Eating out.

[Missy]

I just wanted to start a thread to ask a few questions about eating out?

Does anyone know for sure (or as close as you can get) if eating Gyro meat (not the pita) is a decent protein choice? I'm talking the "carved off the spit" type? I'd like to begin to understand some "safe" choices in the types of resturants we like to eat at....that is without thinking about it. I wonder because I'm unsure if meat like that has fillers?

Also, are chicken/beef/shrimp fajitas a good choice....minus the flour torillas? but with the sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, tomato and cheese? I expect that it is a good choice.

A chef salad...minus the croutons...with Ranch dressing? I'm thinkin so. I just want some confirmation for the first phase person.

[Mitra]

Lynn, I'll leave someone else to answer about the specific items you mentioned, because they'll have a better idea of American restaurant practices, but I wanted to mention that there is a section in Protein Power that makes suggestions for the best choices in various types of restaurant. It's in the "Putting It All Together" section.

[Missy]

:o oh... thank you for that! I'll go look there. Thanks! :D

[cmcole]

I'd say that the best bet regarding meat off a spit is to absolutely determine what is the mixture. Sometimes it's more like a meatloaf, with breadcrumbs, etc., as fillers.

Fajitas are usually a good choice (less the tortilla)

Salads with dressing on the side, so you can pick it apart and just add the quantity you wish. A hint: dip your fork in the dressing, and then stab the salad - you get the taste of the dressing without all the added substance, and you use far less than you would expect.

The types of restaurants that serve breakfast all day usually have something you can eat. However, I've heard that some put pancake mix in their omelettes, so either have eggs that you can recognize, or ask questions.

[Relief]

every recipe for gyro meat that I have seen ( and it IS a type of very dense meat loaf--starting with finely ground lamb and (sometimes) beef) does not contain carby fillers; just meat, onion and spices. 100 grams ( about 4 ounces) can contain about 40 grams of protein ( according to fitday) --not bad. that doesn't mean that some places could be using an inferior mixture, but it can't contain too much filler or it wouldn't hold up on the spit!.

[Missy]

Good point Relief! It would fall off. Good...I won't overly concern myself with it then. I just LOVE gyros meat!!!! and with a lovely greek salad I shall be in seventh heaven!!!!! :D

Thanks everyone! I did look up that section in PP, thanks Mitra for reminding me of that!

[Relief]

and lots of tzatziki sauce--hooo BABY!:D

[Missy]

:D I love gyro's..but we don't eat it too often. I thought last night, if only I could put the menu down when the waiter came and said "Yes, I'd like to order 46 grams of protein, and 10ish grams of carbs in combination between the gyros meat accompanied veggies and your greek salad PLEASE!" :D ~ that'd be soooooo much easier!! lol :D

[realruth]

Missy....Some places....(well in NZ)....do a LC special plate...WOW fantasic You can have 1 meat or a combo of meat, cheese and salad on a plate....The salad is actually a little small for my eating (about 1/2 cup) but the protein is at least 40 gms. Perhaps some places do something like that near you! Ask you may be pleasantly rewarded!

[gitfiddle]

Missy, I've never met a fajita I didn't like and DH always loves the extra tortillas! The hard part is not partaking of the chips and salsa that he always orders.

[Missy]

Realruth...yes, a few chain resturants here do/did that. But, sadly, I found them having already replaced them and taken that section off the menu. :( I guess they saw it as just a trend? Oh well.

I figure, as you go along, it becames second nature. I'd just like for it to be come second nature without thinking too hard.

The thing of it is that I'm pleased to find that my former "tastes" have been rather close to this plan MINUS the carb add on's. I LOVE fajita's and gyro's meat...and I could ignore the rest of their choices of mexican/greek food. So that pleases me.

I think I wanted "real people" confirmation and advise just because from what I could tell....could it be TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE???!!! :D

NO! :D GOODY!!!! :D :D

Gitfiddle...as for those CHIPS...it's hard to stop at JUST ONE isn't it.... ONE BASKET FULL of em' that is!!!!!! lol :eek:

But, I'm determined...so I don't let them pass my lips...UNTIL I'm comfortable with my addiction awareness problem...I don't want to try "just one" right now. I think, with the help of this board, and what I learn about why those simple over indulgences can derail your weight lose efforts in the Mastering Leptin book...and how it can do it for days from even slightly over indulging...it's helped me keep focused.

