Topics:
1. News and updates from Diane & Liz [2:07] 2. Shout out: Cassy Joy Garcia of Fed and Fit [7:38] 3. Dining out on paleo [10:32] 4. All about fats and oils [15:21] 5. Quality and sourcing of meats [35:08] 6. Speaking with the staff about allergies and intolerances [43:37] 7. Handling group dining out events [48:20] 8. Changing expectations of entitlements [52:14] 9. #Treatyoself: Trader Joe’s dark chocolate raspberry baton [1:01:24]
Links:
Subscribe to DianeSanfilippo.com
Tickets to our live Portland Podcast event on March 17th can be purchased here!
The episodes are also available in iTunes & Stitcher.
Show sponsors:
 |
 |
 |
You’re listening to the Balanced Bites podcast episode 234.
Welcome to the Balanced Bites podcast with Diane Sanfilippo and Liz Wolfe. Diane is a certified nutrition consultant, and the New York Times bestselling author of Practical Paleo, The 21-Day Sugar Detox, and co-author of Mediterranean Paleo Cooking. Liz is a nutritional therapy practitioner, and the best-selling author of Eat the Yolks and The Purely Primal Skincare Guide. Together, Diane and Liz answer your questions, interview leading health and wellness experts, and share their take on modern paleo living with their friendly and balanced approach. Remember our disclaimer: The materials and content within this podcast are intended as general information only, and are not to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Liz Wolfe: Hey everyone, it’s me Liz Wolfe here with Diane Sanfilippo. Hey buddy.
Diane Sanfilippo: Hey! What’s up.
Liz Wolfe: Do you like how I used the last names.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, that was a little change of pace.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. Let’s hear from one of our sponsors.
Liz Wolfe: The Balanced Bites podcast is sponsored in part by the Nutritional Therapy Association. The NTA trains and certifies nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants, including me, I’m an NTP, emphasizing bio-individuality and the range of dietary strategies that support wellness. The NTA emphasizes local, whole, properly prepared nutrient dense foods as the key to restoring balance and enhancing the body’s ability to heal. Nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants learn a wide range of tools and techniques to assess and correct nutritional imbalances. To learn lots more about the nutritional therapy program, go to NutritionalTherapy.com. There are workshop venues in the US, Canada, and Australia. Fall registration will open June 2016. I know the price is increasing next year, so do not wait. If you see the NTA as part of your future, get started now. You won’t regret it.
1. News and updates from Diane & Liz [2:07]
Liz Wolfe: Lovely. Diane Sanfilippo, what are you updates?
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Updates. Ok, so quickly this episode is airing on Thursday March, I don’t remember the number of the date. But, Friday only; so basically today or tomorrow if you’re listening {laughs} I’ll be at Expo West. So if you’re there, let me know, tag me on Instagram, tell me that you’re at a booth or what have you if you’re a food company; let’s connect.
Portland; you guys have heard us talk about it for a few weeks now. This is kind of our last update before the event, I guess, because this episode will air one week before the event. So, last call for tickets. We are probably I think more than two-thirds sold out, there’s just a handful of tickets left. So if you’ve been thinking about coming, don’t wait, grab a ticket. Because once they sell out, they sell out. We are not opening more tickets once those sell out. So I think that’s pretty much it. And if you didn’t hear about the event already, it’s going to be a live recording of the podcast so it’s going to be super fun. We’ve got Cultured Caveman catering the event, and we’ve got a bunch of swag and fun stuff from all over the place, so you guys will love it. It will be super fun.
Sacramento people; March 30th I’m going to be involved in a talk up there, so check out BalancedBites.com the events tab to see more details on that if you live in the Sacramento, California area. And then the only other update is, if you guys are on SnapChat, find me over there. {laughs} I’m just DianeSanfilippo, all one word, on SnapChat. Super fun behind the scenes goofball face filters and silliness, and I know a lot of people are loving it.
I also do snap a bunch of stuff like grocery shopping, and I’ll do, if I’m at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, and either what I’m buying or cool stuff that I see, and I know you guys really love seeing interesting new products or different things to try or what I’m eating. So check that out. I also do Snap pictures sometimes step by step of what I’m cooking, and a lot of times that stuff doesn’t go anywhere else. I’m not posting it to Instagram or Facebook or the blog because it’s just not beautiful or well lit, but I know it’s fun to watch and very easy to kind of scroll through a snap story. So check it out over there.
You guys, don’t ask me to get Liz on Periscope or SnapChat because {laughs} Liz, seriously everybody asks me.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: They’re like; when is Liz going to do this? I’m like, I am not her keeper. Don’t ask me.
Liz Wolfe: I am not her keeper. {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: I’m your pusher, I’m not your keeper. But what’s up with you?
Liz Wolfe: Oh.
Diane Sanfilippo: I was all business, and I have a feeling your update will not be all business.
Liz Wolfe: No, it’s not all business. So, Downton Abby is gone, which means I’m going to crawl into a hole for the next; I don’t know, until Masterpiece Classic comes up with a show I can stick with. I tried Indian Summers and it’s just really not working for me. So, do you have any idea what I’m talking about? No, not really?
Diane Sanfilippo: Absolutely no idea. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Ugh. Downton Abby; so good. Two-hour finale last night.
Diane Sanfilippo: We haven’t watched it.
Liz Wolfe: You have to! I stayed up for it, and then baby slept through the night, which was great. I was worried it was going to be a huge mistake to stay up until 10 p.m. when I have this incredibly unpredictable semi-willing to sleep baby at this point. But it all worked out, I watched the finale. I don’t want to spoil it for anybody, but I just, I’m just in a funk just because of that. I don’t know; I needed something to balance Vanderpump Rules from a, you know, hoity toity perspective. I couldn’t just be somebody that watched Vanderpump Rules on Sundays. I had Downton Abby, it made me feel a little bit more intellectual and a little bit more appreciative of culture in general, but now, I mean, I’m just a waste of oxygen at this point.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Other than that; so, as Diane said I will be in Portland, obviously for the Balanced Bites live podcast event. I’ve had a couple of people comment on my Instagram that I think maybe are kind of new to my world, and it’s those comments; it’s like, come to Seattle, come to Minnesota! And I’m like, “Y’all, this is the farthest I’m going to go from my house probably until my kid is in college.” So if you can request that I come to you, then maybe I can request that you come to me, pretty please. So, just come to Portland. It’s just a fun trip; why not. It’s going to be really fun.
