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Food costs too much


MHV9218

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International fast food eh? I was visiting Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua back in 2007.

 

Dude, you are a no joke trooper. My man one time wanted me to come to him to Yemen and chill (He had to check up on family, some of his brothers I know in Brooklyn). Obviously I turned THAT down, did'nt have the balls to go on a venture like that.

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LOL... To be honest for some reason I'd have cravings for burgers over there so when I did I'd have McDonald's and quite frankly I wasn't that big on it back in the day but a Big Mac and fries at that time hit the spot, but it's been over 8 years since I've eaten at any McDonald's and now the smell sickens me when I pass by one... So artificial smelling...

 

Same here, since my dad was diagnosed with cancer I changed my whole regimen when comes to what I eat.  I haven't had any red meat or fast food with the exception of subway (sweet onion chicken teriyaki) here and there.  Honestly, I feel so much better now that I stopped consuming all that processed garbage they serve.

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I've heard that alot of these processed food contains a carcinogen that is also actually found in tobacco. The chemical is named Acrylamide. Usually found in processed potato and other vegetable products which includes potato chips and fries. I know that anything bbq cooked or slow smoked over charcoal or hardwood if you eat it over an extended period of time can also cause colon, stomach or esophegeal cancer as well as polyps. McDonald's as we well know serves such foods.

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Dude, you are a no joke trooper. My man one time wanted me to come to him to Yemen and chill (He had to check up on family, some of his brothers I know in Brooklyn). Obviously I turned THAT down, did'nt have the balls to go on a venture like that.

Come on, it's not that bad. I wasn't alone at least. I went with one of my aunt's to pick up her sister at the airport. What was worse was having to ride Greyhound from El Paso non stop over to Riverside. To be honest Juarez reminded me of a large version of Flushing but I digress.

 

 

I've heard that alot of these processed food contains a carcinogen that is also actually found in tobacco. The chemical is named Acrylamide. Usually found in processed potato and other vegetable products which includes potato chips and fries. I know that anything bbq cooked or slow smoked over charcoal or hardwood if you eat it over an extended period of time can also cause colon, stomach or esophegeal cancer as well as polyps. McDonald's as we well know serves such foods.

Here in California restuarants are required to post a warning (Prop 65) if they serve foods like that. Most pay no attention to it or don't even notice the sign. I don't even care much to be honest.

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Same here, since my dad was diagnosed with cancer I changed my whole regimen when comes to what I eat.  I haven't had any red meat or fast food with the exception of subway (sweet onion chicken teriyaki) here and there.  Honestly, I feel so much better now that I stopped consuming all that processed garbage they serve.

Funny you mention your dad and his cancer because that's around the time I gave up McDonald's was when my mom found out she had cancer back in 2004.  I would say with Subway though be careful with them.  I try to avoid them too because they give this air of being healthy but their stuff is loaded with processed crap.  That's how they're able to make those $5.00 sandwiches... I think sometime last year I was stuck in the office with projects and wanted something different so instead of ordering from my usual spots like Dishes (which is really expensive but offers good natural dishes BTW) and having it delivered, I said let me get out and get some fresh air so I walked to a Subway and got a foot long veggie patty on wheat with spinach, tomatoes and whatever other decent veggies I thought I was getting.  Ate it and I felt so weird afterwards and then I said to myself. I know what it is... This stuff which is supposed to be "healthy" is loaded with preservatives and that's why I had such a hard time digesting it so no more of that for me either.  

 

I always read the labels even when I'm in Whole Foods or other places that sell natural and organic products like Zabar's or Fairways because even there even though the food isn't loaded with preservatives, sometimes they'll call it "natural" based on it being minimally processed but it still may have crap in it like dextrose or corn syrup (two types of sweeteners) or other disgusting fillers, so those types of things I look to avoid.  

 

What I've started doing now that I'm Riverdale and close to the city is just jumping on the express bus and going to Whole Foods a few times a week at night and getting organic fruit (love the organic blueberries they have from Chile and Argentina since it's their summer now down there) and things that I'm familiar with and a lot of times they're on sale so I'll get lunch for 3 days or so and spend maybe $30.00 - 40.00, which allows me to splurge on some items.  Like the other day I had cooked sushi (shrimp and rice "snackers"), organic yogurt and some organic blueberries and a couple of cups of natural spring water for lunch and here and there I'll go out for an espresso and a snack if I don't bring anything from Whole Foods.  Grilled salmon I love as well and calamari, so that or some green peas with rice pilaf or something.

