Why Do People Choose Fast Food Over Home-Cooked Meals?

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People often choose fast food over home-cooked meals due to busy lifestyles and a lack of cooking skills, leading to a reliance on convenience. Many express dissatisfaction with the taste and quality of fast food, noting that it often lacks the flavor and artistry of traditional meals. The discussion highlights how fast food portion sizes have increased significantly, contributing to unhealthy eating habits and obesity. Some participants mention that fast food can be perceived as a quick and tasty option, despite its nutritional drawbacks. Overall, the conversation underscores a cultural shift away from cooking at home, resulting in a preference for fast food among many individuals.
  • #51
CaptainQuasar said:
They have, like, ten different salads. Not everyone can be as gifted as I am at reading fast food menus. :wink: It's a survival skill.
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I haven't eaten in a restaurant for over 10 years, but the menus at home are pretty good. My wife and I are both good cooks. Last night she whipped up some baked enchiladas topped with my home-made salsa and Monterey jack cheese. There's still some left in the fridge and it's whispering to me.
 
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  • #52
turbo-1 said:
There's still some left in the fridge and it's whispering to me.

I see you have your own survival skills. Go forth, great hunter!
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  • #53
I eat fast food at least once a day, everyday of the week except sometimes on Saturdays. It obviously isn't the best tasting or nutritious thing in the world but

1) Its quick. It doesn't get squashed or leak in your bag, its served hot.

2) Depending on what you get, it can actually taste ok.

3) It's just everywhere, when your hungry you grab a tiny snack.

I know theyre all pretty pathetic reasons, but those are mine. I'm not even slightly overweight, but it may be because I burn all that fat off with my basketball regime, everyday at least 2 hours.
 
  • #54
So why is there not fast food fish, like the famous crab cakes or cod slappers?
 
  • #55
I know theyre all pretty pathetic reasons, but those are mine. I'm not even slightly overweight, but it may be because I burn all that fat off with my basketball regime, everyday at least 2 hours.

Well, it's not just regular fat. Saturated, trans-fat, and high levels of sodium are terrible for your body. All the preservatives probably aren't very good for you either.
 
  • #56
wolram said:
So why is there not fast food fish, like the famous crab cakes or cod slappers?

There is. That Long John Silver's place in the U.S. (God, every single thing on their menu tastes so horrible... what the heck do they put in their frialator oil? Or maybe it's the breading? Blech.) and fish & chips chains in Canada and the UK.
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  • #57
Here in Maine you can't go anywhere without bumping into a place that sells fast-food seafood. Fish sandwiches (usually with breaded deep-fried haddock filets), lobster salad rolls, clam rolls (made with battered deep-fried clams), shrimp rolls etc. Almost every road-side take-out place offers seafood sandwiches and/or seafood baskets with french fries or onion rings. Almost every bit of it is deep-fried with the exception of the lobster, which is loaded with mayo when it is made up as lobster salad. Eat a steady diet of that stuff and you'll be sweating Crisco.
 
  • #59
Gib Z said:
I eat fast food at least once a day, everyday of the week except sometimes on Saturdays. It obviously isn't the best tasting or nutritious thing in the world but

1) Its quick. It doesn't get squashed or leak in your bag, its served hot.

2) Depending on what you get, it can actually taste ok.

3) It's just everywhere, when your hungry you grab a tiny snack.

I know theyre all pretty pathetic reasons, but those are mine. I'm not even slightly overweight, but it may be because I burn all that fat off with my basketball regime, everyday at least 2 hours.

Yeah you could burn off the calories from fast food, but that still doesn't mean you are healthy just because you aren't overweight. Eating fast food all the time over a long period is bound to build up plaque in your arteries which could cause heart attacks, raise your blood pressue, and mess up your triglycerides and cholesterol levels. No matter how much excercise you do you won't be able to avoid those consequences if you eat fastfood all of the time.
 
  • #60
mgb_phys said:
I suspect this is another Scottish invention coming to America soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_Mars_bar

We have those here in Canada, usually only at the festivals though, there will be a booth set up that sells them.
 
  • #61
Another fat-laden monstrosity is deep-fried breaded ice cream. That gustatory travesty started creeping into Maine about 25 years ago as a specialty dessert served at "Mexican" restaurants. It seems that all the "ethnic food" restaurants up here have to offer "novelty" appetizers, meals, and desserts that would never be offered in the countries whose food the menu purports to offer. The best Mexican food I ever had was in a restaurant consisting of a row of joined shacks on the causeway between Tampa and Clearwater. I'd just ask the waitresses to bring me whatever food the kitchen staff was having on their lunch breaks. The food was almost always out-of-this-world.
 
