When did you stop seeing fast food as an option?

13

Replies

  • brittanystebbins95
    brittanystebbins95 Posts: 567 Member
    I never ate out much to begin with, but if I am out and about or traveling, it IS an option. I just pay attention to the calories on the menu and work it into my calorie allowance for the day.
  • joshmobley
    joshmobley Posts: 4 Member
    kiela64 wrote: »
    Relying on fast food for lunches or when I don’t want to cook or when I’m tired and want a motivation to get out of the house on time is one of my absolute worst habits for both my wallet and my weight/health. I didn’t always see it as an option. I used to never spend money on food when I was young, and it just never occurred to me to go into these places. University changed that and I’m finding it harder to go back to “boring” home foods like sandwiches from the freezer or spice-less curry lentils (the grocery store curry powder is just such a sad bland spice). I’m no cook and a “simple” meal can often mean hours of work because I make mistakes and can’t seem to do 2 things at once (like stir and chop). It makes me feel dumb, then I avoid it. Which is even more dumb.

    I really want to cook vegan or vegetarian meals (mainly because my access to refrigeration during the day is inconsistent and I want to avoid poisoning myself - but also ethical reasons). But everything seems so complicated! I don’t even know where to buy setein (spelling?) let alone cook it.

    But I’m living on ~$12,000/year trying to make my income go to school to reduce debt (also living at home). I can’t keep overspending on eating out, but buying strange ingredients I don’t know how to use is also intimidating.

    I can make 3 meals: (bland) curry lentils & uncle Ben rice, white beans & quinoa, and a black bean and quinoa soup. The spices I use are: garlic, chipotle peppers, and (bland grocery store) curry powder. The cookbooks I have are confusing and require so many ingredients I can’t find. I also need to be able to freeze whatever I make for a week+ of use (I can really Only cook once a week because it takes like 4h for me to do simple things). But I am so sick of these 3 recipes!

    Help??? 😞

    So are you eating vegan-friendly fast food?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,893 Member
    texasredreb wrote: »
    If you can read and follow instructions. If you have access to the Internet; you have access to unlimited recipes. It sounds like you are making excuses. Sure it's easier to run out and grab some "flavorful" fast food, but how's that working out for you?

    $12K/year isn't a bad amount of income for someone not paying a full mortgage, utilities, and other expenses related to owning a home. I don't know what financial obligations you have, but it seems that since you live at home and depend on fast food for meals that you have a lot of discretionary income. Use some of the money to buy the things online that you can't find locally.

    Feeding yourself delicious and nutritious food is not rocket science but it is as simple or as complicated as you choose to make it.

    Oh, as for fast food--I never eat it. I grew up in a town with no fast food restaurants and my parents didn't believe children should go to restaurants--so I never developed a taste for fast food or restaurant food. Thank goodness!

    My grandmother used to say "If you can read, you can cook." I later learned she was quoting Julia Child.

    That said, some recipes are definitely easier to follow than others. Since I learned on the Joy of Cooking (or perhaps because it is superior), I vastly prefer that format, which unfortunately is not very common.

    d7cca80ceb9a58b1918612803457cd07.jpg
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    I like to say I'm a terrible cook but a master assembler. I'm also good at Googling. Instructions say to blanch and I don't know how? I look it up, and I actually get some tips along the way (like salting water for pasta, seems like a common thing to know but I didn't!). I would say I actually spend more time reading about techniques rather than reading the recipes.
  • erekstrusinski1989
    erekstrusinski1989 Posts: 42 Member
    @kiela64 the first time i logged it in MFP and saw trans fat!
  • ultra_violets
    ultra_violets Posts: 202 Member
    I didn't. I'm already aware of not being "normal" and not being able to eat the same things as other people because of my weight and my diabetes. Fast food is still an option for me because I'm a regular person on a budget and cooking a meal from scratch isn't always an option. But almost every restaurant has healthy options! It's very easy to find grilled chicken options, salads, etc. You don't have to never eat out again. Just make good choices.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    edited May 2019
    joshmobley wrote: »
    kiela64 wrote: »
    Relying on fast food for lunches or when I don’t want to cook or when I’m tired and want a motivation to get out of the house on time is one of my absolute worst habits for both my wallet and my weight/health. I didn’t always see it as an option. I used to never spend money on food when I was young, and it just never occurred to me to go into these places. University changed that and I’m finding it harder to go back to “boring” home foods like sandwiches from the freezer or spice-less curry lentils (the grocery store curry powder is just such a sad bland spice). I’m no cook and a “simple” meal can often mean hours of work because I make mistakes and can’t seem to do 2 things at once (like stir and chop). It makes me feel dumb, then I avoid it. Which is even more dumb.