 

Also eat more seafood and less red meat which keeps me slim and avoid soda (except for the occasional treat but none of that processed stuff.  Gus is a great natural soda sold in normal 12 oz sizes and not full of artificial garbage and corn syrup).  I just get sparkling water (Perrier, Voss, Apollinaris or San Pellegrino are good choices) and maybe some natural orange juice (though sometimes I splurge on this natural Mandarin orange juice from Italy) or organic milk (Organic Valley is excellent) but you know the way I see it, you have to invest in your body, so if I do spend $600.00 or more a month on food, I don't have a problem with it because this way I know I'm eating well and treating my body well and so I'm rarely sick.  I mean I don't really cook, so that's one reason I spend a lot in food, and plus I buy organic as much as I can otherwise natural so that makes it more expensive, but I look at quality over quantity.  If I was preparing my food at home the way I used to in Italy, I'm sure I could cut that in half.

 

I also still pay attention to portion size too because just because something is organic or natural doesn't mean you just OD on it.  If you're eating normal portion sizes then the cost of food isn't that terrible, but you have folks wanting to eat entire pizza pies and stuff, like so if you're doing that, then yeah it's expensive.  lol

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Funny you mention your dad and his cancer because that's around the time I gave up McDonald's was when my mom found out she had cancer back in 2004.  I would say with Subway though be careful with them.  I try to avoid them too because they give this air of being healthy but their stuff is loaded with processed crap.  That's how they're able to make those $5.00 sandwiches... I think sometime last year I was stuck in the office with projects and wanted something different so instead of ordering from my usual spots like Dishes (which is really expensive but offers good natural dishes BTW) and having it delivered, I said let me get out and get some fresh air so I walked to a Subway and got a foot long veggie patty on wheat with spinach, tomatoes and whatever other decent veggies I thought I was getting.  Ate it and I felt so weird afterwards and then I said to myself. I know what it is... This stuff which is supposed to be "healthy" is loaded with preservatives and that's why I had such a hard time digesting it so no more of that for me either.  

 

I always read the labels even when I'm in Whole Foods or other places that sell natural and organic products like Zabar's or Fairways because even there even though the food isn't loaded with preservatives, sometimes they'll call it "natural" based on it being minimally processed but it still may have crap in it like dextrose or corn syrup (two types of sweeteners) or other disgusting fillers, so those types of things I look to avoid.  

 

What I've started doing now that I'm Riverdale and close to the city is just jumping on the express bus and going to Whole Foods a few times a week at night and getting organic fruit (love the organic blueberries they have from Chile and Argentina since it's their summer now down there) and things that I'm familiar with and a lot of times they're on sale so I'll get lunch for 3 days or so and spend maybe $30.00 - 40.00, which allows me to splurge on some items.  Like the other day I had cooked sushi (shrimp and rice "snackers"), organic yogurt and some organic blueberries and a couple of cups of natural spring water for lunch and here and there I'll go out for an espresso and a snack if I don't bring anything from Whole Foods.  Grilled salmon I love as well and calamari, so that or some green peas with rice pilaf or something.

 

Also eat more seafood and less red meat which keeps me slim and avoid soda (except for the occasional treat but none of that processed stuff.  Gus is a great natural soda sold in normal 12 oz sizes and not full of artificial garbage and corn syrup).  I just get sparkling water (Perrier, Voss, Apollinaris or San Pellegrino are good choices) and maybe some natural orange juice (though sometimes I splurge on this natural Mandarin orange juice from Italy) or organic milk (Organic Valley is excellent) but you know the way I see it, you have to invest in your body, so if I do spend $600.00 or more a month on food, but I don't have a problem with it because this way I know I'm eating well and treating my body well and so I'm rarely sick.  I mean I don't really cook, so that's one reason I spend a lot in food, and plus I buy organic as much as I can otherwise natural so that makes it more expensive but I look at quality over quantity.  If I was preparing my food at home the way I used to in Italy, I'm sure I could cut that in half.

 

I also still pay attention to portion size too because just because something is organic or natural doesn't mean you just OD on it.  If you're eating normal portion sizes then the cost of food isn't that terrible, but you have folks wanting to eat entire pizza pies and stuff, like so if you're doing that, then yeah it's expensive.  lol

I used to go to Whole Foods for regular shopping, but it ended up costing $4000 a month so we stopped.

