fast food fishing

[Suzanne_H]

My DH and I have made a tradition out of going to Long John Silver's during the lenten season, but occasionally go there for dinner for a cheap date night. Tonight he wanted to go to LJS before driving around town to look at Christmas lights. I thought perhaps I could try one of their grilled items... though I found I was no longer content to hit a fast food restaurant.

Something told me once we arrived that the grilled choices weren't quite something I'd want on my menu. Fortunately the restaurant had an A&W with it (both fast food restaurants are owned by a fast food conglomerate and are frequently paired here in Oklahoma). I ordered a burger, hold the bun.

So I arrived home hungry and decided to do a little research online. Sure enough, every grilled menu item included loads of chemicals and another key ingredient, sugar. *sigh* Also turns out that the beef patty had skim milk powder added.

Nothing like eating at home sweet home.

[Grant]

Re: fast food fishing

Thanks for the warning!

[warmsummerfall]

Re: fast food fishing

Im right there with you... went xmas shopping tonight, was starving and ate a sausage sandwhich no roll, I am not even looking it up what I ate!!! Thanks for your warning.....lol......cindy

[JulieB]

Re: fast food fishing

The few times I have had fast-food since starting Atkins...it has tasted awful. The one exception is McDonald's Mediteranean Salad with Grilled Chicken...that was pretty good. The burgers, etc just aren't as good as home cooking. I can barely believe I used to eat that stuff on a regular basis and liked it!

[dmat28]

Re: fast food fishing

I am with you too. My husband and I went Christmas shopping last night without the kids and he wanted to go and eat while we were out. We ended up going to Ruby Tuesday. I orderded the steak and lobster combo and it was OK, but I enjoy the meals I make at home so much more these days. I had the mashed cauliflower, but didn't eat much of it as it was very salty and had kind of a weird taste to it. My mashed cauli at home is to die for!! The steamed broccoli was fine, tasted plain, and the "butter" for the lobster was NOT butter so I scrapped that as well.

I used to love going out to eat and now it's not so great. Once in a while I do enjoy not having to do all of the cooking and cleanup though. We just have to be soooo careful, it's a minefileld out there of sugar starch HFCS etc... all cleverly hidden in everything.

[bjp999]

Re: fast food fishing

I actually like the grilled chicken caesar at McDonalds. Comes with Newman's Own dressing. You can order with an extra grilled chicken breast for about $1 to up the protein. While on induction this was a lunch staple for me.

In general, though, going out to eat without bringing your will power along can be a challenge. One place I like to go that I think is pretty Atkins friendly (although they don't post nutrition info) is the Bonefish grill. Chillean sea bass with lemon butter, sauteed spinish with bacon, and seasoned green beans. Awesome!

[atkinsgal08]

Re: fast food fishing

>> actually like the grilled chicken caesar at McDonalds. Comes with Newman's Own dressing.>>

Here's what's in the chicken:

Boneless, skinless chicken breast filets with rib meat containing: up to 12% of a solution of water, seasoning [salt, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, spices, whey, flavor (maltodextrin, natural flavors (vegetable source), dextrose, monosodium glutamate), partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, Romano cheese (Romano cheese {milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, calcium chloride}, nonfat dry milk, disodium phosphate), parmesan cheese powder (enzyme modified parmesan cheese {milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, calcium chloride}, nonfat dry milk, disodium phosphate), methylcellulose, xanthan gum, cheese flavor (dehydrated cheddar cheese {cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes}, maltodextrin, autolyzed yeast extract), extractives of paprika (color), potassium sorbate (preservative), citric acid, and less than 2% silicon dioxide added to prevent caking], vegetable oil [partially hydrogenated soybean oil, corn oil, citric acid (preservative)], sodium phosphates. May contain wheat from contact with Crispy Chicken Breast Filet.

And the Newman's Own isn't the same as what you buy at the grocery store:

The Caesar:

Water, soybean oil, distilled vinegar, parmesan, romano and granular cheeses (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), fructose, egg yolks, corn starch, salt, anchovy powder (dextrin, anchovy extract, salt), olive oil, spices, lactic acid, worcestershire sauce [distilled vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, water, salt, caramel color, garlic powder, sugar, spices, tamarind, natural flavor (fruit source)], xanthan gum, garlic powder, whey, onion powder.

4 carbs per serving.

The Southwest:

Water, corn syrup solids, soybean oil, distilled vinegar, egg yolks, corn vinegar, corn starch, whey, salt, cilantro, sugar, spices, onion powder, garlic powder, apple cider vinegar, sour cream powder (cultured sour cream, skim milk solids, whey, sugar, citric acid, lactic acid), natural flavors (animal and vegetable source), xanthan gum, lactic acid, paprika, parsley.

11 carbs per serving.

