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Oooh! Snackies in a Sack! Now over 90% real food...
1 replies
Oooh! Snackies in a Sack! Now over 90% real food...
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Say what you will about McDonald's...doublecheeseburgers are like manna from the skies.
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@downwithmonstercable: Only question is have you tried the DLBCHS with Big Mac sauce subbed for the ketchup and mustard? I could live on those for 40 days and 40 nights and then promptly die.
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@downwithmonstercable: Indeed. The local Taco Bell pissed me off for the last time, so I jumped on the DBLCXB bandwagon. Long as I keep exercising, I'm not regretting it.
It's probably just that my husband ate there so much last month. I don't know why but he was going there for lunch at least once a week, which is a ton for us.
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Might wanna check your grammar in that first sentance.
Don't be a food nazi ...
Every now and then a Big Mac hits the spot!
Ditto White Castle. Deal with it.
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@ramthor: Not saying White Castle is bad, because every now and then your digestive system needs a good flushing.
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@MercuryPDX:
I have a theory that White Castles are directly attributable to 15% of the drunk driving incidents in the Midwest. When I have had a few adult beverages, I CRAVE the Castle. At one point in my life, it was a common occurrence for a non-drinking friend to collect money and \"storm the castle.\" I am pretty sure he made a nice profit on those runs.
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I know I was probably a contributor to those #s last month. They just put one in near my work and I know I went there quite often.
Then the novelty wore off and I figured the stomach pains were not worth it.
They might be on to something. McDonalds provides cheap \"food\" during this recession. Who cares if it tastes like cardboard or leaves your body as fast as you can ingest it?
I'm guilty of contributing to their October sales. Won't do that again.
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\"Good food costs is more expensive\"
I Kan Haz Cats!?!
--Rehire your editor C.
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Perfect title.
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We call it the 99 cent Downer Cow Special, the beatings help to tenderize the beef.
It won't kill ya once a week or so! I admit it. I eat there. Long day....exhausting schedule? Yup.
I find it ironic that folks posting on this relatively enlightened blog eat McDonald's. It's antithetical to the spirit of this site.
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If I eat a McDonald's value meal with a shake, I feel so sick that I don't eat for several days.
This saves me $$$$$.
Thank you, Ronald!
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McDonalds is super expensive, not cheap. Good food that you cook yourself is definitely not more expensive than eating at McDonald's and having someone prepare it for you. The problem people have is laziness and lack of cooking skills, not an inability to afford food beyond McDonald's.
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@johnva: I don't like McDonald's food and rarely eat out. However, I think it's too easy to reach the pat conclusion that people are lazy. Time and opportunity play a big part in food preparation. If you work a lot or have two jobs, it's very hard to come home and fix a meal for dinner, let alone pre-prepare for lunch.
I think a lot of people simply are choosing McDonald's over more expensive places when they eat out now. They're not replacing home cooking. They're replacing restaurant visits.
Is it our place to constantly judge others and approve or disapprove of the choices they make when presented with data such as that offered in this post?
@ShariC: I don't feel bad about \"judging\". The majority is wrong, often.
And I still think it's laziness in many cases (not all). It's really NOT that hard to prepare a dinner, if you know how to make some simple things that you can make in 10 minutes. In fact, it can be faster than driving to a McDonald's. And you can prepare lunch things on the weekend and eat them during the week (or eat things like salads that take like 2 minutes to make). I will grant that some people can't do this, but 99% of people can, and in most cases it's just people taking the path of least resistance rather than making a tiny effort to learn.
@johnva: Or it is people determining where THEY choose to spend their money, instead of the lazy ass, or stupid shit you might find more important. Do you buy clothes at a store or do you make them yourself? Its FAR cheaper, so you must just be a lazy ass to not do it. Do you grow your own food, or do you go to the grocery store? I guess if you PLANNEd you could grow it yourself and get it a lot cheaper. Do you change your own oil? It doesn't take much know how, learn it and save your money. Get over yourself you pompous ass.