I will also be there for the Nutritional Therapy Association conference. NTA is one of our sponsors; it’s also the nutrition program that I went through. It’s a huge influence on me, and I’m presenting at the NTA conference on Sunday the 20th of March, 2016. The conference, if you can’t make it, is also streaming, so you can go to Nutritional Therapy Association’s website and get information on that. My talk is going to be on the beginners guide to building a profitable online presence, and I also have a panel I’ll be doing on food blogging, blogging type stuff on Sunday the 20th. There will be a lot of paleo people there, including Caroline Potter and Mickey Trescott, and a lot more people. So come see that. It’s for practitioners, it’s for lay people, it’s for people who want to maybe make a career out of it, or just learn more about food. It will be fun.
2. Shout out: Cassy Joy Garcia of Fed and Fit [7:38]
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright. Liz, do we have a shout out this week?
Liz Wolfe: Yes, I do. One of my favorite people in the real food community, Cassy Joy Garcia, is going to have a book coming out in a couple of months. It’s called the Fed and Fit 28-day food and fitness plan to jumpstart your life, with over 175 squeaky clean paleo recipes. I absolutely adore Cassy. She’s been on Real Food Liz radio. And remember when we first met her back, I think it was in Houston when we did that joint book signing with Primal Palate.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yep.
Liz Wolfe: And she just came up and introduced herself, and I was immediately like, “love you. Be my friend.” And she’s just a glorious human being so I’m really excited about this book. You can preorder it on Amazon. Again, it’s Fed and Fit by Cassy Joy Garcia.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. She’s also on SnapChat and hilarious, and I really want to know where her energy is coming from. I think I’m realizing how old I am {laughs} because a lot of times, as I watch people like Cassy or Juli Bauer from PaleOMG, all of the energy oozing from then, which I love. I love it, but I’m like; whoa, I need a nap right now.
Liz Wolfe: I need a nap.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Well you also have that New Jersey/East Coast, like…
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Pissyness? No, I’m just kidding.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing} Ok. Alright.
Liz Wolfe: I don’t know what it is.
Diane Sanfilippo: Maybe.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs} But people in Texas, people in Denver; I mean, people kind of past my part of the country I feel like tend to be a little bit happier. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the landscape is much better.
Diane Sanfilippo: Bubbly?
Liz Wolfe: Yes.
Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, there you go. Maybe. So, I love following her on SnapChat, she’s pretty hilarious, so there you go.
Liz Wolfe: I would probably get on SnapChat before I get on Periscope.
Diane Sanfilippo: Do it!
Liz Wolfe: Just saying.
Diane Sanfilippo: It’s fun, because you can post stuff, but honestly I do like that it’s not as interactive in terms of the back and forth so I can post more. I love watching people snap stories, I don’t need to interact with them. I’ll flip through somebody’s little story and watch what their cooking. I love it; I think it’s fun.
Liz Wolfe: Alright. That wasn’t an alright I’ll do it, that was just an alright, let’s move on.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, ok. Alright.
Liz Wolfe: Ok.
Liz Wolfe: Our podcast sponsorship today comes from Vital Choice, an online purveyor of the world’s best wild seafood delivered right to your door; because juggling a busy life shouldn’t mean you have to forgo healthy meals. At www.vitalchoice.com, you’ll find wild Alaskan salmon, halibut, tuna, sable fish, and cod, as well as prawns, crab, and scallops. You’ll also find grass-fed organic Wagyu beef, free range heritage chicken, fresh frozen organic berries, and dark organic chocolates. Make a vital choice by eating the highest quality food you can. Vital Choice; come home to real food.
3. Dining out on paleo [10:32]
Liz Wolfe: Alright, listener comments and questions for today. Do you want to introduce the topic we’re going to be tackling?
Diane Sanfilippo: Sure. We’re going to talk about dining out on paleo, and we posted a call for questions over on the Balanced Bites podcast Instagram account. So if you’re not yet following that, I’m just going to keep nagging y’all, because I know how many people listen to this every week, and I know how many people are following there, {laughs} and there’s quite a difference. But I want to encourage you guys to follow there because we do also post little featured from each episode and reminders, and I know, you know myself I listen to a lot of podcasts. Sometimes I miss an episode here or there of others, and it would be cool to be reminded.
So anyway, we posted this call for questions, I posted it again this morning on my Instagram and we wanted to know what you guys wanted to know about dining out. We’ve talked about this many times on the show, and it turns out that it’s boiled down to about four or five main topics, and we’re just going to tackle those today. The question categories really came into these categories. So, the oils that are used in cooking; obviously that’s a huge question that people have; meat and food quality in general; talking to staff about allergies or food sensitivities; and then how to find good restaurants and how to order, just either for success in terms of not being glutened or not eating the allergen you’re avoiding, or to just not feel junky after you eat. I think that was another one of the questions about how to order. So I think we’re going to tackle this in that kind of succession. We’ll dabble in a few of the questions that came in, but you guys, they really were all on those same topics so instead of reading through each of the questions, we’ll just kind of discuss each topic. And yeah, I think that’s pretty much it. How does that sound to you, Liz?
Liz Wolfe: Sounds good. I wasn’t listening, but sounds good.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: {laughs} I was taking a selfie!
Diane Sanfilippo: So, I believe that actually. I believe that.
Liz Wolfe: I’m practicing.
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, so we’re going talk first about cooking oils. Well, actually hold up. Hold up. Let me just back for fur a second, because I was asking Scott about this this morning what his take was, and I think you and I should just talk about this a little bit. When we talk about dining out on paleo, I think there are sort of two hats that I know I tend to wear, and I think a lot of us kind of take this approach. There’s a difference between dining out at a place locally that you might frequent, and the way you might address asking questions there, figuring out sourcing, figuring out how they cook things, all of that versus what you do when you’re on the road eating at a one-off type of place.
I mean, you can tell me if you think differently about that, Liz, because I know things are obviously different here in San Francisco versus Kansas City, versus places all over the country. But for us, we kind of have a little bit more of a due diligence process with local places that we might start frequenting once a week or every couple of weeks versus we’re on the road, we’re going to stop somewhere, there might be a question or two but it’s not digging deeper each time and sussing out; should I bring my own olive oil to this place, because they have organic food, but they don’t use the best oils and kind of figuring all of that out. So do you find yourself looking at those things differently for places that you might go to often versus on the road? Or is that just me?
Liz Wolfe: Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on the road. I’m trying to remember what my past life was like.
Diane Sanfilippo: I can remember for you. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Because I dragged you on the road for a couple of years.
