Day 7 - Write 31 - Out of the Kitchen - Tips for Eating Out

Getting Out of the Kitchen

If you're trying to improve your health by changing your diet then cooking at home is the best option. In your own kitchen you control what goes in to a dish and how it is prepared. However there are those times when you just want someone else to do the cooking and the clean-up! 

So off to a restaurant we go.

Remember just because a dish doesn't contain meat or dairy doesn't necessarily make it healthy. Take french fries for example. No matter what type of oil they are fried in they are still deep fried. Not a 'health' food, 

Let's take a look a couple of common type restaurants found in most cities and see what's good to eat.

Chinese

Best bets:

Steamed rice

Steamed veggies such as broccoli and snowpeas 

Veggie stir fry (ask if they can use a small amount of oil)

Veggie Lo Mein (ask if the noodles are made with eggs)

Tofu dishes

Veggie Lo Mein

Beware: Typical Chinese restaurant food may be high in sodium and oil. Always ask that the dish be prepared using veggie broth and no fish or oyster sauce. 

Italian

Best bet:

Pasta and marinara sauce 

Pizza with veggies, sauce and no cheese

Our favorite Italian place will make eggplant Parmesan or cauliflower Parmesan without cheese but not the veggie lasagna. You can always ask.

Pizza is from Blaze Pizza - they have restaurants all around the country. Completely Vegan including the crust. They even have a Vegan cheese.

Simple pasta with a light marinara sauce.

Beware: Most Italian places love their cheese.

Might not be as healthy (of as cheap) as you can make it at home but with a little planning and thought you can find plant-based foods when you eat out.

Happy Eating!

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Day 4 - Write 31 - All It Takes is a Little Planning - Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Surprise! It's Time to Eat (again)

It happens at least three times a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. OK not everyone eats breakfast but you get the idea. We get hungry we need to eat. So why does 6 p.m. roll around and we stand staring into the fridge like it's a big surprise that it's time to eat again?

I'm a big fan of Dave Ramsey. He speaks of this in regards to Christmas. "Christmas is not an emergency. It happens every year. Don't use it as an excuse to overspend and buy things you can't afford." 

It's the same with meal time. Meal time is not an emergency. It happens multiple times a day. We get hungry on a pretty regular basis and yet we allow it to sneak up and because we're unprepared we end up ordering pizza or hitting the local drive through for a #1 combo.

How Can We Avoid the Big Surprise? 

You've Got to Plan Ahead

My meal planning approach is pretty simple. 

Check the Calendar

On Thursday I sit down with the calendar and make notes about the coming week. This was much more complicated when I had a house full of children. It's a lot easier now there's only two of us. But still it's important to take in to consideration what's on the calendar. 

For example I'm taking a class on Thursday night so I need to plan a quick meal so we can get out the door on time. Working late, company coming over, birthdays and holidays or weekend trips all need to be considered. 

Take Stock

Once I have our schedule down the next step is to check the pantry, fridge and freezer to see what needs to be used. This also cuts down on the weekly expenses and food waste. No reason to buy something when I have it sitting on the pantry shelf. 

Meals to Plan

Breakfast is usually oatmeal, rice or potatoes served with some type of fruit. I just keep the ingredients on hand for these dishes.
Lunch is usually leftovers from the night before or a veggie sandwich or wrap. As long as I have bread, peanut butter and jelly things are good.
Dinner is the only meal we eat together and we rely on leftovers for lunches so it's the one that takes the most planning.

Meal Plan Theme

To make life easier I plan my meals around a theme. You could come up with different themes but these are mine for now:

• Chinese
• Middle Eastern/Indian 
• Mexican
• Italian
• All-American 
• Down Home Southern 

Since we might go out to eat or we may have lots of leftovers I only plan out six dinners a week. 

Within each theme I have a running list of meal ideas that can I switch up each week. For example under Italian we may eat spaghetti with marinara sauce one week and then veggie lasagna the next. Truth be told we don't need a lot of variety in our eating so we really don't mind eating spaghetti every week. But it's good to have some options just in case. 

