Bad tasting, healthy food.
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WinoGelato wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »When you compare the cost of cooking at home against the cost of that same meal prepared in a restaurant you really don't get a true comparison unless you allot some value to your time that it took you to shop for the ingredients, prepare the meal and then clean up time afterwards. That was my point earlier.
I know...the thought might be bizarre to include those costs in your home made meal. I was a cost analyst many years ago in another life. I also had a home manufacturing business where when I figured the cost of making an item I had to include my overhead such as equipment, electricity, time... etc.
Don't get me wrong...I cook at least 95% of my meals at home. Part of the reason I do is cost, taste, nutrition and sadly because I can't eat out very often because of sodium content. When I do eat out I have to find low sodium items and there just aren't that many options in restaurants.
Bizarre to pay myself to feed myself? Yep, that is bizarre to me. Gas to the store, electricity/gas, even cost of the home. Sure, I could figuring those in. But each meal would be such a tiny portion of most of those that I really don't see it being a huge factor.
But anyway you figure the cost it's going to be cheaper to eat at home. $10 for one meal for 2 people is not a bargain.
No one is suggesting you pay yourself a stipend for the cooking you do, but acknowledging that individual time is valuable and that on some days a better use of that time is picking up takeout or going out to eat rather than time spent in the kitchen. You don't think your time is valuable?
I don't find $10 for a meal for two outrageous but it all depends on individual perspective and budgets.
I'd still love to see the example of feeding a family of four for 3 days on $10.
Me too, I thought I was pretty thrifty but that's a whole other level!4 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »When you compare the cost of cooking at home against the cost of that same meal prepared in a restaurant you really don't get a true comparison unless you allot some value to your time that it took you to shop for the ingredients, prepare the meal and then clean up time afterwards. That was my point earlier.
I know...the thought might be bizarre to include those costs in your home made meal. I was a cost analyst many years ago in another life. I also had a home manufacturing business where when I figured the cost of making an item I had to include my overhead such as equipment, electricity, time... etc.
Don't get me wrong...I cook at least 95% of my meals at home. Part of the reason I do is cost, taste, nutrition and sadly because I can't eat out very often because of sodium content. When I do eat out I have to find low sodium items and there just aren't that many options in restaurants.
Bizarre to pay myself to feed myself? Yep, that is bizarre to me. Gas to the store, electricity/gas, even cost of the home. Sure, I could figuring those in. But each meal would be such a tiny portion of most of those that I really don't see it being a huge factor.
But anyway you figure the cost it's going to be cheaper to eat at home. $10 for one meal for 2 people is not a bargain.
Imagine to be, say, a lawyer who charges 200$ per hour.2 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »When you compare the cost of cooking at home against the cost of that same meal prepared in a restaurant you really don't get a true comparison unless you allot some value to your time that it took you to shop for the ingredients, prepare the meal and then clean up time afterwards. That was my point earlier.
I know...the thought might be bizarre to include those costs in your home made meal. I was a cost analyst many years ago in another life. I also had a home manufacturing business where when I figured the cost of making an item I had to include my overhead such as equipment, electricity, time... etc.
Don't get me wrong...I cook at least 95% of my meals at home. Part of the reason I do is cost, taste, nutrition and sadly because I can't eat out very often because of sodium content. When I do eat out I have to find low sodium items and there just aren't that many options in restaurants.
Bizarre to pay myself to feed myself? Yep, that is bizarre to me. Gas to the store, electricity/gas, even cost of the home. Sure, I could figuring those in. But each meal would be such a tiny portion of most of those that I really don't see it being a huge factor.
But anyway you figure the cost it's going to be cheaper to eat at home. $10 for one meal for 2 people is not a bargain.
Sigh...I think that you are missing the point here. I am not advising you to calculate those costs. What I am saying is that it is difficult to get a true comparison between restaurant food and home cooking without adding those expenses in.
You are right...you can feed a family of 4 at home for 4 or 5 days much cheaper than you can if you ate all of those meals out.
I disagree however with the $10 meal for two people not being a bargain. Let's say you and a mate wanted to spend the evening out together. You both had worked hard all week and just needed some time alone. You could spend $10 to feed you both...walk along a river...maybe do some window shopping. At that point...$10 is a real bargain for a couple of hours of alone time.
I live in Texas and shop HEB which is one of the lowest priced grocery stores that I have ever shopped. I cook for 2 but I always make enough for another night. Some of my casseroles(4 servings) cost me more than $10. I don't buy organic...I don't buy the most expensive meat though I do pay more to buy chicken that is not shot up with a sodium solution. I still can't make a meal that costs anywhere near .50 cents. I am not saying it can't be done I just can't figure out how expecially if one uses meat.5 -
So many people say eating healthier is more expensive than take away. I see it here (Australia) regularly when overweight people who just about live on Mcdonalds and pizza etc say they can't afford to buy healthy groceries...
