Ok...so we should all be watching our caloric intake, right? But what about those times when we want to go out and not think about calories...but can't avoid seeing them? The story behind today's post (which was supposed to be written a week ago!!!!)
So, I am lucky enough to enjoy a little "mommies night out" about once a month. Not a lets go out clubbing, dancing and drinking sort of thing. Just a few really great friends, where we grab some light food, and drink or 2, and either some shopping or a movie. A few hours to gab about all things mom-related, wife-related, chore-related, etc. All the things we need to share, laugh and even cry about! These nights...as seldom as they are...make us better moms...and better wives (right ladies?)
Anyway, last Thursday, 2 awesome ladies and I headed to the mall for a little retail therapy all while sharing some great stories and ideas. We then wanted to grab dinner, since this was planned and none of us had eaten (now almost 10PM). California Pizza kitchen was now closing so we walked next door to The Cheesecake Factory.
The cheescake Factory has a HUGE menu with just tooooo many choices, so you know when you enter, that (especially if you are a Virgo and totally indecisive) you are going to have a hard time choosing what you want. I already knew I wanted a salad, but there are like 15 salad choices alone!!! So, we open the menus and what do we see....CALORIES!!!! They pop out at you...before you even see the food item name or the price. You see just CALORIES!!! AHHH...there is hardly anything on that menu under 1000 calories, and most items are over 1500 calories! We tried not looking, but it is like they call you..."Melissa, look how many calories I am...how many hours at the gym will you need to stay to burn me off?"
We were lucky, that we were able to decide on 500 calorie salads, have the "skinny" version made for our drink choices, and take 1/2 of our salads home ensuring that we consumed under 500 calories...but that was work! Then the waitress comes over, "I know you all are watching your calories...BUT, we do have a low carb cheesecake" (really...ok....this low carb cheesecake still had 900 calories!). She continues: ", it will make you feel good knowing that with every slice you order, The Cheesecake Factory donates a proceed to Feeding America". I look into this on the cheesecake menu pages...yeah, they donate like .95 cents for each slice ordered...well here is our $1 donation...no 900 cheesecake eating required!
All in all it was another fantastic night spent with great friends!
A few days later...Dave & I stop at a fast food place for a quick snack, it was impossible to order anything as all I saw were the calories...not the item itself or the price. I think this is sooo funny and wander if it changing the way people order food while dining out? (It certainly changed my order...Dave...not at all! LOL)
Wonder if I can do this in my house, put really big calorie tags on everything in the fridge and cabinets!