  • #62
turbo-1 said:
Another fat-laden monstrosity is deep-fried breaded ice cream. That gustatory travesty started creeping into Maine about 25 years ago as a specialty dessert served at "Mexican" restaurants. It seems that all the "ethnic food" restaurants up here have to offer "novelty" appetizers, meals, and desserts that would never be offered in the countries whose food the menu purports to offer. The best Mexican food I ever had was in a restaurant consisting of a row of joined shacks on the causeway between Tampa and Clearwater. I'd just ask the waitresses to bring me whatever food the kitchen staff was having on their lunch breaks. The food was almost always out-of-this-world.

:smile: Yeah, years ago, Chi-Chi's started that fried ice cream trend. Now I've seen it in various other places...green tea ice cream tempura in a Japanese restaurant for example (it resembles green tea ice cream in a Twinkie shell, the best I can describe it...tasty, but obviously not the least bit authentic, and not something I think I could survive eating more than once a year).
 
  • #63
Don't forget deep-fried oreos and twinkies:

home_feature_deepfried.jpg
 
  • #64
CaptainQuasar said:
Don't forget deep-fried oreos and twinkies:

home_feature_deepfried.jpg


Deep fried snickers bar


1332446808_368e840248.jpg


Deep fried cheesecake




OMG they are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. All the deep fried ice cream, deep fried oreos, deep fried snickers bars, and deep fried cheese cake are good. The key is just moderation.

I always wonder how they are able to deep fry ice cream and cheesecake without it melting.
 
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  • #65
Moderation? just looking at them piles on the pounds.
 
  • #66
wolram said:
Moderation? just looking at them piles on the pounds.

That's why you only eat one of them and share it with someone else.LOL from an unofficial source on nutrition info of carnival foods

* Fried Snickers (5 oz.): 444 calories and 29 grams (g) fat
* Fried Twinkie (2 oz.): 420 calories/34 g fat
* Funnel cake (1): 760 calories/44 g fat
* Twinkie Dog Sundae: 500 calories/14 g fat
* Cotton candy: 171 calories/0 fat
* Fried cheesecake (6 oz.): 655 calories/47 g fat
* Foot-long hot dog and bun: 470 calories/26 g fat
* Giant turkey leg: 1,136 calories/54 g fat
Wow who would have thought turkey could be that unhealthy?
 
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  • #67
Fried macaroni and cheese. Globs of starch in heavy cream, butter and cheese, coated in flour and bread crumbs then deep fried.
 
  • #68
  • #70
gravenewworld said:
That's why you only eat one of them and share it with someone else.


LOL from an unofficial source on nutrition info of carnival foods

* Fried Snickers (5 oz.): 444 calories and 29 grams (g) fat
* Fried Twinkie (2 oz.): 420 calories/34 g fat
* Funnel cake (1): 760 calories/44 g fat
* Twinkie Dog Sundae: 500 calories/14 g fat
* Cotton candy: 171 calories/0 fat
* Fried cheesecake (6 oz.): 655 calories/47 g fat
* Foot-long hot dog and bun: 470 calories/26 g fat
* Giant turkey leg: 1,136 calories/54 g fat



Wow who would have thought turkey could be that unhealthy?

And I never thought that cotton candy would come out the winner as the healthiest food in a list!
 
  • #71
Evo said:
I think that Math is Hard beat everyone with her battered deep fried bacon

I happened to go on a trip to Texas the week after I saw that online and I actually drove out to the restaurant that serves it. It was dee-lish. They thought I was nuts to have traveled there from Boston for it.
 
  • #72
CaptainQuasar said:
I happened to go on a trip to Texas the week after I saw that online and I actually drove out to the restaurant that serves it. It was dee-lish. They thought I was nuts to have traveled there from Boston for it.


Sorry Captain you are not nuts, just stark staring bonkers. smile.
 
  • #73
Contrapositive said:
Well, it's not just regular fat. Saturated, trans-fat, and high levels of sodium are terrible for your body. All the preservatives probably aren't very good for you either.

gravenewworld said:
Yeah you could burn off the calories from fast food, but that still doesn't mean you are healthy just because you aren't overweight. Eating fast food all the time over a long period is bound to build up plaque in your arteries which could cause heart attacks, raise your blood pressue, and mess up your triglycerides and cholesterol levels. No matter how much excercise you do you won't be able to avoid those consequences if you eat fastfood all of the time.