@johnva:
Yes to this!
I spent the morning stripping a leftover chicken and tossing the meat into my crock pot. Some veggies, potatoes, fresh rosemary and small noodles, and in about an hour I had delicious soup all by myself!
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@johnva:
Your right to a certain extent.
Although I am sure the 99 cent double was cheaper than the ones I tested from my kitchen last week, I know mine kicked them right in the rear, and had that extra TLC one contributes when making things themselves.
Thinly formed patties, cheese, and a cast iron skillet make one heck of a tastey burger in no time at all. Went over very well with me and the wife. Give my grill a run for the money. Never thought I would say that.
I can say I didn't have any McDonald's in the month of October, but I think my wife and stepdaughter did.
I did have a Bacon and Egg biccuit this morning though.
there was some blogger that did a foodstamps diet on $35 a week. they ate a lot of beans. they actually had a balanced diet of 2500 calories a day (although the 87g of fat and 344g carbs were shockers to me) however they had absolutely no meat. all the protein was from beans, cheese and i think eggs but i'm not sure on that last one. while it's doable, is it really so unreasonable for people to expect meat to be a part a regular part of their diet? considering we're omnivores and all and designed to process animal protein.
@katylostherart: Cheese is NOT cheaper than meat. Where I live it is hard to find even the cheapest cheese (block store brand cheddar) for less than $4.00 a pound on sale whereas you can always buy some kind of beef, pork, or chicken for significantly less than that.
Even that artificial store brand Velveeta-type processed stuff is more than chicken or ground beef.
@katylostherart: Agreed! It was the change of man's ancient ancestors from gatherers to hunters that was a large contributor to our evolution and the development of higher brain function, due to the increased protein in their diets from eating meat.
Expecting a big slab of meat at every meal, yes, that's unreasonable, and expensive. But a whole chicken is what, $4 or $6 (where I live anyway), you can get several meals worth of meat out of that, and if you're really industrious you can boil the carcass and make broth to cook your beans and rice with.
@katylostherart: Yes, I do think it's unreasonable to expect meat to be an everyday thing, if that's what you mean by \"regular\". The world literally cannot support, resource-wise, 6 billion people who eat a lot of meat. And I think it's about time that Americans stop using such a disproportionate share of resources. So while I think eating meat is perfectly fine, it should probably be a thing people eat a couple of times a week, rather than every day. That would be healthier, cheaper, and less wasteful/greedy.
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@johnva: Screw that. America has cows. So eat 'em.
A country with no cows, they can have their beans.
@AD8BC Beef would be a lot more expensive if it weren't for subsidies for feed crops, etc and international trade. And if you start factoring in all the energy inputs to our agricultural system, it's pretty laughable to think that America is self-sufficient... We don't have any more \"right\" to it than any other country. And the fact is, that as more people than ever rise out of poverty, competition for resources will rise. You may find that we have to reevaluate certain aspects of our lifestyle in the future.
@AD8BC: My point is that we can't sustain our current lifestyle without other people's cows and other people's oil. Those people might well soon find a higher bidder to sell that to. Or, at the very least, we will have to pay more for the same things.
@katylostherart: That may change. People will change if steak starts costing 3-4x as much, just like they changed some of their driving habits when gas went up by a similar amount.
@johnva: good jump there. take a word, define it as you see fit, then attack. i see that you said \"if that's what you mean\" but the assumption was kind of necessary to make your point i guess.
there was NO meat in this guy's diet. if i went hunting i'd have a pretty decent chance of having meat every day btw if i took down one deer every couple of weeks by myself. out of one cow you can have meat every day for one meal for weeks. if you went fishing for a couple hours a day, chances are you'd have more fish for dinner than not. really, up until the tail end of winter, fresh game isn't that rare and therefore still part of a natural diet especially when dried.
it's not that unreasonable to expect your natural diet to be, well, natural. as a nation i'm sure we overdo it, but that's not what i was being a proponent for and that's not what i said.
