Damn, that's not so bad. Last time I checked, a "value meal" with the yogurt/salad was 69 SEK or roughly $10.
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McTorture: I'm lovin it????
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Damn, that's not so bad. Last time I checked, a "value meal" with the yogurt/salad was 69 SEK or roughly $10.
News stories about rising profits again doesn't indicate people are trading a meal at a local steakhouse, with a waiter, for a McD's meal. It can mean what I said, people moving from more expensive fast food franchises to McD's cheaper fare.
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In Canada at least, most of the meals are between 5.49$ + tax to 7.49$ + tax.
So yeah, for 6$ you don't get the Angus Third pounder deluxe, but you still get a "meal" (if you can call McDonald's a meal).
Last time I stayed in MTL, I was shocked by the food cost. I found everything else quite cheap (fuel/clothing/housing) but food was way out of line compared to most of Europe. Why is the food taxed so high?
Especially groceries. I food cooking more expensive in MTL than Stockholm with beer/milk in line with Swedish prices ($6-10/pint of beer at a bar), which was quite shocking when compared to America.
Food in grocery stores isn't taxed at all in Quebec. Only restaurant prepared food or some grocery items like prepared meals (not microwave diners in the freezer section, actual on-site prepared food like restaurants serve).
Fuel/clothing/housing is expensive in Montreal, especially compared to the US.
Wait, you're comparing bar prices with groceries ? Currently, all convenience stores/grocery stores are advertising beer at 13.99$ for a case of 12 bottles. That's pretty cheap. Milk prices are regulated by the government and are usually under 2$ for 2L.
Nope, food isn't that expensive at the grocery store. If you're talking about restaurants, yes the fast food stuff is expensive, being around 10-15$ for a decent meal in the food courts.
Buying food at the grocery store and cooking your own stuff comes out cheaper than the dollar menu.
Yes but it also takes quite a lot longer to prepare, some of the ppl eating McD don't have the time to do a proper meal.
The worst excuse ever. If you want to eat properly, you have the time to do it. Cooking a proper meal takes easily less than 10mins. Fry some chicken breast and cook quick rise/noodles. That takes roughly 10min and requires no cooking skills at all. You can even cook week's food beforehand in no time. Using the microwave to heat the food takes less time than McD.
Seriously, the people who eat at McD are just using the hurry as an excuse to eat a burger. Proper food is always an option if you plan your schedule beforehand and carry meals with you. It's cheaper, healthier and faster in the long run.
Agreed, but you are just talking prep+cook time. You didn't mention what it takes to plan to have the proper items in your pantry+fridge/freezer in the first place. The time to and from the store. Not to mention, if someone is out of town for business and they have 30 minutes to run downtown to pick up something to eat and get back to work, anything other than fast food may not cut it.
You don't live at McD, either. It takes time to go there too. It doesn't take longer than 5mins to pickup a few chicken breasts and a box of rise when coming home from work. You can't live with McD food 24/7, so you need to go grocery shopping by time to time anyway. Buy a lot and freeze stuff, that's what I do. Always have something in the freeze.
I think it's okay in an extreme case like this, I was mainly referring to the regular people who use their hurry as an excuse to take themselves and their children to McD everyday. Here and there it's completely fine to eat fast food.
Uh ? I've waited in line longer at McD's than it takes to cook a meal at home. Seriously, is tossing a salad together from some vegetables lying around longer than being 10th in line ?
Is slapping a piece of meat in a frying pan, throwing some seasoning on it longer ?
You can have a decent home cooked meal, cheaper than the dollar menu and much healthier in the same time it takes to wait in line, place your order and wait for your food.
Not to mention you don't have to get into the car and drive all the way to McD's for the home option.
People who claim they don't have the time are wrong. They have all the time in the world if they can go to McD's.
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Time to plan ? You don't ever go grocery shopping ? I just pick up a week's groceries each friday night. There's plenty of stuff in the pantry/fridge/freezer.
I eat fast food at work during the day, but even then, I opt for the fast food sushi place, the wrap/salad place, Subway or the healthy vietnamese lemongrass place. I don't go to the hot dog stand or McD's.
People who eat McD's are just making excuses. It's not even good. When I want a burger, I grab some extra lean meat at the grocery store, some multi-grain bread and fire up the BBQ.
Meat is expensive if you get the good stuff (and I always do) but there is a very simple way to combat the cost. Eat less of it. People aren't really meant to eat meat for every single meal. I probably only eat meat 2 nights per week, but I make sure it is really good stuff. Obviously, try and make sure your vegetables etc for the rest of the week are awesome too. Good veg is cheap as chips though (literally).
To combat the lack of time, make big batches of stuff and freeze it. I always have some chilli, ragu, stew and bread in the freezer plus other bits as I make them. Then you can just add some rice or pasta and you are away. If you have a slow cooker you can make a perfectly fine stew by just chucking a load of stuff in there and leaving it to cook during the day (my slow cooker was less than £10 and works great). Probably enough for 4-5 meals from a single effort. From then on it's 5-10 mins in the microwave.
Finally - I think the key reason I couldn't eat McDonalds - the lack of variety. How can people stand to eat the same thing every single day?
Also - cooking is fun!
You should get yourself a frezer
Not really. I'd say cooking healthy and properly takes at least 30 minutes per evening. And, I usually spend 45m-1h preparing a meal. To be honest, frying some chicken breasts and a quick rinse/noodles isn't that much healthier than McDs.
Realistically, making a salad with fresh dressing (no bottled stuff) takes 10-15 minutes with washing cutting but can be done with the other stuff is cooking.