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I used to go to Whole Foods for regular shopping, but it ended up costing $4000 a month so we stopped.

lol... $4,000 a month for how many people??? My $600.00 or more that I spend a month isn't just for food and plus I do eat out here and there so considering that I don't cook and it's all natural or organic food, that isn't bad at all IMO... It's also for my personal things like natural soap, natural toothpaste, natural deodorant, etc.

 

What I will say is I don't do all of my shopping at Whole Foods because Whole Foods is more like a specialty store so they have deals on some things and some things they're overpriced on.  For example I've stopped getting Perrier there because I am not paying $2.39 per bottle when I can get the same bottle in Riverdale for $1.99 so I get 4 bottles at a time which last me for almost the whole week and that's it.

 

Now this week Whole Foods has Apollinaris sparkling water at 3 bottles for $4.00 which an EXCELLENT deal, so I bought two of them on Monday and will buy some more when I return later this week because at about $1.33 per bottle and considering the size that is much cheaper than Perrier but still great quality. I'm usually not wild about German sparkling water but that one I like.

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Come on, it's not that bad. I wasn't alone at least. I went with one of my aunt's to pick up her sister at the airport. What was worse was having to ride Greyhound from El Paso non stop over to Riverside. To be honest Juarez reminded me of a large version of Flushing but I digress.

 

Well, all cities have their good and bad areas. It's just that in some cities, most of the city consists of high-crime areas.

 

Plus, a good portion of that crime is related to the drug trade. Of course, things do happen to regular people, but it definitely helps if you keep your nose clean.

 

On a side note, it's kind of ironic that (crime-wise) the worst city in Mexico is ironically located from one of the best cities in the U.S (El Paso).

 

I used to go to Whole Foods for regular shopping, but it ended up costing $4000 a month so we stopped.

 

Damn. Were you trying to feed an army or something?

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Funny you mention your dad and his cancer because that's around the time I gave up McDonald's was when my mom found out she had cancer back in 2004.  I would say with Subway though be careful with them.  I try to avoid them too because they give this air of being healthy but their stuff is loaded with processed crap.  That's how they're able to make those $5.00 sandwiches... I think sometime last year I was stuck in the office with projects and wanted something different so instead of ordering from my usual spots like Dishes (which is really expensive but offers good natural dishes BTW) and having it delivered, I said let me get out and get some fresh air so I walked to a Subway and got a foot long veggie patty on wheat with spinach, tomatoes and whatever other decent veggies I thought I was getting.  Ate it and I felt so weird afterwards and then I said to myself. I know what it is... This stuff which is supposed to be "healthy" is loaded with preservatives and that's why I had such a hard time digesting it so no more of that for me either.  

 

I just get sparkling water (Perrier, Voss, Apollinaris or San Pellegrino are good choices) and maybe some natural orange juice (though sometimes I splurge on this natural Mandarin orange juice from Italy) or organic milk (Organic Valley is excellent) but you know the way I see it, you have to invest in your body, so if I do spend $600.00 or more a month on food, but I don't have a problem with it because this way I know I'm eating well and treating my body well and so I'm rarely sick.  I mean I don't really cook, so that's one reason I spend a lot in food, and plus I buy organic as much as I can otherwise natural so that makes it more expensive but I look at quality over quantity.  If I was preparing my food at home the way I used to in Italy, I'm sure I could cut that in half.

 

Shush now, don't hate on Subway...place has been my guilty pleasure for years, I go there and get a cheap footlong and convince myself I'm "eating healthy." Granted, probably one of the most processed places around, but don't remind of that!

 

Going on a slight tangent, fizzy water like you said is my winner for the thing that gets the most overpriced. I was at a dinner with some friends who were celebrating so we went out, nice Italian place downtown (food wasn't even that expensive)...got charged $18 for two liters of Pellegrino. I happen to know for a fact that the grocery down the street sells the exact same bottle for $1.75, which means that cost them $3.50 to buy and they sold it for a $14.50 profit. That's one of the craziest mark-ups I've ever seen, but restaurants always do that. Friend of mine worked at a bunch of restaurants over the years, and the one trick for a struggling place to make money is to jack up the drink costs, cause it's dirt cheap for them to buy and often the price isn't listed on the menu, so you just sit there shocked when the bill comes. Even street vendors, we all know that a bottle of water is barely 75 cents if you buy it in bulk, but they sell one to you for $1.50-2 in a lot of places. My thing is I just hand them a dollar and then I start counting out pennies, 9 times out of 10 the guy just says to take the bottle...

