Recently, I chose a fast food burger,
the double burger size, for a special treat. I'd been cooking for
weeks and wanted a change of pace from the daily drudgery of washing dishes and cooking meals. There was a time when
the Big Xtra filled a void for me and was of great value. It was a
tried and true selection and my reward for working hard. Those times
are gone, I began to realize. Eating eating out is now slowly
becoming a fad from my past. ...
I had been looking forward to buying
one of those multi-layered burgers with its fries. The coupon would
make it cheaper. Many fast food restaurants, during periods of slow
sales, send coupons in the mail to increase sales in a lackluster market. As I began to eat my burger, the search was on to
find the illusive patty. But there were two of them. Where could they be, I wondered? After two bites, I found them, very small and oh-so thin, and not
exactly the 'perfect' fit for the bottom bun. I sighed. I had been
eating a 'triple-layer carb' sandwich and did not even know it. I
had been ambushed. This would not be a good fit for my health or
sluggish thyroid. Even the lettuce inside was missing in action to
the degree it was supposed to be. This disappointment has been ongoing for over a year. I kept hoping my imagination had been running wild. Alas, it was not. Do not bother sending me your
coupons, now. I am no longer interested. The hidden starch agenda is not a nutritious lunch.
Today's take-out/eat-in containers have
been 'modernized' in new 'slanted' designs or cute little bags with
flashy colours to entice us, the starving consumer. The fry boxes,
open on one side, serve to assist us in picking up the food item more
easily, perhaps. These opened ended boxes also serve to prevent their
interiors from being filled to capacity. Such deception! Ten pounds
of potatoes cost $4 - $6.00 yet the labour costs involved to make one
small serving of this popular starch equals the cost of ten pounds of
the real root vegetable. Where are we going with all of this? When
does reason prevail? Things change when we do! How do men feel when
they need to buy 2 or 3 burgers to feel satisfied? At a cost of
$4-$5 each, when does the high cost of eating out - at lunch - no longer make any sense anymore? Every little nothing we buy adds up to the cost of never
getting to invest or buy that illusive house. It is amazing how much money is wasted buying over-priced, 'diluted' food. A meal is either good value or it is
not.
Eating an apple might be a better choice, in the short term, for
immediate hunger. Try it. It works every time. This historic and timeless fruit shuts down
hunger, is a cornucopia of nutrients, builds muscle, is easily
transportable, is delicious, comes in many different tastes and
colours and requires no cooking or refrigeration.
In the restaurant experience, without
us realizing it, the quantity of the food we enjoy seems to be
diminishing over time, too, while prices seem to creep up, ever so
disquietly. Is that not double dipping, a way of hitting the consumer
twice? Is the new and an 'improved' menu simply a distraction for
introducing higher prices? Is the focus now on the cheaper
'additions' with new white china is in play? Are the wide-rimmed
bowls a clever ploy to make the food in the bowl compartment seem larger, a value
selection? Oh My.
At the all-you-can-eat buffet, (AYCEB)
we have one price with unlimited choice and unlimited time to enjoy
it. No deception here. I wrote about this modern dining format's abuse in July, 2013.
Many new AYCEBs have appeared on the dining landscape since then. For
me there is one inescapable fact: lunch is becoming cheaper, now, at
the all-you-can-eat buffet, especially for men. With a
preponderance of fresh fruits, vegetables and assorted protein
choices available, a dining-in lunch might be the better, cheaper
way and far more nutritious, too. Eating a heavier meal at lunch
rather than at supper time does make more sense.
Today's lunch time combo seems
outdated. Protein is an important nutrient in maintaining daily good
health. It is the costliest part of any meal. In the AYCEB scenario, protein choices are numerous and yours for the making and
taking, in any amount to satisfy hunger. Bread and buns are not a
requirement for health. Perhaps, scrutiny of the burger combo, coupon or not,
has arrived. Soda pop has never been a part of a healthy diet. Once upon a time, it was a rare treat for special occasions. ...
Has the Law of Diminishing Returns
entered into our dietary conundrum? Does increasing the size of the
bun or pizza pie make the burger/toppings seem larger? At what point
does the nutrient dense lunch-time burger lose out to the lunch-time,
one-price-fits-all, AYCEB? When the cost of lunch approaches the
$20.00 mark for the mid-day meal, things need to change. In the final analysis,
apples with cheese and a side green salad might be the best way to go.
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