What's on Your Plate?

It's official. The Aussie Fries at The Outback Steakhouse and any form of a Giant Fried Onion are officially banned from my family's dinner table (at home or at a restaurant)! I always knew these items were pretty bad in terms of Nutritional Disasters, but because The Outback doesn't publish their nutrition information (sneaky bastards), I never really knew just how bad this stuff is. Well, thanks to a recent Men's Health article, I now have a pretty good idea. The Aussie Fries? They're the equivalent of 14 Krispy Kreme doughnuts!! And that's before your actual meal arrives!

Really, truly, if you care about eating healthy at some of the more common chain restaurants (everything from The Olive Garden to Chick-Fil-A), you should check out the list of The 20 Worst Foods in America. Not only does the list expose some of the worst - yet most common - Heart Attacks on a Plate, but it also offers an estimation of the nutrition information for the alternatives at many of the chains that don't publish their information. Or, if they do, they do so only for their "healthy" menu items. Even more, some of the things you might have thought were "healthy" turn out to be disastrously full of fat, calories, and sodium (i.e. the fish tacos at On The Border??). I also like the attention they gave to items on kids menus. For example, the macaroni and cheese at Macaroni Grill? It's equal to giving your kid 1 1/2 boxes of Kraft mac'n'cheese! Luckily, my oldest daughter usually picks healthy items on her own (she's really into salmon for some reason), but I think she's an anomaly. In any case, I pored over this list for more than half an hour last minute, repeatedly being surprised by the findings. While I'll miss the Orange Chicken from Panda Express, giving it up is the compromise I must make in order to keep my Chow Mein --yum!