Eating out

We rarely eat out in general but here's a few tips if you do...

#1, Feingold does have a fast food list that includes things from many different popular fast food places including McDonalds, Carl's Jr, Arby's, Subway, Wendy's and others. So, if you don't want to research your own stuff go there.

When we want to go somewhere not on the list we think plain. Do your research cause what you think is plain may not be. For instance, we thought we'd be ok with pasta and butter at Olive Garden and found out that Ogden oils their pasta in the morning and we can't get plain pasta. Sugarhouse does not, we could get it there. Plain baked potatoes might not really be plain either. Ask questions!

If you have time, email the company headquarters and ask for their help, then call at a non-busy time to the restraunt you will be eating at. Ask to speak with a head chef or someone who can help you with allergies. Some restraunts will bend over backwards to help you, some could care less. I always leave a good tip for someone who helps as well as writing a nice email to the company with the person's name who helped me. The more word gets out the better.

A few years ago people who said they were allergic to wheat were weird and unheard of....now it has to be on the label. I hope to get to that point with petroleum products.

Once you get to the restraunt, ask to speak with the same person (the first couple of times you visit there) and go over your order that was previously agreed upon. Once you've gone a few times you can even have your order written down and just ask if they need to clarify anything.

Most restraunts have real butter and whole milk hidden somewhere in the store if you ask for them.

Ask about pan sprays or oils...once we went to Golden Corral after so much research but the kids were bouncing off the walls 15 minutes later. I couldn't figure out what the problem was until I walked past the bakers with their rolls and saw them spraying pretty shiny stuff over the tops. I had asked how they were baked and if there was pan grease. He said no, they were baked with a silpat sheet and no grease.

Many places will have a plain baked potato and you can add salt, pepper, and real butter. They possibly have sour cream with just cream and salt but most sour cream is a concoction. They may have whole milk cheese that's white or has annatto.

Plain veggies (ask them to read the label if they're frozen)

Plain meat (ask them to read the label for marinades or anything besides the meat. (We had another experience in the mountains where we had NOTHING available except what we had previously talked with the cook about. We asked if they had hamburger and chicken. Yep he did, we found later after some major bed peeing that they both had marinade before they were frozen. It was on the label but he hadn't seen it cause we didn't ask about the label. Luckily he had plenty of whole milk white cheese so we subbed that for all the meat on that trip)

Plain pasta or a lot of italian style breads will be ok. Ask about their pan grease or sprays. Ask if oils can be skipped. For instance, Olive garden breadsticks at our area were fine if they didn't have the yellow junk poured on them afterwards. We just had them bring out butter packets instead.

Plain salad with real lemon juice and olive oil and salt or approved dressing.

Fresh fruit or fruit canned with just the fruit and sugar. If they have a banana they can even throw that in the oven and put some cinnamon and sugar on it. Or warm up any fruit and put a dash of whole milk and sugar with it.

Skip anything fried cause most restraunt oil has BHT. Skip seasoning salt, lots of it has red #40.

If you're concerned about other things on the grill have them cook it on a piece of aluminum foil.