That's Life

My very kind/BRAVE sister took our boys over night on Friday so the hubs and I could have a date night, something we haven't had in ages!!


So what to do?...

It seems that it always comes to doing one of two things, or both. Movie and/or dinner. Well this 'in the middle' family doesn't have enough to splurge on both, so we looked at the movie listings. Nothing we really really wanted to see. Dinner? Um... well since we've both been being very good, we thought the ultimate splurge would be to go out to dinner.

I was excited, and yet a little frightened. How much of a splurge is good vs. 'holy smokes, now I've done it!!'

I perused the Olive Garden menu and my mouth started to water at all of the creamybutterycheesyrichyummy concoctions!!! But I knew that the scrumptious tastes would not outweigh the overwhelming disappointment I would feel after.
But then, looking at the salad, I knew I would feel like I deprived myself, and what kind of fun would that be? I don't want to pay $$ to feel bad!

So then, I decided I needed to solve a dietary equation!

"X" (in the equation) turned out to be Chianti braised short ribs with porcini risotto and steamed veggies. (Did you hear that? steamed veggies - that's good.. right?!) As succulent as the ribs were, the risotto was fabulous!! Even the steamed green beans and carrots were super tasty! I ate 1/2 the meal and was fully satisfied!

Did I feel guilty after? No. It was a treat. What would life be if we never allowed ourselves a treat? Plus, we went walking around stores after to walk off a small percentage of the meal. (I later looked up the calories and therefore am fully aware that our stroll only tackled a sliver of the calories consumed during that one meal.)

As much as I hated (HATED!! sorry Mr. Pisano) algebra, here is the solution to my dining out equation: 'x' (succulent enjoyment) + 'y' (self respect) = Satisfaction!