Eating Out Fabulous - Steakhouse

It's Father's Day and, of course, he wants to go to the Steakhouse.  This is problematic for me in two ways - because of my desire to reduce my weight and because I am a vegetarian.  But that is okay, there are ways to deal with this.

If I were a super strict vegetarian, I'd be stuck with a salad and a baked potato for dinner.  There are plenty of times I've done just that, but the temptation is to load down the potato with butter and cheese.  And let's not forget those amazing yeast rolls that Lone Star Steakhouse serves!  And they serve them with this amazing cinnamon honey butter  . . .  excuse me while I drool.

But, as I've mentioned in the past, I do occasionally eat fish when my back is up against the wall.  Father's Day at the steakhouse is one of those times!  But Lone Star has a number of choices on the fishy side of things that are points friendly.

• Sweet Bourbon Salmon  8P+
• Mesquite Grilled Shrimp Dinner 6P+
• 5 Grilled Shrimp 1P+

Not bad at all!  So now, what do I have on the side?  They have some good choices, of course.

• Dinner Caesar Salad 4P+
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes (1/2 cup) 3P+
• Sauteed Mushrooms 4P+

And I'm going to eat 1/3 of an appetizer too . . . Interestingly, this is where the big calories and fat hide at most restaurants.  I found that surprising because I figured the entrees were were the biggest part of the meal and therefore, the most high in calories.  But appetizers are big these days - and they tend to be fried and covered in sauces, cheese, and the like.

My hubby will choose the appetizer but there are two we tend to choose more often.  The Points Plus values are for the whole dish as served.  I plan to eat 1/3 of it.

• Spinach and Artichoke Dip 13P+
• Texas Rose 34P+

And that leaves me with those delicious, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth yeast rolls.  They are 4P+ each and I will want a spoon (or two) of honey butter, of course.  So let's call them 6P+ each.  Two of them will be 12P+.

I have 49P+ weekly for splurges, so let's see how I'm doing on the totals.

Dinner Caesar Salad 4P+
Sweet Bourbon Salmon 8+P
1/3 of Spinach and Artichoke Dip 4P+
(or 1/3 of Texas Rose 12P+)
2 Yeast Rolls with Butter  12P+

The Points Plus total is 28 - 36.  I'm easily within my 49 allotted splurge points.

Fabulous!

Nutrition information for Lone Star Steakhouse is available at Exercise4Weightloss.com.   (Yeast rolls are now 1/3 the size they were when the information was last updated at their website.)

Next time you will see less of me!

--AnneK