Restaurant Menus 101: The Top Tips for Ordering a Healthy Meal

Did you know that Robyn is the Health + Wellness spokesperson for Seamless? We could not be more proud of our very own “On-The-Go Guru”. She recently wrote this great piece for the blog that we just had to share.

We know you all have busy lives and can’t cook every single meal at home. For all those times when you’re out enjoying life, or at home and need a break from the kitchen, these are the top tips you should keep in mind while ordering food.

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by Robyn Youkilis

They say if you want something done to give it to a busy person, right? This saying is often true because when we’re in the natural groove of life – meeting work deadlines, making it to the gym, managing everyone’s schedules, and more – we’re uber efficient at getting things done.

Except when it comes to food.

Busy people tend to eat like, well, busy people. And this is exactly where ordering in can save the day, and even your waistline believe it or not! Seamless.com makes it super easy to go for the good for you choices. You can simply search for “healthy” or organic restaurants, plus, you can make any number of healthful adjustments to your delivery. No needing to draw on willpower when it comes to your next meal, your food arrives exactly how you (and your conscience) want it!

Here are 5 simple tips to help you stick to the healthy side of the road when ordering in:

Always ask for sauce and dressing on the side in the special instructions. I also like to request lemon wedges that I squeeze into the sauce, doubling my dressing volume. Voila, your very own lightened up dressing!
Light and lean proteins and vegetables are always going to be your best bets. Ask for double veggies and ditch the breads and pastas. If you’re craving some grains with your meal, opt for a whole grain option like brown rice or quinoa or even try a sweet potato.
Work with the awesome system Seamless.com provides. Did you know you can bookmark your orders? Next time you’re in a rush you can simply re-order your favorite healthy dish, no thinking required.
Order a healthy snack for later. Often it’s not during mealtime that we get tripped up, but the post lunch slump and stretch before dinner that leaves us starving without a healthy snack. Ask for a piece of whole fruit, chopped fruit, or small soup when placing your order so you’ll have something to reach for later.
Remember that food is fuel and that nutrition isn’t just about the food itself, it’s about feeding your soul. What are you really craving right now? Do you need a hug instead of a cookie? Think about that next time you place your order and then make the best choice available. Don’t forget to slow down and savor every bite.

I hope these tips help when ordering out, whether you’re enjoying a relaxing night at home or busy day at the office. And remember, just because you’re busy, doesn’t mean you can’t eat healthy.

Looking for even more on-the-go tips for your busy life? Download my free On-the-Go Guide packed with ideas and inspiration to help you feel awesome here, there and everywhere.

Free Up Your Fridge Frittata

You know that moment when you realize you have about five foods in your fridge that are on the fritz and you have no what what to do with them? You don’t want to waste them, but if you don’t act fast they’re all going to end up dying a sad veggie death…

We’ve been there too! So we created the ultimate Cooking Camp solution – Frittata-fy them!

That’s right, free up your fridge by taking all your leftovers, whether they be random ingredients or leftovers from another meal, and give them a masterful makeover by putting them all together in a simple frittata.

If you want to make this recipe uniquely your own check out the Health Cooking Basics Cookbook for 5 stellar (yet simple) ingredient swaps.

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Free Up Your Fridge Frittata

Total Time: 35 mins
Servings: 6-8

10-12 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, finely diced
2 cups baby spinach leaves (or any leafy greens)
1⁄2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved OR ANY VEGGIES YOU HAVE!
2 teaspoons sea salt
1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
1⁄4 cup fresh herbs like parsley, basil, cilantro or sage or 2 teaspoons dried herbs like Italian Seasoning or herbs de Provence

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Separate egg whites and yolks into separate bowls. Beat egg whites in a mixing bowl until frothy. Then whisk in egg yolks to combine. Add salt, pepper and 1⁄2 the herbs then stir. Set aside.

In a 10-inch nonstick, ovenproof skillet add olive oil and heat on medium-high. Add in the onion, season with salt and pepper and sauté until golden brown. Add in the garlic, spinach and remainder of the herbs. Continue to sauté until the greens have completely wilted.

