Eat This . . . Not That!

Just saw a depressing article about the worst sit-down restaurant foods you can order. Olive Garden's Salad and Bread sticks were on the list, along with a host of Cheesecake Factory foods. Take a look here to see if you favorite restaurant or food made the list.


I am going to make these up right here and now, but here are some guidelines for eating out with your family.

• Don't order anything with Alfredo sauce!
• Don't order anything deep fried.
• Don't drink soda or juice with your meal
• Don't let your child choose anything off the kids menu
  
• Do share your meal with someone else (split it)- You can always eat something when you get home if you are still hungry.
  
• Do order something with a side of vegetables instead of fries
• Do give your child 2 or 3 of the healthiest options from the kids menu
• Do share a dessert with at least one other person (or skip it)
  
• Do drink water with your meal.

We try not to go out to eat more than once a week.

Here is some more info on the worst FREE foods:

THE #1 WORST "FREE" RESTAURANT FOOD: Olive Garden Bottomless Salad and Breadsticks
Garden-Fresh Salad (1 serving with dressing)
350 calories
26 g fat (4.5 g saturated)
1,930 mg sodium
22 g carbohydrates

Breadstick (1 with garlic butter spread)
150 calories
2 g fat (0 g saturated)
400 mg sodium
28 g carbohydrates

Olive Garden wins the battle of the fattening freebies by a mile. The minute you sit down, you’re staring at bowls of bottomless breadsticks and “garden” salad. Bottomless, however, doesn’t describe what you’ll look like if you spend too much time grazing in the Garden. Just one serving of each will give you 25 percent of your day’s caloric intake, before you’ve taken your first bite of your actual meal. But wait: Aren’t salads “healthy”? Not in this Garden: The free salad alone has almost a full day’s worth of sodium. Unfortunately, Olive Garden is far from the only restaurant that’s really a dietary minefield. Check out this comprehensive slideshow of the 20 Worst Restaurant Foods in America.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/worst-free-restaurant-food

Hope this helps!

That is Henry making a mess at Aspen Grove Family Camp last summer. It was the only pic I could find of the kids eating out (we like going out to dinner without all 5 kids in tow!)