Liz Wolfe: For a couple. I mean; I think the one thing that I’m really, really carefully about would definitely be the oils, so I think I do kind of harass the one-off type of places a little bit. Maybe.
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, well you’ll have more to say about the questions.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Asked about oils and what you do about it. I definitely approach it differently, and I want to give people that little piece of advice that if this is a place that’s near you, and you’re thinking of dining there often. So, the way I look at that is that it’s closer to a substitution for eating in your own home than dining out or traveling on the road would be, if that makes sense.
Liz Wolfe: Oh right, yeah, I see.
Diane Sanfilippo: What we do the majority of the time is the most important, and what we might have exposure to on a one-off basis less important.
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.
Diane Sanfilippo: So for example, people see I’m eating at places like Rome, which is a grass fed burger place here in town, or Blue Barn which is a salad place, and I do have information based on questions I ask about the oils that they use. So that does become different; also the sourcing, all of that.
4. All about fats and oils [15:21]
Diane Sanfilippo: So, alright let’s get into the questions, or the topics here. The first one really is cooking oils; what to do, do you ask about them, do you avoid them by ordering things that will not be cooked in oil, do you not worry about it, do you ask for things to be steamed? How do you approach that, and what are the things that people can look for based on what we know about how most food is cooked at restaurants. Maybe start with that; let’s talk about how most food is cooked at restaurants.
Liz Wolfe: Most food is cooked in some blend of vegetable oil. They probably have a big gallon, a big jug of a mix of like soybean, safflower, canola, whatever ends up in the vat, and that’s what they’re probably cooking in. anything that’s fried is probably cooked in that, and it’s probably used multiple times which is something we’ve talked; we used to talk about in the Balanced Bites workshops, so I definitely think cooking oil is a huge, huge issue because cooking with good oils is a really, really expensive proposition for almost all restaurants. So unless they’re purposefully attracting a clientele that’s very willing to spend good money on great food, you’re probably running into some vegetable oils.
Even if it’s a legitimately, I don’t know better, more conscientious type of restaurant, you’re probably going to run into that. So you either get stuff that’s not cooked in oil, you’re going to have ask a ton of questions there. And I guess for me; you know, I’ve kind of set the bar really, really low lately. It’s just kind of stressful, and for me at this point, if you had to absolutely set the bar super low for yourself as far as what you’re going to eat, find out if they use transfats. I just completely avoid anything that could possibly contain transfats; and I think some of the questions we have later on coming up have to do with annoying people with all of your questions. Well, in my opinion almost everybody understands that transfats are bad, and so a lot of times it becomes; oh shoot, yeah this is a really interesting education for me.
So the questions I ask to identify whether transfats are there, are, “Do you cook with something that was a solid block before it was liquid?” So transfats are going to be hiding in those solid blocks of shortening, whatever it is. Crisco, that type of thing. It looks like they’re getting rid of them, but I just don’t think that’s guaranteed at this point, and there are loopholes to the legislation coming up on transfats; which we’ve heard all this buzz about them being outlawed, but that’s not entirely true. It has much more to do with the amount that is allowed in food than them actually being completely wiped out of the food system. That’s just not going to happen. So I always ask if anything is cooked in shortening.
For example; we have a really cute coffee shop here in town, and they do little treats and a couple of them are gluten free and I think people get a little bit caught up in the, “is it gluten free” question and they forget to ask about whatever oils may be present. But they do make these cute little treats, but I caught a glimpse of a big vat of Crisco in their kitchen area the last time I was there. And so, of course I asked what are the ingredients in this cookie, what kind of fat do you use to cook this in. because they really do sneak in, and they’re used in places that you just wouldn’t think to give food texture. So that’s one of those things that I always like to ask about.
Oh! And if you’re signed up for my email exclusives, I did a while back do an email about not getting margarined while you’re out and about. A lot of places that say they used butter are actually using blocks of margarine, which used to be where our transfats would hide. I don’t really know if that’s what’s going on still. But maybe I should send that one out again, or you can do a little search in your email for it, or look into the archives link that’s at the bottom of most of my emails, to look into that. How I ask the question, and whatnot.
I think I got on a little bit of a tangent there.
Diane Sanfilippo: That is really good advice. I think the think about the fat being solid before it’s liquid, and recognizing too that a lot of, not necessarily high-end recipes. We’re stopping at places where we have to eat, and we’re making good choices; we’re eating real, whole foods but those cooking oils do make a difference, and I think that’s a good way to ask that question, because I was actually wondering. How do you ask that question, and what is it that you’re looking for, so I think that’s really helpful, especially…
Liz Wolfe: Let me tell you a little story.
Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, ok.
Liz Wolfe: Sorry, totally interrupted you.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, yeah, yeah, go.
Liz Wolfe: I didn’t want you to go on another topic before I told this little story. So I swung by this little sandwich shop in Wichita, Kansas months ago, and asked the question about whether or not; ok, so they have these cinnamon rolls, and I was pregnant. Whoa, this was a long time ago! This was more than a year ago. They had these cinnamon rolls sitting out, and I was pregnant, and I was like; this place is really cute, it looks like they use high quality ingredients. And so I’m just going to ask what they put in the cinnamon roll. I was like, I can handle some flour, I can handle some sugar, maybe even some high fructose corn syrup, but if there are transfats in here, not even going to go there.
And, I asked this woman, and she; if anybody, the point of this story is, don’t feel like you’re annoying because number one you’re educating people, and number two you’re never going to see these people again so just ask the questions, and annoy them if you want, unless you’re really convinced they’re going to spit in your food before they bring it out to you.
So, I asked her what was in it; she wasn’t sure, she was very, very nice so she actually texted the baker, and the question was; “is there any shortening in your cinnamon rolls?” {laughs} And the baker texted back to her; no, we only use plant fats. And that raised alarm bells; I think the baker thought I was wondering if they used lard, right, like animals fats, which would have been absolutely favorable. However, if they said they used lard, they probably used a brick of lard, and a lot of times bricks of lard actually have partially hydrogenated lard in them to make them more shelf stable so that probably would have been a problem for me, too. But I was just really, really hoping the baker would text back and say, no we only used unrefined water buffalo tallow from a local farm. You just never know.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Or butter.
Liz Wolfe: Or butter, exactly. Well, you know, I think a baker knows the difference between margarine and butter, so it was actually kind of encouraging because I felt like he would know exactly what he was using.
Diane Sanfilippo: Right.
