Applebee's Under 550 Update {Giveaway} – The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans LLC

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Congratulations to Alexis {Diva on a Diet} who is the winner of the $25 Applebee’s gift card!

Like me, I’m sure many of you have probably cut way back on the amount of times you eat out at a restaurant in the name of trying to save some calories and fat?  C’mon, we’ve all heard the horror stories of restaurant meals with 1000, 1500, 2000+ calories for just one meal, right?!  Don’t even get me started on the fat content in some restaurant meals!

A while back, Applebee’s attacked that notion head on by introducing their Weight Watchers endorsed meals and their Under 550 Calories menu.  I took advantage of them from time to time, but hadn’t been in a while because I’d pretty much had all of the options available multiple times.  Because of that fact, I was really thrilled when they contacted me recently to let me know they’ve added new options and invited me to stop by my local Applebee’s to give them a try.

Roasted Garlic Sirloin

Ok, seriously, how yummy does that look?!  This is the Roasted Garlic Sirloin meal from the Applebee’s Under 550 menu.  If you like garlic, this is definitely the right steak for you!  They marinate a 7 oz. sirloin in garlic and then grill it to order.  Mine was a perfect medium rare!  It’s served over sautéed onions with a side of herbed potatoes and a grilled portobello mushroom cap filled with creamed spinach.  I have to say, even as much as I enjoyed the steak, I think I liked the spinach-stuffed mushroom cap even more!  I could easily have made a meal off two or three of those bad boys. LOL  How much did I like this meal?  Well, I’ll just let this next photo speak for itself, m’kay?

Clean Plate Club

The best part?  I didn’t have to feel the least bit guilty about being a member of the Clean Plate Club with this steak meal either!  The entire meal comes in at 450 calories, 18g fat, 33g carbohydrates, 5g fiber, and 42g protein.  For those of you like me who are on Weight Watchers, it comes in at 12 PointsPlus for the meal. Pretty awesome, right?!

I then decided to give another new menu option a try.  Since I was completely satisfied after the steak dinner, I opted to get the second meal to go.  I figured that would also give me a chance to try their Carside to Go option to see how well their meals held up as carryout.  For my to go meal, I ended up deciding on their new Napa Chicken & Portobellos.  Here’s a peek at it.

Napa Chicken & Portobellos

I will confess that this isn’t the packaging that it came in from Applebee’s, so it’s not quite as nice and pretty as it was when they packaged it for me.   Their packaging was a typical two-piece plastic to go box.  If I had been eating it as soon as I got home, it definitely would have been fine.  Since I had just eaten the Roasted Garlic Sirloin, I knew I wouldn’t be eating this meal until the following day so I transferred it into a sturdier air-tight food storage container to help keep it as fresh as possible.  It worked!  This meal was super tasty the next day when I ate it!  Even after reheating it in the microwave, the chicken was still moist and the veggies weren’t mushy.

This meal consisted of a grilled chicken breast topped with portobello mushrooms and onions smothered in a rich red wine sauce and Parmesan cheese. It was served over sautéed zucchini, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, red onions and crispy red potatoes.  Again, this meal was a real calorie bargain, too!  It also comes in at 450 calories with 12g fat, 31g carbohydrates, 5g fiber, and 55g protein.  For those on Weight Watchers, this meal comes in at 11 PointsPlus.

Overall, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by these meals.  They were flavorful, the portions were a nice size, and they fit into my healthy eating plan very nicely.  It’s really nice to know that there are options out there in the restaurant world that allows someone to have a nice meal out without having to resort to the dreaded “diet plate” of days past.

Apparently I’m not the only one that was surprised by the options on the Applebee’s Under 550 Calories menu.  Here’s a video Applebee’s shared on their YouTube channel of customers who sampled their meals and weren’t told they were under 550 calories until after they’d eaten.

Not only was Applebee’s nice enough to supply me with a gift card to sample their updated menu, but they’re offering one up for one lucky reader, too!  The winner of this giveaway will win a $25 digital gift card that can be used at any Applebee’s location.   There is one mandatory form of entry as well as are multiple bonus ways to enter.  Please note:  you must leave a SEPARATE comment for each method of entry you complete.  Thanks!

So, there you have it.  Five different ways you can enter to win the Applebee’s gift card.  The giveaway will remain open until 11:59 p.m. CT on Saturday, February 2.  The winner will be announced on Sunday, February 3 and will have 48 hours to respond.  If the winner doesn’t respond within that time frame, another winner will be selected.

Good luck!  I have no doubt whoever wins will enjoy their meal just as much as I did!

Disclaimer:  Applebee’s supplied me with a gift card to sample their menu options as well as a second gift card for one giveaway winner.  No additional compensation was provided and, as always, all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

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