@katylostherart: Well, it's hard to tell what you're arguing since you didn't link to the blog you're talking about. I'd be interested to read it if you have the URL handy.
We definitely do \"overdo\" meat as a nation. I'm only saying that if you're poor enough to require food stamps, it's not really reasonable to expect that you can eat a \"normal\" American diet. And that's not necessarily a bad thing; it's just different.
i didn't say a normal american diet either. i used the word \"people\" and as a part of a regular diet based on the fact we're omnivores. the fact that i mentioned foodstamps is the only thing that aims it towards america but i really do mean humans in general. other than religious reasons or personal ethics it is not unreasonable to expect meat, in some form, to be a part of your regular diet. it has nothing to do with being an american. this goes for the world, as a human being there are a few things you are entitled to biologically just for existing and a balanced diet fit for the digestive tract nature gave you is one of them.
@katylostherart: Meat is not necessary for a balanced diet. Protein is, but meat is not. And again, I have no problem with people eating meat regularly. I just have a problem with the expectation that many Americans have that it should be an everyday thing. I'm not saying that's what you're saying, so don't get all offended.
@johnva: most of the people i know that are back and forth vegetarians say that when they eat animal protein they find themselves recovering better after workouts, feeling less tired (anemia), feel fuller and can gain muscle easier. a few guys i know use whey protein to supplement lean animal protein. animal protein and plant protein react differently in the human body, i mean duh, they're from different sources right? protein is necessary, animal protein from meat is meant to be part of a regular human diet. i know you could easily make the case for it not being necessary because people obviously survive as vegans or vegetarians, but on the whole our bodies were meant to have meat.
also probably up until 40-60 years ago meat was a part of everyone's diet in western culture at least once a day. you can look at all the traditional dishes of europe/north america (and even asia to some extent) and they involve a serving of meat. between breakfast meats, sandwiches, and meat being a the main course of most dinners, even if it's left overs, meat being part of the daily diet was expected. if you look things like diabetes trends, the number one killer being heart attacks, obesity, making the main cheap staple foods into starches like pasta didn't do much for the western world's health.
and i'm not offended i'm just bored. :D
I know McDonald's is bad, but this isn't as low as you can go. Free hot water + free tomato ketchup \"soup\" (add in butter if it's there) is as low as you can go when it comes to eating out, and was a popular depression-era meal for those on the ropes.
Really, McD's ain't style, but eating there doesn't yet sign the end of the economy... :-)
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Certainly a can of tomato soup with some herbs thrown in is cheaper, but it won't fill you up like a ton of carbs and grease will. Ugh. I think this is people trading down...instead of having crappy food at Applebee's, we'll pay less and have even crappier food at McDonalds, and we won't look at what it'll do to our bodies or to our health.
We cut back on our eating out, but we've compensated for that by cooking better (and still cheap). I made a whole week's worth of corn chowder for about $6.
@IHaveAFreezeRay: I agree, this is probably people trading down from better restaurants. What I don't understand, though, is why people do that rather than just eating out less often. I'd much rather eat out once a month or so and eat something good rather than eat out just as often but eat crappier food.
@johnva: It's the culture...we are conditioned to want, take, have. There's no discipline left anymore in people's lives. We can't possibly bear to go without something, even temporarily, because we're told that the bigger picture doesn't matter. It's okay to feel good now, regardless of what $6 burger combos will do to your arteries, your wallet and your waistline. We eat out probably once or twice a month, and sometimes a little more if we have plans with friends. But we don't fret about it because we cook almost every weekend, buy generic brand foods, and stay away from cookies, candy and other things that will damage our health in the long run and establish bad habits.
The grilled chicken sandwich is not crap. It is a good deal. Going to some ritzy steakhouse and paying $90.00 for a steak dinner, now that is crap.
@kwsventures: It's kind of relative, actually. A $45 steak at Ruths Chris is more satisfying (to my wallet and to my waistline) than accumulating the 700 calories per combo meal, once a week. Even twice a month, that's more calories than one steak at a good restaurant. And at a restaurant, I can choose to have vegetables, which I do.
