Comment on "Between raising two young boys and putting in long hours at a marketing job, Kevin Caldwell can almost never find the time to make dinner. So he and his husband spend about $700 a week to order in"

• Flauschige_Lemmata@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  It really depends on the restaurant. Eating Chick-fil-A every day certainly isn’t healthy. But there are plenty of proper restaurants that are.

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  • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    The problem is that in almost every case, restaurants’ only objectives are to make food that tastes good and make customers think they’re getting a good value. Hence, tons of high-caloric additives and huge portions.

    When you cook at home, even if you use oils and other high-caloric ingredients, you still use way less than restaurants do. I promise you, take a “healthy” meal from a restaurant and compare its nutritional content to the same thing you would make at home; the difference will be drastic.

    A couple examples:

    1. Broccoli side dish. Cooked at home in a pan; some oil and salt and pepper. In a restaurant? Drowning in butter and tons of salt.
    2. baked potato. At home, some cheese and sour cream. In a restaurant? Bigger potato with tons of butter, sour cream, gobs of cheese, bacon.

    In these examples, both taste good. But the restaurant versions are tons of empty calories that contribute to a very unhealthy lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, I like that shit too. But it’s rare for me, I’d rather make it myself and control what goes in.

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    • Flauschige_Lemmata@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Considering that I am struggling not to loose weight, I don’t mind a lot of calories.

      When I make baked potatoes at home I usually use 2 of the biggest potatoes I can find. Per person that is. Then I use Quark with 40% fat, mix in some cream, at least a teaspoon of salt, green onion and some frozen herbs.

      I don’t think restaurants make it any less healthily.

      Your point about using oil instead of butter is valid enough. Rapeseed oil has a lot of alpha-linolenic acid. Butter a lot of saturated fatty acids. But oil is the cheaper ingredient. Butter is important to archive the traditional tase. If restaurants use butter I won’t hold it against them.

      For dishes where you can choose your own carb-rich sides I would appreciate some whole-grain options though. For example cooked spelt. It pairs wonderfully with many traditional German dishes. Far-eastern and Indian restaurants could offer whole grain rice.

      White grain is the worst offender when in comes to empty calories. Saturated fats at least still fill you up as much as unsaturated fats. You need twice as much white grain to feel as full as you would with whole grain. And you’ll be hungry an hour later.

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      • Ledivin@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        When I make baked potatoes at home I usually use 2 of the biggest potatoes I can find. Per person that is. Then I use Quark with 40% fat, mix in some cream, at least a teaspoon of salt, green onion and some frozen herbs.

        I will always remember a conversation I had with a chef friend… he said something along the lines of “Of course restaurant food tastes better… take the butter you’d add, then double it. Then double it. Then double it again. Then add some cream.”

        You are vastly underestimating how unhealthy restaurant food is for you - even the “healthy” places are ridiculous.

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    • NABDad@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      When you cook at home, even if you use oils and other high-caloric ingredients, you still use way less than restaurants do.

      How much do you want to bet?

      One example:

      I’m concerned that I didn’t get butter when I went to the store on Friday because after I came home my wife told me she moved the last four pounds of butter out of the freezer.

      I also have heavy cream in the fridge to make ice cream. If there’s not a layer of lard on your spoon after you’re done eating your ice cream, you aren’t really trying.

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      • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Ok, but… using butter is ok. I’m willing to bet restaurants use even more for each meal. Also, I cream is… ice cream. How much do you have in a serving when you make it at home? Is it two baseball-sized scoops full of Reese’s peanut butter cups?

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  • starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    You don’t live in Germany, obvs. It’s schnitzel and Maultaschen all the way down.

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    • Flauschige_Lemmata@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      I do, actually. Our local restaurant of local cuisine makes an awesome salad with game meat. It’s big enough to really fill you up.

      Also, Maultaschen are hardly unhealthy

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      • starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        They’re incredibly salty.

        The only healthy food restaurants serve here is salad, so you just proved my point, really.

        Oh, and forget vegetarian options.

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  • Bob_Robertson_IX@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    It doesn’t have to be unhealthy. They do have salads and grilled chicken, and even grilled chicken salads. Of course, the healthy items are quite a bit more expensive than the unhealthy items ($3 for large fries vs $4.20 for kale salad).

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• remon@ani.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I’d rather work an hour than spend an hour cooking.

  Also if you’re spending $700 it’s probably not just fast food, put proper restaurant take-out.

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  • Ashwo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    This is penny wise and pound foolish.

    Eating ultra-processed food

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    • Perspectivist@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      There’s a bit more nuance to it than home cooked meals being healthy and eating out being unhealthy.

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      • ekky@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Sure, but going to a proper restaurant tends to cost a bit more than doing it yourself.

        Like, making some roasted pork with steamed veggies, sauce, and potatoes takes some 10+40 minutes of preparation and about 10 minutes of cleanup, and it costs me about 25$ (and is, of course, not including any deals). That’s for 4 grownups, plus some leftovers for lunch next day.

        Obviously food and restaurant prices differ wildly depending on where you live, but I’m not sure I could get a decent and healthy takeout/restaurant meal for less than 60$ for 4 people in my area (assuming that 4 kebabs can be considered “decent and healthy”).

        That’d leave me with a hourly “food-wage” of roughly 35$ (or 75$ if we’d assume 100$ for takeout), which I think is acceptable. I’d not make more than that after taxes either way.

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      • Ashwo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Really rich people employ cooks and butlers. The butlers make sure the cooks respect the nutritionists advice.

        All restaurant chains have factories. Anything that comes from a factory is ultra-processed.

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    • remon@ani.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      You don’t have to spend one hour cooking. You can’t cook in 20 minutes.

      I’d rather not cook at all. And what ever money I’m saving I could get more by just working the same time.

      So don’t eat ultra processed food then. Order proper food from a proper restaurant.

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      • psx_crab@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Order proper food from a proper restaurant.

        Sound expensive.

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      • uienia@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Do you if that it what you feel. But personally your mindset seems extremely exhausting to me, especially your work addiction.

        But again, you are free to do whatever suits you best.

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  • TheLowestStone@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Ordering fast food to be delivered for 3 people 7 days a week can easily total up to $700.

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    • False@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      $100 a day, $33 per person per day?

      Seems a little high, even delivered

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