I love to eat out, but since my diagnosis of GERD, gastritis and lactose intolerance, it certainly has become more challenging. When I cook at home I'm in control and since I like to cook I don't mind the extra work to change recipes to suit my needs. But I realize not everyone likes to cook or their work lives don't allow them time to cook at home, so this blog is for you.
No matter what meal you are having, the first question you're asked is what beverage you would like and here is where you are the most limited. Coffee, tea-iced or hot, alcoholic beverages and citris juices are out. Carbonated beverages, apple and cranberry juice, and hot chocolate can also cause problems. Unless fruit punch is on the menu, which I actually like, I order water with no lemon. The citric acid in the lemon isn't going to help me any. What I have found I can have on cold mornings when I want something hot to drink is hot water mixed with individual flavor packets for coffee. If you can't find them in the store you can find them online. They don't have anything that have bothered me and allow me to have a hot drink to start my day.
Next is breakfast. This meal can be tricky depending on what you want. If you just want eggs, bacon and toast you don't have a problem except you might have some difficulty digesting the bacon. Order turkey bacon if possible, it is easier to digest than any of the other breakfast meats. Ham can go either way, depending on how spicy it might be and whether it was cooked in a lot of grease or not.
If you want your eggs scrambled, ask for them to be scrambled without adding any milk or cream. Pancake and waffle batter is going to have milk or cream in it, so unless you can take a couple of dairy pills to prevent the problems of eating them, make your own at home. Avoid putting butter on toast or pancakes because it is a dairy product.
Lunch is probably the easiest meal to eat out because you can order a sandwich or a salad and no one else at your table will notice you have ordered anything unusual. If you sandwich comes with tomato, onions, or pickles request they be left off. Be prepared to remake your sandwich. In my experience even though I make that request, seldom does anyone follow through. Avoid anything deep fried or spicy. I might sound good now. In about two hours it won't. This might be where your tablemates are all ordering a chili burger with onions and cheese. Go ahead and let them. I'm sure in a few hours even they will regret that decision. You can have the hamburger with just lettuce and thousand island dressing-no cheese, it's a dairy product. I know this sounds like why bother to have the hamburger at all but I the best hamburger I ever had was just meat, mayo and lettuce on a bun. If you have a salad you have to be specific about what you do and don't want on it. Tell the waitress to leave off the tomato, onions and put the dressing on the side so you can control it. Also tell her to leave off the cheese. I have found that even though I can't eat dairy cheeses, I can eat goat's milk and sheep's milk cheese.
Dinner is probably the most challenging but also has the most options. Since I never wanted to be left at home because the rest of the group didn't think I could eat at a particular restaurant, I made it my priority to find something at each restaurant in our area that I could eat. My favorite is Mexican and while I would have rather ordered the tacos and enchiladas I used to order, I now order a grilled chicken salad. It has pieces of avocado and pepita seeds in it and I request no cheese on the top. I order my own guacamole separate from the group which is just plain mashed avocado. My other favorite is a grilled fish taco on a corn tortilla, hold the cabbage.
My go to meal at an Italian restaurant is chicken marsala. Even though it is not traditionally made with cream in the sauce, ask the waiter, I found out once when it was too late and I was at a concert that the chicken marsala I had eaten at a new restaurant had cream in it. It is a tasty dish and all the alcohol is cooked out of it before it is served. I try to order dishes that I can take home what I don't eat. People with GERD are supposed to eat 4-6 small meals a day rather that three large meals a day so I try not to overeat.
BBQ restaurants can be difficult if the sauce is already applied to everything before you get there. We have found one in our area that will allow you to order a sandwich with no sauce on the meat. This way everyone can have what they want and I don't have to have just a salad.
Chinese food is the one cuisine I haven't figured out. Even before my diagnosis I didn't digest Chinese food well. My problem is the soy sauce. You can request that the soy sauce be left out, but it means all the dishes you order have to be made from scratch and you will have to wait for them to be finished. The compromise we have reached in my family is Thai food. I can eat Thai food without any problem as long as I stay away from the spicier dishes and I felt fine afterward.
Eating dessert out is always special, but I rarely have room for it. The choices for someone with my eating disabilities limits what I can have. Cheesecake, ice cream and pudding are out. Tiramisu is out because of the alcohol that is poured over the cake. If a syrup is poured over the cake, make sure it doesn't contain coffee. The best choices are sorbet, fresh fruit and certain pies. Make sure if you order fresh fruit that it is a fruit you can eat. With pie, a fruit filling is probably best but be careful of the crust as it is made of lard and can be hard to digest.
This is what I have learned eating at restaurants. Order something you can take home because you probably won't be able to finish it. Be specific when you order and when your food is delivered, if you can't fix it yourself like remaking your sandwich, send it back. We live in a world which is becoming increasingly aware of vegan, gluten-free, and allergy sensativity. We also have our sensativities and we have to be vocal to get what we want.
Next week, in honor of the upcoming football season: PIZZA
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