Banning Happy Meals - Page 2

A lot of stuff gets over priced. We can't use the excuse of shipping cost to explain it all away. I have Scandinavian friends who were completely shocked that green bell peppers are $2.49 a piece here. (Theirs are imported in and from further)

Where are you getting the idea that most video games and bought and played by children? Most are played by adults, start a thread in the lounge asking how many adults on here play if you don't believe me.
Since books encourage kids to sit still, should there be extra taxes on them, too?

Dads and older kids can cook, too. Maybe if responsibilities where shared for meal making, and the kids dragged into the kitchen to make them help cook, more families could find that time each night to cook.
I think this is where part of the problem is. If you raise a generation on premade foods and fast foods they don't learn how to cook if it doesn't involve less than three steps and a microwave. Then they start having kids..

But you know how to cook, therefore how to shop. Stop and think for a moment, what about those who barely know how to make spaghetti. What sort of items would they buy to make it and what would the cost be? Lets go all out and say spaghetti and meatballs - assume the person doesn't even know how to make meatballs so they buy them premade frozen. Total up the cost of the meal then.

I've seen the movie...I think it's a great movie but that part with the family who couldn't afford healthier meals seemed odd to me. It's true that good food is expensive, but I think better food than McDonalds can be prepared at home at a lower cost.
Yes, pears and all fruits and veggies can be expensive, but if you buy stuff that is in season you can get it for really cheap. Like, bananas here are 10 cents each or less. I get avocados, 3 for $1, fresh pineapples are also really cheap and in this season watermelons and canteloupes are cheap also. I can't remember prices off the top of my head, but usually I get the cheapest veggies and fruits which are in season, not only because of price but also because they are freshest, I don't want to be eating stuff that's traveled halfway through the world and lots most of its nutrition qualities- and if I feel cheap I just get veggies frozen which is still MUCH healthier than eating McDonalds...
I get dry lentils, beans, chickpeas, rice for all about $1 for a big bag that I use about 1/8 of at a time and whole grain pasta which can easily feed an entire family is about $1.
I don't cook meat because I can't touch raw meat without vomiting, but my parents do and they always talk about how much cheaper it is than going to a restaurant, and you're also eating better quality meat because you can make a steak at home for the same price as you would eat a burger and fries and a drink at McDonalds.
All my life I've had someone cook for me but recently I decided to cook for myself because I can't afford to be eating all the greasy food my mom cooks, she uses wayy too much olive oil, butter, etc... and I'm the only one in my family who's ever had a weight problem So now I have learned how much planning it takes to always have something ready, because if not and I'm hungry and I haven't cooked anything- then I would not even think twice before I get some kind of convenience food.

I think the point the movie was trying to make was that these big corporations who are the main producers of foods are trying to sell the junk they make while making everything else overpriced, which is true, but still this to me is no excuse to just eat McDonalds..

I will say that as a single person, it IS much cheaper to order off the dollar menu at Burger King than to cook for myself. Even cheap foods like chili, I figured up the cost per serving and it's around $1.50. I've never tried to cook for a family but I don't know if it could be done cheaper. It's a messed-up system.

Not knowing how to cook is just an excuse, there are so many cook books out there - if you can read, you can cook.

Some like the 4 ingredients or less series are so simple even a child could do it. Actually I know a mum who bought childrens cook books when her son moved out, and sure enough he soon learnt to cook.

Online forums, free or very cheap cooking classes at libraries or community centres. If people want to learn and make decent food they'll figure it out.

My BIL is one of those people. He can't boil water unless given an exact amount of water to boil otherwise he gets confused. He can follow some basic instruction, but doesn't really understand what he's doing or why it needs to be done that way. He also just doesn't really care, he's not the type to pull out a cookbook for anything. Lots of people are like this.
His mother never involved him in cooking - but then she uses the microwave to boil pasta so I think he had a bad example. His idea of buying food to make at home is premade frozen or kit foods.

DH has some of the same problems. Just earlier this evening I had to show him how to beat something and the reason why you use that over stirring. I've made a lot of progress with him over the years, but he really should have learned this stuff growing up. All people should.

Whether it's "just an excuse" or not, it's a big reason why people go for convenience foods.
Willowy is a good example - as those of us who understand how to cook, what short cuts and what can be completely made from scratch (and remember that prepared foods can easily be frozen for later quick meals) know that her chili could be made for closer to .30 - .50cents a serving.

'Tis true that it probably could be done cheaper....I do use canned everything. I suppose dry beans would be cheaper. But soaking them overnight is a pain. And making my own tomato sauce. But I don't know how to do that, and fresh tomatoes are expensive. Unless I grow my own, which is also somewhat expensive if you add it all up. And corn....eh, probably canned corn IS the cheapest. I do make a huge pot and freeze the rest.

But really....30¢ a serving? A real serving or like a half-cup (nobody eats that little)? I'll have to price dry beans and see if that's really do-able. And meat....I don't add meat but most people do and I'm sure that really jacks up the price per serving.

