Macaroni Grill Picks and Tips

Create your own pasta at Macaroni Grill is an awesome (and filling) dinner choice for date night, family dinner, or girl's night out! 

Ask your waiter for the cute form to fill out when you sit down. Read all the options, it's a good distraction from the greasy bread and oil on the table! 

For the base, choose spaghetti or capellini- angel hair pasta (both are 340 calories) with pomodoro sauce (190 calories).

Next, you can pick 3 veggies. I went with asparagus, roasted mushrooms, and tomatoes. (Adding 45 additional calories.) See picture below. 

Other veggies choices include artichokes, spinach, peppers, onions, sun dried tomatoes, etc. - mostly all 5-20 calories. 

Finally, you can choose a protein for a few extra bucks. I actually went with eggplant (pictured) for 35 calories extra, but you can choose shrimp, grilled chicken or meatballs.  

Also, it's a good idea to add the field greens side salad with Mediterranean dressing to your meal as an appetizer. For $3 and 110 calories, it's a way better choice then the bread on the table.

My very filling meal for $16 (before the coupon- I'll get to that in a second) was about 600 calories - since I had the salad, ate 2/3 of my meal and nibbled on some bread! (It's hard not to!) Not bad for Italian food!

Other MG tips:

They have a light menu with a few items under 600 calories (labeled on their menu with an icon.) I haven't tried them all yet, but the Pollo Caprese (pictured) and the Grilled Shrimp Spiedini are both very good- note, the Spiedini is not very filling.

Pollo Caprese: grilled chicken breast, capellini pomodoro, arugula sala

560 calories - pictured

Grilled Chicken Spiedini: roasted vegetables, lemon oil

410 calories

Mediterranean Sea Bass

pan-seared fillets, vine-ripened tomatoes, arugula, cannellini beans, balsamic glaze

570 calories

Caprese: vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil

480 calories - appetizer 

Grilled Shrimp Spiedini

roasted vegetables, lemon oil

380 calories

Another great tip is to sign up for the MG email. They have awesome buy 1 get 1 free coupons and more pretty often. Last night, we saved 40% off the bill with a sweet MG email coupon- yes!

Choosing MG for lunch (they email out lunch coupons sometimes!) is a great tip too. You can order a "pick two" with a side salad (110 calories), pomodoro soup (190 calories), 1/2 roasted turkey sandwich (300 calories) and/or capellini pasta with pomadaro sauce (340 calories). Yummy!

Finally, dishes to stay away from:

Appetizers- 

Mac and Cheese Bites: 990 calories

Italian Nachos: 1015 calories

Meals-

Mom's Ricotta meatballs and spaghetti with bolognese: 1190 calories

Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken: 1490 calories- eek!

... And more!

Instead, enjoy some of the lighter dishes.... and maybe a glass of wine to splurge. Wine is 1/2 off through Labor Day at MG! 

Read the full nutrition facts here:

http://www.macaronigrill.com/docs/nutritional/nutritional-menu.pdf

Breakfast for dinner!

Breakfast for dinner? Why not!

Start with an egg mug! What's an egg mug? Easy eggs microwaved in a mug! Spray your mug with non-stick cooking spray, mix 1/2 cup of egg beaters and cheese (or anything else, I went with a laughing cow cheese wedge) in your mug. Microwave for 45 seconds, stir, microwave for an addition 60 seconds, enjoy! 

Read some egg mug ideas from Hungry Girl: http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1256

Next, cook up some breakfast faves! We went with Jimmy Dean Turkey Sauage (100 calories for 3 links), sliced apples, and Betty Crocker Triple Berry Muffins (120 calories each and easy to make- just add water!)

What's not to love about breakfast!?

Here are 5 more of my favorite, guilt-free breakfast finds:

1. Fiber One Muffins: 160 calories- they come in Apple Cinnamon, Banana Nut, and Blueberry)

2. Special K Red Berry Waffles (2 for 150 calories)

3. Fiber One Honey Clusters Cereal (80 calories for 3/4 cup)

4. Smart Ones English Muffin Sandwich with Turkey Sausage (230 calories)

5. Fiber One Pancakes (180 calories for 3 pancakes)

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Recipe Alert!

