Last night I decided to have dinner at O’Charley’s Restaurant because I was seriously craving red meat and green vegetables! That actually doesn’t happen too often, but I’ve been eating little bits of this ‘n that at home for the last week or so.
In fact, I had someone go to the grocery store for me earlier this week and they commented “Um, there’s no FOOD on this list?!” LOL. I had to pause and actually think about that! 😛 Hmm. Eggs, heavy cream, a block of cheese, pecan halves, cottage cheese, unsweetened cocoa, natural peanut butter – that’s food! I see several meals right there. 😀 haha
I do tend to eat pretty simple. Creamed eggs and pecan halves are an easy breakfast. Or boiled eggs and cottage cheese. A couple cubes of cheese and a spoonful of peanut butter makes a great snack.
You get the idea. 😉
Anyway, the fact that I do not enjoy cooking is one of the reasons I love to eat out so much. You can see a lot of my “fun finds” on the site under Low Carb Restaurants and in my Low Carb Food Journal. I absolutely love all the delicious variety!
I’ll share with you what I had at O’Charley’s last night, and how it “added up” in MyFitnessPal (which is how I track my macros). Let me apologize in advance for the photos. The lighting is very low in there, so it’s hard to snap a good photo…
I ordered the 12 ounce Ribeye Steak with loaded broccoli and caesar salad (“no croutons, please”) – and an extra side of grilled asparagus:
Here’s how my dinner came out in MyFitnessPal (I only ate part of it, and brought home the leftovers to enjoy the next day):
It was 3 net carbs, with 43% fat and 55% protein.
Given I eat more high fat, I evened out the day with my breakfast and lunch. I had low carb sausage biscuits for breakfast that morning, and 1/3 cup of pecan halves for lunch – knowing I was going to eat a big dinner. So my macros came out perfect by the end of the day. 😉
Here’s the caesar side salad – ah, and I drank a couple glasses of water with dinner:
This is the side of grilled asparagus I added on (one of my favorite low carb vegetables), which was delicious!! I ordered Mayo on the side. I love dipping grilled asparagus in Mayo. I call them “green fries”. 😀
The meal was amazing, and of course way more than I could eat in one sitting – but I knew that when I ordered it. I usually over-cook or over-order so I’ll have “easy leftovers” for the next few meals. Easy is good! 😉
I finished off my meal with a nice hot cup of coffee with half & half and Splenda.
That was a nice treat instead of all the beautiful pie photos in that little dessert card on the table. Ack! I took one look at those, and said to myself “I’d rather look great in my bathing suit in a few months than indulge in that and sabotage my health & weight!” 😛
Before you bash me about the Splenda, which I lovingly refer to as “rat poison” (lol), it’s something I am in the process of cutting out of my diet.
I’ve been making my coffee at home with coconut oil and salted butter instead – which has a nice rich taste! That said, sometimes you have to make small compromises when you’re eating out. Not on carbs, ever!, but on certain availability of your healthier food preferences.
I had the rest of the ribeye steak with 1/4 cup of Daisy Brand cottage cheese for breakfast this morning:
That’s not the greatest picture. :-/ I had the leftover salad and broccoli for lunch today, with 1/4 cup of cottage cheese again. It made for easy meals today! 😀 For dinner tonight I am having Roast Beef from Arby’s. I stopped while I was out earlier to get my son lunch from Arby’s, and grabbed two Regular Roast Beef sandwiches (they were 2 for $5 today). I ditched the bread and stuck them in the refrigerator – which I’m about to warm up in a sec and probably eat with egg salad. Those sandwiches have 3 ounces of Roast Beef each, a zero carb food.
I worked at two different Arby’s when I was a teen. As a breakfast cook I used to go in at 5am and actually roast the beef. It’s “real food” cooked fresh that day – and the kitchen was clean. I’m a fan of meats from Arby’s to this day!
O’Charley’s is one of my favorite restaurants to eat low carb. In addition to a great (thick, juicy!) Ribeye, they have amazing Prime Rib – and the Cedar Planked Salmon is always a winner too!
Best,
Lynn Terry aka @LowCarbTraveler
These look wonderful and I love O’Charley’s. Only ba thing about O’Charley’s is the homemade rolls!!! lol
LOL, Linda. My first thought when I saw “O’Charley’s Restaurant” was “OMG! I can’t go there — those delicious homemade rolls are too darned tempting!”
You can kindly request “no rolls, please” when you put in your drink order. 😉 That’s what I do. Unless someone is eating with me. In which case I request my side salad to come when the rolls do. The salad keeps me busy. 😀
I love O’Charley’s too. And when I go there I order the same thing that you did last night. Now that I have moved to Murrells Inlet, SC, there is no O’Charley’s to visit…so now I have to take a Road Trip to get my favorite restaurant meal.
Thanks for all the good tips and the sausage-cheese biscuit recipe. I make that recipe often.
Thank you, Vicki – and you’re welcome! 😀 My closest O’Charley’s is a one hour (plus) round trip – but it’s SO worth it now and then!