Nutrition!

As promised, this is the nutritional part of my meal planning.
This is one of the most important parts of the meal, because of various health factors involved, along with meeting my guests' needs in the meal, taking into account problems such as diabetes or lactose intolerance.
In order to meet these needs, I must first choose my guests!
I've decided to host 5 guests including myself.
I think this is a reasonable amount of people to cook for, without being too small a number or two big a number.
I've listed (below) the people going, and what possible health problems may be involved.

Myself: No restrictions

Guest 1: Preferably low-carb

Guest 2: No peanuts

Given that these restrictions are simple, they will not be hard to incorporate into my meal plan.

The no-peanuts is self-explanitory, which simply means I need to leave peanuts out of my dish.
I must also be wary of products put into a recipe that were made near or around peanuts.
A label to watch out for, to be especially careful that peanut products don't mix in with my meal, would look something like this (below)

This would be an acceptable label of a product I could use in my meal, however if under the 'factory' section if it stating something like 'may contain nuts', then I should not use that product.
I would not wish to put one of my dinner guests at risk of negative health affects.

A low-carb dinner is beneficial for the dinner guest because a late hour of the meal along with a high carb meal can lead to weight gain.
I do not want my guest worrying about weight gain whilst eating one of my courses, but to simply enjoy and savor the food.

How do carbohydrates cause weight gain?

This statement must be checked first. Most people fear carbs, because the body burns carbohydrates first because carbs are a main source of energy for the body. If carbs are not present, the body will start burning fat.
This is common knowledge about carbs.
There are, however, two different types of carbs; complex and simple.
Simple carbs are generally made up of sugars, and appear in refined sugars and processed breads. The Sugars from the carbs build up in the bloodstream because the insulin levels get too high to store the sugars. Insulin removes glucose blood and stores it in various muscles and the liver, however if the glucose levels are too high, the insulin reaches a point where it cannot contain the insulin. The excess glucose stores itself in other areas of the body and becomes fat cells. The simple carbs have such a high insulin level, that the 'storage' for insulin runs out very quickly, and starts storing the fat. I want to try and avoid too many other these simple carbs, so my guest who requested low-carb meal isn't preoccupied in worrying about her weight during the meal.





I was considering asian cuisine for my main course of the meal, due to abundance of flavors, natural ingredients, and nutritious elements.

There is however, a major health difference between various asian meals.

A high-carb asian dish called Pad Thai may be delicious, however is extremely high in carbs.
Most online recipe's come with nutrition facts. You must look under the carbohydrates section, as highlighted below.

Someone reading the label may not realize exactly how many carbohydrates that really is. The daily intake An average woman should consume somewhere between 180-200 carbohydrates a day. In just one course of the meal if fed Pad Thai, these would take up around 1/3 of the total number of carbohydrates required for the day. The dish contains noodles, causing the number of carbs to stack up. Due to the late hour that dinner normally takes place, the body has less time to burn off the stored carbs, causing weight gain.
Again, I do no wish my dinner guests to be worried about how terribly unhealthy the meal is, but to incorporate fresh, light, yet filling ingredients throughout my meal.

An example of a light asian dish ideal for my meal, would be a Panang Curry. It is a favorite of mine, and I would love making this recipe. A typical Panang curry nutrition facts would look like this (below).

As you can see, the carb level is significantly lower than the carb-filled Pad Thai dish.
The ingredients are light, containing fresh peppers, lime leaves, and other natural ingredients. Light protein from the chicken, and coconut milk make the meal filling and satisfying, without the excess carbs.

The no-peanut, and low-carb restrictions must be incorporated into all aspects of my meal, including the dessert and appetizer.

The carbs can easily stack up when using the processed fine sugars in a dessert, so I must find a recipe with the same lower-carb options as my main course.

Again, the same rules apply for my appetizer, low-carb, no peanut meals must be served, however the low amount of restrictions will leave me plenty of options for dishes to make.

Keeping in mind no peanuts, low carbs, and sweet/salty,
Next time... I will be deciding what appetizer to make!

Ciao,
Kate xx