Healing article

what are goji berriesMeal Plan Lessons to Eat Well During Travel

Whether it is business lunches or quick stops at fast food restaurants with the kids, knowing how to make the best decisions to forgo sabotaging the diet is important. This is also crucial for athletes who are regularly traveling and need to be fueled with "high octane" foods. Use these handy meal plan lessons to help make the best decisions at various restaurants.

General Tips:

1. Order off the menu and focus in on these 4 words when ordering:

� Steamed
� Broiled
� Baked
� Grilled

2. Never go to the restaurant hungry

� Eat a piece of fruit
� Try a yogurt
� Eat a granola bar
� Have some cottage cheese and fruit

3. Ask for what you want; as a paying customer, restaurants will cater to your needs (within reason).

a. Do not cook foods in butter
b. Limit the amount of oil used in cooking
c. Replace refined carbohydrate, high fat foods (fries, potato salad, etc) with an extra order of steamed vegetables

4. Call ahead to find out what foods are offered so you can plan ahead

� Figure out calories and fat grams of foods you may eat
� Know what foods fit the bill for health options

5. Avoid pre-dinner cocktails and bar snacks

Fast Food Restaurant Tips

Fast food restaurants permeate nearly every corner of the road; from Italian to Chinese, burgers to subs, there is no limit on what you can find. Here are some general meal plan lessons when trying to make the best decisions if faced with a "fast food dilemma."

Chinese Food

� Order steamed options (or ask for your favorite item steamed).
� Most Chinese restaurants now offer brown rice too, rather than the more traditional white rice.
� Avoid the fried noodles they often put on the table before the meal.

"Hamburger" Restaurant (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, In and Out, etc)

� Most now offer grilled chicken salads. Choose this vs. a triple artery clogging bacon cheeseburger.
� If craving a hamburger, order a plain burger or cheeseburger; leave the hefty burgers for the next person in line.
� Try a grilled chicken sandwich sans mayonnaise or "special" sauce.
� Leave the fries behind.

Italian Food

� Split your meal with someone; portions here are at least double what they need to be.
� Try grilled or broiled fish.
� Avoid creamy sauces on pasta dishes; instead opt for marinara, which is much lower in fat and calories.
� Limit consumption of bread on the table that's commonly doused with olive oil or covered in butter and opt for a healthy tossed salad, with olive and balsamic vinegar on the side.

Steak Restaurants (Outback Steakhouse, Ruby Tuesday, etc)

� Avoid the "prime" cuts of beef (e.g., prime rib) and opt for the loin or the round (sirloin, top round, eye round, etc).
� Ideally order grilled or broiled seafood

Sub Shops (Subway, Quiznos, Blimpie, etc)

� Order the grilled chicken or turkey breast options.
� If possible, choose the whole grain breads.
� Leave off the bacon, cheese sauce, and mayonnaise; instead try mustard, vinegar.

To get the true body and health of your dreams, the time you spend eating away from home will be limited. We of course understand, though, that travel does happen and there are times when eating at home is impossible-and that's why our meal plan lessons will prove invaluable. For meal plans you can create on your own, to pick the best of the best foods you love, visit http://www.mealplans101.com

Bread and Olive Tapas

Delicious and satisfying tapas to make are simply chunks of bread with marinated olives. This is an authentic Spanish small plate. Here's what you'll need:

Bread
The best bread to use for bread and olive tapas, in my humble opinion, is any fresh baguette - easily found at your local supermarket or favorite specialty bread store.

My favorite bread comes from Le Boulanger, here in the USA. They make wonderful fresh breads that come in lots of great flavors.

If you want to get fancy and have the time, read this delicious recipe for a wonderful olive bread that you can make yourself with a bread-making machine. Bread is a staple of many tapas recipes. Making bread for tapas can be done well in advance and will taste great when you serve it with the olive marinade in these bread and olive tapas - yummy!

Olives
A couple of facts about olives. They come in all shapes and sizes (kinda like my friends and me!) and the color is determined by the ripeness rather than the type (they turn black as they ripen).

Spain is the world's largest producer of olives and tends to export them in brine, which does little for the taste unless you are in love with salt. The best way to handle that is to soak the olives to get rid of the brine, and then keep them in an olive oil marinade (see the recipe for Marinated Olives below). They'll keep for up to 6 months in your refrigerator.

Another solution, particularly if you are short for time, is to go to your favorite deli that does marinated olives and pick up a jar or two. Having said that, it's hard to beat making your own marinade.

Marinated Olives
Soak the olives in water for about a half hour to get rid of the brine. Dry them on paper towels. The amount of marinade you make up depends on the quantity of olives. Here's a guide to help you figure that out.

What you'll need:
- 12 oz olives
- Zest of a lemon
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary
- 2 cloves crushed garlic- Black pepper
- Olive oil

Mix up the above ingredients with a couple of spoonfuls of virgin olive oil, then add the olives and coat them. Next, leave them for an hour or two before transferring to a sterilized storage jar. Then top the olives with your favorite olive oil to cover all of them. Pop them in the refrigerator for at least a week, and serve at room temperature. This is one of those recipes you can definitely make ahead to serve at any time.

Some tips for the marinade:

• Use as much or as little garlic as you like.
  
• Use whatever herbs you want
• Add honey or orange juice for variation
• Add 4 fl oz Vermouth to make something a bit different
• Don't add salt - the residue of the brine adds enough saltiness

Serve your torn chunks of baquette or other bread on a pretty plate along with your marinated olives. Too delicious for words!

Enjoy!

Sara Gray is an avid lover of appetizers and has created a great website called Easy Appetizer Recipes where you can find delicious ideas for all kinds of hot and cold appetizers, raclette grilling, tapas small plates, snacks, chips and dip ideas, and appetizer soups.

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