It’s seems between my having zero interest in cooking anything but eggs or anything that I can grill outdoors a newly acquired type 2 diabetes & having a very restrictive diet due to recovering from gastrointestinal issues I am at the mercy of to go meals.
I despise the Eat Clean Bro category of prepackaged meals & most subscription meal programs.
Holding my own on Wegmans, Dearborn Farms & Livotti’s & Tuscany.
No Chinese takeout, no pizza & tried a Mediterranean place called Evoo that was more mediocre than Mediterranean.
Greek Spot on occasionally as well as Aarzu
Any suggestions
No refined sugar, no white flour no processed meats
Thanks in advance
Monmouth County only please & please don’t recommend anything if you haven’t had the food.
1 Like
I would try grill Point on rte 9 south in Marlboro near the U-Haul place. They are open for lunch and dinner and they do takeout and delivery.
I’m not diabetic, but after watching my glucose inch up about 5 years ago, I changed my eating habits to what is essentially the same approach as you have. For starters, I’m the queen of batch cooking. As in, I will sauté or roast multiple vegetables and then eat them over the course of 4-5 days. All any veg really needs is olive oil, salt and pepper and high heat, imo. I regularly do asparagus, shrooms, cauliflower, b sprouts, carrots, broccoli, and squashes. That plus chicken and lean pork and while it does get boring, I always know that food is ready to eat in my fridge, which saves me time, $$, and calories. Restaurant food is higher in salt and sugar, even when you least expect it (see also: rotisserie chicken). If I had a grill, I’d be THRILLED! Instead, like you, I’m about eggs + whatever I can roast in the oven.
When I do eat out (I rarely do takeout or buy precooked meals- that’s something I’ve never done much of), I stick to much the same types of food. Sami’s Mediterranean in AP has DELICIOUS chicken taouk, which you can get as part of a platter or over a salad as well as in a pita. It’s not inexpensive, but I can get at least 2 meals out of the salad, so it’s worth it, imo. Same with Greek Spot; their Lemon Chicken dinner is all of $13 (?) and you can sub salad for the lemon potatoes and get half a chicken that’s delicious. Greek Eats and [Bayroot] (https://www.bayrootmarket.com) (both in Shrewsbury but GE has a Brick location too) are also good options.
I’m jealous that you have Aarzu within reach; anything from the tandoor is a good bet in terms of less sugar/salt (marinade yes, but no fattening sauces).
If you like it, sashimi (as takeout or even at the better supermarkets) is obviously a good high protein choice. I’m all about tuna, so I’ll often get a salad w sashimi or sesame-seared tuna. Good spots for those: Taka and The Break.
Finally, while I do miss occasionally having pizza, I’ve learned that an order of meatballs and a side of (Sicilian style!) broccoli rabe at Porta is a FANTASTIC meal whether you dine in or take out. And I take that approach at most Italian spots now.
If you can’t tell, some of the fun of eating out has definitely been removed - but having lost 65lbs and gotten off the BP meds and watching my A1C come down to normal has made it worth it. Do I sometimes get mad about it? Yes. And sometimes I get REALLY bored with what I eat - then I mix things up a bit. But health is everything so I’ve tried to accept it.
11 Likes
Thank you
Thanks tried it wasn’t to my liking.
Have you tried kitch in Red Bank? https://www.kitchorganic.com/
Food is amazing and they cater to lots of restrictions and dietary accommodations. Small place so eating in can be a little challenging but the food is incredible.
1 Like
That’s a new one for me thanks
Menu looks a bit tree hugger but hopefully I can find something
Wow! That’s a new one to me as well, and I like the fact that it’s not all vegetarian (sometimes there’s a lot of extra fat in vegetarian food)…
1 Like
Happy to meet you for lunch sometime!
1 Like
This is definitely the low end, but what about a rotisserie chicken, steamed vegetables of your choice (or frozen), and boiled potatoes? Or boiled shrimp with a salad? (Am I missing some restriction here?)
1 Like
No you covered all the bases, yes rotisserie chicken is a staple, not low end when it’s Whole Foods or Wegmans. Costco’s. $5.00 chicken is vile
Potato is something that I have to limit because of carbs
However thank you.
1 Like
Another 2 options for you.
Apple street kitchen outside of rb (mailing address of tinton falls). Had lunch there today. Very good and fresh. https://www.applestreetkitchen.com/
No limits cafe in Middletown. Had a fantastic lunch there a couple weeks ago. A fabulous mission too: https://www.nolimitscafe.org/
3 Likes
Thanks
Another thing you may want to investigate is using the services of a personal chef. The most common model is the chef comes to your house with everything needed to prepare meals to your specifications. depending upon how frequently the chef comes, the meals are left for you to eat or frozen for future consumption. Many specialize in meeting specific dietary requirements. When I was cheffing several of my clients had food allergies, needed to control portion sizes, etc. Most of the time I went while the client was at work and hardly ever saw them after the initial interview meeting.
I’ve been out of the business for a while so I don’t have any current recommendations. Many chefs are independent but are members of larger organizations that link them to clients and provide other professional services. I am not familiar with these but wanted to give you some examples of how chefs operate.
2 Likes
My recently remodeled kitchen is a museum
LOl and I intend to keep it that way
I have thought about a personal chef teamed with my nutritionist but it seems like a situation that I am not interested in at this time.
Besides my dogs don’t play well with humans
4 Likes
BTW this one has a waiting list for new clients
The Monmouth County one
What cutie pies!
There are some chefs that work in commercial kitchens and drop off the food - which looks like how the above chef operates - which would limit human/dog interaction. I was the cook in your house type.
A personal chef is not for everyone but since they often can customize meals to a client’s specific dietary needs I thought I’d throw it out there.
1 Like
I’m appreciative of your help
Thanks
1 Like
LOVE the pups!!!
2 Likes
Meet Bernie Buttons ( rough collie) & Walter ( Havanese)
