A Totally Un-American Idea!

Today I had a totally un-American idea!  This will be a tough one to swallow - LITERALLY!  My wife often says I am such a "romantic" when I take her out to fine restaurants such as Hy-Vee Chinese!  Even though she is joking, this IS one of our favorite places to eat.  The food is good, and best of all, it's pretty inexpensive.  Recently, however, I had a thought when I was ordering my food - I wanted to tell the young man dishing up my Black Pepper Chicken and Sweet & Sour Chicken - "Please, not so much on my plate...."

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At that point my inner-American kicked in!  You see, I think we all have this thought at places like Hy-Vee Chinese as the young man or woman are dishing up our food behind the counter - "I'm paying good money for this food, you better give me my just deserves and then some!"  It seems that naturally we are offended if our plate is not heaping.  How dare they only give me one scoop of rice!  The notion of me telling the young man dishing up my food to hold back seemed to hit me at my very core - THAT'S JUST NOT AMERICAN, GIVE ME MORE!  

However, like so many times before, after I eat and then figure out my calories for that meal - why didn't I just tell him not to give me so much!  Hold the extra Crab Rangoon.  Give me just half the rice as normal.  You see, I am starting to figure out this whole "weight loss and eating-the-right-way-thing", it's not hard when it comes down to it, but we have to be smart about our choices, including, we need to know when to say, "Hold the Rangoon"!  

So let me give you a couple of suggestions to avoid being un-American.  When they ask you "For here or to go?" say "YES!", have them put 1/2 in a togo container and 1/2 on a plate for dining there.  If you know it is something you will not eat later as left-overs, then tell the person dishing up your food, "Just give me 1/2 the normal amount."  I guarantee that it is still probably too much, plus, you won't waste the food if you don't eat it.  Finally, some places will offer "Lunch" portions, these are usually smaller and cheaper, and a great alternative.  Good Luck!

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