Would You Rather Give Up Tweeting or Go on a Diet? {Olive Garden’s new “Lighter Italian Fare”}

With the New Year here I know I’ve made resolutions and broken them already. I feel like February is always my re-focus month. My goals are always to look back at the resolutions I made at the 1st of the year and see what is realistically going to work and make changes. Eating healthier, especially after the holidays is definitely on the top of the list of many but if you’re anything like me I’m not that willing to cut out my favorite foods while cutting calories. In fact a recent poll* shoed that 36 percent of U.S. adults would rather give up social media, TV and/or their cell phone for one month than go on a diet. Wow those numbers are completely crazy to me because I know I’d be pretty much lost without my smartphone and social media .

Luckily, diners don’t have to ditch technology now that two of America’s favorite restaurants offer options that are light on calories and big on taste!

• Olive Garden “Lighter Italian Fare” Menu: Features five flavorful entrées  under 575 calories, such as new Lasagna Primavera with Grilled Chicken, Herb-Grilled Salmon and Linguine alla Marinara.
• LongHorn Steakhouse “Flavorful Under 500” Menu: Features complete steakhouse meals that come with an entrée, a choice of vegetable side and a salad all for under 500 calories. Three items- including the new Napa Grilled Chicken, Renegade Sirloin and Sierra Chicken- are priced at $11.99.

Unfortunately I don’t have a LongHorn Steakhouse anywhere near me but I do have a few Olive Garden locations- in fact its probably one of my favorite restaurants and definitely my favorite type of food. Although pasta doesn’t always tend to be low in calories so I was super excited to hear this news and learn they were trying to accommodate those of their customers who still want to enjoy pasta without all the calories.

REVIEW:

I had the privilege of going to Olive Garden with my hubby for a special date night and got to try one of these great entrées. My Olive Garden location had a dish for less than 575 calories called Capellini Pomodoro, a delicious blend of Roma tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, extra-virgin olive oil and marina sauce tossed with capellini. Marinara sauce tends to be typically high in calories because of its sugar content so it’s not something I feel like I can enjoy often but this dish definitely surpassed my expectations! I was able to get a meal that was full of flavor and filling without the calories attached to it. In my opinion sometimes dishes on the “Lighter” side or “diet” foods aren’t that great in taste but Olive Garden’s was just as great as all of their other entrées!  A huge thanks to Olive Garden for providing great food at a great price with great nutritional value!