If my husband and I had dinner at Mcdonalds every night for a week it would cost around $140 for 7 days, this does not include breakfast, lunch, snacks and the staples of bread, butter, milk etc If i tighten the purse strings i can do a whole weeks grocery shopping with loads of veggies, fruit and chicken breast for a little over $200 for the two of us. If i include "junk food" like chips, chocolates, biscuits(cookies) ready frozen meals, meat pies etc it would easily jump up to $300.
I made a massive stir fry last night that was loaded with a host of different veggies, chicken breast and rice which will portion out to 5-6 meals (i made way too much), at a guess i'd say the whole thing wouldn't have cost more than $10.0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »So many people say eating healthier is more expensive than take away. I see it here (Australia) regularly when overweight people who just about live on Mcdonalds and pizza etc say they can't afford to buy healthy groceries...
If my husband and I had dinner at Mcdonalds every night for a week it would cost around $140 for 7 days, this does not include breakfast, lunch, snacks and the staples of bread, butter, milk etc If i tighten the purse strings i can do a whole weeks grocery shopping with loads of veggies, fruit and chicken breast for a little over $200 for the two of us. If i include "junk food" like chips, chocolates, biscuits(cookies) ready frozen meals, meat pies etc it would easily jump up to $300.
I made a massive stir fry last night that was loaded with a host of different veggies, chicken breast and rice which will portion out to 5-6 meals (i made way too much), at a guess i'd say the whole thing wouldn't have cost more than $10.
Perhaps those who do fast food every night and think it's inexpensive tend to favor the dollar menus.4 -
kommodevaran wrote: »I don't dispute that healthier eating tends to cost less than constantly eating out. But recently, having to buy food shared by others kind of made me grumble a bit sometimes. Grapes, apples, cherries, and avocados, for instance, tend to be fruit I like. Even with reasonable per pound costs, these add up quickly in poundage and tend to cost a lot. And they're yummy sweet favorites, so they tend to get gone quickly, too.
I haven't given too too much thought to it, but I almost wonder if your diet has to be somewhat restricted to eat a strictly or mostly whole foods diet for not a lot of money. You wouldn't just walk into the store and buy just anything you like; many items would simply cost too damn much
If you are on a budget, there has to be some kind of restriction. Restriction isn't in itself something terrible. I eat what I want, but I don't buy "just anything I like". I buy what I like and can afford. I weigh what I want against what it costs. Some things are more expensive than other things, but I buy them because that's what I need. Sometimes I buy more expensive things just because I want them a lot more than something else that is just as good but cheaper. But I usually choose the cheapest alternative that is good enough. I also think about what I need and try to not buy more than I need. I don't buy large amounts of things I would overeat.
Very good points. Nothing's free; a budget is a budget and working one out is going to take some intelligent thought either way!0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »So many people say eating healthier is more expensive than take away. I see it here (Australia) regularly when overweight people who just about live on Mcdonalds and pizza etc say they can't afford to buy healthy groceries...
If my husband and I had dinner at Mcdonalds every night for a week it would cost around $140 for 7 days, this does not include breakfast, lunch, snacks and the staples of bread, butter, milk etc If i tighten the purse strings i can do a whole weeks grocery shopping with loads of veggies, fruit and chicken breast for a little over $200 for the two of us. If i include "junk food" like chips, chocolates, biscuits(cookies) ready frozen meals, meat pies etc it would easily jump up to $300.
I made a massive stir fry last night that was loaded with a host of different veggies, chicken breast and rice which will portion out to 5-6 meals (i made way too much), at a guess i'd say the whole thing wouldn't have cost more than $10.
Perhaps those who do fast food every night and think it's inexpensive tend to favor the dollar menus.
Good point. The $140 a week was based on a big mac meal deal each.
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If you wanna eat that "bad food" go for an extra walk. Do an extra work out.. my husband bought me a peanut butter blizzard the other day. Think i ate it? You bet i did! Lol... i just about died when i added it however lol but no regrets it was amazing! Just work out a lil harder is all:) if you tell yourself you cant have something you may set yourself up to fail.. just make it work;)0
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I'm of the "life happens" mindset, too.If you wanna eat that "bad food" go for an extra walk. Do an extra work out.. my husband bought me a peanut butter blizzard the other day. Think i ate it? You bet i did! Lol... i just about died when i added it however lol but no regrets it was amazing! Just work out a lil harder is all:) if you tell yourself you cant have something you may set yourself up to fail.. just make it work;)
Each day I plan to stay within my calories. But if something unplanned comes up, I have enough flexibility to include it in my day if I want to, and compensate for it elsewhere - be it adding in a little more exercise, cutting back a bit on what I consume the next day, or some combination of the two.