    I really want to cook vegan or vegetarian meals (mainly because my access to refrigeration during the day is inconsistent and I want to avoid poisoning myself - but also ethical reasons). But everything seems so complicated! I don’t even know where to buy setein (spelling?) let alone cook it.

    But I’m living on ~$12,000/year trying to make my income go to school to reduce debt (also living at home). I can’t keep overspending on eating out, but buying strange ingredients I don’t know how to use is also intimidating.

    I can make 3 meals: (bland) curry lentils & uncle Ben rice, white beans & quinoa, and a black bean and quinoa soup. The spices I use are: garlic, chipotle peppers, and (bland grocery store) curry powder. The cookbooks I have are confusing and require so many ingredients I can’t find. I also need to be able to freeze whatever I make for a week+ of use (I can really Only cook once a week because it takes like 4h for me to do simple things). But I am so sick of these 3 recipes!

    Help??? 😞

    So are you eating vegan-friendly fast food?

    Nope. I want to work on being more vegetarian and incorporating more vegan things. Maybe I started too ambitiously?

    But wow I’ve got so much good advice from most of the replies here thank you so much!!! I’m not on Pinterest and I thought it was mostly for fashion or decor and I’m not into that, I didn’t realize it was for recipes. I google stuff sometimes- that’s how I found my 3 recipes. But I couldn’t find anything different- I think I’ve got lots more suggestions here, especially with spicing. Indian spices are so delicious and the no name curry powder has been so sad. I’ll poke around the international aisle and other stuff!

    I honestly feel intimidated by the crock pot! We have one but it seems easier to use a pot on the stove than try to figure out how all the pieces fit together and remember to take it out X number of hours later. Also maybe my parents need to use it and if I put something in it I’ve taken over idk I don’t want to be in the way! My partner has an insta pot that they aren’t using and offered to me so maybe I’ll take that up - at least then I’m not sharing and I don’t have to feel guilty if it’s in use or I need to soak it etc.

    Also a lot of people suggested eggs and stir fry - I was under the impression fresh veg was too expensive/would go to waste if I froze things or they would not freeze and microwave well? And I don’t know about eggs do they freeze?

    I’m also not sure if even organic/free range are “ethical”? I’ve done reading but it seems complicated. I don’t want to start relying on stuff that isn’t sustainable. I don’t think I’ll ever manage to be 100% vegan but I figured at least with what I make I can do my best. But I seem to get overwhelmed really fast.

    I did get the “everything vegetarian” cookbook ages ago but it’s so massive I get scared looking at it 😖 I guess I just keep getting super intimidated by all this and it’s not helping lol

    Also re: the comments about my income being decent - it’s not disposable. I’m allowed to buy necessities but 80% at least should be going to paying for school. The fact I rely on buying food is a massive problem and could result in me graduating with way more debt than I should have. 😣 so it’s really not about weight even though it’s important I really have to get on top of this!
  • joshmobley
    joshmobley Posts: 4 Member
    Nope. I want to work on being more vegetarian and incorporating more vegan things. Maybe I started too ambitiously?

