Everyone knows that most restaurant food is not great for you, health-wise. Chances are you can make just about anything on the menu at home with more nutritional value and less fat, calories, etc. Of course, that’s not why we go to restaurants and like everything it’s all about moderation. Moderation is a hard guideline to live by, however, if you’ve got no real clue what you’re eating any many restaurants are responding to the shift in more health conscious consumers by including nutritional information on their menu.

A recent study, however, found that the average calorie count for food was 18 percent higher than the given amount; just shy of the FDA’s 20 percent limit.

Take, for instance, a serving of plain, dry toast from a Denny’s somewhere around Boston that the lab found had 283 calories, 192 percent more than the 97 figure from the restaurant chain.

A little disconcerting for those of us that try to keep our intake in check when eating out and something to be aware of in the future.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/01/restaurant_calories_counts.html

Food Photography – Earth, Wind and Fire Scramble

Every time I go out on travel my usual diet goes out the window; it’s not really an option. For most restaurants vegetables in general are just an after thought, never mind an actual complete meal. It can be a bit frustrating, honestly, but on the upside it provides me with an “excuse” to sample cuisine I wouldn’t normally expose myself to; and that is a must when traveling. Exposure to different (and tasty) meals is a highlight of many trips.

Earth Wind Fire Scramble

This past weekend some friends and I went down to Orlando, Florida for a wedding. Disneyland World to be exact. But instead of flying, we decided it would make a great road trip; so we rented a car early Friday morning and embarked on a 15 hour drive. With two other people to rotate driving responsibilities and those two people being friends, it turned out to be a pretty fun trip. We crashed at a friend’s place who happens to live in the city and had a really good time (and ate a lot of really good food).

Earth Wind Fire Scramble Close Up

Sunday morning before the wedding Ben, Lindsey, Carolyn and I went out for brunch at a local spot called HUE and had some really excellent food. On the third Sunday of every month they feature something called Disco Brunch with a DJ and some horribly designed menus (the typographer in me died a little), giving each item some clever name like Billie Jean and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. I ordered the Earth, Wind and Fire scramble which was scrambled eggs, smoked ham, Gouda cheese and potato hash. Delicious. If ever in the area for brunch, I strongly recommend HUE.