I don't know if dry beans are cheaper than canned, aren't canned beans like $1 per can?? And they do have chili that's canned already done with the tomato sauce, right?? How can that be more expensive than McDonalds??
I mean, I guess if you consider eating a $1 burger at McDonalds, it could be about equal..
But I would take canned chili over those burgers any day.
Though I avoid canned chili because all of it has meat inside, and meat coming from a can is something I'll have to be starving to eat but I would still choose it over a McDonalds burger.
I get dry beans, you can also let them sprout and put on a salad..I eat salads with every single meal just as something extra besides the meal, that way it's healthier and you can get away with eating a more boring meal, like a boring pasta with no meat. And the salads they sell at fast food places can easily be done with just buying a bag of lettuce mixed salad for $2 (or $1 if you get it on sale) which has 3 servings, deli meat for like $5 which will last you a very long time, and some store bought cheese and dressing ...
I love salads because they make the meal less boring. I make all the time either lettuce with green onions or cucumber, tomato and red onion I don't use cheese and meat though unless all I'm eating is a salad.

^You can get a pound of beans for around $1.
I use canned sauce and tomatoes - the secret is that I buy store brand and make sure to buy a few cans when they're on sale. Soaking beans is easy. Put in water, go to sleep.
Meat depends, for just you - you could use 1/2 a pound at ~$2 a pound. You could also use sausage, ground turkery, or chicken - and get the cost down by breaking whatever meat you purchase into smaller amounts and freezing it. (a small roll sausage can be cut in two and each half can be used in a meal for 2-3 people.I'll use half a roll -1/2lb of Italian sausage for spaghetti and buy that sausage when it's on sale for $2 or less )

And yes, that cheap would be ambitious. But mind you I make a large pot of it, feed 3 on it for a couple days and freeze whatever is left. You can pull that frozen chili out, thaw it for a bowl of chili or serve it over something else.

One benefit of growing up lower income. You learn how to make things stretch. Chicken soup for example - in a pinch I'll use whatever pasta I have, if I have eggs I'll make the noodles myself.

Little things like this are cheap, and much cheaper for a family especially since one can make enough that everyone gets enough to eat - growing kids sometimes need a bit more than what's in a happy meal.

Growing up poor, we learned that $5 doesn't buy much steak, but it buys a lot of beans, and the beans are just as nutritious.

On the other hand, when I was young, we occasionally ate at McDonalds. This was back when a hamburger was 15 cents.

One cheap suggestion, I know we all have dandelions growing unless you have a perfectly maintained lawn (and if you do then you probably are spending money on weed killers that you should spend on healthier food, unless you can afford both)
You can get the leaves and put them in a salad. Yup, free food
It's exciting for me because I am always open to eating unconventional foods that supposedly have health benefits, and dandelions are one of these foods..
I don't know, I really don't understand how people say fast food is cheaper than grocery bought food. When I was eating a raw vegan diet, I ate relatively expensive food, like "raw" cashews, walnuts, flax seed meal to make a "raw" bread, pretty much a bunch of stuff from whole foods that most people have never heard of, and like a 12 oz of cashews are $10, same with most other nuts....and still I was spending less than I would if I ate fast food. If I eat out, no matter where it is, it's around $6-7, like a chic fil a sandwich and fries and a drink is like $6....same with quiznos and subway, I haven't been to mcdonalds in a loong time tho so I don't know how much stuff costs there, but it used to be the dollar menu was never enough to feed someone, it was mostly stuff to snack on and the actual food was still no less than $5.

When I go to McDonalds (which is rarely, maybe 5-6 times a year) I usually get either a plain burger or cheeseburger with pickles and mustard only. I don't like a lot of junk on my burger (sauces or vegetables) so I never order the larger sandwiches and their french fries are not very good so I don't usually order fries. Once in a while if there is a cute toy in the Happy Meal I will get one of those instead, but according to the nutrition info the way I order it, it is still under 500 calories.

As far as prices for fresh foods it depends on where you shop and the local prices in your area. Also some areas do not have access to a lot of produce stores/supermarkets and may have trouble getting fresh whole foods.

It is true that if you are savvy and know how to cook you can stretch the more expensive foods quite a bit. For example while meat may cost more, you can buy some less expensive fresh ingredients and make a stir fry or a stew with it all, so that the meal will be filling and nutritious and a smaller quantity of meat can then feed more people.

Personally I grow veggies and herbs in the garden and this can also save money although in my area the growing season is pretty short so it would not be that helpful in the long term. I usually grow peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, beans, strawberries, and a bunch of herbs. I'm trying to find cherry trees that are hardy enough to grow in my zone.

O/T but
PM GailC to double check, but I think bing, stella, and sweethearts should work if you're in zone 5. Your tart cherries are a littler hardier, though.

Everyone should try growing something edible if they can, even if it's just a little flower box of herbs. It's good to actually grow something and to have the base ingredients should encourage people to cook with them.