Liz Wolfe: So, texted back that we only use plant fats, and I said, ok, I’m not going to have a cinnamon roll, I really appreciate you going the extra mile to find out what’s actually in them, but just to let you know, shortening is actually made from plant fat. So he is talking about shortening, and unfortunately almost all shortening up to that point could be pretty reliably assumed to contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated plant fats. So that was just one of those moments where I did a heck a lot of investigative work, and I’m really, really glad I did, because you can’t even assume that necessarily a baker knows that there are transfats potentially hiding in shortening.
Diane Sanfilippo: Right.
Liz Wolfe: I know the characteristics that shortening imparts to certain baked goods is desirable, and that’s why they use it, but you just never know.
Diane Sanfilippo: So this is a tangent, but on this same topic, because I think a lot of our listeners might use this product; do you have thoughts or feelings about palm shortening that folks are using for stuff like paleo baking. I see a lot of people using it, and mostly because I don’t bake, you know, I don’t use it, but I’m not, I don’t have thoughts on it.
Liz Wolfe: I think it’s probably fine. To my knowledge, the most important issue there is sustainability and I don’t know what the words are besides sustainability, but making sure that your palm shortening is not like a cruelty food.
Diane Sanfilippo: Mmm.
Liz Wolfe: I know that a lot of the palm industry is just really awful.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, we don’t have to get into that whole topic now.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: I don’t know enough about it. But I think it’s fine, and I actually would probably be more concerned about the almond flour or any kind of nut flours used in baked goods than I would the shortening. Because the shortening is highly saturated, it’s very stable, and I think that’s fine.
Diane Sanfilippo: I think the palm shortening is probably naturally saturated versus the…
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok.
Liz Wolfe: Yes, it’s naturally highly saturated.
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, so let’s move on to, yeah totally
Liz Wolfe: Good substitute for Crisco.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, so just a quick rundown of good/better/best-worst of what we might discover in terms of cooking oils at a restaurant, because we know that when people are asking, the waiter or waitress might not really know much about that. So I think it’s important to understand that they don’t know off the top of their head what everything is cooked in. It’s oil; they might know if there is butter in the kitchen that can be used, they might know if there’s olive oil that can be used.
You guys, most of the time if somebody says there’s olive oil or it’s cooked in olive oil, it’s a blend, so as Liz mentioned early in when we talked about this topic, if they’ve got something in a squirt bottle, or some kind of bottle that is what they consider to be olive oil, in most restaurants, unless it’s very high end, if they’re cooking with it it’s a blend of canola and olive oil. And they do that because it’s a lot less expensive, but it might taste better or seem like a better quality than just using the canola or any vegetable oil. But most extra virgin olive oil, for example, restaurants are not cooking with that unless it’s perhaps a very high end, and even then they might not be because what they learn about olive is kind of true. You’re going to degrade it when it’s being cooked and they’re cooking at high temperatures. So it’s just easier for them to use a vegetable oil; it doesn’t impart flavor, it can work at high temperatures for their needs despite the fact that what we know about vegetable oils is that they are getting damaged and they are unhealthy, even before we start cooking with them.
So we’ve got things like canola and soybean oil which we all know are not good, but then there are kind of; I think there are a couple of gray area oils at this point. I see a lot of restaurants here using rice bran oil, and some, not many restaurants using peanut oil but some. I think the ones who aren’t are more concerned with peanut allergies, which I feel like most people who have a peanut allergy, it’s not probably the oil that’s doing it but it could be. But rice bran oil is one that I’m seeing a lot here in San Francisco, the restaurants who are a little bit more conscientious about vegetable oils are trying to go for rice bran oil. Do you think that’s a lesser evil, or what’s the deal with that?
Liz Wolfe: I don’t know. I expect it as from a GMO perspective isn’t; hasn’t Chipotle switched to rice bran oil?
Diane Sanfilippo: I think so.
Liz Wolfe: Or something similar. I don’t know a whole lot about it. I don’t know about its fat profile, polyunsaturated to monounsaturated, to saturated. But I think when bigger restaurant chains like Chipotle switch to something that seems better, it’s probably a half step up, but you also have to take into consideration the fact that they have to supply a ton of restaurants so they’re probably going to opt for something that at the very least can be derived from some kind of byproduct of industrial farming. So rice bran; I mean, I’m guessing this has something to do with whatever comes off of the rice that’s going into white rice. You know what I’m saying?
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: So there’s a half step up, I guess. I don’t think it’s the worst thing ever; I don’t think you can get GMO rice bran oil.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, so from a food quality perspective in terms of non-GMO, probably an OK choice, but when I’m looking at the fatty acid profile, just a quick search to see what that breakdown is, about 75% unsaturated 25% saturated, which is not great. I mean, we know it’s a liquid oil so it’s obviously going to be a lot more unsaturated. The monounsaturated content of that unsaturated, about 38%. PUFA content, so polyunsaturated fatty acid, about 37%, which is definitely really high.
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.
Diane Sanfilippo: With a large percent of that being omega-6 linoleic acid. So maybe a lesser evil in some ways than canola and soybean oil. I know that currently, at this moment, that’s the kind of oil that Rome uses. You guys see that I eat there a fair amount. Most of what I eat there is not cooked in oil. Their burgers, they may spray the cooktop before they cook the burgers, but I don’t tend to order fries very often for example, but once in a blue moon I’ll have them, so they are cooked in that rice bran oil. I think that, you know, in terms of a cooking fat quality, still not great but probably from the GMO perspective, not as bad.
Liz Wolfe: And a healthy system will be able to tolerate these exposures now and then, I think.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: What I think is kind of funny, if I may point this out…
Diane Sanfilippo: You may. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: We try to avoid these highly polyunsaturated oils. That’s the whole point of avoiding industrial oils and trying to cut those out of our diets, right? Yet, a lot of folks will take fish oil, which is also polyunsaturated and isolated and derived from an industrial process. It’s one of those things where it’s like, let’s kind of pull these two seemingly disparate points together quickly, and understand that the potential for oxidation is high…
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: In these industrial oils that we’re trying to avoid while eating out; it’s also high in fish oil that’s not handled properly.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yep.
Liz Wolfe: So, just throwing that out there. I’m going to throw that out there and walk away.
Diane Sanfilippo: I think people forget the details of that, because they’re very romanced by the potential upside.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, I mean omega-3 oxidizes just like omega-6, you know what I mean.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, totally. Alright, so I think that’s a pretty good discussion on the oils. People are asking what we do about avoiding them, not avoiding them. What I personally do, like Liz said, at a place I’m going to frequent I do kind of suss it out a little bit; ask those questions, find out, and then I try to avoid ordering things that are cooked with lots of oils in that case. I really just try and avoid it. If I go to a salad place, for example, if I need to use dressing because I forgot to bring it, I try to ask for just plain olive oil, vinegar, and lemon, or now and then I will have the dressing that’s there, I keep it on the side and don’t use the full amount of it so that I do limit the exposure there.
