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Beware of these words on the menu!

Certain words on any menu indicate high fat or hidden calories. Knowing these words can help you avoid these items. When you encounter these words, just pass the food by or ask for substitutions.

  • au gratin - In France this is the shape of an oval baking dish....here in the USA it means layered with cream and cheese
  • battered - Dipped in egg and flour (or beer or milk) and deep fried
  • beurre - French for butter. Usually this will indicate a sauce that has butter as its main ingredient
  • bisque - a soup made with butter, a tomato product and usually cream or milk
  • cream of - cream or milk and flour is used in the thickening
  • dipped - in what?
  • twice-baked - cooked once and then cheese, cream, sour cream, egg yolks or butter added and baked again
  • hollandaise - a sauce made from butter, egg yolk and a bit of lemon juice
    just like mom’s - keep in mind it was mom's cooking that got you into this mess!
  • pan-fried, seared, roasted - all of these mean the dish started out in a pan with oil or butter to develop and outer crust
  • crusted - careful, the crust may be nuts or cheese
  • parmesan - the coating contains parmesan cheese and then is typically deep fried before it is baked off
  • sautéed - pan fried in clarified butter. Clarified butter is butter fat with the milk solids removed.
  • tempura - one of the few Japanese foods that is deep fried in a light (oil absorbing) batter

All of these might be temptations and may sound appealing. But look elsewhere on the menu for healthy and satisfying options.
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