    I think that's a fine long-term goal, and certainly you can strive to get there 100%, but if you're still on the journey of not faltering back to fast-food, I'd recommend just focus on eating whole, home-cooked foods.

    Give yourself a pass from time to time to incorporate chicken thighs (budget friendly) or some other protein source that'll scratch the itch without resorting to all the other health-decreasing issues of fast food.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    kiela64 wrote: »
    joshmobley wrote: »
    kiela64 wrote: »
    Relying on fast food for lunches or when I don’t want to cook or when I’m tired and want a motivation to get out of the house on time is one of my absolute worst habits for both my wallet and my weight/health. I didn’t always see it as an option. I used to never spend money on food when I was young, and it just never occurred to me to go into these places. University changed that and I’m finding it harder to go back to “boring” home foods like sandwiches from the freezer or spice-less curry lentils (the grocery store curry powder is just such a sad bland spice). I’m no cook and a “simple” meal can often mean hours of work because I make mistakes and can’t seem to do 2 things at once (like stir and chop). It makes me feel dumb, then I avoid it. Which is even more dumb.

    I really want to cook vegan or vegetarian meals (mainly because my access to refrigeration during the day is inconsistent and I want to avoid poisoning myself - but also ethical reasons). But everything seems so complicated! I don’t even know where to buy setein (spelling?) let alone cook it.

    But I’m living on ~$12,000/year trying to make my income go to school to reduce debt (also living at home). I can’t keep overspending on eating out, but buying strange ingredients I don’t know how to use is also intimidating.

    I can make 3 meals: (bland) curry lentils & uncle Ben rice, white beans & quinoa, and a black bean and quinoa soup. The spices I use are: garlic, chipotle peppers, and (bland grocery store) curry powder. The cookbooks I have are confusing and require so many ingredients I can’t find. I also need to be able to freeze whatever I make for a week+ of use (I can really Only cook once a week because it takes like 4h for me to do simple things). But I am so sick of these 3 recipes!

    Help??? 😞

    So are you eating vegan-friendly fast food?

    Nope. I want to work on being more vegetarian and incorporating more vegan things. Maybe I started too ambitiously?

    But wow I’ve got so much good advice from most of the replies here thank you so much!!! I’m not on Pinterest and I thought it was mostly for fashion or decor and I’m not into that, I didn’t realize it was for recipes. I google stuff sometimes- that’s how I found my 3 recipes. But I couldn’t find anything different- I think I’ve got lots more suggestions here, especially with spicing. Indian spices are so delicious and the no name curry powder has been so sad. I’ll poke around the international aisle and other stuff!

    I honestly feel intimidated by the crock pot! We have one but it seems easier to use a pot on the stove than try to figure out how all the pieces fit together and remember to take it out X number of hours later. Also maybe my parents need to use it and if I put something in it I’ve taken over idk I don’t want to be in the way! My partner has an insta pot that they aren’t using and offered to me so maybe I’ll take that up - at least then I’m not sharing and I don’t have to feel guilty if it’s in use or I need to soak it etc.

    Also a lot of people suggested eggs and stir fry - I was under the impression fresh veg was too expensive/would go to waste if I froze things or they would not freeze and microwave well? And I don’t know about eggs do they freeze?

    I’m also not sure if even organic/free range are “ethical”? I’ve done reading but it seems complicated. I don’t want to start relying on stuff that isn’t sustainable. I don’t think I’ll ever manage to be 100% vegan but I figured at least with what I make I can do my best. But I seem to get overwhelmed really fast.

    I did get the “everything vegetarian” cookbook ages ago but it’s so massive I get scared looking at it 😖 I guess I just keep getting super intimidated by all this and it’s not helping lol

    Also re: the comments about my income being decent - it’s not disposable. I’m allowed to buy necessities but 80% at least should be going to paying for school. The fact I rely on buying food is a massive problem and could result in me graduating with way more debt than I should have. 😣 so it’s really not about weight even though it’s important I really have to get on top of this!

