Disgusting

[AcuraTech]

Most of my co-workers eat fast food EVERYDAY. Sometimes twice a day. When they aren't eating they're sucking down sugared soda.

I'm all for fast food once in awhile. It tastes great. But I think that a lot of people actually eat this stuff almost everyday, judging by the drive-thru line at McD's during lunchtime.

Let's face it, eating well costs money and time. I always make dinner at home for my girlfriend and I on Friday nights. I use fresh ingredients and usually have a meat dish and a vegetable dish. Nothing too fancy. Fresh, quality ingredients for one dinner usually runs about $30 dollars or more. Prep is about one to two hours in the kitchen.

So I guess I can see why so many people make that choice. 10 dollars and 2 minutes for dinner as opposed to 30 dollars and 2 hours.

Home cooking is all but disappearing in the US. Almost all of my twenty-something peers have no basic cooking skills. I imagine the only reason the Food Network survives is that people watch it for entertainment, most never use the recipes or skills. I am saddened and revolted by all of this. I'm glad that there is a growing counter trend of people demanding organic and quality ingredients, maybe real food can be saved before it disappears.

 

[Shannow]

AcuraTech,
Same observation from down under.

A friend (single Mum with live in boyfriend, two kids) saw my better half's shopping basket one day, and stated that she "could never afford to eat like that". They had (at the time), Maccas, KFC, Pizza the Hutt, Red Roo(s)ter every day, and three of the four for the other nights.

Better half suggested that a Macca's burger is $3 plus, need two of them, and two kid's burgers, plus junk to go with it ($15 for the four of them). KFC was $15-20 for 4, Red Rooter $20 plus.

and that

A HUGE pot of spag bol could be made for $15. Grated carrot and zucchini, sliced capsicum and celery add nutrition and bulk, tinned organic tomatoes are 80c/lb. There would be anough for lunches the next day.

Sausages and veg, while not a King's meal could be served for less than $10.

Response "I can't spend all day standing over a stove". (instead of buying coffee and cake).

Things have changed, he hit her once too often, she booted him out, and she now cooks for her children...and saves money.

New million dollar penthouses in Sydney have only microwaves, and bar fridges as their "kitchen".

Last Sunday, I spent the afternoon making pork and prawn steamed momos for tea (with some steamed brccolli and cauliflower). wrappers from scratch, mix ad-hocced from an hour of internet research). Fed the family (and the dog) for less than $20 including prawns. Something fun, never done before by me.

 

[Shaman]

I don't think it's just America. Most of the newly graduated Japanese I know can't really cook either. My gf can't really cook, which is really strange, because her mother cooks all the time.

 

[mpvue]

my wife and I talk abouth this all the time. we both cook, and only eat out when we haven't cooked, or there aren't any leftovers. I spent one evening last week, made a pot of sauce and some meatballs. lasted our family of 4 for 2 days, lunch and dinner. investment of maybe 8 bucks. made chicken and veal parmasian too; the veal was expensive, but if I made just chicken, that had maybe 6 bucks into it. beans and rice is even cheaper to make, even w/ having bread and salad on the side.
cooking at home and eating well is not expensive, just time consuming. but if you are willing to 'buy out the opportune time', you can really eat well. I make pizza too, and 4 medium size pies can be had for about 6-8 bucks; it's not exact, because to cook/eat well, you need a good stock of primary components- flour, olive oil, sauce, yeast, cheese. If I stock up, it's always there, and it's hard to figure out cost per meal, but it isn't much, and A LOT cheaper than ordering out.

 

[Pablo]

It is disgusting. Are any on these people 50 or over? I know people get all weirded out by the 40th birthday, but 50 is the make or break in my humble opinion. At 50 if you have been eating this junk you will be:
a) dead
b) grossly fat, sweaty, pimply and nearly dead
c) near complete organ shut down and nearly dead
d) complete loss of mobility and nearly dead.

Originally Posted By: AcuraTech
I always make dinner at home for my girlfriend and I on Friday nights. I use fresh ingredients and usually have a meat dish and a vegetable dish. Nothing too fancy. Fresh, quality ingredients for one dinner usually runs about $30 dollars or more.


What do you do the other six nights?