Because life is too short to not eat delicious things.
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snickerscharlie wrote: »
I'm of the "life happens" mindset, too.If you wanna eat that "bad food" go for an extra walk. Do an extra work out.. my husband bought me a peanut butter blizzard the other day. Think i ate it? You bet i did! Lol... i just about died when i added it however lol but no regrets it was amazing! Just work out a lil harder is all:) if you tell yourself you cant have something you may set yourself up to fail.. just make it work;)
Each day I plan to stay within my calories. But if something unplanned comes up, I have enough flexibility to include it in my day if I want to, and compensate for it elsewhere - be it adding in a little more exercise, cutting back a bit on what I consume the next day, or some combination of the two.
Because life is too short to not eat delicious things.
Life is also too short to spend so much time stressing out about every little minor detail. I don't want to end up thin, healthy and fit only to realize that I haven't enjoyed myself along the way.
I think that we can let the good vs bad food...CI vs CO...macro/micro counts take over so much that we miss out on so much more that life has to offer.
We need to find balance...that balance between being healthy and being happy along the way. I think it can be found...we can still accomplish our goals...maybe it just takes a few months longer...
IDK...worrying about all of these little details seems to suck the life out of me at times. I am working at learning...balance.
So...a peanut butter blizzard sounds like...balance...at least to me.7 -
Let's all go have a peanut butter blizzard!2
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snowflake954 wrote: »Let's all go have a peanut butter blizzard!
I'm in, but only if I can have a peanut buster parfait, and we wait a few months for the weather to warm up.1 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »Let's all go have a peanut butter blizzard!
I'm in, but only if I can have a peanut buster parfait, and we wait a few months for the weather to warm up.
I'm always somewhat glad when I move so that Dairy Queen is not along my daily route. DQ Blizzards are my favorite food 0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »Let's all go have a peanut butter blizzard!
I'm in, but only if I can have a peanut buster parfait, and we wait a few months for the weather to warm up.
OK0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »Let's all go have a peanut butter blizzard!
I'm in, but only if I can have a peanut buster parfait, and we wait a few months for the weather to warm up.
I'm always somewhat glad when I move so that Dairy Queen is not along my daily route. DQ Blizzards are my favorite food
I live about a 5 min walk to DQ...I can see it from my balcony. I actually walk through their parking lot to get to the drug store. I try not to think about it...just walk on by.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »When you compare the cost of cooking at home against the cost of that same meal prepared in a restaurant you really don't get a true comparison unless you allot some value to your time that it took you to shop for the ingredients, prepare the meal and then clean up time afterwards. That was my point earlier.
I know...the thought might be bizarre to include those costs in your home made meal. I was a cost analyst many years ago in another life. I also had a home manufacturing business where when I figured the cost of making an item I had to include my overhead such as equipment, electricity, time... etc.
Don't get me wrong...I cook at least 95% of my meals at home. Part of the reason I do is cost, taste, nutrition and sadly because I can't eat out very often because of sodium content. When I do eat out I have to find low sodium items and there just aren't that many options in restaurants.
Bizarre to pay myself to feed myself? Yep, that is bizarre to me. Gas to the store, electricity/gas, even cost of the home. Sure, I could figuring those in. But each meal would be such a tiny portion of most of those that I really don't see it being a huge factor.
But anyway you figure the cost it's going to be cheaper to eat at home. $10 for one meal for 2 people is not a bargain.
I get where you're coming from. I have a hard time with my OH buying premade brownies for $5 for much smaller amount than when I make a 9x13 pan. Not only do I not count my time, I only count the cost of the baking chocolate, because everything else is a staple. I know that's not an accurate way to calculate cost, but that's how I do it.
Unfortunately, when I make the brownies I eat more of them, because they are better
However, I do get where people are coming from when they say one's time does count for something - when my ex husband and I were both working full time and going to school full time I did buy a dishwasher and hire a housecleaning service, because we just didn't have the time for housework.1 -
I haven't had Dairy Queen since I was about 12 years old. Tried it once and it was ... meh.
We were spoiled growing up. My parents used to drive us (it was a bit of a drive) out to this place called Greenwood Dairies a couple of times a summer that had the most incredible ice cream and whipped cream. I still haven't tasted whipped cream or ice cream that is anywhere near as good as that stuff was. I always had a hot fudge sundae (don't even get me started on how good their fudge sauce was) with wet walnuts.