I used to "reward" myself when I had success in losing...thinking I wasn't really hurting anything...and I've know realised that I was. I want the long term success...and those darn chips will derail me from getting there. For today anyways. One day, again, I could have "some"...but not today.

I like reminding myself of the phrase someone has used on here...as self talk about any temptations: "no, I can't, it's not good for me"...for now, it's not, and I need to remind myself of that. One day, maybe, but not in the quantity I once enjoyed freely.

Gitfiddle...I'm lucky too because my husband hates sour cream, AND guacamole!!!!! :D Just so I don't feel too bad, I allow myself a half of a torillia as a reasonable compromise.

You just have to stay on CARB ALERT, huh? :rolleyes:

[dvdmon]

Wow, I didn't see this till today - wish I had seen it yesterday! I've been trying different places in the food court in the mall near where I work recently and decided to try a turkish place. They are a bit pricey, but had a sign for low-carb kabobs, which the server just said come with salads instead of rice and bread. I was going to get one but noticed that the souvlaki (with gyro meat) was a good deal cheaper. But when I was eating it I had the feeling that it wasn't pure meat but had to have some breading in it. I felt awfully sluggish later in the day, which is often the sign for me of eating too many carrbs. I looked Gyros up and while they don't by definition seem to have breading in them, I found several recipes that included bread crumbs. It could be that this dish varies in terms of its breading content depending on where you get it, but at least where I did, I think it was full of the stuff :(

[Missy]

It very well could be DVD man...it's sorta along those lines of mystery meat...lol...like meatloaf of sorts....:rolleyes: I guess it's a try it an see...or, be brave enough to ASK about what carbs it might contain. I don't know if resturant employee's will know or not? I do know it's quite greasy...but, still, it's sooo good?

I didn't ask the waiter at the resturant we were at because, well, he barely looked like he was in the mood to wait on us to begin with! lol :rolleyes:

[cmcole]

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,gyros,FF.html

http://www.recipeland.com/recipe/10646/

[birdsong]

Dear CMC -- thanks for the links to the gyro recipes. They are one of my favorite foods, even though I am not overly fond of lamb, per se. My supervisor at the newspaper where I worked is Greek, and she introduced me to quite a number of interesting foods. This was one of them. It was a specialty at the pizza house across the road from the office. We do not live too far from Tarpon Springs FL, which is a Greek community and has wonderful Greek food, including gyros. It's a great place to feast.

When I lived in NY state, there was a marinated lamb kabob recipe called Spiedies that was a local specialty. Wonderful!!! I'll have to dig out the recipe and post it....

Hugs,
Dotte ^^

[Gaelen]

When I lived in NY state, there was a marinated lamb kabob recipe called Spiedies that was a local specialty. Wonderful!!! I'll have to dig out the recipe and post it....Hugs,
Dotte ^^

Birdsong...spiedies (without the bun--just spread on top of salad greens or eaten as kabobs on a stick) are a perfect 'dining out' food. They can also be made of chicken, pork or beef. I've never seen fish spiedies for sale, but I have grilled monkfish and shark in spiedie marinade and they're both great fish 'spiedies.'

[ladydoc442]

Missy, I've never met a fajita I didn't like and DH always loves the extra tortillas! The hard part is not partaking of the chips and salsa that he always orders.

... it's harder for me to skip the luscious margaritas (with salt, of course) :D

Deb

[Belfrybat]

... it's harder for me to skip the luscious margaritas (with salt, of course) :D

Deb

No need to skip them! Just take along a package of Zilch (www.zilchmixers.com (http://www.zilchmixers.com)) and order a tequila and water over the rocks in a salt rimmed glass. You'll get a VERY strange look from the waitperson, but so what? :slywink:

[LisaS]

oh my goodness - zilch sounds pretty intriguing -

[bluefish]

what is fajita? i hear everyone talking about them here and so many others that i ignore

[cmcole]

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,chicken_fajita,FF.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajita

http://www.cookeryonline.com/Tortilla/Fajita.html

[deirdra]

No need to skip them! Just take along a package of Zilch (www.zilchmixers.com (http://www.zilchmixers.com)) and order a tequila and water over the rocks in a salt rimmed glass. You'll get a VERY strange look from the waitperson, but so what? :slywink:Zilch sounds great; this is the first I've heard of it. Are you wearing your habit when ordering tequila? Waitpersons might not be expecting that.LOL!