When you travel, it feels as if there are two worlds: your home and the rest of the world. When you step into a restaurant, this feeling is echoed, and it changes based on which restaurant you are in. Right around the corner from home, a restaurant may feel like you are in Thailand eating pad Thai, in America enjoying a cheese burger or in France eating snails. In other cases, you may be half way around the globe in a spot full of Aussies that makes you feel like you are back home. Hi, my name is Betina, and I love eating out and travelling. This blog looks at everything related to those concepts. It talks about the sense of home and away in restaurants. Whether you are a diner or a restaurateur, I hope you enjoy the diverse posts I include in this blog.
Low carbohydrate diets seem to be gaining lots of popularity, especially the ultra-low carb nutritional plans like the Ketogenic Diet, because of its success with helping people to control their cravings and lose weight. The keto diet is all about reducing the amount of glycogen (stored form of carbohydrates) in the body so that it runs off an alternative energy source known as ketones. Ketones are produced when the body is in a state of ketosis which come from reducing your carb intake to around 50 grams a day or less. The idea is to adjust your macros so that you're getting about 70-75% of your daily calories from fat, 15-25% from protein and the rest from carbs in the form of leafy green vegetables and nuts. Whilst this all sounds great it does mean that careful planning is required when preparing meals both at home and when eating out. Fortunately many restaurants nowadays provide online nutritional overviews of all of their foods, which makes selecting your meals easier when on a keto diet.
Chinese and Thai
Everyone loves a good Thai or Chinese restaurant like Han Palace. Fortunately Asian food can be a great source of fat and protein, whilst being low in calories at the same time. You just need to know where to look on the menu. First and foremost a lot of it will be cooked in some sort of oil, and there's always going to be plenty of meat and fish on offer. Just be careful to avoid sugary sauces like sweet chilli and battered coatings. Meats like beef, lamb and duck contain a good protein to fat ratio, whilst side dishes of steamed or stir-fried bok choi can provide fibre and great tasting veg without the carbs. If you want a sauce to accompany your food, check out the satay; just be sure to look up the nutritional guidelines to make sure that it hasn't had any sugar or flour added.
American
How about a burger? Fortunately the cheeseburger is your friend on a low carb diet, just ditch the bun in favour of a few iceberg lettuce leaves and you've got a good ratio of fat, protein, dairy and taste. If you're eating at a restaurant that makes their own beef patties then you'll find that it's a pretty nutritious meal for the keto dieter. Just add a side of homemade coleslaw instead of fries and you won't even notice that you've gone carb-free, whilst you're increasing your intake of vitamins and fibre.
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