Sheer heaven that stuff was.2 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I haven't had Dairy Queen since I was about 12 years old. Tried it once and it was ... meh.
We were spoiled growing up. My parents used to drive us (it was a bit of a drive) out to this place called Greenwood Dairies a couple of times a summer that had the most incredible ice cream and whipped cream. I still haven't tasted whipped cream or ice cream that is anywhere near as good as that stuff was. I always had a hot fudge sundae (don't even get me started on how good their fudge sauce was) with wet walnuts.
Sheer heaven that stuff was.
Scrub. You get to drive while the rest of us eat our DQ treats.1 -
Some people can eat "bad" food in moderation but for those of us with carb and sugar addictions its not so easy. I understand her point completely and have found ways to make the healthier options of things I love and have the real thing maybe once a month and its an all out dinner night out with my kids. Other than that home cooking and taking your time to meal prep can help keep you track and gives you flexibility to add flavors to make your food taste better. Best of luck to us all = )0
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If you wanna eat that "bad food" go for an extra walk. Do an extra work out.. my husband bought me a peanut butter blizzard the other day. Think i ate it? You bet i did! Lol... i just about died when i added it however lol but no regrets it was amazing! Just work out a lil harder is all:) if you tell yourself you cant have something you may set yourself up to fail.. just make it work;)
Is there anything Americans don't add peanut butter too?? I can only dream that Australia will catch on to this soon! I have to add PB2 to cheerios and just about everything else to get the taste of peanut butter deliciousness
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snickerscharlie wrote: »
I'm of the "life happens" mindset, too.If you wanna eat that "bad food" go for an extra walk. Do an extra work out.. my husband bought me a peanut butter blizzard the other day. Think i ate it? You bet i did! Lol... i just about died when i added it however lol but no regrets it was amazing! Just work out a lil harder is all:) if you tell yourself you cant have something you may set yourself up to fail.. just make it work;)
Each day I plan to stay within my calories. But if something unplanned comes up, I have enough flexibility to include it in my day if I want to, and compensate for it elsewhere - be it adding in a little more exercise, cutting back a bit on what I consume the next day, or some combination of the two.
Because life is too short to not eat delicious things.
Exactly! If i want it ill prob eat it lol..Christine_72 wrote: »If you wanna eat that "bad food" go for an extra walk. Do an extra work out.. my husband bought me a peanut butter blizzard the other day. Think i ate it? You bet i did! Lol... i just about died when i added it however lol but no regrets it was amazing! Just work out a lil harder is all:) if you tell yourself you cant have something you may set yourself up to fail.. just make it work;)
Is there anything Americans don't add peanut butter too?? I can only dream that Australia will catch on to this soon! I have to add PB2 to cheerios and just about everything else to get the taste of peanut butter deliciousness
That sounds awful.. peanut butter is amazing!
I think its funny im not the only one with this problem.. worst part is i was grouchy he never got me the cheese cake one. How greedy am i? Lol... ill eat that next time:p0 -
I am not sure what you consider to be "healthy" food, processed foods of any kind is not "healthy."0
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Some people can eat "bad" food in moderation but for those of us with carb and sugar addictions its not so easy. I understand her point completely and have found ways to make the healthier options of things I love and have the real thing maybe once a month and its an all out dinner night out with my kids. Other than that home cooking and taking your time to meal prep can help keep you track and gives you flexibility to add flavors to make your food taste better. Best of luck to us all = )
I once thought I was addicted to carbs and sugar....turns out, I was just eating too much of it and not enough of what my body needed. I was also looking for an excuse to why I gained weight.
it took a while to get the hang on moderating, but I am happy now.2 -
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Some people can eat "bad" food in moderation but for those of us with carb and sugar addictions its not so easy. I understand her point completely and have found ways to make the healthier options of things I love and have the real thing maybe once a month and its an all out dinner night out with my kids. Other than that home cooking and taking your time to meal prep can help keep you track and gives you flexibility to add flavors to make your food taste better. Best of luck to us all = )
Having it once a month is a way of moderating.
My current way of deficit eating is just like that ... except I indulge once a week.
I recently went through a phase where I found it difficult to moderate. I'm working on getting back to it. So far, so good. I'm doing well portioning out the dark chocolate and caramels I have on hand.1 -
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Christine_72 wrote: »
Ha, yes I probably am a bit repetitive by this point lol. The whole 'processed' foods thing is such a big pet peeve of mine though, drives me batty!2
This discussion has been closed.
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