The Ranch:

Water, soybean oil, corn syrup solids, buttermilk, distilled vinegar, egg yolks, salt, sugar, corn starch, chives, garlic powder, onion powder, natural flavors (dairy and animal source), lactic acid, parsley, xanthan gum, lemon juice concentrate.

9 carbs per serving.

I'll assume you didn't have either of the low fat dressings!

[atkinsgal08]

Re: fast food fishing

>>One place I like to go that I think is pretty Atkins friendly (although they don't post nutrition info) is the Bonefish grill. >>

Bonefish Grill Nutrition Facts, Calories, Fat, Protein, and Diet Information - Food Search Results - The Daily Plate Calorie Counter

[mission to lose]

Re: fast food fishing


Once we were going to go to Ruby Tuesday and I thought ok, I can have a burger and cauliflower. I checked their site ahead of time. Now I don't know if this included the fries, but it would include the bun--but all their "Handcrafted burgers" are in this range:

Calories- 1090 to 1434
Fat- 75-97 grams
Net Carbs-61 to 84 grams

Somehow I just wasn't comfortable with those numbers. LOL!

I decided against the burgers but we went any way, I had the salad bar and brought my own dressing.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: fast food fishing

That kind of carb count would have to include the bun!

If any burger had that many carbs, there wouldn't be enough meat in it to call it a burger!

[bjp999]

Re: fast food fishing

>>One place I like to go that I think is pretty Atkins friendly (although they don't post nutrition info) is the Bonefish grill. >>

Bonefish Grill Nutrition Facts, Calories, Fat, Protein, and Diet Information - Food Search Results - The Daily Plate Calorie Counter

I found a few sites like that - but they don't list anything that I tend to eat there.

On the McDonald's thing - you've burst my bubble . There is a small chemistry set in that chicken breast. But ...

12 carbs for salad + 4 carbs for dressing + ~60 g protein (with 2 chicken breasts). And hey - you can find a McDonald's ANYWHERE and get an Atkins friendly meal for ~$7.00. Not a bad choice IMO.

[Georgiana]

Re: fast food fishing

Atkins friendly meal

Are you referring to this

Boneless, skinless chicken breast filets with rib meat containing: up to 12% of a solution of water, seasoning [salt, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, spices, whey, flavor (maltodextrin, natural flavors (vegetable source), dextrose, monosodium glutamate), partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, Romano cheese (Romano cheese {milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, calcium chloride}, nonfat dry milk, disodium phosphate), parmesan cheese powder (enzyme modified parmesan cheese {milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, calcium chloride}, nonfat dry milk, disodium phosphate), methylcellulose, xanthan gum, cheese flavor (dehydrated cheddar cheese {cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes}, maltodextrin, autolyzed yeast extract), extractives of paprika (color), potassium sorbate (preservative), citric acid, and less than 2% silicon dioxide added to prevent caking], vegetable oil [partially hydrogenated soybean oil, corn oil, citric acid (preservative)], sodium phosphates. May contain wheat from contact with Crispy Chicken Breast Filet.

as being "Atkins friendly"?

[bjp999]

Re: fast food fishing

Are you referring to thisas being "Atkins friendly"?

Hey, I'm the newbie here. Definitely want to be respectful of all of the very well informed and supportive community here. Hope this post not viewed as inappropriate.

But to answer your question honestly, yes, I do think this is Atkins friendly. Perfectly healthy, no. I don't care for the trans fats and preservatives, but given choices in the marketplace, think this is a pretty smart choice. I eat one occasionally (I used to eat them alot when my job was very close to a McDonalds, but that was also before the whole trans fats health issues came out). It has a small amount of sugar, but overall the carbs are very reasonable IMO.

Curious what specific contents people consider not Atkins friendly?

[liv]

Re: fast food fishing

sugar ?

[atkinsgal08]

Re: fast food fishing

>>yes, I do think this is Atkins friendly.>>

Oh.

>>what specific contents people consider not Atkins friendly>>

In the chicken:

"up to 12% of a solution of water" ... that's a lot of water!

Then there's the ingredients:

maltodextrin, dextrose, monosodium glutamate, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, nonfat dry milk, nonfat dry milk, vegetable oil [partially hydrogenated soybean oil]

In short ... this is a very very processed piece of chicken ... that contains multiple forms of sugar and trans fats in more than one "ingredient".

And ... "May contain wheat from contact with Crispy Chicken Breast Filet."

And ... it contains ingredients that aren't allowed on Induction, such as "nonfat dry milk,"

And the salad dressings???

There's corn syrup, corn syrup solids, fructose, corn vinegar, cornstarch, caramel color, sugar.

I've never eaten the salad dressing ... though I have had a chicken salad there ... about twice in the last 4 years.

If I had to eat there, I would get a burger with a plain side salad.

I very rarely eat chicken out ... mainly because it's generally "plumped".

There's no way I would eat that salad dressing ...

So yes, I don't consider it very Atkins friendly ... especially on a daily basis.