tomatoes/traveling

[Guest guest]

I'm still new on the program and have only cooked the diet from

scratch. I had two questions. One is, the recipes usually call for

canned tomatoe products, which I would love to use. But I'm too afraid

of the mold. Should I just hand-make all the tomatoe things, or does

everyone do fine on these?

Also, I'm going on vacation soon. There will be grocery stores close

by. My thought is to get a tiny heating ring and bring a pot and pan

(room has fridge) because I am afraid to go to a restaurant. Can you

trust them? Chicken always seems to have been marinated in soy sauce.

What do people safely order? Steak? Do you talk to the waiter and say

you can eat meat, vegetables, olive oil, butter and see if they can

accommodate? Just wanted to hear anybody's experience. Joanna

[Guest guest]

Here's my 2 cents:

On canned tomato products, I do eat them sometimes. (once or twice per

week in a dish). I don't want to over-do it in case they have mold.

Also, I buy certified organic ones with either no salt or sea salt, and

as few other ingredients as possible. (Kroger's " Private Selections "

organic tomato paste has only tomatoes and no other ingredients, for

instance). But when possible, I do cook with fresh tomatoes instead.

This summer, my local produce stand will sell 1/2 bushels of fresh

tomatoes (called " canning tomatoes ONLY because they are 1 day older

than the other tomatoes that come fresh in the truck that day!) for

only $12, whereas if you buy 1/2 bushel of normal priced tomatoes, they

are $44. I'll cook and preserve a lot of them myself. (I'll

probably grow my own as well, but last year the drought was so bad, I

got very few tomatoes off of 11 plants!!)

I haven't been out to a restaurant yet, in almost 2 months. When I do,

I will order the grilled chicken, and ask that it not be seasoned. You

can also get a side salad with no dressing (after making sure there's

no MSG)/// you could put olive oil and some fresh-squeezed lemon juice

on it. Steamed low-carb veggies are also an option... or even a good

steak or ground sirloin burger with no bun. Bring your own salt...

It's not the greatest meal, but it's better than eating something that

will make you take a step backwards.

>

> I'm still new on the program and have only cooked the diet from

> scratch. I had two questions. One is, the recipes usually call for