But when it comes to dining out at restaurants all over the place, I usually don’t ask a lot of questions because I assume it’s cooked in oils that I don’t care for, and I also assume the risk that comes with that to my own health. So if that means that one meal a day I’m eating in my hotel room because I shopped at Whole Foods and picked things that were not even cooked in oils, I just get things that are plain and put them together myself, then that’s part of my own balance of dining out on the road. It’s not just; I mean part of it is, yeah, {laughs} I love going to Whole Foods, I love grocery shopping, and I love just exploring what grocery stores are like in different parts of the country or what Whole Foods is like in different parts of the country.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: But, truth be told that helps to limit my exposure. So as much as might not be as fun, I’m not going out to brunch and having 3 meals a day at a restaurant; for me, it does limit the exposure, I do get to sort of control the fact that I won’t feel sick from the food that I’m eating more often if I do that type of thing. So I do recommend that type of approach if you’re on the road and have to dine out a lot because you’re traveling a lot; try to do some hotel meals and things like that that you can just control a little bit more easily.
Did you have something else you wanted to touch on on that topic? I see that you are ….
Liz Wolfe: That I have highlighted something.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Let me just; there’s one other question here from Sydney Cakes, {laughs}. “Is it possible for something to be deep fried in anything other than gnarly vegetable oils. Sometimes I go to super fancy restaurants, wonder if they use better ingredients.” Honestly, they’re not using anything better in their fryer. Unless it’s a restaurant that you know, for whatever reason; some places like Hu kitchen in New York City that does not use any of this stuff, and they are, if they do fry something they’re probably frying it in maybe a refined coconut oil that is a better option for frying.
And let me just say to the credit of Rome, which is a place I eat at all the time and I’m not about to poo-poo on them, but the owner is consistently talking to me about trying to find better things to do. Better oils, better mayo, better everything. So, for me to dine at a place like that regularly, I appreciate that conversation, you know, and that it’s a constant process of cost and health benefit. And I appreciate that people are aware and conscience of those decisions that they make, even if their customers aren’t all asking about it and don’t all care about it, the consciousness of the owners and the chefs is, I think, is important.
So in this case; no, the super fancy restaurants, they’re frying in vegetable oil. That’s what they’re doing.
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.
Diane Sanfilippo: There’s no way they’re frying in anything else, unless it’s some hippie paleo place that you know is doing it differently.
Liz Wolfe: Agreed.
Diane Sanfilippo: Was there something else you wanted to bring up about that.
Liz Wolfe: I like this question from Ethnic_ambiguity. She said, “I usually look up a restaurant’s menu online first,” and I just wanted to call that out as a really good strategy, “So I can usually figure out what has gluten or dairy, but what about oils or where the food is sourced? What would you prioritize?” I just wanted to share that for me, personally, and a lot of this has to do with what I know I can tolerate, and how I feel after I eat certain things. As far as gluten, dairy, and oils, for me it’s all about the oils. I can risk a gluten exposure, I don’t mind a dairy exposure although I’m pretty snobbish about my dairy. It’s always about the oils. I almost don’t care so much about gluten or dairy. So if you know you can tolerate a little gluten or dairy, but you definitely are curious about the oils, I think it’s a much more pertinent question, because like I was saying before, transfats can hide and you don’t necessarily know when you’re getting exposed to transfats. It might not have that immediate digestive impact that dairy or gluten does, because they can be very sneaky. So I just wanted to make that comment.
Diane Sanfilippo: Agreed. I think it’s a cool conversation to have too, and finding a way to just be polite and ask the question and not be accusatory and not be aggressive or abrasive in the question, which kind of applies to everything we’re talking about, and will definitely apply to more of the questions as we move on.
But it’s an important conversation because avoiding transfats and avoiding unhealthy fats in general is important for everyone, right. Whether or not you have a gluten intolerance, whether or not you have other food allergies. And this is something, as you mentioned we talked about it in our work shops, so it is something that we talk about at length in the Balanced Bites Master Class as well in terms of what’s happening with fats that we’re eating and how this stuff affects our body. So yeah, I think that is an important conversation to have.
5. Quality and sourcing of meats [35:08]
Diane Sanfilippo: So, this is a good segue into the next topic, which is meat quality. And what to do; do you ever eat non-pastured, non-organic meats, how do you prioritize which thing you’re looking out for, which you said the oils are definitely a priority for you. I think for me, food quality overall tends to be a priority. I think the reason for that; when I say that, I mean when I look up restaurants to eat at, I’m looking for organic, farm to table, places that serve grass fed meat because I think there’s something that comes along with that in terms of the consciousness about the oils that they’re using, too, right? So if you’re stopping by some random little diner on the side of the road that doesn’t tout anything grass fed or farm to table or any of that; and look, you guys I know that this stuff isn’t available in every part of the country, but I’m giving you the best case scenario or what to look for, because there are more and more farm to table places everywhere, even if it’s not a big city. The mindset of the people who run that operation is just going to be closer to somebody who understands what you’re asking for, or what you’re asking about.
So when it comes to meat quality; I do dine in places where they serve non-organic meats, where they serve things that are not top of the line, and that’s the reason why the proteins that come into the house, if I’m eating red meat, it’s always grass fed. If I’m eating chicken, poultry, it’s going to be organic, if I can get it, pastured. Pastured is definitely a lot harder to find in the quantities that I’ve been eating it lately, and I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t think organic chicken is some great amazing quality, but perhaps better than not organic. But when it comes to dining out, unless it is an experience that we’re seeking out this place and it’s a destination; if we’re stopping somewhere and we have to eat, it’s not going to be perfect. It’s not always going to be organic and what have you.
But I think you guys also see, when I post places that I’m eating, I would say a good 70-80% of the time I chose the restaurant because of the sourcing. I chose it because it’s grass fed, or I chose it because they serve organic food, or what have you. So in terms of priority, that’s how it works in for me, but I don’t sweat it all if the place I end up eating, if that piece of chicken is not organic or not pastured. I honestly don’t sweat it. That’s how I operate. I’m not a worrying; I’m not affected by it, like you said Liz, having these one-off exposures to things that are not what we eat most of the time. We should be able to handle that stuff.