    If you weren't able to find more than those three recipes then you simply weren't searching long or well enough. Additionally, if you're able to afford fast food on a regular basis, you should be able to easily buy vegetables and/or meat for a stir-fry. It sounds like you need to go to the grocery store and just look at what's there.
    Some vegetables will freeze well and others really won't. Despite that, you don't need to buy enough vegetables that you'd have to freeze them. I am in a similar living situtation to the one that you're in, except I cook almost all of my own food. It is very rare that I have to freeze vegetables that I've gotten, I simply buy what I need for the week. There are also various websites with information on what does and doesn't freeze well and for how long.

    I'll leave you to your own standards of what is or isn't ethical for you. That's a very personal decision and not one that I can help you with.

    Honestly you a. need to cook despite it being intimidating and b. need to do more searching online. Even googling "vegetarian stir fry recipies" gets me 10 different recipes on the first page. You should also be able to find your slow cooker's/crock pot's instruction manual online if your parents don't have it anymore. I personally rarely use the slow cooker, but that's me.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    I love my Instant Pot!

    Search for one-dish vegetarian or vegan meals, or pressure cooker meals, and you'll find lots of easy recipes.

    In terms of organic - that has nothing to do with how animals are treated. Free range has very little meaning and cannot be relied upon in relation to treatment of animals. What that means to you, is obviously up to you.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,215 Member
    Personally, I still consider some fast food an option. I'm also in such a habit of pre-logging I very rarely get caught in a situation where I don't know what I'm eating and have been MFPing long enough to get a good feel for what I view as "good enough" and what fits decently with calories and macros when I'm eating out.
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
    Bean Salad - Can use chickpea, kidney, white etc., open can, rinse, drain. Add your favorite salad dressing or red wine vinegar, a little EVOO if you want. Optional add in: sliced Bermuda onions, cherry tomatoes, cubed green peppers/cucumbers etc. Refrigerate. As someone mentioned above, there are healthier options at fast food though it would save money if you shopped and made the food at home. I just received an instapot. Apparently you can cook hard boiled eggs in it, brown/white rice and can saute right in it and then cook. I need to open the box.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
    I look at fast food as something I can have regularly but not daily. I usually eat in a restaurant 2-3 times a week, typically one of those is fast food. The rest of the time I eat at home. If I was going out for fast food every day for lunch that would be a problem for me. It's just full of salt and not always high quality so I think it's better to prepare food at home the majority of the time. I agree though w/ others who say fast food can absolutely fit into your calorie goals. I usually get an entree only, sometimes eat burgers/sandwiches with half bun and/or pick a healthier side (if I need more food for that meal). Drink water or black coffee.

    As for cooking on a budget, I highly recommend a YouTuber named Kicki Yang Zhang. She doesn't really post these anymore but for several years she uploaded vegan "What I Eat in a Day". They lean more toward Asian food but not always. It is healthy food that is pretty fast & easy to prepare with "normal" ingredients or maybe things that you can buy cheaply in Asian markets...nothing she posted in her videos was crazy expensive. So many good simple meal ideas for anyone, vegan or not.

  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 694 Member
    Regarding becoming vegan/ vegetarian, this happened gradually for me.

    Breakfast was pretty much always vegetarian, and lunches with salads or vegetable soups. I started making more vegetarian dinners, then stopped having dairy. So it was a small jump to vegan.
    Personally, I have found vegan difficult to maintain long term, but can sustain vegetarian. These are very personal decisions.

    Eggs, I don't know about freezing them, but there's not really a need. Eggs will live happily in a box for a couple of weeks, if you only buy 6 at a time it's easy to eat them before then. If you cook them they will keep for a few days in the fridge as well.

    Do you have access to a library? I tend to get cookbooks from the library then think about if it's worth buying. I don't like long lists of ingredients either.