For 30 bucks our family can eat very nicely for at least two nights, and that includes some organics. I don't eat out too often as I consider it a HUGE luxury and when I do, it's tasty stuff. Today the wife unit and I are going to excellent Indian buffet for lunch, so no need for a large dinner after that!!

 

[Schmoe]

You got to understand in Japan, especially in big cities, a lot of apartments don't even have a kitchen. Space costs too much, so they eat out instead.

 

[Pablo]

White flour-sugar-fat is a nasty life lock.............

 

[CivicFan]

Lately we've been eating a lot of fast food, too. There simply is no time for going to a store to buy stuff and then cook them.

 

[Drew99GT]

Eat Healthy Choice microwave dinners then. Not as good as fresh food, but eons healthier and faster than fast food. Or, eat at Subway. I usually get Subway for lunch and do simple home cooked dinners that take all but 30 minutes - oven roasted or steamed veggies and grilled, poached, or roasted meats. Easy, fast, and not that expensive. When it's warm enough, I go through a tank of propane on my grill about every 2 weeks!

I truly can not imagine eating McDs twice a day. Found this online: "In 1957, the average fast food hamburger weighed 1 ounce and delivered 210 calories. When McDonald’s® first opened, its original burger, fries and 12 oz. coke served up 590 calories. Today a supersized Extra Value Meal (Quarter Pounder with cheese, supersized fries, and a supersized drink) delivers 1,550 calories."

Some people eat that craap 3 times a day....that's 4,000 + calories a day, not including other drinks and snacks. No wonder America is supersized now. Anyone ever see the movie Supersize Me? Dude ate McDs non stop - after like 25 days, his liver was messed up like he'd been boosting a bottle of booze every day. Sad really.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
White flour-sugar-fat is a nasty life lock.............



Sounds vaguely familiar to me...my wife dropped 130 pounds on Weight watchers over the course of about a year. She works out by simply going on walks (hard to do with bad weather!) and no longer heads for take-out food of the fast-food, or even sit-down, variety.

Really, home cooked food is nearly always the best.

Ironically, tonight is the first time in 3 weeks we'll be going out to eat together at the new Logan's restaurant that just opened in town.

Going out to eat at fast food places all the time is FAR more expensive than eating healthy & wisely. Taco Bell for 2 kids and one adult is around $11 and it's not healthy at all.

 

[benjamming]

People have priority management issues. If all they really have time for is fast food everyday, they don't value their health and are very short sighted. There are, of course, exceptions such as emergency surgeries, etc. Sometimes we will eat at Chick-Fil-A or something but that is less than 1x/month.

My wife cooks 3-4 times a week plus breakfast a few times a week. We eat the leftovers the rest of the time. I am truly blessed. Shortly after we were married, she took a few cooking school classes. She enjoyed them very much and still enjoys picking out recipes & cooking. I am responsible for washing the dishes and keeping the kitchen clean. I believe that is part of the key with her still enjoying it all.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: benjamming
People have priority management issues.

exactly.

in 3rd world countries, the women spend all their waking hours preparing food, basically. walking miles to get water, etc. here, we think we are better off, but how much better off are we if we have no time to enjoy a home cooked meal? Americans truly are wasteful (or should I say, WAIST-FULL?)

this has me thinking of dinner tonight: how about grilled chicken breast panini sandwiches? maybe whip up a batch of pizza dough for tomorrow night also, mmmmmmmm...

 

[Drew99GT]

I have a panini machine. Great investment! That is another thing I make a lot...warm sandwiches with soup. Home made tomato soup (takes a half hour) with grilled cheese and roasted ham. Has kept me alive on many a friggid night. Made rubens the other night. mmmmm mmmmmmmm they are tasty with real corned beef.

 

[mpvue]

I'm old school on that, I have a panini pan. reubens are great. we fry down some onions w/ the sauerkraut first, then grill the corned beef, assemble, then grill the whole works together.

 

[sprintman]

I don't cook so I buy all the food. I'll travel anywhere to buy the best produce all certified organic and Oz has the world's toughest standards. Having access to the best farmers market in the country helps. Mcd, KFC, Red Rooster etc is disgusting, how can people eat that? Anyway it's Saturday morning time to hit the market