Bringing Down 'The (restaurant) Man'

I know, I know...I lied.  It happens.  I told allllllllll of my loyal blog followers that I would tell you how to beat the system at Qdoba; and then I didn't tell you!  I'm so sorry!  A gal can get a little distracted when you spend eight hours with these munchkins:

Annie

Annie/Mac

They're getting so big!

Baby Jay on the ipad.  Yes, he is 18 months.

So my Qdoba secret.  It all started with ordering a regular naked chicken burrito (burrito in a bowl with no tortilla).  Did you know most tortillas used in restaurants average about 400 calories?  Juuuuust for the tortilla?  Yikes!  And what for?  You barely taste it, it's empty white processed carbs, and let me repeat, 400 calories!  I also skip the cheese and sour cream.  But moving on...it was always a little too much, so I ended up forcing the last part down because it wasn't enough to save for later.  Not to mention, almost 8 dollars for just the burrito.  No drink, nada.  I needed a new game plan.

I did some research on their menu online and found that they have kids naked burritos.  Yeah, it says for kids under 12, but the majority of restaurants (not just Qdoba) will let you order (don't be afraid to ask!).  Kids menus have a lot of the same great food you want to order, but usually a smaller portion size and smaller price!  I've never been told I couldn't order from the kids menu :)

Here is my creation:

- Kids naked chicken burrito

- Black beans (richer nutritional value than pinto - higher in antioxidants and fiber)

- Chicken

- At this point ask them to transfer it from the teeeny bowl they make it in 'so you have room to mix it up with out making a mess'

- Corn salsa, as much mango salsa as they will legally allow me to have, a little hot salsa

- No cheese, no sour cream, no guac

- LOTS of lettuce.  They put some on, I ask for more.  Then I ask for more. 

- Don't forget to add some Cholula! 

Yummmm

They don't have a button to just purchase a kids burrito, so you have to get the whole meal.  The meal includes apple sauce (natural with no sugar added!) and a milk or pop.  All for under $5!  Yaaahooo!  Boy am I stuffed after eating it too...

Does anyone else have a secret ninja, delicious, money saving idea from any other restaurants?

Gotta get myself together...rooms and I are headed to pilates, meeting up with mom for church, then for a nice run this evening.  A long one too.  I hope she reads this and finds out what is in store for her :)

Today's lesson learned:

Don't be afraid to get creative when eating out!  It is ok to order from the kids menu; it doesn't matter if the server thinks your crazy, or the people you are with think you're weird.  The server is probably jealous she didn't think of it sooner and the people you are with aren't worth being with if they don't support your choice to make a better choice by ordering from the kids menu. 

 Go out and give it a shot!  Let me know how it goes :)