arrived I looked at it and realized it would cause steam, smoke, and heat. Will it set off the smoke alarms? 

I get evacuated from hotels enough. For a while the alarms would go off in my hotel about every other trip (I did not cause the evacuations). On a side note, it's really funny to see what people sleep in. As such I always pack sweats and tennis shoes and keep them near the bed. 

So this morning I made breakfast. In the skillet. In the room. And to be extra daring, I cooked bacon. Smoky--needs decent heat to cook--bacon. I also made scrambled eggs and for the first time noticed how much steam comes off of the darn things. But it worked! NO ALARMS! SUCCESS! 

Breakfast is served. 

I use Applegate Farms Bacon because it is nitrate free and organic. It has the best taste. I brought salt, pepper, and oregano with me, since I like to season my eggs with them. Organic eggs were pretty easy to find.

Now to clean up the mess and air out the bacon smell in the room before they come in to clean. 

Bacon grease disposal

I used a combination of a hotel glass and extra baggies I had brought with me to dispose of the bacon grease. Line the cup with plastic and the baggie. Wrap the top of the baggie over the edge of the glass. Wait for the grease to cool a bit, then pour it into the baggie-lined glass. Set it near the air unit in the room to congeal. Once solid, remove the baggie from the glass, seal it, and dispose. Viola!  

Here is to staying healthy, one small step at a time. 


Happy, healthy, travels!  
Laureen

Healthy Traveling

I am on a business trip for 13 days. When I travel it is more stressful than being at home and I used to soothe that stress by treating myself to things I usually wouldn't eat: pancakes, cookies, catered food for lunch, pasta at business dinners, desserts, an extra glass of wine... You get the picture. 

Well now I am working to stick to my healthy eating and eliminate all sugar, artificial sweeteners, wheat, gluten, rice, beans, dairy, and caffeine. So much for pancakes and pasta dinners.

As I eat healthier and more pure foods (no processing at all), I am finding joys in the simple things. And I am thrilled to have found a way to satisfy my sweet tooth. 

After leaving the airport, I made a bee line for the organic grocery store that is closest to my hotel. I had created a shopping list before my trip and wanted to have as much food on hand as I could so I wouldn't be tempted to grab something. Being hungry, tired, and stressed is a sure fire way for me to eat pizza and cake (not "or", "and"). Not exactly wheat, gluten, sugar, or dairy-free. 

I have found that one of my most favorite and crave reducing items is a granny smith apple with almond butter. Make sure the almond butter is freshly ground and has no added sugar. 

If I want a little sweetness, I sprinkle Stevia on of the almond butter. It is so darn good! I cut up the apple into slices so it provides that comfort food feel and spread the almond butter on thick. 

The best part about this eating plan is that I don't have to limit the quantity of the food I eat. So I can apply the almond butter liberally to each apple slice. 

Try my latest treat. I am sure you will like it as much as I do. It is filling, has great fiber, protein, and healthy fats. And it tastes so darn good! 

Here's to your health! 
Laureen

All the Comforts of Home

I will be traveling for business more this year. I have a love/hate relationship with business travel. I really like being at home. I can have everything my way.

And since I have been adding more healthy items to my diet, it makes it more difficult to eat the way I like while on the road. 

I like having my homemade coffee "creamer"; I like drinking my lemon, apple cider vinegar, and aloe gel in sparkling water at night. I miss those things when I travel. 

As I will be traveling more, I wanted to bring home with me. So I don't have to miss the things that make me feel good every day. 

 
I found this cool little Mini Glass Creamer bottles at Crate and Barrel that are now on sale for 50 cents! They are not only cute--adorable even!--but I think they can give me a bit of home in an easy to carry container.

I have put my lemon juice/apple cider vinegar/aloe juice concoction into one. I am freezing that to keep the ingredients chilled while I travel. And I have added some raw honey, cinnamon, and raw cacoa to another to use as my creamer! I will let you know how they work out when I return. 

Although this probably guarantees I will have my luggage searched by TSA agents, I still think it's worth it. Remind me to tell you about my travels when I used to bring a bag of epsom salts with me! HA! I finally learned to keep them in the original bag.  

Here's to hoping I don't end up with luggage full of honey and my clothes don't end up smelling like apple cider vinegar. I will update this blog post when I return to let you know how it went.


Post trip update---the bottles worked amazingly well! No leakage! My luggage was searched by TSA but I was not surprised by that. I had put ingredients lists on each one, put them in small plastic bags, then put both bottles into a larger plastic bag with a couple of paper towels, just in case. The towels were dry when I got there. After defrosting and using, one of the lids cracked so I need to determine a better lid for the containers but this idea is a go. I will never travel without my concoctions again.



Happy Travels and #happyhealthy2014!
Laureen