I joke about the fact that when I go to Swiss Chalet I get the baked potato and smother it with butter, sour cream AND chalet sauce.  Yes, I know, that’s just bad!  Would it help if I told you I eat at Swiss Chalet less than once a year (a byproduct of the fact that Hubby doesn’t eat chicken).   I have no idea how many calories are in this, but I’m smart enough to know that it’s a lot and I probably shouldn’t eat it.

Then I saw this (again,  on MSNBC…I need to stop visiting that site).

A simple eat this, not this article.

Olive Garden Fettuccini Alfredo meal

800 calories
48 g fat (30 g saturated)
810 mg sodium

Saturated fat equivalent: 1.5 full jars of Nutella!

I’ll take the Nutella please.  Of course, it should be noted that this is for the kids meal at Olive Garden.  This doesn’t include the bread sticks.  This is not the adult meal…I’d be afraid to ask just how many calories are in the adult equivalent.

Applebee’s Grilled Cheese with French fries

1,020 calories
54 g fat (17 g saturated)
2,170 mg sodium

Calorie equivalent: 400 Cheddar Goldfish Crackers. (That’s 1.3 full bags!)

400 Goldfish Crackers?!  That’s just crazy.  I’d be okay eating some of this one…I don’t tend to eat a lot of fries.  As if I’m justifying my eating a grilled cheese sandwich.  Either way you look at it though, that’s a lot of calories…half of what I should eat in a day. Not I say should eat…

And the one that takes the cake…

Friendly’s Mac & Cheese Quesadilla meal with Friendly Frank, Shirley Temple and Friend-z Peanut Butter Cup

2,270 calories
109 g fat (45 g saturated)
3,320 sodium

Calorie equivalent: 45.5 Glazed Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts!

We don’t have a Friendly’s here in Canada so I don’t really know what this meal is, but I do know that 2200+ calories for a kid is criminal!  That’s more than the recommended daily calories for an adult!!  In this case, I guess any kid would be better off eating 20 glazed munchkins from Dunkin Donut than the meal at Friendly’s.  Granted this meal includes the dessert.  I wonder what the calorie count is on just the meal.

I have/had the Restaurant app on my iPhone (I need to re-download it…apparently there was a glitch causing the phone to crash) and it was handy and helpful.  Did I look at it every time we went out to eat…goodness no, sometimes I just want to eat what I want to eat and not feel bad about it.  But, I have to admit that sometimes the app surprised me with the information it gave.  Sometimes the better looking choice wasn’t the better choice after all.

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