Chinese Food...HELP

kkova811

So, im a poor college student, and I love Chinese food, so my friends and I are ordering delivery tonight because we have to actually study and dont have time to cook. Now I never eat my whole meal, and I always get brown or white rice, but the meat portion...everything is SO oily and SO salty! I love General Tso's, Sweet and Sour Chicken, or Sesame Chicken, but I know that they are horrible for you, with all that sauce on them. Does anyone have any advice? They have a "no oil, steamed" section but it primarily consists of bean curds and veggies that im not a fan of...

Sagelit

Depends what they offer, but I try to get the dishes that are mixed veggies and meat without any sweet or spicy sauces. Take a peek and see if your restaurant has anything like that?

kkova811

They have Szechuan Style Chicken or Shrimp. It says Everything Steamed, no Oil with fat free sauce and white/brown rice. I feel like that might be ok...? And if I get that I have no idea how to log it on here! Grr =(

kateopotato

Could you order one of those with the sauce on the side maybe? Then you can at least use less of it per bite

pjrisher

UGH, that's the worst! Wings after going out, pizza for lunch.. social settings especially are all really tough. My Chinese place has a "healthy" section. Granted, it's really not THAT great for you but it's better than some other options. You can ask if they have any options like that maybe? Good luck!!

meeperoon

go and look on the database, choose one of those and halve the portion that they send but keep the cals in the database for the whole portion. Then you should be about there! Its what I would do.

Don't get sweet and sour chicken though, heard its ridiculous in cals.

good luck and enjoy!

sc1572

I would say treat yourself and split an entree, or let it last for a couple days. If not, I normally like the veggie lettuce wraps, steamed veggie dumplings, or the vegetarian options. One of my favs is white rice, sugar snap peas, and water chesnuts!

brynakrauth

Start your meal with hot and sour soup. It's so delicious, filling and very low in calories. A lot of times, I'll just order a bowl of soup and have that as your entree. A bowl is a lot and will fill you up. If you want variety, get a cup of soup and then try a veggie dish with brow rice and see if you can get someone to split it with you. That way you won't over eat. Skip the fried apps and stay away from the dishes that are fried or battered and then mixed with lots of salty and/or sweet sauces.

Good luck!

Logansmom2011

I know that if you get chicken and broccoli that the broccoli kind of evens out the fats of the chicken and sauce but portion size is about 1 cup so if you can manage to just eat about 1 cup of white rice and 1 cup of chicken and broccoli you should be ok,I would think if you eat more of the broccoli than the chicken it wouldnt hurt you as much.

caveats

Steamed Chinese broccoli is a popular dish that will fill you up (lots of fiber). Chinese broccoli has smaller stems than regular broccoli -- it's almost asparagus-like in look, but tastes more like broccoli, so it tends to appeal to American palates.

I hate to say it, but dishes like sweet & sour anything, sesame chicken, orange chicken, etc. are usually deep-fried, then sauced, AND don't have many veggies to it, so you're sinking your ship to begin with when ordering anything of that route ... so I'd compromise with a nice stir-fry.

You can try a stir-fry like beef & broccoli or black pepper chicken and ask for sauce on the side. That way you can add just enough sauce yourself for flavor without letting the chefs overdo it, plus the dishes will have some mixed veggies that will help with nutrients and fiber without adding a ton of calories.

squeaktones

you could enter it this way on your recipes list. it takes:
•2 tablespoons sesame oil
•1 tablespoon soy sauce
•2 tablespoon brown sugar
•1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red chilies, or to taste
•2 slices ginger, minced, to form 1 tablespoon
•Other:
• 4 carrots, cut into thin strips
•1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
•1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
• 3 green onions, chopped
•1 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to make the sauce
and it takes :•4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, about 7 ounces each
•2 egg whites
•2 tablespoons cornstarch
•Sauce:
•2 tablespoons Shao Xing rice wine, dry sherry or cooking wine
•1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
•2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce

this serves 4

kayleeblue

I eat at the Chinese buffetts about once a month...why go out to eat if you can't enjoy what you are eating? Do an extra workout and drink a LOT of water for the salt intake..Just don't make a habit of it. What's chinese with General Tso's? Just my opinion.

limismith

Alright, I just looked under the MFP food database and searched "panda express" for a base reference. Beef and Broccoli is listed as 130 calories per serving (1/2 cup or 5.4 oz) and white rice is around 100 (so many listings!) per 1/2 cup. The fried options like sweet and sour chicken are DOUBLE that, so whatever you pick, go with a stir fry with meat and veggies both. Egg drop soup is very low, and hot & sour soup is just a little more so... If it were me, and I could resist the allure of fried crab rangoon, and portion control, I would do this:

Egg drop soup = 60 cals per cup
Beef and Broccoli = 260 per cup (or pick another meat/veg stir fry with brown sauce. Nothing fried though!!!!)
Steamed rice = 100 per 1/2 cup
Fortune Cookie = 25 each
Water Water Water!!! No calories, help purge the sodium!!!!!!

Total meal = 445. Manageable! The only hard part is what to do with the leftovers... to keep or not to keep

marisol_cd

I know its hard but there's no way to escape the veggies if you're trying lose weight. Lol I would advise a variation of chicken fried rice, only ask for brown rice instead of white rice. This dish usually doesn't have any of those sugar loaded sauces Chinese food usually has, and they use lean pieces of chicken. Also, this dish makes it easier to eat those pesky veggies. Hope this helps