Back from Vacation

10 days away from home. New Mexico and Arizona. I ate really delicious food! I didn't hold back, but I did try to keep it somewhat balanced. I didn't exercise as much as I should have, but I did try to do some form of activity every day. I had a couple of fasting sugars in the 170's, but most of them were down around 120. I kept my weight off. I'm glad to be back home, and back in to my routine. I wanted to share just a couple of pictures of the wonderful things I ate. I discovered that I love Green Chiles. It was the perfect vacation!

SAFFRAN a new place to eat delicious food!

I recently saw that a new restaurant called SAFFRAN was offering a Groupon special and decided to check out their website to see what kind of a place it was. From what I could tell it seemed like a fusion of Indian and Middle Eastern Cuisines where everything was made fresh and had a health-conscience approach (low sugar, no frying, no MSG, no white flour). I also looked up a couple of videos on Youtube, which explained a little more about the place and the food, and I decided to go ahead and purchase the Groupon. My only concern was that it might be a little bland because it was so “healthy” and many restaurants cannot achieve that without sacrificing flavor.

Today I was out with a friend of mine who is a picky eater and does not like to try new things, especially any sort of non-American food. However we were in the area near SAFFRAN (located on the South West corner of the intersection at Sand Lake and Orange Blossom Trail) and I decided to take him there even though I knew he probably would not find anything that he liked. We went in and grabbed a couple of menus and tried to decide what we wanted. Still unsure, we asked the very friendly lady at the counter to help us out. With her guidance we selected the Saffran Chicken and Red Onion ($9.95) for me and the Kebab Burger ($5.95) for him, and with our $24 Groupon we also had enough for a couple of drinks and 2 desserts (Chocolate Mousse and Wildberry Skyr Mousse).

When our food arrived we were both pleased with it visually, but I was still skeptical until I tasted the tender and flavorful chicken served with rice, red onions, salad and a delicious spiced yogurt sauce. It was a lot of food. I had a bite of my friend’s Kebab Burger (served on a Naan Bread made in-house) and really enjoyed it, and was also delighted when he completely clean his plate, and then told the manager John that it was the best Burger that he has ever had! John also told us that everything on the menu is less then 700 calories, which amazed me since it was so filling. It just goes to show you that if you use good ingredients and leave off the “frying” that you can pack a lot of food and a lot of flavor without the extra calories. As for the Desserts they are decadent, delicious, and generously portioned, especially for a mere $1.55 each.

I am looking forward to returning and taking many friends, and spreading the word about this wonderful-tasting, super-healthy new place in Orlando!

Those of you who read my blog know that I have slowed down on writing restaurant reviews and are focusing more on health, however I am thrilled that this restaurant has come along because I can write about going out for a delicious meal and still eat healthy! Please give SAFFRAN a try, they have great prices, they are kind on the waistline, and most of all they have delicious food!