BTW it's a blessing to have a husband that's not a picky eater!

Write it Down

I write down what meals I have planned for the week for those times I have a brain freeze and can't remember what I've planned. 

However I don't assign a particular meal to a particular night unless it's really necessary. I do like to know ahead of time what's for dinner on Thursday so I can be sure to have it ready on time. 

The joy of eating plant-based is you don't have to worry about defrosting meat. Although you do have to be sure to soak the dried beans but canned is always a quick option. 

Stick to the Plan But Be Flexible

The key is to stick to your plan but be flexible enough to go with the flow. If you plan on eating taco salad for dinner and you find someone has eaten all the Frito corn chips don't throw the plan out the window. Change it up and serve the taco 'meat' (also know as lentils) over rice or a baked potato and have salad on the side. 

Making a major change in diet does take a lot of research and planning. Going plant-based has so many advantages it's well worth the effort. 

No recipe needed!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Simply open a can of black beans and a can of corn. 

Rinse and drain the beans, drain the corn. 

Mix in a little of your favorite salsa. Add some chopped onion and peppers if you want. 

Toss it all together and heat it up.

Serve over a baked potato. 

Add a salad on the side, some oven baked corn chips and extra salsa. 

Dinners on the table!

 Write 31 Days 

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Day 2 - Write 31 - Discover For Yourself the Power of Plants and a Recipe for Oven Baked Chips

The Myth of All Things in Moderation

There was a time when I firmly believed that I could eat all things in moderation. The thought of giving up a nice juicy charbroiled steak or cheese on my taco was absolutely out of the question. Yes, people who called themselves Vegans or plant-eaters were just a little weird.

But what started out as a simple statement by my husband at dinner one night, "I want to cut down on the amount of meat I'm eating", brought me face to face with some serious facts about animal products and the effect they have on the body.

As I researched I became more and more convinced that giving up eating animals was the way to go. I'm no expert so I'll share some of the resources that I found helpful to me.

Carbs Are Not the Enemy! 

John McDougall MD author of  "The Starch Solution" was the first book I read on the subject of plant-eating. The good doctor showed me that I can eat potatoes, corn, rice, and beans. It taught me that carbs are not the enemy but that many past and currant civilizations live and live quite well on starches in their diet.

Just the Facts Ma'am

Michael Greger MD author of "How Not to Die" a book that outlines the most common health issues and how food can prevent or reverse these ailments. Go to his website Nutrition Facts as he has tons of videos on different subjects. I like the fact that he doesn't report on something unless he has scientific evidence to back it up.

First Do No Harm

Neal Barnard MD from the Physicians for Responsible Medicine and author of "The Cheese Trap" and many other books.  This was the final push I needed to cut dairy out of my diet. He also does a lot of work in the animal welfare area.

So I don't know that my husband intended to give up meat completely when he made that statement but I'll be forever grateful to him for putting us on this journey!

I'll leave you with an easy way to make oil free corn chips.

Baked Corn Chips

Preheat the oven to 325 F 

You'll need:

Corn tortilla (however many you want) Be sure to check out the label and make sure there's no dairy or lard. 

If you want to salt your chips lay a tortilla down on a cutting board, sprinkle on salt and then layer another tortilla on top. Keep repeating until you have four or five stacked up. Take a rolling pin and roll over the tortilla mashing the salt into each one. This way the salt will stick to each chip. 

Cut the tortillas in to whatever size triangles you want. 

Lay the triangles on an ungreased baking sheet. 

Use a timer and check on the chips every 3 or 4 minutes and bake until they are barely brown and starting to crisp. Turn off the oven at that point and leave them in for 3 or 4 more minutes until they dry out and are nice and crisp. Keep checking because they can burn pretty quickly. Pull them out and allow to cool. 

I make a big batch and store the chips in an airtight container.

Serve with salsa or guacamole. 

Adding salt by rolling or mashing it into the tortilla

Oil free corn chips to serve along with guacamole and black bean soup

 Write 31 Days 

A writing challenge every October every day

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