Eating out

A Healthy Breakfast Choice at Denny’s

I was totally surprised today. As a special treat for the kids, since I’m going to be gone for a week, I decided to take them all out for breakfast. We started to go to IHOP but that was so crowded and loud we walked out and headed over to the newer Denny’s.

Now I was prepared that I was going to have to peice something healthier together off of the sides menu, since in my mind, Denny’s is NOT a place I associate with as healthy. I remember looking at some of the nutritional info for their breakfasts at one point in the past and making note NOT to eat breakfast there.

Well… today was  a special occasion, and my skinny kids don’t have a problem with calories and fat…so we went.

And I was totally surprised.  Denny’s has added  a few new things to their breakfast menu since I’ve been there last. 

The Build Your Own Grand Slam allows you to pick up to 4 items, including healthier choices like turkey bacon, chicken sausage, egg whites, whole wheat pancakes, fruit, oatmeal, and yogurt. Very cool.

I wish I had had my camera, but I didn’t. So you’ll have to take my word for it… I built My “Healthier” Grand Slam out of

- chicken sausage

- turkey bacon

- egg whites scrambled

- whole wheat pancakes (which I took off most of the butter and only ate 1/2 of  because the portion size is huge.)

and then I paid extra for a side of fruit.

Yummy! Starting out the day with protein and healthy carbs has really helped today, especially as I’m running around trying to get errands done before I leave tomorrow.

I’ll have to remember this for another time when the kids are up for a special morning out.

Eating Out Healthy: Cheddars’ Grilled Chicken and Steamed Veggies

When my husband and I need to discuss anything, our best bet is to leave the house and for a restaurant. The reason – because there’s no outside distractions, no kids interrupting, no computers or TVs to compete for our attention. We fall kind of in a rut, ordering the same things at the same restaurants. But given we are on a new meal plan, and are trying to stay true to the weight loss theory behind the meal plan, we’re working on eating out healthy. So we decided to try a new place.

A Cheddars Casual Cafe opened recently near us and it’s always busy when we drive by, so we decided to give it a try last week. It was a no carb day in our rotation of high carb-low carb- no carb days (according to our meal plan), so I was trying hard to find something healthy on the menu that was heavy on the vegetables and lean grilled meats and low on the carbs, without being a salad. I really didn’t want another salad.

At first glance the vegetable plate sounded good, but the buttery croissant is not a healthy choice, and looking at the sides…not many that really count as healthy or that I could eat on a no carb day.

So what I found that looked really good was the grilled chicken with steamed veggies. But one problem: it’s on the children’s menu. I looked all over the menu to find another version of it, and couldn’t find an exact match.

So when the waitress came, I said “I know I’m not a child, but this is really what I want” and she let me get it! (I also ordered a cup of chicken tortilla soup.) And it was perfect. Just the right serving side for me and I was happy with the flavor of the seasonings. My husband thought I was rather nuts for ordering from the kids menu, but hey – it was healthy and what I wanted.

I did leave the rice alone, again, because I’m trying to honor this carb rotation meal plan. But the pile of steamed broccoli (yum!) and the chicken was yummy  and worth getting again. I ate some of the chicken and broth from the cup of soup that I ordered, but didn’t really want it after eating the chicken.

But I will admit – I did sabotage myself – by eating some of my husband’s onion rings. Deep fried vegetables, while good are NOT a healthy choice. (yes I’m admonishing myself).

Anyway, there  are several healthy choices on Cheddar’s menu (but not on the appetizer menu!). Cheddars does not provide nutritional information for their menus and their menus apparently vary a little between locations. So as usual, the same rules apply to eating out healthy at Cheddars as anywhere else – avoid the fried, sauced, battered, breaded, and “loaded”. Embraced the Grilled chicken, fish, steak, and steamed veggies.

Next time I think I’ll try the lemon pepper chicken. (and my camera!)