Making one main dish usually takes at least 30 minutes, as just heating the oil before adding garlic/onion takes 5 minutes with an extra 3-5 minutes until any meat is ready. Then adding veggies and cooking runs 15-20 minutes. Serving and cleaning for another 5-10 minutes. Realistically, if you're efficient and have good equipment (stainless pots/pans, good knives for prep), you're looking at 30 minutes minimum.
However, I can't see why someone can't work an extra hour in the evening for cooking/cleaning/lunch prep for the next day. What's more important than eating healthy?
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If you live in a reasonable location, it only adds 5-10 mins to the day. I usually hit the market every day. If you live somewhere where you need to drive to the market, that's a lifestyle choice, and probably one that I would actively avoid.
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You should get yourself a frezer
I have the standard built into the kitchen cabinets version and I can only squeeze in maybe 6-8 of the standard red/white IKEA lunch containers. I usually keep some berries/fruit on hand for cocktails, but no frozen veggies (yuck).
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barf
doubt it.
1. Crappiest bread outside of a burger chain
2. Meats are heavily processed
3. Really poor cheese selection.
4. Sauces, if any, are just slathered on.
5. Minimal flavor.
6. Not so healthy, calorie/carb wise.
You'd be better off going to a private deli/sandwich place for the same money. Subway has a better rep, but is only minimally better than a burger chain.
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Although, just right now I came across a study linking rice to Arsenic in US women.
Rice consumption contributes to arsenic exposure in US women (in PNAS)
http://www.pnas.org/content/108/51/20656.abstract?etoc
No way. Assuming you use wholewheat products, there is nothing unhealthy in the meal I described. Lots of protein and long-lasting carbs plus essentially no fat at all. McD food has only short carbs, few protein and lots of fat.
I usually make a big bowl of salad in the weekend and it lasts through the week. Hence I can fit my week cooking into 10mins
If there is no salad, throwing some frozen veggies onto the pan along with the chicken works brilliantly as well. Can still make it under 10min. I was mainly describing an extreme case and showing that you can cook a proper meal in the same time as McD. I love cooking and will happily let it take an hour or two of my day if I have that time. However, it's possible to be quicker and still eat healthy.
No way. Assuming you use wholewheat products, there is nothing unhealthy in the meal I described. Lots of protein and long-lasting carbs plus essentially no fat at all. McD food has only short carbs, few protein and lots of fat.
I usually make a big bowl of salad in the weekend and it lasts through the week. Hence I can fit my week cooking into 10mins
I was mainly describing an extreme case and showing that you can cook a proper meal in the same time as McD. I love cooking and will happily let it take an hour or two of my day if I have that time. However, it's possible to be quicker and still eat healthy.
Frozen veggies ... never in my kitchen.
How do you keep the salad from browning/drying out over the course of a week (or the veggies for that matter.)
Chicken breast isn't necessarily healthy, it's cheap/fast, but not really high quality. I've found that the lamb quality is much higher in Germany than the poultry quality for almost the same price (at a real butcher.)
I can understand what you're saying, but I think that people should really commit 30m-1h if they're going to cook, or else the quality won't be so high, nor the taste.
However, I did find the Swedish chicken high quality (maybe Finnish as well), but the pork products really, really poor.
Not the supermarket stuff. Buy fresh and freeze on your own.
I use a vacuum box. Basically, it's a regular salad bowl but you suck the air out of the inside. A salad can easily last throughout the weak while still looking fresh.
Lamb is very poor quality and hard to get in here (from regular supermarkets). Very expensive too (+20/kg). I find the chicken quality to be okay, as long as you buy natural breasts. The marinated stuff is total crap.
What is there to doubt ? They use fresh ingredients, they grill cook the meat (no grease) and the rice noodles are cooked in water and everything is served with tons of steamed vegetables.
That's the concept, healthy vietnamese cooking. Have you been to this place ? Of course not, it's a Montreal based business.
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Have a look at their nutritional guide. They have plenty of low calorie/low carb choices.
They also have something other than the white bread, look at the whole grain flavor (not those other fancy breads).
Subway is fine, much healthier than McDonald's. Sure if you take the meatballs sub, grab a 12" and a bag of Doritos with a bike coke, you've just had yourself a 1200 calorie meal that's basically empty of nutrition.
But the turkey sub, 6", with a yogurt, no cheese (why would you splatter Subway's cheese anyhow on your sandwich ?) with mustard, you're under 500 calories easy, which is fine for a meal for someone who's not active at all.
And frankly, your estimates for cooking prep time are so off. I can make a sandwich + salad in under 10 minutes, from fresh veggies in the fridge to plate. Cook more and it'll take less and less time as you get used to it.
Chicken not healthy ? What are you smoking. Poultry and fish are the healthiest forms of meat and most recommended by nutritionists.
I agree, my wife and I cook at home at probably 25 to 28 days a month. That's our choice. You have a lifestyle and you're probably healthier for it. You can't say what is easier for you is easier or better for someone else. Maybe some people just hate cooking. Maybe some people just love big macs.
BOOM! Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner. Our neighbourhood actually decided to have our own chickens.
And that's their perogative. But frankly to say McD's is faster than home cooking is ludicrous. Admit you hate cooking and don't care about your health and move on, don't make excuses for it.
Yes there probably isn't a huge difference in time, especially if you are in an area with a very busy McD's.
Personally when I cook meat it's on the grill with charcoal, so it takes a while to get ready, but well worth it to me.
I don't think I quite follow when people say going to the grocery store every day to get food to cook takes awhile.
I go to the grocery store on the weekend, buy everything for the next week, and that's it. Very rarely do I find myself in a grocery store anytime else during the week. People actually go to the store each day?
I go to the grocery store on the weekend, buy everything for the next week, and that's it. Very rarely do I find myself in a grocery store anytime else during the week. People actually go to the store each day?