I think getting overly stressed about it and becoming a worrying; not a warrior, about this stuff is going to make everything worse. So the way that that food affects your body is absolutely impacted by the way that you’re thinking and feeling as you eat it. If you’re nervous and stressed out just sitting down to eat, then you could just be creating this negative effect in your body because you think it’s unhealthy, and it’s causing this problem for you. It’s just now how I approach things in general, so I don’t know. Do you want to give your take on that?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, I just having raised a couple of different kinds of animals at this point, I generally, if I’m going to go out to eat I will really only do chicken breast if I don’t know where it’s from. Part of that is because cows are just so darn sweet; and I think you’re on the same page with me on this, Diane. I don’t think you’re big on ordering a steak that you don’t know where it comes from. I mean, red meat to me is a little bit different, I call that sad beef.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: So I’ll tend to skew a little bit more vegetarian or maybe use some dairy when I don’t know the sourcing of the meat. But I also generally, if I don’t know that the seafood is wild caught; I’m just such a seafood snob now, just having worked with Vital Choice for a while. I mean, their stuff is so good, I just have no plans to ever eat seafood again that does not meet that standard. So I would generally probably stick with chicken breast if I didn’t know where the stuff was from.
What’s interesting is, we have a really awesome little restaurant out here, and they do a lot of really healthy vegetarian based type foods, but they do use a little bit of deli meat, and the tagline they use is “all natural.” Which I think even they thing that’s a good qualifier for meat, but really all natural the definition, the legal definition of all natural just means that it does not contain synthetics. And meat from a formerly living thing by nature is not synthetic, so all natural doesn’t mean much. So you kind of have to look out for those little tag lines, as well. Those little marketing terms if you’re really paying attention to the sourcing of your meat as much as anything else.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, so let’s wrap up the whole meat quality issue/question, what have you. It’s definitely an issue, I think, doing your best to do some research, as you mentioned in the previous question looking at menus online, looking at reviews. This is one of the reasons why I’m using the Practical Paleo travel hashtag, and then using it by city, so that if you’re going to LA, for example, you can check out the tag of places that I’ve eaten in LA that you might want to stop at. But I think if this is in your own town, asking those questions, figuring out the sourcing, you guys can check out the guide that’s in Practical Paleo, the food quality, that will kind of tell you good, better, best. And honestly, everybody has to decide for themselves, what’s the order of what’s most important to you, right? If you’re celiac, it’s really important to you to find a place that understands what it means to be gluten free. For someone like Liz or even myself, it’s not as critical. I might ask the question, I might try and avoid it, and we’ll talk about that next, but it’s not as critical for us if we’re not celiac. If we don’t have a serious allergy.
And once you figure out what your own body’s tolerance or issues may be with different foods; there are some people who don’t do well with grain fed beef, for example. Eating grain fed beef makes them feel really sick. And if that’s you, you have to tackle this in your own sort of order of importance. I think that’s just something that we can tell you guys our own perspective as much as we want, we can talk about this for hours. But you need to figure out what’s going to work best for you, what makes you feel the best both physically and sort of emotionally. If making sure that you’re eating grass fed beef or pastured meats or organic vegetables is the most important to you, then that’s for your research. You know what I mean? When you go to look at what you’re choosing, then that’s your own priority and well all need to figure out what our priorities are.
Diane Sanfilippo: Pete’s Paleo is a friend of the Balanced Bites podcast. They’re bacon is insanely delicious, and sugar free, and their premade paleo meals make your life so much easier when everything is getting busy and getting real food on the table is still a top priority, as it should be. Pete’s Paleo is now offering a 30-day gut healing kit containing bone broth, gelatin gummies, instant organic soup packs, and an E-cookbook. It’s the perfect complement to any anti-inflammatory diet. Get yours today at www.guthealingkit.com. Use code GRABACUPPABROTH to get $25 off; that’s an amazing deal. It’s GRABACUPPABROTH, C-U-P-P-A. And you can grab that code any time at www.BalancedBites.com to just read it and make sure you’re typing it in right. You can also use code BALANCEDBITES to get $5 off any of their regular meal plans. Check out www.PetesPaleo.com today. Pete’s Paleo; bringing fine dining to your cave.
6. Speaking with the staff about allergies and intolerances [43:37]
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, so let’s talk about ordering at restaurants, how to talk to the staff or the waiter or waitress about a food sensitivity or an allergy in a kind way or dealing with attitude if folks are getting attitude about the allergies or intolerances. Let’s talk about that. There’s one sort of preliminary question here, which I think could be very relevant, which is, “Are there certain kinds of cuisine to favor or avoid?” Which I think is very helpful, because that’s kind of a first level clearance.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: Like, if you step into a Chinese restaurant and you want things made without soy and gluten, you’re probably being a jerk.
Liz Wolfe: {laughing}
Diane Sanfilippo: I mean, the level of expectation that some people have about what they are entitled to in terms of food that meets their needs; you have to understand what you’re walking into, right?
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm. {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: You can ask for things to be steamed and not covered in sauce, but there’s also a level of, understand what you just walked into and what you’re asking for.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: And if you’re put in a situation where this is the only option that you have, you’re at a work lunch and everybody is going to the Chinese buffet and you need to be that person who’s asking; I think probably 8 or 9 times out of 10 we do know where we’re going to eat before hand, so I think there are ways to kind of skirt the issue or be prepared ahead of time, but there are things that come up and we get put in a situation like that. But I don’t know, what are your thoughts on that?
Liz Wolfe: I just love going out to eat. The whole point for me of going out to eat is to go experience food from other cultures. However, of course, there’s that; I mean, are you going to the Chinese buffet, or are you going to an upscale, creative, conscientious values based, values oriented type of restaurant. So I think any time you’re going for Thai, or Indian, or Japanese, or whatever, you want to look for that restaurant that’s got really great reviews, that does a really good job, and that’s actually providing you with some really great cuisine and not necessarily something that just got pulled off the back of a Sysco truck, you know, delivery after delivery to every similar restaurant in town.
That’s kind of what I love about the real food movement, is we’re going from just this paleo context to, what’s food really about? What has it meant to people throughout history, what different kinds of sensory experiences can we have around it, and I’m sure you get a ton of that in San Francisco. We don’t get as much of that out where I am, but there are some gems out here, as well. So like you said, as far as favoring/avoiding certain types of cuisine, definitely don’t be a jerk. Maybe understand that there are some core ingredients, for example with Indian food or Thai food; that would be rice. Are you good with rice? That might be a great choice. What about dairy? Yogurt being a really important addition to certain international cuisines.
