Okay, I have a confession to make. I hate it, but sometimes I turn to fast food to feed the family.
There, I got it out. Now, hear why:
Lately, I have been working upwards to 70 hour weeks. When I am not at work, I am usually commuting, which accounts for another 2 hours of the day. Then, I sometimes work at home. All in all, I am looking at close to 90 hours a week of work.
Now, you all see that I have a problem, and I think that those of you out there have the same problem as me.
Fast food joints are not all bad. They are there because they fill a demand. Truth is, they fill it too easily. I am not going to war against them. I just want something better for my family than the “nuggets” my son asks after.
The irony is that I have the skill to cook my way around the goofy clown, or the colonel. I just have not been doing my best to avoid them.
WDC will be focused on solving that problem for you all. So, I am throwing out the question to you out there:
How do you avoid visiting the fast food restaurant during your insanely busy week?
I am looking forward to hearing your response in the comments section.
Stay tuned for more posts on how to beat that stupid clown at his own game!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
My go to “fast food” in Los Angeles are the ubiquitous taco trucks and stands all over the city. They are delicious, almost with out exception. They are cheaper than McDonalds– faster too! I wonder what a kid would think though, so it is not the solution for us all. GREG
I think there are different reasons for hitting the fast food restaurant. Needing food quickly is one. A second might be that you (or your kids) want what they might usually order at a fast food restaurant, like chicken nuggets or burgers & fries. Third, and this happens to me all the time; we are out, sometimes far from home and it is meal time. So with 3 different excuses, you could have different solutions too.
1. Preparing ahead is the typical solution to this. You know the drill (which few of us follow), cook once, make 2 or more meals. Or use up your whole Sunday to prepare meals for the week to come. Sometimes this is appealing, most of time NOT. So, work with fast to prepare stuff like soup, pasta or eggs. I am making my own soup now because we’re cutting out Sodium and prepared soups were the first to disappear from my pantry. I really miss grabbing a can of soup for lunch — so right now I have about 12 jars of 3 varieties of frozen soup prepared. Eggs for dinner, scrambled with some onion & pepper is fairly quick to whip up.
2. We just want burgers & fries or nuggets… well make your own! They will taste better and be better for you too. Oven-baked fries aren’t the golden arches, but are healthier. Wedges are easy to do. I now get 2 lbs of ground beef and make 10 or 12 burgers at a time (again low sodium), freezing the extras with double waxed paper between them. Buy the PC Blue Menu “not a bun” buns and they are pretty healthy too (tomatoes & cucumbers on the side & on top).
3. We work outside our home-office often, sometimes an hour away – and often I don’t know where we will be at mealtimes. I never prepare lunch for us ahead of time, so personally I could do better by just planning ahead but that doesn’t seem to be in my nature. We have found that you can get a decent meal at many restaurants for about the same price you pay at a chain burger joint. Example? Swiss Chalet Quarter Chicken with salad is a lot better for you than a burger and fries or rings and about the same price (maybe $1 more). We frequent a small restaurant in our town where the chef will accomodate us whenever we ask to split an order of… (portion size is often a battle at a restaurant) or he will give us 1/2 fries and 1/2 salad for our side.
@GREG – You are so right. I guess it is okay to visit those “fast food” restaurants that are run by real cooks. There is a diner that is in our town that has been open for the last 90 years. It is run by waitresses that actually still do the math correctly in their heads when giving you the check. You just cannot beat that.
@Cathy – On your points, you are absolutely correct. One way to do things is to prepare a huge batch on your Sunday. I used to do this back in the day, when I actually had 2 days off. Unfortunately, I now am lucky to get 1 day off.
I agree it is way better to make your own. I advocate that in this very site. I can understand though, it is really hard to get motivated after a really long day at work. Perhaps I should think on some posts about making your life easier for when you get home.
As for that last point: Good for you! I love that you frequent a place with a chef. I think that is important. Having a professional prepare your food is great. In the end, it is a better return for your investment.
Thank you so much for replying to this post, it means a lot to me. I plan to make a post incorporating some of your thoughts.