I know its not good for me :( I just do it anyway >.<" sigh. When I'm at home, I think about it and realize its not good for me. But when I'm out with my friends, the current issues are the only ones i think about :( Those current issues being time constraints, convenience etc etc
 
  • #74
Often the best restaurants are very modest places. Another good sign is a cat or dog, especially if they're sleeping.
 
  • #75
I'm really very glad I can not eat deep fried foods. But if I could, I'd go for that deep fried Snickers!
 
  • #76
I'd prefer a deep-fried Milky Way better.
 
  • #77
Tip: If you want the best Mexican food, go to a place where the parking-lot seems full (especially with pickup trucks with landscaping tools) and ask the waitress what's the best meal today. Don't try to schmooze her like many southern waitresses will do to you - be respectful and nice and ask what she (or the kitchen staff) thinks is the best meal of the day. You might end up with rice and beans and an enchilada - who knows? Chances are, your meal will be a lot better than you could get ordering off the menu.

I once tried ordering off the menu at a rustic Cajun place in Louisiana, and the waitress grinned at me. I asked if my French was bad and she said "No, your French is very good, but your Cajun sucks!" I asked her to order for me and just bring me a good meal, and I was VERY happy with it.
 
  • #78
lol does subway count as fast food? it's good and i don't feel as gross after eating a subway than i would after eating mcdonald's or something.
 
  • #79
smashingtime said:
lol does subway count as fast food? it's good and i don't feel as gross after eating a subway than i would after eating mcdonald's or something.
It's fast food, but you can make LOTS healthier choices there than at a lot of fast food outlets. If you get a 6" all-vegetable sub without oil or dressing or cheese, you'll have an OK meal with low fat and low sodium. It might not taste as good as something you could make for yourself at home, but it will be relatively healthy.

My wife takes salads to work. Lettuce, onions, tomatoes, peppers, etc. She doesn't use any commercial dressing - instead, she spices the salad with my home-made bread-and-butter pickles and my home-made hot chili relish. 0 fat, low carbs, low salt, and a lot of flavor.
 
  • #80
turbo-1 said:
It's fast food, but you can make LOTS healthier choices there than at a lot of fast food outlets. If you get a 6" all-vegetable sub without oil or dressing or cheese, you'll have an OK meal with low fat and low sodium. It might not taste as good as something you could make for yourself at home, but it will be relatively healthy.

My wife takes salads to work. Lettuce, onions, tomatoes, peppers, etc. She doesn't use any commercial dressing - instead, she spices the salad with my home-made bread-and-butter pickles and my home-made hot chili relish. 0 fat, low carbs, low salt, and a lot of flavor.
Not all fats are bad, in fact it has been shown that diets very low in fat don't really have any benefits either. You only really want to stay away from saturated and trans fats. Healthy fats like mono and polyunsaturated fats are good for you. I use extra virgin olive oil on almost everything. Fats from things like nuts and fish are also good.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/295/6/655
 
  • #81
gravenewworld said:
Not all fats are bad, in fact it has been shown that diets very low in fat don't really have any benefits either. You only really want to stay away from saturated and trans fats. Healthy fats like mono and polyunsaturated fats are good for you. I use extra virgin olive oil on almost everything. Fats from things like nuts and fish are also good.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/295/6/655
Very true, but the fats used in fast foods are usually not very healthy. I use butter, olive oil, and peanut oil for cooking. Fast foods like French fries might actually be healthier for you if they were fried in lard, especially since lard can be kept much hotter without smoking and the fries would crisp faster and absorb less fat.
 
  • #82
The best tasting chips are fried in beef fat, years ago one could buy (scratchings) the little bits of batter that came away whilst frying the fish, i think this stopped when modern oils were substituted i remember well Bolton's fish and chip van, one could tell when it was in the village by the glorious smell.
 
  • #83
When I was a kid, I'd sometimes peel and cut potatoes for a neighbor that owned a take-out stand, and she'd "pay" me with French fries. She had two big fryolators - one for all the breaded foods like fish, clams, etc, and the other for French fries only. Everything was cooked very hot and fast in lard, and the spot was a favorite stop for Canadian tourists on their way to Old Orchard Beach for vacation.
 

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