I don’t know. I’ll pretty much risk exposure at one of these restaurants if they’re really good, because they’re so good and because that’s a natural part of that cuisine. So, yeah I don’t think you can expect these places to conform to your dietary needs. But generally, I think Indian food is really good from my perspective, even though it contains dairy and probably a little bit of flour depending on what you get. Korean food I think is great; you always kind of have to be wary of soy sauce, because that will have wheat and soy in it. But you can just kind of look up that menu ahead of time and familiarize yourself with the attributes of different types of cuisine before you decide whether or not it’s something you can risk.
Diane Sanfilippo: Indeed. And then if you have done the 21-Day Sugar Detox, or you have the books and even if you haven’t completed it, I do have tips for dining out on the Sugar Detox in the book, which can apply kind of more broadly to just healthy eating in general, and those might be really helpful. They are by cuisine, by type of cuisine and by; yeah, just different types of restaurants you might encounter. So I think that’s also helpful for some folks.
Liz Wolfe: Now I want bulgogi.
Diane Sanfilippo: Now you want what?
Liz Wolfe: Bulgogi.
Diane Sanfilippo: Oh.
Liz Wolfe: {impression} Bulgogi!
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: As my husband calls it. He thinks it sounds like the last words of a dying human being.
Diane Sanfilippo: Oh. Em. Gee.
Liz Wolfe: Yep.
7. Handling group dining out events [48:20]
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, let’s see. There was another question here; this one was from HaniHop. I don’t know what that means, but that’s her name. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Hopefully it’s not something crazy like Netflix and chill, right?
Diane Sanfilippo: I don’t think so.
Liz Wolfe: Ok that’s good.
Diane Sanfilippo: “Now that I’m more conscientious about my food choices including where my food is coming from, I’ve found that all the fun has been sucked out of dining out. Even my beloved monthly girl’s dinner gives me anxiety about what I’m going to eat. I’d rather cook at home with high quality foods. Any suggestions for dealing with dining out would be greatly appreciated.”
So, this does go back to what I mentioned before about not stressing out so much. I think in this case, I would probably get myself on the restaurant selection committee, right away. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: {laughing}
Diane Sanfilippo: Which I have done in the past. I told you guys this story, probably within just the last, I don’t know, handful of episodes that when I worked in the last office I ever worked in; in the last office I will ever work in {laughs} we were a start up and we were getting lunches from all different restaurants around the city, and I remember about two weeks into working at the company, I kind of stood up and was like, “who decides where we order from?” {laughs} How does this get selected? Who’s in charge of this, and can it be me, please? So, I took over restaurant selection, and that really took a lot of the stress out of it. I didn’t have to wonder where we were going to be eating from all the time, because I was the one who whittled down the selection of the restaurants. And that can be really helpful. Even if you help your friends get it down to two or three options and then they pick from those, at least then you’ve had a look at what’s happening. And I think that can make things a lot less stressful.
I think this is a good time to encourage your friends to switch from your monthly dinner out to a monthly potluck dinner, and maybe you have different themes for it, and maybe they understand or you help them learn a little bit about food quality or just some cooking oils and things like that, keeping it not; you know, it doesn’t have to be crazy strict paleo all the time, because maybe not everybody wants to do that, but maybe folks are paying a little bit of attention to the ingredient choices. Maybe you have {laughs} an accomplice in your endeavor to paleofy some of what’s happening. If you at least have one other friend who is joining this group or in this group who can bring a dish that you’re going to eat; I’ve talked about this before, too, going to parties and having a friend who also ate similarly to the way I did and we would talk; what are we bringing? So that we could both eat whatever we’re both bringing, because we might not be able to eat everything there.
So that could be another really good idea besides helping get in charge of where you’re going to maybe shift it to something where you are cooking at home and you maybe just cook one dish and bring it to a potluck. I think that would be a really fun way to do things, and then you can wear your sweat pants, too and I think that sounds {laughing} I think that sounds good. But I would, honestly,
Liz Wolfe: This is getting really complicated. You’re talking about embedding moles in your dinner group. {laughs} Educational platforms.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} But honestly, I would not try and get too bent out of shape about it. I think that anxiety happens in your first months and even first year or first two years of eating paleo or just eating healthier or being very conscious of your food choices. The longer you’re in it, and the more you learn about what affects your body in different ways. So what are we, like 5, 6, 7 years into this whole thing, if not more. And I just do not stress about it. I know I can order something almost everywhere, and I’ll look at the menu ahead of time; we can’t say that enough, and just figure out what am I going to eat.
8. Changing expectations of entitlements [52:14]
Diane Sanfilippo: Here’s the other thing that I forgot I wanted to mention as a huge overarching topic here, because I know I’ve said this on other episodes. But you have to get over being a picky eater when you are interested in food quality. So if there’s one thing on the menu that is the grass fed burger, right, and you’re bored of eating grass fed burgers when you go out to eat, but your priority is to eat higher quality protein and there’s nothing else on that menu that looks wild or organic or pastured or what have you, then eat it and don’t complain. Being super picky about what you eat and looking for a variety all the time, do that at home. That’s the point of having a million paleo cookbooks to try different things. But if food quality and not getting exposed to this other stuff is your priority, then just get over and eat the thing that you can eat that you feel will help you stick to your goals and just don’t lose your mind about it, you know what I mean?
I don’t know. I think people are just feeling like, “I want to be able to go out to eat and have really great quality food at a restaurant”, and it’s just not there. Not everything is caught up to what our wants and dreams and desires are of the food that we’re having at a restaurant, you know. We can’t be quite so lucky all the time.
Liz Wolfe: So what about all of our questions about how to talk to the staff. Do you want to deal with that really quick? I know we’ve got a little bit, we’re running out of time.
Diane Sanfilippo: So you talked about it with regards to the fat. So this is kind of on the heels of what I just said about not being super picky. When I go to order something at a restaurant, what I’ll say to the waiter or waitress is, I have a gluten allergy, or we have a gluten allergy, myself and Scott, even though I actually don’t he does so we’ll just eat the same things a lot of times. But I let them know that these are the things I’m thinking of ordering, can you let me know if there’s gluten in there. If so, I’ll order something else. Or, I say, “Can you point out on the menu what would be ok for us?” and often they will. And obviously it’s not going to happen everywhere. Obviously, again, restaurants that are not as hip to it, it will be a little bit more of a struggle. But the gluten free dining card that’s in Practical Paleo, you can get it from, I believe CeliacTravel.com or dot org, I don’t remember the exactly website, that might help you explain it to people.