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Sadly it's the easiest option when your run into one of those 16-hour a day weeks where you eat at work for all three meals...
@ceriphim: I don't know about that. I think an easier option would be to get something you can divide into a number of meals. Good options if you must have someone else prepare it for you would be sub shop sandwiches. Another good one, even if you're really poor, is to make a big pot of soup in advance and bring it in individual cups. Then you can eat healthy meals that are made from good food, and do it quickly. I used to eat there, but I will not under any circumstances eat McDonald's \"food\" anymore. The thought makes me sick.
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@johnva: I agree. I usually slaughter a horse on Sunday night and I eat off of it all week. Sometimes when the meat starts to turn, I get all Bear Grylls and eat it anyway. I usually wash it down with hippo piss and a scorpion.
But seriously, that Bear Grylls guy would eat his own foot if he thought it would do him some good.
@johnva: I work hours that prevent me from cooking every night...and who would want to? It's hard enough to go to work, but cooking something you want to eat every night is hard..but I make a lot of food on Sunday, and we eat it throughout the week. It's easier to do that, and healthier, than to play it by ear and end up ordering pizza on Thursday because you didn't plan ahead.
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Good food costs is more expensiveHow is good food costs formed?
You can tell if you are out with a Consumerist reader because they begin scoffing uncontrollably whenever McDonalds is in the vicinity.
I eat at McDonalds sometimes. I order the same thing as I do at every fast food restaurant. I get 2 items off the $1 menu and a water.
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My wife and I discovered that it's cheaper to eat lunch and dinner off of Value Menus during the week than buy groceries.
I feel so dirty.
@G-Dog: The only people who claim that fast food is cheaper than groceries are people who either don't know how to cook anything that doesn't or don't know how to take advantage of grocery sales. I can cook several nutritious meals for less than $5 that will feed both my husband and I. There is no excuse why anyone can't manage the same if they tried.
@G-Dog: Are you factoring in the long-term health costs?
Also, that's just not true unless you're not planning meals very well and/or buying a lot of prepackaged processed food.
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The American consumer is as illogical as the US Govt. It's still cheaper to go to a grocery store, buy food, cook it. Even after you add the cost to drive to the store, heat to cook the food and water and soap to wash the dishes.
Is there a correlation, say Olive Garden/Pizza Hut's profits down because people would rather go to McDonald's. I wonder.
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Tofu is cheap and healthy. Add some veggies, and you got a meal.
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@Triborough: Yum Yum, heavily processed glop packed with phyoestrogens! My thyroid is just itching in anticipation.
Pass.
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@Ratty: I don't think you'll want to know what's in McDonalds \"food\", then, unless you're a big fan of New Jersey.
@Triborough: Actually the $/g protein isn't that cheap at my local supermarket; being a processed food it's not that healthy; and it tastes like crap. I'll take the veggies, though.
I still haven't eaten at McDonald's in years. Maybe it was the sonic diarrhea.
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When I was younger I didn't eat McDonalds because my friends told me the burgers were made of ostrich meat (even though that would be the improvement over the rat meat they really use). Now I am older and I don't eat McDonalds because it wreaks havoc on my stomach and I feel completely drained and like garbage after I eat it. Even the iced coffee makes me feel drained. Wtf?
It is an unfortunate reality these days that eating shit is so much cheaper than eating healthy food. If you have 3 or 4 kids and are on a budget, you can spend $5 on burgers or tacos or $30 on a proper dinner at home. This has been a problem for a while now. This is one of the main reasons we have so many disgustingly obese children, especially in poorer neighborhoods.