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Shush now, don't hate on Subway...place has been my guilty pleasure for years, I go there and get a cheap footlong and convince myself I'm "eating healthy." Granted, probably one of the most processed places around, but don't remind of that!

 

Going on a slight tangent, fizzy water like you said is my winner for the thing that gets the most overpriced. I was at a dinner with some friends who were celebrating so we went out, nice Italian place downtown (food wasn't even that expensive)...got charged $18 for two liters of Pellegrino. I happen to know for a fact that the grocery down the street sells the exact same bottle for $1.75, which means that cost them $3.50 to buy and they sold it for a $14.50 profit. That's one of the craziest mark-ups I've ever seen, but restaurants always do that. Friend of mine worked at a bunch of restaurants over the years, and the one trick for a struggling place to make money is to jack up the drink costs, cause it's dirt cheap for them to buy and often the price isn't listed on the menu, so you just sit there shocked when the bill comes. Even street vendors, we all know that a bottle of water is barely 75 cents if you buy it in bulk, but they sell one to you for $1.50-2 in a lot of places. My thing is I just hand them a dollar and then I start counting out pennies, 9 times out of 10 the guy just says to take the bottle...

You actually like Subways? Everytime I eat there, the sandwich ends up making me hungry again. Quiznos is better.

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Shush now, don't hate on Subway...place has been my guilty pleasure for years, I go there and get a cheap footlong and convince myself I'm "eating healthy." Granted, probably one of the most processed places around, but don't remind of that!

 

Yeah I'm a regular with Subways. Love the stuff they serve. I was a faithful customer for years now. As I eat I can look at the walls and study the BMT maps as an added plus, lol.

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OK cool.

 

Favorites are the Chicken Ranch sandwhiches, always club it with bacon. Tuna kicks ass, I ask them to club that with bacon too, and the BMTs. Always get the footlongs if I eat there. Processed food but nethertheless much healther then other of the usual fast food joints.

 

Ever tried Sakura? It's a Japanese fast food restaurant, they have quite a few out there in NYC and Long Island. Their food is delicious! Seriously kicks ass and their prices are reasonable, about the same as the New York Cantonese style Chinese Food restaurants.

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Shush now, don't hate on Subway...place has been my guilty pleasure for years, I go there and get a cheap footlong and convince myself I'm "eating healthy." Granted, probably one of the most processed places around, but don't remind of that!

 

Going on a slight tangent, fizzy water like you said is my winner for the thing that gets the most overpriced. I was at a dinner with some friends who were celebrating so we went out, nice Italian place downtown (food wasn't even that expensive)...got charged $18 for two liters of Pellegrino. I happen to know for a fact that the grocery down the street sells the exact same bottle for $1.75, which means that cost them $3.50 to buy and they sold it for a $14.50 profit. That's one of the craziest mark-ups I've ever seen, but restaurants always do that. Friend of mine worked at a bunch of restaurants over the years, and the one trick for a struggling place to make money is to jack up the drink costs, cause it's dirt cheap for them to buy and often the price isn't listed on the menu, so you just sit there shocked when the bill comes. Even street vendors, we all know that a bottle of water is barely 75 cents if you buy it in bulk, but they sell one to you for $1.50-2 in a lot of places. My thing is I just hand them a dollar and then I start counting out pennies, 9 times out of 10 the guy just says to take the bottle...

LOL@Subways... It's true... I do a lot of work with marketing departments from different companies (mainly companies that sell natural products), but it's really hilarious how they try to get you with their little marketing schemes and Subway is a perfect example of that. They say "Eat Fresh" and when most think of "fresh" they don't think of processed garbage.  They think "healthy"...  Also very cute how they have the bread being baked there in the store to add to the whole "fresh" ploy. :lol: Whoever came up with the theme is laughing at the bank every day raking in the bucks... Smart person that's for sure... I know they sell lots of veggies and healthy looking things but like you said... Loaded with preservatives...

 

These days all of these companies are trying to push things that are "fresh" and "natural" even if they aren't because folks are trying to become health conscious #1 and #2 they know that natural and organic products cost more because more manual labor is involved amongst other things as opposed to the processed stuff so they look for suckers with money to blow and those who aren't educated on what is really natural, what is fresh and what is organic.  All three of those things are separate of each other which many don't know.  Something that is natural isn't automatically organic and just because something is natural or organic doesn't mean it's healthy.