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo 

This recipe is my own take on Hungry Girl's Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo recipe. She makes it with House Foods Tofu Shirataki Fettuccine Shaped Noodle Substitute... I tried them once. I thought they were gross. If you like them, use them- they have practically no calories. Here is a link to her original recipe: http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/pasta-la-vista-fettuccine-hungry-girlfredo-recipe

Instead, I used Fiber Gourmet Pasta (4WW points, 130 calories per serving). You can buy it online or at Sugarless Delight in Richardson.

http://www.fibergourmet.com/

http://www.sugarlessdelite.com/

Or, feel free to use any whole wheat or high fiber pasta. Points or calories for your meal will vary based on the pasta you use.

Additional ingredients based on 1 box of pasta:

3 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese

6 tsp. reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping

3-5 tsp. fat-free sour cream 

If desired, Grilled Chicken (or shrimp)

(Note- measurements may vary. I honestly don't measure the Parmesan cheese and sour cream  too closely. Both ingredients are so low in calories and only 1 WW point each for more then you will need in this recipe.)

Easy Directions:

Boil Pasta

When pasta is really hot, transfer to a big bowl immediately. Mix in all other ingredients. (You may need to microwave if the cheese wedge doesn't melt easily.)

That's it! A simple and delicious alternative to a high in calories and points meal. (Macaroni Grill's Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken is 39 points, or 1130 calories -eek!)

Enjoy this guilt-free dish instead! 

Date Night: PF Chang's Picks

Planning a date night out or dinner with friends? Hit up PF Chang's for a guilt-free dinner that's healthy, fresh and fun! Plus, until August 31st, check out PF Chang's Facebook page for a $10 off $40 coupon. Eric and I used it tonight! https://www.facebook.com/pfchangs

Start your meal off with delicious spring rolls! Surprisingly, these are huge spring rings with awesome stats! 1.5 WW points each (57 calories) yum!! The crispy rolls are filled with lots of veggies and come with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. Skip the sauce- it's not that great. Save those calories for your meal.

In the mood for soup? Enjoy a cup of egg drop or hot and sour before the meal too. Both choices have 2 WW points (60-70 calories) -awesome! Soup is filling too, so make it a great addition to your night out.

On to the main course... I ordered the Buddha's Feast: A huge portion of soy sauce tossed with baked tofu, asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, broccoli and carrots, served steamed or stir-fried. I had it stir-fried (pictured). Half of the meal is 420 calories, 5 WW points without the rice. (Note: You can save about 160 calories by ordering it steamed, but that meal is a bit boring!) If you want, add some brown rice into the mix. 1/2 a cup of brown rice adds 150 (4WW points) to your meal. However, I will say that after a spring roll or 2 and soup, you'll likely be full already and have leftovers to take home. 

Not into tofu? 

(Don't knock it till you try it!)

Here are more good choices:

Moo Goo Gai Pan: 610 calories for the dish before rice, 9WW points. Sliced chicken breast and shrimp served with mushrooms and sliced vegetables in a white sauce

Shanghai Shrimp with Garlic Sauce: 480 calories for the dish before rice- only 6WW points. Shrimp, broccoli and snow peas stir-fried in a light garlic, white wine sauce. 

I'm trying this next time! 

Jason's Deli Wraps

Headed to Jason's Deli for lunch? Skip the salad bar- with the cheeses, fatty dressings, nuts, pasta salads, and mini muffins, you can accidentally create a very unhealthy salad with hundreds of empty calories... Eek! (If you're going to splurge with calories, save them for Happy Hour. Don't waste them on a salad!)

Instead, enjoy one of three delicious wraps with fresh fruit or baked lays! (60 calories, 0 WW points for fruit and 130 calories, 3 WW points for chips.)

Mediterranean Wrap: 320 calories, or 9 WW points (without sides) Organic wheat wrap with turkey breast, roasted red pepper hummus, cucumbers, red onions, kalamata olives, roma tomatoes, organic field greens.

*Pictured* 

Turkey Wrap: 410 calories, or 11 WW points (without sides) Organic wheat wrap with turkey breast, roma tomatoes, organic field greens, guacamole, ranch dressing.

Note- by asking for no ranch dressing you can bring the stats down!

Savvy Chicken Salad Wrap:

350 calories, or 10 WW points (without sides)

Organic wheat wrap with chicken salad made with almonds and pineapple, roma tomatoes, red onions, leafy lettuce.

(I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds yummy! Next time...)

If you love Fro-Yo (like me!) and you have a few spare calories or points for the day, indulge in the free vanilla, chocolate or swirl soft serve ice cream. 160-170 calories or 4 WW points (add 20 calories or 1 WW point if you have a cone) for a 4oz serving. 

Happy Lunching!