Don’t let dining out in the Centralia area do you in!
category:Restaurants posted:May 28th, 2008Going out to eat in Centralia and the surrounding area is one of life’s great pleasures. But too often, all those goodies on the menu can leave your waistline feeling a little, uh, “expansive.” The fact that today’s typical restaurant portion in Illinois and across the country is often the size of a Buick doesn’t help. So does this mean you have to stay close to home to maintain your healthy eating habits? Nope – just make smarter choices. Find great local restaurants right now!
The National Restaurant Association has dished out these great tips:
• Take half of your meal home. To avoid temptation, ask your server to wrap half of it in the kitchen before bringing the rest out to the table.
• When ordering pasta dishes, choose tomato-based sauces (like marinara) rather than cream-based sauces (like Alfredo). Tomato-based sauces are way lower in fat and calories.
• Instead of sour cream, butter or cheese, ask for salsa with a baked potato.
• If you have a choice of side dishes, opt for a baked potato or steamed vegetables. Even if those choices are not listed, ask your server anyway; most restaurants are happy to accommodate you whenever they can.
• Plain bread or rolls are relatively low in fat and calories. It's the butter and oil you spread on them that ups the calories.
• Share a single dessert; the same goes for an appetizer.
• Before you leave the house, get the scoop on calorie counts and the best cuisines for healthy eating by logging on to HealthyDiningFinder.com.
Comments / Corrections:
Dining out is not inexpensive ordeal anymore especially if you have a family. Restaurants that provide more quanity and quality for the buck are the ones who will survive the axe of the economy cuts. High price restaurants that provide little for the buck, but remain serving in better quality will also likely to survive. High cost and average quality restaurants will more than likely in time close for the lack of patronage.
The economy has placed many families in a stressful financial situation, and dining out for the most part will not fit into their budgets.
Restaurants will have to give some concession to the public to lure them to dine out rather than eat at home. Specials will have to give the consumer the thought whether it is affordable or not to dine out. Even fast food restaurants must learn to cater to the public's pocketbook's or they will be avoided. Patrons are not going to part with monies as frequent as in the past, as their existence will be to learn to spend their money and wages in a more feasible and practical manner for items of necessity.
posted:06/30/08Evergreen Commons offers area adults a great affordable place to dine. Main entree of the day is $5.75. Soups, salad bar and deli sandwiches available daily. Open Monday - Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Brunch once a month on a Friday (call for dates). Meal Vouchers available to low income seniors living in Ottawa County. For more information, see www.evergreencommons.org. Click "dining"
posted:07/01/08