My husband and I went out to Cracker Barrel after church yesterday. I ordered grilled trout, turnip greens, and green beans. I did allow myself two biscuits, I actually stayed right at 500 calories for the whole meal. We also went to Cheddars to eat dinner with Brandon's parents last night. I wasn't too thrilled about trying to eat out twice in one day and stay in my calorie budget, but I did it!!! I ordered a small steak (cut it in half) and steamed broccoli and a salad (with the dressing on the side). So two restaurants in one day and calorie success was, in my book, a big success... so a few finds and frustrations in my restaurant success day.
~~~ I ordered dressing on the side at cheddars, they brought me two containers of the honey lime dressing that I ordered and I thought, how awful if all that dressing was on my salad. I dipped my fork in the dressing before each bite, it was super tasty and I only used like 1/4 of ONE container. So I used an 1/8 of the dressing that they would have poured on it! Well worth the request!
~~~ "Excuse me, do you know if you have nutrition facts available before I order?" Simple question right..? .... WRONG!!!! Cracker Barrel headquarters does not provide nutrition information beyond allergy information. I spoke with a manager and simply stated that if McDonald's can publish nutrition info and be okay, then ANYONE can publish. I explained to her that I used the livestrong.com website and found info the food I ordered and was able to order healthy options. She told me that she herself used to do weight watchers and had to search pretty hard for Cracker Barrel info on the web. I asked her to please pass on to anyone she could that nutrition info would not be a bad thing but an appreciated thing.
~~~ "Can I order my steak and broccoli without butter please?" I have asked this many many times and never been turned down. I would say that I have ordered "without butter" at least 5 times at Cheddar's. But last night when I made this request the server came back shortly and informed me that that was possible for everything but the broccoli. WHAT??? I've been served broccoli "without butter" multiple times there. He said that the cook told him that it was pre-portioned with butter and couldn't be cooked with out. So there are two options here.... 1) I have been served broccoli WITH butter in the past and was told it was withOUT. 2) the cook was choosing not to take an extra step to satisfy my request.
(I plan to call Cheddar's today to figure that one out, call me crazy, but I kinda want an answer!)
So, I was successful, and I truly appreciate the healthy options served by both Cracker Barrel and Cheddar's. I have nothing against either restaurant they both provide good food with healthy options and have great service and wonderful servers. I just wonder what restaurants any of you have either found nutrition information to be available or not available. The best option is obviously to cook at home, but when time or situations don't allow its nice to have the info available to make a good food choice.
My brother told me that only fast food restaurants are required to publish info because they are considered "packaged food". I think everyone should be required. I plan to research the regulations and see.
This post was a bit choppy, I'm sorry. I train and weigh tonight, so I'll have another post this evening.
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.
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You should try the "my fitness pal" app for iPhone. It is a great help in finding nutrition info for food in restaurants.
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