Eating Adventures Outside the Home

So...

We survived our first time 'eating out'.

Of course, we cheated. Not that way, mind you, but in making our lives easier. We went to Applebee's, which has a deal with Weight Watchers and offers a full page of menu options (only one dessert, tho, boo!) that already have the points value figured up.

I did some research yesterday, however, before we went. My normal favorite, the Chicken Fajita Rollup, wasn't too bad, clocking in at 5 points per half, with another 4 points for 2 tablespoons of the mexi-ranch dressing. The problem is, the dressing is mostly what I get the sandwich FOR, and I usually eat most of my fries by dipping them into the dressing. And while I could probably get a vegetable in place of the fries, I still thought the dressing might be too much for me to resist.

Thomas asked me what the points value would be for his normal - the Cowboy Burger, Onion Rings, and a dessert. Of course, most restaurants don't post their Nutritional Information, so what I came up with was a 'best guess.'

7 points for 8-9 onion rings
21 points for the cheeseburger
12 for chocolate mouse

Ouch.

We decided not to order the things we usually got, even though we both had plenty of Flex Points left over.

I got Confetti Chicken (7) with a side of steamed broccoli, and Thomas got a bowl of French Onion Soup (3), Portabello Mushroom Chicken Sandwich (7) and then we both had the Raspberry Chocolate Cake (4) as a dessert. I really enjoyed the chicken... it was just mexi enough to satisfy my southwestern thing - although I could have really gone for a few lime wedges to bring a little zest to the rice and broccoli. The broccoli was, at least, not overcooked, nor dredged in butter. I ended up using the side-salsa to dip the broccoli in. The portions were good-sized too. Just enough to be one serving, although I miss the idea of having something to re-heat for lunch today.

Thomas said that his soup was good, although the low-fat cheese was a "little rubbery", and he was not really happy with the sandwich, although he said some mustard would have helped the situation enormously, but our waitress was not great about coming back with any frequency.

I was pretty impressed, too, with our friend Toby, who came with us to dinner. Toby's always been thin, and he's one of those weird sorts who never had to unlearn bad habits (well, at least as far as eating goes). As far as I know, he doesn't actually like soda, and naturally eats carrot sticks as snacks (from some other planet, really). He's also religiously inclined towards not eating bacon cheeseburgers. This being the case, I was sort expecting a snarky comment or three from him, as he's got a sometimes brutal sense of humor, but he was actually very encouraging.

So I had a rather pleasant evening, came in under my points count by 1, which while I'm not recording it as a net-even for me with my mathematical error the other day, mentally I am happier with my goof.