    Look for blogs, instagram, websites. Thug kitchen (Be warned, a bit sweary) Bosh, I like The Food medic (UK based may not be useful).

    Don't get overwhelmed, look at magazines, watch you tube, buy a simple learn to cook book. Remember you're learning, your not just going to stop going to school because it gets tricky, same rules apply.


  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,981 Member
    There has been lots of good advice about cooking for beginners in this thread.

    I am not a gourmet cook but I do cook most of our meals from scratch or 'semi scratch' - ie some are made at home but using premade ingredients like canned sauces.

    However I think thread title is bit misleading - I wouldn't say I never see fast food as an option.

    I do.

    On average once a week or so.

    It isn't an either / or scenario - one can make more meals at home but still have fast food at times.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    paperpudding wrote: »
    There has been lots of good advice about cooking for beginners in this thread.

    I am not a gourmet cook but I do cook most of our meals from scratch or 'semi scratch' - ie some are made at home but using premade ingredients like canned sauces.

    However I think thread title is bit misleading - I wouldn't say I never see fast food as an option.

    I do.

    On average once a week or so.

    It isn't an either / or scenario - one can make more meals at home but still have fast food at times.

    I’ve absolutely appreciated all the advice, and made lots of notes. Today I made a crock pot chili - before realizing we were out of chili powder....so a chili-less chili I guess? I’m still looking for more recipes. Next time I’ll do this properly. But I am not so afraid of the crock pot. 🙂

    I’ll explain, I meant fast food as an option day to day, “oh I’ll just grab food” instead of putting in the work. Not date night/special occasions or a planned treat. That’s completely different!

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,961 Member
    kiela64 wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    There has been lots of good advice about cooking for beginners in this thread.

    I am not a gourmet cook but I do cook most of our meals from scratch or 'semi scratch' - ie some are made at home but using premade ingredients like canned sauces.

    However I think thread title is bit misleading - I wouldn't say I never see fast food as an option.

    I do.

    On average once a week or so.

    It isn't an either / or scenario - one can make more meals at home but still have fast food at times.

    I’ve absolutely appreciated all the advice, and made lots of notes. Today I made a crock pot chili - before realizing we were out of chili powder....so a chili-less chili I guess? I’m still looking for more recipes. Next time I’ll do this properly. But I am not so afraid of the crock pot. 🙂

    I’ll explain, I meant fast food as an option day to day, “oh I’ll just grab food” instead of putting in the work. Not date night/special occasions or a planned treat. That’s completely different!

    chili powder is basically cumin, cayenne (ground red pepper), and a little oregano, so if you have those you can get a chili flavor. (You could substitute other ground hot peppers or hot sauce for the cayenne, and could probably substitute marjoram or an oregano-heavy Italian spice blend for oregano. I don't think there's much of anything that comes close to cumin.)
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    kiela64 wrote: »
    joshmobley wrote: »
    kiela64 wrote: »
    Relying on fast food for lunches or when I don’t want to cook or when I’m tired and want a motivation to get out of the house on time is one of my absolute worst habits for both my wallet and my weight/health. I didn’t always see it as an option. I used to never spend money on food when I was young, and it just never occurred to me to go into these places. University changed that and I’m finding it harder to go back to “boring” home foods like sandwiches from the freezer or spice-less curry lentils (the grocery store curry powder is just such a sad bland spice). I’m no cook and a “simple” meal can often mean hours of work because I make mistakes and can’t seem to do 2 things at once (like stir and chop). It makes me feel dumb, then I avoid it. Which is even more dumb.

    I really want to cook vegan or vegetarian meals (mainly because my access to refrigeration during the day is inconsistent and I want to avoid poisoning myself - but also ethical reasons). But everything seems so complicated! I don’t even know where to buy setein (spelling?) let alone cook it.

    But I’m living on ~$12,000/year trying to make my income go to school to reduce debt (also living at home). I can’t keep overspending on eating out, but buying strange ingredients I don’t know how to use is also intimidating.

