Whole30 Day Four: Eating Out

As we were wrapping up my pet sitting job, I was trying to use up the foods we had in the fridge.  So M1 was chicken stir fry, using the garlic coconut amino acids.  We decided to reward all of our hard work with lunch at one of my favorite places in Kapolei: Kua'aina Sandwich Shop.  They have a pretty simple menu of burgers and salads, using local produce.  Everything is amazing!  But best of all, their salads are Whole30 compliant!  Crisp lettuce, shredded carrots, diced tomatoes, super thin slices of red onion, a pile of alfalfa sprouts and topped with your choice of meat or fish.  BabyLove LOVES the mahi, so I confirmed that it didn't have any sugars in the marinade/spice blend.  We also happened to be there for Halfsy Hour, so they were buy one, get one half off.  Of course, I bought an extra grilled chicken topped salad for home, so we had an even number of orders (our couch surfer was with us.)  Unfortunately, rush hour had started and we simply don't bother trying to get home between the hours of 3 and 7 pm, so we had to kill some time in town.  We got a lot of errands done and then hit Jamba Juice to hold us over.  Most of their stuff is NOT compliant but they do have some smoothies that are just fruit and veggie blends.  We sat around playing Phase 10 and drinking our smoothies until it was safe to hit the road.  After we got home, we shared the extra Kua'aina salad and called it a day. Gotta love it when I only have to cook once and yet he was able to eat yummy, Whole30 foods all day!

Day 10 is another day we'll be eating out, so I'm emailing the restaurant right now to check out a few specific menu items I think should be safe.  While eating out is definitely a challenge on Whole30, it CAN be done!  Here is what I wrote to them: (note - yes, there is a LOT more than sugar, wheat and soy that we are avoiding on Whole30, but those are the ones that are usually HIDDEN.  Anything else I can pretty much tell from the menu.)

"Aloha!  I'm looking for a place to take some friends this Saturday and am looking at coming to your Kaneohe location.  But we have some dietary issues, so I want to see what is available before we arrive (I don't want to hold up other people while we ask a ton of questions!)  The main things we have to avoid are sugar, wheat and soy.  Unfortunately, they are often hiding in spice mixes and marinades.  I'm specifically wanting to check out the sauteed garlic shrimp, seared ahi salad, Furikake Salmon and the beef stew.  If you could check the seasonings/sauces/etc and let me know by Thursday, that would be awesome!  Mahalo!!!"