Applebee's....

For Christmas my brother and his wife gave my husband and I a gift card for Applebee's.  The closest one to us closed a few years back.  Maybe I should tell them because we have gotten the same thing for the past two years.  Today my daughter and I took my mom to a doctor's appointment in another town.  After her appointment we decided to take my mom to lunch.  After a bit of directional challenge, we made it to the restaurant.  I was kind of bummed about the three Weight Watcher endorsed options, they did not sound very appealing.  Since the restaurant did not offer nutritional information besides the calorie counts on their menu, I did my best to calculate using my phone, the Applebee's website, and my Weight Watchers calculator.  It took me a lot of time, but I actually found some really good options.  I decided to have a 7oz piece of steak with tomato salsa, sliced almonds, steamed veggies, and grilled shrimp.  I did not have the cream sauce and switched the potatoes for a portabello mushroom with creamed spinich.  The meal, as is, was worth 13pp.  Since I made a few changes, I decided to keep it at the same pp value, even though it was probably a bit lower in pp.  My rule is to always figure higher than lower.  After we got home, I looked online to find the values of my mom's potatoes and low and behold...Applebee's pp values are listed on Weight Watchers online database...and on my phone!  Oh well, lesson learned.  Since they are updating the database all the time, I now know to check there first before I spend so much time trying to calculate manually.  One good thing...I am pretty darn good at figuring pp values because they were all the same as what I came up with.  I wish Applebee's menu listed pp on all of their food, or at least maybe 10 more menu items.  I convinced my mom and daughter to go to Menchi's for frozen yogurt rather than sharing a super pointy dessert at Applebee's.  I didn't have any because I was driving and cannot eat and drive...well not frozen yogurt anyway.  Both of them were happy with their choices, and I was happy that I helped them make healthier choices...win-win!  When I eat out I usually research what I am going to eat first and then order without even opening the menu.  I think I will stick with that method as it makes ordering quicker, easier, and SAFER!

I did not make it to the gym today as I slept through my alarm.  Tomorrow I plan to walk early in the morning because I cannot go to spin.  I ate well today, even with an unplanned eating out adventure.  Dinner was pork roast, cauliflower, homemade cheese sauce, and a fluffy biscuit topped with Brummel and Brown yogurt butter...it totaled 11pp and was deliscious!  Total pp for the day 33...total allowed...33...so excited to break even!  I still have not gotten the hang of taking photos before I eat, but I will get there eventually.  I did take pictures at lunch though and I will post them tomorrow!