    I can make 3 meals: (bland) curry lentils & uncle Ben rice, white beans & quinoa, and a black bean and quinoa soup. The spices I use are: garlic, chipotle peppers, and (bland grocery store) curry powder. The cookbooks I have are confusing and require so many ingredients I can’t find. I also need to be able to freeze whatever I make for a week+ of use (I can really Only cook once a week because it takes like 4h for me to do simple things). But I am so sick of these 3 recipes!

    Help??? 😞

    So are you eating vegan-friendly fast food?

    Nope. I want to work on being more vegetarian and incorporating more vegan things. Maybe I started too ambitiously?

    But wow I’ve got so much good advice from most of the replies here thank you so much!!! I’m not on Pinterest and I thought it was mostly for fashion or decor and I’m not into that, I didn’t realize it was for recipes. I google stuff sometimes- that’s how I found my 3 recipes. But I couldn’t find anything different- I think I’ve got lots more suggestions here, especially with spicing. Indian spices are so delicious and the no name curry powder has been so sad. I’ll poke around the international aisle and other stuff!

    I honestly feel intimidated by the crock pot! We have one but it seems easier to use a pot on the stove than try to figure out how all the pieces fit together and remember to take it out X number of hours later. Also maybe my parents need to use it and if I put something in it I’ve taken over idk I don’t want to be in the way! My partner has an insta pot that they aren’t using and offered to me so maybe I’ll take that up - at least then I’m not sharing and I don’t have to feel guilty if it’s in use or I need to soak it etc.

    Also a lot of people suggested eggs and stir fry - I was under the impression fresh veg was too expensive/would go to waste if I froze things or they would not freeze and microwave well? And I don’t know about eggs do they freeze?

    I’m also not sure if even organic/free range are “ethical”? I’ve done reading but it seems complicated. I don’t want to start relying on stuff that isn’t sustainable. I don’t think I’ll ever manage to be 100% vegan but I figured at least with what I make I can do my best. But I seem to get overwhelmed really fast.

    I did get the “everything vegetarian” cookbook ages ago but it’s so massive I get scared looking at it 😖 I guess I just keep getting super intimidated by all this and it’s not helping lol

    Also re: the comments about my income being decent - it’s not disposable. I’m allowed to buy necessities but 80% at least should be going to paying for school. The fact I rely on buying food is a massive problem and could result in me graduating with way more debt than I should have. 😣 so it’s really not about weight even though it’s important I really have to get on top of this!

    The crock pot is honestly the least intimidating kitchen appliance because it's very, very hard to burn food in it :) Just don't let everything cook dry and be careful turning it on the highest setting until you know how hot your crock pot gets.

    The best beginner crock pot application is dried beans. Throw them in the crock pot with plenty of water, and any seasonings you want. Turn on the crock pot. Walk away. A few hours later, you have plenty of beans that you can eat as is or put in other things, for much less than the cost of canned beans. You can freeze cooked beans if you won't eat them soon. Easy, cheap uses for your beans include bean soup, beans and rice, burritos, salad toppings, molletes (Mexican style beans and cheese on toast), bean enchiladas, bean and cheese pasta.

    I also like to use my crock pot for spaghetti sauce and vegetarian chili, both of which also freeze nicely. If my freezer is empty, then I will cook pinto beans on day 1, black beans on day 2, and then throw some of each into chili on day 3.
  • 1chesc
    1chesc Posts: 152 Member
    I often cook Jamie Oliver 5 ingredient meals. There are a number of vegetarian recipes in his book. You can also find some of his recipes for free on his website https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/category/books/5-ingredients-quick-easy-food-recipes/

    They all tell you how simple or difficult the dish is to cook and it gives you a calorie breakdown on each page which I find useful. As each recipes only have 5 ingredients you don't end up with lots of ingredients you will never use again.

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