Pour in egg mixture so that the vegetables and eggs are distributed evenly throughout then drop in the tomatoes, cut side up.

Let cook undisturbed for 5-7 minutes or until the edges are set and just getting brown, but the interior part is still slightly wobbly when you shake the pan.

Put the entire pan in the oven and cook for another 10-12 minutes until the frittata has set completely. Take out of the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve.

Slim Down Detox Salad (From Our NEW e-Cookbook)

Eating this salad is like taking a cool shower on a hot day: cleansing, refreshing and totally revitalizing.

It’s 90 degrees as we type and all we can think about is diving into some crisp lettuce crunchy sprouts, creamy avocado and tart grapefruit. So we wanted to share one of our summer staples: The Slim Down Detox Salad.

It’s the perfect salad on a steamy day, whenever you need to banish the belly bloat and great for getting back on track after a cray-cray weekend.

This salad is delicious and detoxifying and it’s just one of the many amazing recipes you’ll find in our new cookbook {Healthy} Cooking Camp: {Healthy} Cooking Basics. Click the link to get more info on that!

detox salad

Slim Down Detox Salad
Servings: 2
Time: 10 minutes

1-2 handfuls of fresh spinach or arugula, cleaned and chopped (about 4 cups)
Handful of chopped dandelion greens
Sprouts (any kind will work, our fave is sunflower sprouts)
1⁄4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 avocado, sliced
1 grapefruit, supremed
8 small red radishes, sliced
1⁄4 cup roughly chopped parsley

Dressing

1⁄4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of honey, preferably raw
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Supreme your grapefruit – remove peel and cut out grapefruit segments. Save membrane and peels to squeeze juice for dressing.

Begin building your salad by layering spinach, dandelion greens and sprouts. Add grapefruit segments, radishes, parsley and avocado slices.

Drizzle salad dressing over salad and finish by sprinkling pumpkin seeds.

To make salad dressing

Squeeze the remaining grapefruit juice from membrane and peels into a bowl.

Add in honey and whisk.

Drizzle olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and continue to whisk until it’s all incorporated.

Keepin’ It Real

We often receive emails from our loyal fans requesting nutritional information for recipes. Since we know this is an important question and nutritional info is very important to a lot of people we wanted to share our views and thoughts about this topic with all of you! We spend a lot of time thinking about what information we want to include with the recipes on our site; we know that how long the recipe might take make, as few ingredients as possible and swaps are all crucial for our Cooking Campers.

We only use the highest quality ingredients and stick with whole foods like vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, meat and fish for most of our recipes.

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While we totally understand that a lot of people are focused on the nutritional data that accompanies their food (fat, calories, fiber, etc), we are much more focused on the nutrient density and health benefits of the ingredients.

Even though there are thousands of dietary theories out there, the research all agrees on one thing: eating a primarily plant based diet is the easiest way to maintain a healthy weight.

So for now the HCC will not be posting specific calorie, fat, carb and protein data but we promise to continue to give all the amazing facts about the health benefits of our favorite ingredients.

Now we want to hear from you! What do you look for when you’re checking out a recipe? Are figures like calories, fat, and fiber the most important factors? Or do you look at the ingredients? What other details impact if you’ll make a recipe that you find online?Please share in the comments below!

Welcome to Wonderland

Quinn recently had the major honor of being featured on The Wellness Wonderland Radio show hosted by the amazing Katie Dalebout, who we admire and adore. She is an absolute doll who is has immersed herself in the world of wellness and walks her talk at every step.

This girl has built an incredible website, started a rad radio show, AND created a web series called Two Peas in a Pod with her bestie, Jess (they credit us as one of their inspirations [we're beaming with pride])

Quinn and Katie chatted about a bunch of stuff like what’s next for {Healthy} Cooking Camp, self care, weight loss, acne, cooking, the dalai lama, building a holistic business, Ayurvedic medicine, farming, flirting, fashion-show-dance parties and more!

Listen to the radio show below, and check out Katie over at the The Wellness Wonderland. We recommend that you get to know her now, because this girls’s gonna to be a major wellness power player. Pretty soon, we’ll all be living in Katie’s Wellness Wonderland and loving every minute.