For me, bad weather in Portland generally spells the start of bowling season. I play in a weekly winter league with 5 of my friends. Our team name is “The Thunderballs”, and what we lack in skill we more than make up for with laughs and good conversation. This past week I was running late and didn’t have time to eat dinner before arriving at the alley. I scanned the menu for something healthy and, finding nothing, ordered chicken tenders with a side of tater tots. My teammates arrived, and one by one, more orders of tots appeared on the table. Without meaning to, our team of 6 wound up with at least 4 big plates of the deep fried potato poppers.
It turns out greasy hands—and slippery bowling balls—is just one hazard of this type of meal: Tater tots have 160 calories per 9-piece order, and each plate came with 50 or so tots. I would gauge my consumption at around 30 tots, or 533 calories. And that’s not including the dipping sauces, which included ketchup and ranch dressing that evening.
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