@james: I wouldn't say its quite that outrageous (30$ for a proper dinner at home) but its more the time and skills needed to cook that dinner for 3-4 kids plus a couple adults, and then having the neighbors kids mooching off that food since they have nothing to eat and their parents send them over to another kid's house to eat. This is what typically happens in poorer neighborhoods. The person who is cooking often has to stay in the kitchen for 2-3 hours or longer in order to cook this type of meal. Add into that the time and effort it takes to grocery shop and to make sure you are stocked with all the necessary ingredients and not running out of something critical needed to make the meal. Unfortunately its so much easier to take the kids to Taco Bell and feed them all in less time and for less money than it costs to prepare a proper home cooked meal.
@Outrun1986: I definitely understand that it takes less time and effort to just go to fast food places; I'm not arguing with that. I am arguing with the notion that it's less expensive. I just do not agree with that, at all. You can make plenty of delicious home cooked meals that will feed a small family for $10-$15, or even less in some cases if it's something like soup. And it will be much tastier and higher quality food than something from Taco Bell or McDonald's.
I think that people go to fast food restaurants mainly because it's the path of least resistance, not for actual rational economic reasons.
@johnva: Last time I visited the in-laws, I made enough stew to feed six people, for less than $20, and I had leftovers. It was healthy, full of vitamins, had plenty of vegetables and lean chicken.
@IHaveAFreezeRay: Whenever I make chilli it always lasts for a week feeding myself and the soon-to-be-Mrs. Three different types of beans (we use kidney, black, and pinto), tomatoes, onions, cheese, tomato sauce, and spices total, what, a whole of $10 at the grocery store? And that's when the beans and tomato sauce aren't 10/$10. One could optionally add Morningstar Farms' Crumblers (or ground beef) for slightly more money.
There are a whole slew of inexpensive meals one can make in a crockpot/slowcooker while at work all day -- for vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores. A number of them are literally \"add ingredients, cover, and flip 'on' switch\". Plus they'll all taste better than anything you could buy at the restaurant because you're the one adding the flavor.
I won't mention that crockpots make your home smell like pure awesome because that'd be unfair.
@james:
a) I highly doubt you can feed a family with 3 or 4 kids at a fast food restaurant for $5. Or do you mean $5 per person? If that's $5/person, then you're still looking at about $30 for a meal at a fast food restaurant.
b) Again, $30 per person, or total? No way should a home cooked meal made from raw ingredients cost even close to $30 for most things, unless it's particularly expensive ingredients like steak or something.
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Isn't is still cheaper to make your own food than to buy food from any restaurant?
@Wubbytoes: Yep, as long as you're comparing the quality as well as the price. A nutritious meal for six can be cheaper than six combo meals at McDonalds. But dinner at a five-star Michelin restaurant may not be the same quality as the food you can get and make at home, so yes, homemade is cheaper, but you can't apply \"cheap\" without measuring quality as well.
\"A nutritious meal for six can be cheaper than six combo meals at McDonalds\"
No way. You can feed 6 at McDonalds for $10. Try that at home. I don't think you could make a nutritious meal for 6 for under $25 at home and would be pressed to do that.
@james: BS. You absolutely cannot feed 6 at McDonald's for $10, especially if you're talking about a nutritionally balanced meal.
@james:
1 whole chicken at $8, to be roasted.
Head of garlic for roast chicken, .50
Bag of onions for roast chicken, $3.50
Loaf of Italian bread, $2
Head of Romaine lettuce for salad, $2
That's $16, all for proper Sunday dinner food. Add a $3 bag of apples for dessert (baked or perhaps made into a crumble) and assume you will use about $3 of assorted herbs, butter, oil, flour, bouillon in meal preparation. That's $22 at Boston prices for dinner of chicken & veg, gravy, bread, salad, and dessert, so there's $3 for milk or cheap wine. Plus you will get about a quart of broth from the leftover chicken carcass.
BUT you have to shop for it and cook it. There will be about an hour of prep time in this meal and the chicken takes three hours to roast. As you can see there are no pre-prepared foods except the bread.
If you were going to do rice and beans and veg, or spaghetti with tomato and salad, or lentil pilaf, or ground hamburger, you could make a significantly cheaper meal. But you probably can't buy a nutritious meal of pre-prepared foods for six people for less than $25, and having really good food at home, on a budget, takes time, effort, and skill.
