FRANKIE AND BENNY’S With Frankie and Benny’s dotted all over the UK, they make a popular restaurant stop during a shopping trip, a cinema outing or just when you fancy a taste of New York’s Little Italy! With such a big menu on offer, we’ve taken a closer look at the healthier choices available… and those that could unknowingly send your weight loss veering off track due to sneaky hidden Syns. So read on and discover how you can add a touch of ‘ba da bing’ to your Food Optimising campaign… (Unlike some restaurants, Frankie & Benny’s don’t include nutrition information on the website, so these guidelines don’t include accurate Syn values, just suggestions and steers. Being able to ‘read’ restaurant menus – spotting the high-Syn items, the filling Free Foods and allowing for Syns used in cooking - is a great way of feeling 100% in control when you’re eating out.) Starter sense Although the special 2 courses for £6.95 offers sound too tempting to miss, the healthier starter and main course options are on the standard menu – offering you much more choice and loads more options to help you stay nicely on track. Frankie and Benny’s – in an attempt to keep Mama’s waistline svelte – also have a lite menu which feature some better options too, and we’ve included the better Food Optimising meals here too… The healthier starter options include: • Grilled Tiger Prawn Skewer– because the prawns are grilled and served on a bed of fresh rocket, the only Syns to count are in the sweet chilli dip (around 1 Syn per level tbsp), and any oil used to brush the prawns during cooking. • Soup of the Day (lite menu) – full of fresh flavours, tomato and basil soup is generally a better choice (just a few Syns) on most menus as it rarely contains cream. On the regular menu, the soup comes with garlic dough balls – turning this from a healthier appetiser to a Syn-packed starter. • Tomato & Red Onion Salad (lite menu) – packed with Superfree Food and fragrant herbs, this otherwise Free salad is served with French dressing. Stay nicely in control by asking for yours without or requesting the dressing on the side then counting 2½ Syns per tbsp. • Crab Cake (lite menu) – although we can’t be sure what’s in Frankie’s crab cake (as it’s made to his secret recipe!) it’s oven-baked which is a healthy cooking method (saving Syns galore compared to deep-frying) • Mozzarella & Tomato Salad (lite menu) – if you’re willing to forego the dough balls, this starter can fit nicely with Food Optimising. 45g of Mozzarella can be enjoyed as your Healthy Extra ‘a’ choice, the tomato and rocket are Superfree and 8 olives work out at 1 Syn. Keep count of any additional Mozarella after you’ve estimated your Healthy Extra, and either ask for yours without the drizzle of olive oil or ask for it ‘on the side’ so you can add as much or as little as you like. (1tbsp olive oil is a whopping 6 Syns). Watch out for: • Amazing Skins – although jacket potatoes are Free Foods, these fully loaded spuds are packed with saucy, cheesy or oily meat. Served with sour cream on the side, it’s a starter that can easily trip you up with hidden Syns. • Anything described as ‘fried’ – southern fried, lightly fried, deep-fried, coated, bread-crumbed… all descriptions that really mean ‘high in Syns’. The main event Once you get into the main menu, there’s choice galore. Great choices include: • Penne Arrabbiata – you’ll get plenty of taste from chilli, olives and garlic tossed in a tomato sauce. Add a house salad to enjoy your one third of a plate of Superfree food and voila – a filling meal with just a handful of Syns to count from any oil used in the cooking. • Spaghetti Oceana (lite menu) – tomato sauce, prawns, clams and garlic with a fresh rocket, tomato and red onion salad make this a great option packed with filling power. Extra flavour’s added with grated cheese. At around 6 Syns or one Healthy Extra for 30g (a small matchbox size), stay in charge of your meal by asking for cheese on the side – that way you can add as much or as little as you like. • Benny’s Sweet Cured Bacon Steaks – this is a filling option boasting three sweet cured bacon steaks grilled and served with roasted cherry tomatoes, flat mushrooms and rocket. Ask for your cheese garnish on the side (as above), along with your pot of mustard. Add a jacket potato, and hey presto – a low-Syn feast. • Oven Baked Pesto Salmon – being oven-baked keeps this salmon low in Syns. It’s brushed with pesto and topped with a citrus crust – probably breadcrumbs – so a few Syns to count there. If you’re feeling angelic, ask for your salmon without the crust to save a handful of Syns, plus the cheese on the side. • 21 day aged steaks – with a choice of sirloin, rump, New York strip and rib eye, there’s plenty of choice for the carnivores among us! Seasoned and seared on a char-grill, the only Syns to count are for the light oil that may be used on the grill. Most are served with roasted cherry tomatoes and flat mushrooms. You’ll enjoy a choice of herbed potatoes (15-20 Syns), a jacket potato (Free without butter), or fries (15-20 Syns) Watch out for: • Lite menu pizzas – no matter which way you cut it (no pun intended) the base of a pizza counts as Syns. So unless you’re using a Free Food alternative – like a delicious butterflied chicken breast – you’ll need to count the Syns. Enjoy fab pizza-topped chicken at home, safe in the knowledge that it can be made 100% Free – and choose something that you can be sure is a healthier option when you’re eating out – safeguarding your weight loss success. • Cheeky ‘lite’ portion sizes! – When something’s Free at Slimming World, we mean it’s Free, unlimited, no counting, no measly portion sizes. So if you fancy a steak, choose a delicious hunky piece of beef (no, not the waiter!) from the normal menu, and don’t be fooled by the ‘lite’ option… which is code for ‘it’s a smaller cut of meat’! • A 23oz meat feast!– packed with meaty delights this meal could, at first glance, look like a healthy option - sirloin steak, bacon steaks and a quarter cut chicken. The sausages and BBQ sauce turn it into a slightly higher-Syn option. If you can’t resist the pull of the meat feast, estimate around 6 Syns per sausage on Extra Easy or Original (8 on Green) and 1 Syn per level tbsp of BBQ sauce. Are the side orders on your side? If you’ve picked one of the healthier options, here’s the low-down on the low-Syn sides, so you don’t scupper that great main menu choice. Good Food Optimising side dishes include: • Corn on the Cob – ask for yours without butter, or with butter on the side so you can choose whether to, and how much to add. A 10g pat is 3½ Syns. • Mixed Vegetables – see above re. butter – an easy way to add Syns to an otherwise Superfree side dish. • House Salad – generally a deliciously simple salad that adds Superfree crunch to your plate. Go for dressing on the side if you need it – reduced fat dressings can still be as many as 1½ Syns per tablespoon (and a tablespoon doesn’t go far!) • Olives – 8 olives are 1 Syn, so if you know your eight times table and you’re happy to forgo a few Syns on these little nibbles, go right ahead! Watch out for: • House Fries – if they’re not Slimming World chips, cooked at home, they’re far from Free! • Spicy Onion Rings – battered, deep-fried and without much filling power, you’re looking at a whole day’s Syns for a very small portion (100g). • Herb Potatoes or Mash – just like Slimming World chips, if mash isn’t made by hand at home, it’s more than likely to be ‘buttered up’ or packed with cream. • Fully Loaded Jacket – fully loaded with Syns too, thanks to the not-lean bacon, sour cream and cheese. By making a few good choices from the menu – enjoying your free re-fills of diet coke too – you can certainly enjoy a meal out with Frankie and Benny, and stay safely within your 15 Syns. Go home for a home-made (and Free or low-Syn) pud, and you’ll be shouting ‘bravo’ at the scales next week!
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 06:05:31 +0000
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