...but I think I'll survive the experience.

I met some friends for lunch today, at Claim Jumper. I figured "hey, gigantic portions of meat, how can I go wrong?"

I got there a few minutes before they did, so I was skimming the appetizer menu desperately looking for something that wasn't breaded, bread, or potatoes. I saw one whose description said:



I thought this sounded good and ordered some. OK, I was distracted by my good news from the doctor this morning, but the name "California Roll" should have been bloody obvious. But no, I even took a huge bite of one when the plate arrived before I finally recovered my wits to realize...I'm eating rice!!! Worse, I'm eating white rice!!!

Have to admit, even after the Big Clue Bat hit me in the eyes, I went ahead finished the one I had started. Then left the rest for my friends. But I figure I ate about an eighth of a cup of cooked rice, which according to FitDay set me back nearly five grams! Yow!

To be fair, I did have the Danish Ribeye, which is a CJ-sized portion of ribeye steak smothered in melted blue cheese. For the side I skipped the potato and had the grilled asparagus with hollandaise. The garlic bread was gleefully devoured by my friends. Only happy to help.

You caught it and stopped. That's a good lesson and not just a faux paux. Good for you. But next time, consider not having the appetizer in the first place. It's just more calories that you don't need.

Good Luck!

Hi Scott,

Oh well.....just get right back on track (which sounds like what you did!) ...You made good choices for the rest of the meal!

I'm looking forward to a trip to Claim Jumpers....was the asparagus good???? Have you tried the broccoli, spinach or green beans there? Just trying to get a "review" before I go!

Of course my main course will be Prime Rib!....my all time favorite!
Now I'm getting hungry!

Prime Rib is my favorite entree at CJ, but it's a dinnertime/weekend thing so I picked something different this time.

The asparagus was grilled, not steamed, and had a delicious flavor. They were a little skimpy on the hollandaise, though, but when I asked for more they brought me a nearly-full ramekin of the stuff! (I've never had cause to fault the service at any of the CJ's I've been to.)

The one time I had broccoli at CJ it was overdone and limp, but that was just once. I typically give any restaurant two chances before panning something there. It's hard to destroy green beans, in my opinion, unless you really set out to try, so that's always a safe bet to order.

I didn't get the creamed spinach, mostly because I don't know if they use any sort of filler in the cream sauce. Many restaurant sauce bases are either really high in sodium or have some sort of starch to thicken them. A surprising amount of backroom sauces are sweetened as well, to keep you coming back. (I use professional chicken, beef and vegetable sauce bases at home because I think they make my sauces and gravies taste better than anything else I can buy, but the sodium count in them is scary.)

Another question would be about the hollandaise or bearnaise sauces: are they made from scratch (eggs, oil, herbs etc) or from a mix (which would almost CERTAINLY contain starches). The better the restaurant, the less likely the mix. Watch out for 'cream soups' too - they often have a starch thickener which is NOT cream. Darn!

I thought about that, actually, but I took a taste of the sauce before digging in, and it seemed to be all right. I've had a lot of the commercial mixes and can usually taste a sweetened flavor, or some sort of aftertaste if it has a thickener of some sort. Hollandaise is one of my favorite condiments (right up there with Franks Red Hot ), and the first sauce I taught to my nine-year-old. IMHO, it seemed to be fine.

Now it did taste like it was stretched with oil, rather than just eggs, but you have to figure a large kitchen wants to keep costs down...

We are so proud of you. Alot of people would have said "aww hell I already ate one ...." (you know the rest). You are doing great!!! Thanks for sharing, it will help someone in future.

Peace
red