Fast food

[XERTYX]

Just thought I'd share. With my mental illness sometimes I'm unable to cook a proper meal as I'd like. Its therefore imperative for me to have easily accessible convenience food. Usually I keep cans of spaghettios or soup. Ramen noodles. Frozen dinners etc for when I'm not up to the task. I dont eat a ton of fast food but its handy for my purposes and also when on the road although expensive usually. 

Yesterday I heard an ad on pandora internet radio that McDonald's has Mcdouble sandwiches on sale. Not all locations honor the promotion but if you're in a similar situation to myself or perhaps on the road to the RTR this might be a viable solution. 

Currently the Mcdouble is on offer for $1. Its basically their double cheeseburger but with one slice of cheese rather than 2. They are normally in the neighborhood of $2 each. Not overly expensive.  But much more than a home cooked meal. Especially for several people. In my situation I need only feed myself. I find 2 Mcdoubles and a store brand generic soda to be a filling meal. Certainly wont win any awards for being healthy. But I buy 2 liter bottles of soda from kroger for $0.59-0.79. That makes my meal $2.79 and a 2 liter will last longer than just the one meal. Not bad for eating on the road IMO.

 

[Rainier70]

I don't know if you have stores close, or if you are camping in remote areas. If you have stores close you can sometimes get an inexpensive meal at a grocery soup and salad bar.

Or you can pack some of the pouches of salmon or tuna with some crackers.

There are also shelf stable meals. I can't remember the brand... it was "Complete" something.

There are also bags of ready rice that you could add some meat and vegetables to or just hot sauce.

When I am tired, I like an occasional "meal" of instant mashed potatoes and gravy. Comfort food!

 

[Moxadox]

When dealing with chronic illness, it's often hard to get sufficient nutrients. I use nutritional shakes (Kirkland brand from Costco) with me, and if I start noticing that I haven't been eating well, I make sure to include one of those every day so that I get all the vitamins and trace elements my body needs. I have Crohn's disease, and sometimes I get ulcers in my mouth and can't really eat solids, so the shakes make it possible to get the nutes in.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[XERTYX]

Those are good suggestions. I bought a few burgers on friday to keep in the fridge for convenience. I usually do stock up at the grocery store on things like minute rice and soups when I have the chance. At the moment I have to rely on rides from family and there is a McDonald's about 3/4 of a mile from the property I'm staying on right now so that was a contributing factor. I thought maybe as a last minute option those en route to the RTR might find it handy.

 

[Reducto]

Canned chili is my go-to on the road. Wolf Brand is my favorite, other brands gave me heartburn. Usually under $2 and if it's a hot day you can eat it right out of the can, or add some rice or other filler to turn it into a full day's worth of meals.

Free Wifi at McD's does make it tempting though!

 

[XERTYX]

Wolf brand chili is good stuff. If you have a kroger in your area their store brand chili is pretty good. They recently revamped their chili and its actually good now. It used to be impossible to eat out of the can because it was just a wad of grease. I used to mix canned chili with white rice and put in a flour tortilla sprinkle with cheese and roll it up and toast the burrito in a skillet with some butter or margarine. Not too bad. Free wifi is a good thing for sure.

 

[bullfrog]

When I was home helping care for a family member the local daily paper had cut out coupons that made Subway and Buger King affordable. At Subway you could get a 12" sandwich for $6 and then use a buy one get one free for a second sandwich which gave you a coupon for the next day and a lot of times they would give you the coupons back to use again as they were good for the week!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Sandwiches are the go-to fast food for me:  a slice of bread, a smear of mayo, leaf of lettuce, slice of cheese, a few slices of deli meat, and I'm eating.
Wash it down with chocolate milk.
EZPZ.

 

[travelaround]

I treat myself to a subway veggie sandwich once a week. Other than that... I cook at home. Instead of soda I drink spring water and tea.

 

[maki2]

If you have a fridge get some hard boiled eggs. They are filling and the energy from them last a lot longer than many other quick food meals. Eat as they come out of the shell, or slice and use for making a sandwich or putting on a piece of toast.

I also keep the mozarrela sticks on hand, they do just fine for a non cook meal.

For a cheese to spread on toast or bread that does not require refrigeration look for the "Laughing Cow" cheese wedges, they come in a round container. The wedges are individually wrapped. I learned from watching the Rick Steve's travel videos that they will keep without refrigeration. They are widely sold in grocery stores.
Here is a link to the product with the dietary information
https://www.thelaughingcow.com/products/creamy-swiss-original#nutrition

 

[XERTYX]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I didn't know that about laughing cow cheese. If memory serves it's fairly expensive locally but the added expense could well be justified if they're shelf stable and dont require refrigeration. 

I do eat subway once every other week or so usually. I always loved their veggie sandwich but I've been boycotting their veggie sub for years now since they raised the price to $6 fo a foot long. It used to be about $3-4 which made sense as theres no food cost in it. I used to work in a fast food restaurant as the manager and i saw the invoices for the produce. 20 pounds of lettuce costs a restaurant around 3 dollars or less. Yet they got greedy and sell you a lettuce sandwich for the same price as a meat sandwich. I just cant feature that. Just my opinion though.

I do like to make my own sandwiches but I eat them so infrequently that I waste half a loaf of bread so I dont make them often.

I do love hard boiled eggs. It's a good thing I'm a hermit because if I were living with someone I'm sure they would need a gas mask when I eat them. I guess that's due to not having a gall bladder.

I'm planning on buying a thermos to experiment with thermos cooking. I love to make pinto beans but the amount of electricity/fuel for cooking as well as time spent doing so would make them too intensive while traveling I think.

 

[Reducto]

Get spinach instead of lettuce. Iceberg lettuce has basically no nutritional value. I will sometimes get extra veggies on the side that I don't want in the sub but can use for other things like jalapenos.

 

[Homeless in Canada]

I like those boxes of baby spinach for salads. The greens are washed and when it starts to get wilted I just cook the rest.

 

[WanderingRose]

A quick, filling and cheap meal, still with some good nutritive value, is to prepare ramen noodles per package directions, beat an egg or two, season to taste and stir into the hot noodle mixture to make an egg drop/noodle soup that is actually pretty darned good.

The boiling liquid will cook the eggs quickly.

 

[ckelly78z]

I like the Bear Creek dry soup mixes in a convenient microwaveable containers. You just add the prescribed amount of water, and could probably be done with boiling water poured in from a tea kettle if no microwave is present. I add crumbled up crackers, and have a sandwich with it....good comfort food.

 

[XERTYX]

A quick, filling and cheap meal, still with some good nutritive value, is to prepare ramen noodles per package directions, beat an egg or two, season to taste and stir into the hot noodle mixture to make an egg drop/noodle soup that is actually pretty darned good.

The boiling liquid will cook the eggs quickly.



I never even thought of making egg drop soup with ramen. That's brilliant. Now if only there was a way to make hot and sour soup that tastes just like the restaurant version that's been cooked fo 48-72 hours.

 

[Almost There]

I second the Bear Creek but I buy the regular size packages and then divide it up in to single serve sizes - well, MY single serve sizes - and put it in snack size baggies. Then I put the baggies back in the original package so I have it all together and the instructions as well...