If you have ever been to Moe's, you know this familiar greeting! Welcome to Moe's! One of my favorite places to eat lunch out is Moe's Southwest Grill. And for my two year old grandson, this greeting bring a smile every time. He has adopted "our" table and if we don't get to sit at it, there are tears! 

Another thing that brings a smile is that I have discovered a menu item that is under 300 calories, and the best part is I can always count on my blood sugar remaining stable until my mid afternoon meal. The key to success...plenty of protein and beans and just the right amount of carbs! I love beans...almost as much as I love fish!   well....almost!

My "fun-ky" food choice at Moe's is: The Funkmiester-streaker!  Yep!

The Funkmiester is a taco...and on occasion, I have it regular (with the shell), but my favorite is to order the streaker or naked, which means it comes without the hard shell. Every meal comes with tortilla chips...so I get to control how many I eat.  

Now, I can NOT eat the tortilla chips by themselves, or before the meal, but a few along with the protein and beans works out great for me...the key is to keep the portion small.

The great thing about Moe's is that it is served cafeteria style and you get to choose your own toppings. I get my Funkmieser in a bowl, no rice, add black beans, 1/2 grilled chicken and 1/2 taco meat.  (ordering 1/2 and 1/2 cuts the calories, the taco meat keeps it moist and the 1/2 and 1/2 keeps it cheaper because they only charge for one meat choice! It's the perfect portion size for me!

I top that off with a few tomatoes, got to have a few jalapeno peppers, sometimes a few cucumbers slices, a little cheese and about 1 tablespoon of sour cream (on the side) to cool down the peppers. I can eat anywhere from about 4 to 8 tortilla chips to keep in my carb range and  that's it, lunch!

This keeps my carbs for the beans and chips around 15 to 19 and calories around 230.  Although I don't count calories per se, but I do like to make sure I stay within a certain range. (If you're counting carbs closely don't forget that tomatoes have a few, so I have to adjust the amount of chips I eat when I get tomatoes.)

In an earlier "Restaurant Rescue" post about Moe's, I shared about the naked burrito, I get the child size Mr. Moo, with no flour wrapper. I get the same ingredients and small portions with The Funkmieser, the only difference is the shell, which I don't get anyway, only The Funkmiester is  a little cheaper.  That's always good!

I remember when I first started to eat real food, a bariatric friend told me that tacos were a good choice, so tacos are a good choice for new patients adding real food as well.  So the next time your out and about and need lunch, "Welcome to Moe's"! Yes we can, we have many more meals to go!