On Saturday afternoon, Drew's parents gave me the best birthday present- they watched the kids so we could go out!!
I knew they had other things to do so we decided to stay in our neck of the woods. Plus we drove the Mustang, which has no A/C (it's a '67).. making me a little glad we didn't drive to far.
There's a new Olive Garden that recently opened up near us. We haven't been there in probably years (switched to Jonny Corino's) so we figured that would be a good option. I love to eat out and if you just take the time to research it, there is NO reason why you can't enjoy good food. And enjoy, I did.
I figured I might as well share what I used to order and what I ordered on Saturday. :o)
BEFORE:
Appetizer: Spinach Artichoke Dip
One half of that is 7 points. Drew knows how much I love Spinach, Cheese and Artichokes, especially all mixed together, that there may have been a few times where Drew let me eat a little more than half. Such a giver. What! I'll go ahead and own it: oink, oink. I can't help it! So good. I don't know if this includes the bread to dip it in.
Side Salad w/ the Dressing on it
If you could stop at just one serving (Bahahahaha) it's a whopping 9 points. NINE! It's all the oil in the dressing. I know, it made me sick to discover that too. Although I do skip the croutons so it was probably slightly less..
Breadsticks: At least 3
3 points each. Ouch.
Entree: Ravioli di Portobello
The entire plate is 15 points which is actually less than I thought it was (next time I'll probably order this!). However, I always only eat half of my entree's because I ate extra salad.. you know, trying to make smart choices and all that... LOL I ate the other half for lunch the following day. Sometimes I would order the Seafood Alfredo: 24 points. Double Ouch.
Total: I figured for what I ate, it was aprox. 40 points, maybe more. For one meal. And that's w/ no specialty drink or dessert so add those on and.... I'll just stop now.
AFTER:
No Appetizer.
It was lunch time and there was no need to eat that much food, especially with the avilable options.
Breadstick:
I only ate one (3 points). That's right, ONE!! Drew was my witness. He was happy to make up for my lack of eating.. I think he had five. ROFL The trick is to eat. very. slowly. VERY. SLOWLY. S*L*O*W*L*Y
Salad:
Did you know that they offer a light dressing and of course you can ask for it on the side? The only N/I (nutritional information) they offer on the website is that it's has less than 2 grams of fat per ounce (the serving cup is 2 ounces.. I ate aprox. half an ounce). Not bad at all! Works for me. Drew thought it was as good as the normal stuff. And I skipped on the croutons and I dipped my fork in the dressing before I ate a bite. I did eat two olives. And most importantly, I resisted the urge to pour the dressing on and mop it up with my lonely breadstick. :-D I enjoyed 2 servings of salad. I'm guessing it was 3 points, maybe less?
Entree:
They had their dinner menu going on and I had done my research on the lunch items. I thought as much as I could about everything I had looked at and ended up ordering the Shrimp Primavera. Total points was 15. But I'm used to not finishing an Entree and so that wasn't an issue and I ate until I was full which was aprox. 1/3 of the plate. Turns out that's only 4 points. LOL (I just looked up the chicken special that Drew ordered and it was 31 points!)
I did also order a specialty drink that was 5 points but it was really good.. next time I'll share one with Drew to cut down on the points.
Grand Total: 15 points, possibly less.
And I was FULL for quite awhile.. no need for afternoon snacks.
Props to Olive Garden for having such extensive Nutritional Information on their website!!
http://www.olivegarden.com/menus/garden_fare/nutrition_information.asp
I knew they had other things to do so we decided to stay in our neck of the woods. Plus we drove the Mustang, which has no A/C (it's a '67).. making me a little glad we didn't drive to far.
There's a new Olive Garden that recently opened up near us. We haven't been there in probably years (switched to Jonny Corino's) so we figured that would be a good option. I love to eat out and if you just take the time to research it, there is NO reason why you can't enjoy good food. And enjoy, I did.
I figured I might as well share what I used to order and what I ordered on Saturday. :o)
BEFORE:
Appetizer: Spinach Artichoke Dip
One half of that is 7 points. Drew knows how much I love Spinach, Cheese and Artichokes, especially all mixed together, that there may have been a few times where Drew let me eat a little more than half. Such a giver. What! I'll go ahead and own it: oink, oink. I can't help it! So good. I don't know if this includes the bread to dip it in.
Side Salad w/ the Dressing on it
If you could stop at just one serving (Bahahahaha) it's a whopping 9 points. NINE! It's all the oil in the dressing. I know, it made me sick to discover that too. Although I do skip the croutons so it was probably slightly less..
Breadsticks: At least 3
3 points each. Ouch.
Entree: Ravioli di Portobello
The entire plate is 15 points which is actually less than I thought it was (next time I'll probably order this!). However, I always only eat half of my entree's because I ate extra salad.. you know, trying to make smart choices and all that... LOL I ate the other half for lunch the following day. Sometimes I would order the Seafood Alfredo: 24 points. Double Ouch.
Total: I figured for what I ate, it was aprox. 40 points, maybe more. For one meal. And that's w/ no specialty drink or dessert so add those on and.... I'll just stop now.
AFTER:
No Appetizer.
It was lunch time and there was no need to eat that much food, especially with the avilable options.
Breadstick:
I only ate one (3 points). That's right, ONE!! Drew was my witness. He was happy to make up for my lack of eating.. I think he had five. ROFL The trick is to eat. very. slowly. VERY. SLOWLY. S*L*O*W*L*Y
Salad:
Did you know that they offer a light dressing and of course you can ask for it on the side? The only N/I (nutritional information) they offer on the website is that it's has less than 2 grams of fat per ounce (the serving cup is 2 ounces.. I ate aprox. half an ounce). Not bad at all! Works for me. Drew thought it was as good as the normal stuff. And I skipped on the croutons and I dipped my fork in the dressing before I ate a bite. I did eat two olives. And most importantly, I resisted the urge to pour the dressing on and mop it up with my lonely breadstick. :-D I enjoyed 2 servings of salad. I'm guessing it was 3 points, maybe less?
Entree:
They had their dinner menu going on and I had done my research on the lunch items. I thought as much as I could about everything I had looked at and ended up ordering the Shrimp Primavera. Total points was 15. But I'm used to not finishing an Entree and so that wasn't an issue and I ate until I was full which was aprox. 1/3 of the plate. Turns out that's only 4 points. LOL (I just looked up the chicken special that Drew ordered and it was 31 points!)
I did also order a specialty drink that was 5 points but it was really good.. next time I'll share one with Drew to cut down on the points.
Grand Total: 15 points, possibly less.
And I was FULL for quite awhile.. no need for afternoon snacks.
Props to Olive Garden for having such extensive Nutritional Information on their website!!
http://www.olivegarden.com/menus/garden_fare/nutrition_information.asp
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What a change, huh?
ReplyDeleteI don't care too much for Olive Garden since Johnny Carino's came into my life. But I did try their apricot chicken something or other and it was pretty tasty.
Good job LIVING the new LIFE! :)
Good job! That is so good; I'm not so great at looking up the info BEFORE I go to the restaurant. I just try to wing it and hope for the best. Good think I don't eat out too often, eh?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Olive Garden and used to regularly eat their Chicken Gnocchi. I can't even imagine the damage in that!!