I do think that if you don’t have a reaction, if you just feel like you want to eat gluten free and you want to avoid it, learning the in’s and out’s of not only how food is made, when flour could be involved but what types of foods include gluten, or the fact that orzo is a pasta not a rice, that’s your responsibility to learn that. And I do think putting that responsibility 100% on the waiter or waitress is a little bit tricky, because if you are in places where it’s not as common; I really think you can’t expect that. So you can ask the questions and they dig and ask the chef; is there flour in this, soup, or this sauce, or what have you. Is it breaded, is it dusted with flour before it’s cooked; asking about that can be really important and you can get those answers, asking if there’s soy sauce in things.
But again, learning that if you want to order for example ahi tuna poke or some kind of tuna tartar dish that’s mixed with something, and it’s Asian flavor, it probably has soy sauce in it. This is the stuff you have to learn about your food so that you make educated, informed, responsible decisions about what might be good for you on the menu; again, without being overly picky. You need to know that your first choice may or may not work. And you need to be ok with a plan B or when the waiter or waitress comes back and says, “Ok, the chef says this is prepared this way, he can do it this way” say ok. Be gracious, and be thankful that they’re helping you, instead of being so picky and feeling so entitled to be able to eat anything on the menu and have somebody change it to fit your needs. I just think that the attitude you have going into it is really important.
I do think there’s an element; sometimes I feel wishy washy on this, but sometimes I’m a little bit apologetic. I say I’m sorry, I know it’s super annoying, but I’m allergic to this or that. I’m allergic to nuts, and I find it super annoying, because I haven’t been allergic to nuts my whole life, and I forget sometimes, and sometimes I order and then they come back and I’m like, oh shoot I forgot to mention I’m allergic to nuts. Because I forget sometimes. {laughs} So I just think having the right attitude and not putting it on someone to, I don’t know, create something that’s magical out of all the limitations you’ve just given them.
But I think more often than not, your server doesn’t want to make you sick. {laughs} They don’t want to bring you something that you’re then going to have an issue in the middle of the restaurant. So I think the right attitude and the right tone and the right language; I don’t know the script to give every person, because I don’t know your specific allergy or intolerance. But I do think that what I mentioned just a minute ago of how I asked someone to show me, “can you let me know what’s gluten free on the menu?” Or, “we have this allergy, are there things that you would recommend that you know are going to be safe for us?” And then being very open and willing to try things from there.
Liz Wolfe: Here’s a little script; start by being overly nice. Say, “I’m so sorry to ask you, but I’ve heard this restaurant is really kind to people who have questions regarding their own food allergies.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: We’re so excited to try the cuisine here, and we promise to be kind to you in our tips. Can you recommend…”
Diane Sanfilippo: Did you just make that up? Where is that coming from?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, oh totally. I don’t know.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: I don’t know, just be overly humble and nice, and say I’m so sorry if this bothers you, especially if you’re having a tough day. I’m going to ask you some questions, I’m really excited to eat here. I don’t expect you to bend over backwards to accommodate me, but I hope I can find something I can enjoy because I’m excited to be at this restaurant.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. That, we definitely have that kind of little bit of that when we talk to them. We’re like, “we love to eat, we just happen to have these allergies and intolerances.”
Liz Wolfe: The entitlement thing just sucks.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: I’ve been out to eat with people who are like; “um, I can’t eat this.” And just hands something back to the waiter.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yep.
Liz Wolfe: It’s almost always, either an honest mistake or an innocent oversight. Let’s just all be really nice. We live in America, we all are really, really privileged. We can expend some extra kindness in situations like this.
Diane Sanfilippo: And I do think if you have celiac disease, or a very strict allergy, that you do your best to make that clear up front in a kind way, as well. For example, we go to the salad place and I ask for no bread, but every now and then the bread comes out on the salad. I feel badly because they’re wasting the bread, because I’m going to pick it up and put it on the little napkin and not eat it. For me, that’s fine. I don’t need the bread to not be there to not get sick from it. But if there are almonds or walnuts mixed into the salad, or even on top of it, I have to send it back and ask them to remake it because I can’t eat that salad. So, being gracious in that way, too, in knowing how things will affect you. And knowing; can you take the bread off the salad and you’ll be ok? Then don’t make a fuss about it. You know, I think that kind of sets the stage for people to get more annoyed with diners who are acting that way. Hopefully that makes sense.
Liz Wolfe: I just signed up for SnapChat, by the way.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} While we were on…
Liz Wolfe: And I already don’t understand what this home screen is. What is this little ghost?
Diane Sanfilippo: Liz, I don’t think we have time during this episode to explain SnapChat.
Liz Wolfe: Alright.
Diane Sanfilippo: But I will help you.
Liz Wolfe: Ok.
Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, P.S., I should have mentioned this at the beginning of the episode, but this will probably be more relevant to people who have hung in with us this long. If you are going to be in Portland, I think we’re going to have a SnapChat filter thing {laughs} so for the day of the event or the day around the event ,as well, if you’re SnapChatting you’ll be able to swipe through and get a little Balanced Bites filter thing. That will be cool. I’ll show you what that’s about, Liz. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Ok.
Diane Sanfilippo: It won’t be a face filter, unfortunately. I wish we could make it a face filter, so you could just Silence of the Lambs style put mine and Liz’s faces on your face and your friend’s face. That would be hilarious. And scary.
Liz Wolfe: This is so over my head. I, this is so over my head.
Diane Sanfilippo: I’ll show you. It’s fun.
Liz Wolfe: Alright.
9. #Treatyoself: Trader Joe’s dark chocolate raspberry baton [1:01:24]
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, this week my treat yoself is Trader Joe’s dark chocolate baton.
Clip: Three words for you; Treat. Yo. Self.
Diane Sanfilippo: In the raspberry flavor. It has little bits of dried raspberry in it, and I love it. It’s kind of like a mini skinny Toblerone shape, if you guys know what that looks like. If you don’t know what that looks like, we cannot be friends. {laughs} But it’s a little triangular shaped chocolate. And I love it. I love the one with the raspberry, and I tried to eat half of one yesterday and then I went back and I was like, who am I kidding? I don’t eat half of this. This is a single serving item, I will finish this now.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: While I begrudgingly fold and put away 100 million sports bras. #Fitgirlproblems. And that’s about it.
Liz Wolfe: Alright, well that’s it for this week. You can find me, Liz, at http://realfoodliz.com/ and you can find Diane at http://dianesanfilippo.com. Please join our email lists for free goodies and updates that you don’t find anywhere else on the interwebz. And while you’re hanging out, give us an iTunes review please. See you next week.