Mother's Day Lunch with Hubby and Son :)!!

Hubby and son wanted to take me to Red Robin Restaurant.  I was anxious because before I didn't really pay too much attention to what I ate.  I say this to say that I thought I was being careful but after researching I wasn't as careful as I could have been.  Now that I have been in program and have been able to calculate the points of the various foods on the menu my choices are much different.

I chose to have the Lettuce Wrap Your Burger menu choice.  This was 14 points.  I know I could have lowered it by removing the cheese, but how much would it have lowered.  There was a lot of beef there for the burger.  I did however ask them to remove the onions.  I know you're saying, but they're zero points!! Yes, they are, but I am allergic to them so I avoid them.  The server was so kind and was cautious about the onion being near me.  She warned me about the onion on hubby's plate ~ she brought son's and hubby's dishes out together then went back for mine.

Oh then the fun came when we were ordering; son spoke up to the server and said "Today is Daddy's Birthday"  She said and Mother's Day.  Son said, "and Mother's Day we celebrate my Mama today too, but it's Daddy's birthday too"....was too cute.  Hehe, then toward the end of the meal son gave the server the ok .... then she brought the troops around to clap and sing "Happy Birthday" to Daddy...lol.  I loved it he was embarrassed, but mind you the two of them got me in January... son's birthday is soon to come.  We had a good time at the restaurant then when we came home we invited my Mother and Step-Dad Steve "Grandpa Steve" down for some special cake.  Here's a picture of the cake.  I can tell you it was delicious!!!! This was so simple to make; comments were "this is diet? this is so good!  this is delicious, Mama"

Restaurant Tips

Avoid unlucky number 7
Open the menu, and trace a large, imaginary "7" with your finger from edge to edge. Research shows that the average customer's eyes follow this path first upon opening a menu, says Brian Wansink, PhD, director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab in Ithaca, New York and author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (Bantam, 2006). You'll usually find the items that yield the highest profit (food cost vs. menu price) along the 7 line. The better values will tend to be nearer the left-middle and lower-right corners of the menu.

Hold the butter 
Must raid the bread basket? Use olive oil, not butter. A University of Illinois study of 340 patrons in an Italian restaurant found that those diners who dipped their bread in olive oil ate an average 23 percent less bread than the butter users, and reported feeling full sooner. They escaped the bread basket with 50 fewer calories overall; olive-oil users ate an average of 264 calories in bread and oil, while butter spreaders consumed 319.

Start the right way
Stick with a classic appetizer: get the shrimp cocktail for 4PointsPlus values. (A quarter cup of cocktail sauce = 2PointsPlus values; 4 ounces of large shrimp is 2.)

Nix the prix fixe 
Ordering the three-course prix-fixe is just another way of super-sizing, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, a nutritionist in New York and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. The automatic addition of an appetizer and dessert adds PointsPlus® values and is harder to resist—after all, you've paid for them.

Keep greens lean
Salads are supposed to be good-for-you choices, right? Sometimes even the wrong dressing choice can multiply the PointsPlus value. When possible, order salad dressings and sauces on the side. Dip your fork in, instead of pouring it on, and you'll consume far less without noticing much of a difference in flavor. Here are some things you need to know about popular salad choices:

Cobb salad
It tastes great because it's loaded with bacon, dressing, egg yolks and blue cheese. At 11PointsPlusvalues in a 3-cup serving (and that's without the dressing!), you might as well go for the steak.

Caesar salad
Expect to find around 8-10 PointsPlus values in just a quarter cup of the caesar dressing alone — before the croutons or any other special extras. If the restaurant offers a low-fat caesar dressing on the side, order that with a plain salad.

Chef's salad 
There could be 1,000 calories in that festive bowl of cold cuts, says Taub-Dix. Depending on the types and quantity of meats and cheeses the restaurant uses, it could vary from 2PointsPlusvalues per cup to five times that with dressing.

Crispy-topped salads 
Adding Asian crispy noodles or crunchy croutons to your salad? Depending on where you're eating, they can add 2 PointsPlus values to your meal — and sometimes more.

Ace the Main Event
Redefine surf and turf 
Steamed fish and grilled chicken breast are the champs of sea and land, at 3 and 4 PointsPlusvalues respectively for a 4-ounce portion. But be careful: "'Grilled' can mean it was 'grilled' in a frying pan with oil," says Taub-Dix. Ask for it "grilled dry."

Roasted chicken surprise
"Very often I have seen chefs lift the skin and put butter or oil under it," says Taub-Dix. Chefs also put butter on steak to give it glaze. Ask them to refrain when you order.

Halve it your way
Cut your entrée in half as soon as it arrives and put it aside in a doggy bag. What's left on your plate will probably still be larger than a "standard" portion size.

Make it a spud light 
A plain baked potato has 5 to 6 PointsPlus values, depending on size. The blob of butter or sour cream it cries out for has twice that. Squeeze a lemon wedge or spoon salsa onto that tuber instead.

Have your just desserts
If you and your loved one traditionally like to close a restaurant meal with a shared dessert for the table, go for the sorbet.