I cook and bake almost everything at home (except bread) and two of us eat extremely well on about $300 a month (for real butter, good cheese, etc. at urban prices). But I have the time, will and energy to do it, and I don't have children that will cling to my leg when I'm trying to cook, or who need to eat only between 6 and 6.30 because of practices.
Imagine getting so sick, you can no longer work. Imagine your daughter calls you and says please find us a home, my mother is abusing me. Imagine having to live off less than a thousand a month for two. Imagine having to pay for *everything* your child's school does, papers, pencils, trips and having no help from anyone. Imagine running out of money during the middle of the month, so you don't get to eat anymore that month, but so that your daughter can. Imagine having to sit in the dark, even after changing all your light bulbs to the new more energy efficient kind. Imagine having no heating when your daughter is off on a trip, or at school, so you can save on your power bill. (Even for days when it's literally freezing.) Imagine having to drive yourself to the hospital, or take an ambulance, while your daughter watches you drive off, knowing you might not make it back. Imagine a judge so corrupt, that he takes everything you had, even a habitat home that was meant for you and gives that away.
I see stories like this and I wonder how many others out there that there must be. I know I can't be the only one. If you can imagine all those things, then you now have just a glimpse into my life. Not only can I not afford McDonald's food, I honestly can't afford to live. Try living on a budget like that sometime.
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I'm happy to say I haven't eaten Micky D's in over 2 years. Last time was when I had their big breakfast and I felt sick after 2 bites.
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Look at it this way....at least you are still able to AFFORD Mcdonald's....what happens if/when the day comes when going to Mcdonald's is a LUXURY??? beware my friends, we have have had our fair share of the FEASTING DAYS....the time of FAMINE is here!
It is way cheaper to eat off the dollar menu at a fast food restaurant, like McDonald's than it is to cook at home. What you can buy at the grocery for the same price is equal to or less nutritious than the dollar menu at McDonald's.
It used to be a sign of poverty and not having enough to eat was being thin. Now it's being obese because all anyone can buy for a couple of bucks is high sugar, starch and low food value foods.
Even food boxes are loaded with low nutritional foods - with the bulk being high sugar and high starch items because that's cheapest and what people donate most.
You can not eat well, meaning lean meats and veggies, on under $5/day. But you can eat on under $5 a day at McDonald's. I'm sure other fast food restaurants are also experiencing an increase in sales of their value menu items ($1).
It's about time SOMEONE recognized poverty was fueling the obesity rate.
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Actually, I only ate there last month to play the Monopoly contest. I got every property in both the online and \"offline\" games..... except the ones that actually GIVE prizes.
They'll be back down next month.
Maybe charging for water and condiments IS paying off. I cancel my order and leave when they try to charge me for those--which has happened more often lately.
@MercuryPDX: I boycott McDonalds when that stupid Monopoly game is on. I can't believe they still offer it. A few years ago, the contractor McDonalds hired to distribute the little game pieces was caught stealing the good ones and giving them to family and friends. All they got was a slap on the wrist, while the customers legitimately buying the food hoping to win, got zilch because it was just a \"game of chance\".
@MercuryPDX: I'm ashamed to admit I also did that. I won a free hour of Wi-Fi in McDonalds, some Coke Rewards points, a free beef sandwich, a free breakfast meal, and a free coffee or something I lost the game piece for.
But of course, most of the \"good\" prizes I had 2 out of 3 or 1 out of 2 pieces needed. So it goes.
@MercuryPDX: We did the same thing. The 25% off foot locker coupon actually came in handy because I needed a new pair of sneakers.
My BF's biggest vice seems to be participating in McDonald's Monopoly every year. I figure it's better for us and our wallets to eat at McD's more in October every year than it is to go to Vegas or drink a lot or get hookers or whatever, so October was southern-style chicken sandwich and Big Mac month in our house.
@MercuryPDX: I won a free breakfast sandwich in mine, I was mildly excited.