 

As for places marking up drinks, yep... Very true... San Pellegrino and Perrier are considered high end and so if a place sells that they usually will mark it up substantially because they usually know what type of clientele they are dealing with... Folks who will spend more on quality food...  Depending on my mood I'll blow $5.00 on a bottle of Pellegrino but it has to be the biggest sized one (the restaurants usually have the mini ones and the biggest ones in the glass as opposed to three or four options in the supermarket).  $2.00 for the little one is the max. I'll pay because sometimes I really want good sparkling water, but I always ask what the price is beforehand, because if they're going to charge an arm and a leg I might as well just order wine instead and at least get a little buzzed for being ripped off.  :lol: I can usually get Pellegrino on sale at the supermarket for about $1.33 a bottle, which is pretty good, though the bottles are smaller than the big Perrier bottles.

 

You see sometimes I guess I really don't consider some things expensive because I lived in Europe where everything is marked up substantially and I know that natural and organic products cost more (in some cases but not always) so I've gotten used to paying a little more for less in some cases, but even so I'm still a New Yorker, so I know when they're going overboard.  I mean if it's quality I'll pay a bit more but don't try to charge me $3.00 for friggin' garbage sparkling water like Saratoga.   <_< 

 

What I do is shop around because I can still get quality stuff that I like to get at reasonable prices.  I notice that a lot of the chain supermarkets will charge more for the natural and organic things, so I will get those at Whole Foods instead where it can be much cheaper and when Whole Foods charges more for certain items that I get cheaper elsewhere then I go there instead.  What people don't get is Whole Foods is a specialty store in addition to selling natural and organic products, so naturally some things will cost more.  I mean they fly in fresh salmon direct from Alaska, so yeah you're going to pay a premium for some items as a result.

 

Shop Rite and Stop & Stop are good alternatives for some natural or organic products because they're usually in the outer boroughs or in NJ where rent is cheaper and they have more space to buy in bulk so they're able to get the items cheaper and in turn you get a deal.  

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OK cool.

 

Favorites are the Chicken Ranch sandwhiches, always club it with bacon. Tuna kicks ass, I ask them to club that with bacon too, and the BMTs. Always get the footlongs if I eat there. Processed food but nethertheless much healther then other of the usual fast food joints.

 

Ever tried Sakura? It's a Japanese fast food restaurant, they have quite a few out there in NYC and Long Island. Their food is delicious! Seriously kicks ass and their prices are reasonable, about the same as the New York Cantonese style Chinese Food restaurants.

When I go to Subways, I would usually buy the Meatball sub. IMO, that's the best one! I would order it with swiss chesse, ranch dressing, and onions on a garlic bun. And no, I've never been to Sakura. How about DBQ? What do you guys think of DBQ?

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lol... $4,000 a month for how many people??? My $600.00 or more that I spend a month isn't just for food and plus I do eat out here and there so considering that I don't cook and it's all natural or organic food, that isn't bad at all IMO... It's also for my personal things like natural soap, natural toothpaste, natural deodorant, etc.

 

What I will say is I don't do all of my shopping at Whole Foods because Whole Foods is more like a specialty store so they have deals on some things and some things they're overpriced on.  For example I've stopped getting Perrier there because I am not paying $2.39 per bottle when I can get the same bottle in Riverdale for $1.99 so I get 4 bottles at a time which last me for almost the whole week and that's it.

 

Now this week Whole Foods has Apollinaris sparkling water at 3 bottles for $4.00 which an EXCELLENT deal, so I bought two of them on Monday and will buy some more when I return later this week because at about $1.33 per bottle and considering the size that is much cheaper than Perrier but still great quality. I'm usually not wild about German sparkling water but that one I like.

Yeah, when I lived in the city I still got SOME stuff at Whole Foods.

 

Damn. Were you trying to feed an army or something?
Wow who are you feeding a small town? Oh man that's a large bill for just food!

Three people....

 

OK cool.

 

Favorites are the Chicken Ranch sandwhiches, always club it with bacon. Tuna kicks ass, I ask them to club that with bacon too, and the BMTs. Always get the footlongs if I eat there. Processed food but nethertheless much healther then other of the usual fast food joints.

 

Ever tried Sakura? It's a Japanese fast food restaurant, they have quite a few out there in NYC and Long Island. Their food is delicious! Seriously kicks ass and their prices are reasonable, about the same as the New York Cantonese style Chinese Food restaurants.

Chipotle chicken and cheese is my ish right there.

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