My wallet had gotten 160 dollars lighter and my body was 10 pounds heavier. I figured I was allergic to whatever was going on in their kitchens.

I'm not a Starbucks person, but there were three on my commute to work. One day, I decided I wanted to see what this Starbucks lifestyle was like out of curiosity. Went every morning for a month. Got an americano with espresso shots every morning. $80 at the end of the month. That is a phone bill. Nope. Back to the can of Costco Folgers that runs about $10/month.

and were ONLY $80 lighter - you must have been holding a gun on them. (they don't give that stuff away)

My star game was fierce.

put a hurtin' on 'em! ------ --- --- ------

"And earn 50 stars!"

Challenge. Accepted.

Steak and Shake. A nightmare. Finally had to call over an employee for help. Those corporations HATE payroll. Steak Shake cheapened their meat so we will not be going back EVER.

I used to go and eat their chili spaghetti or a burger frequently. I was so happy when they reopened until I saw their reduced menu and ordering kiosk. I didn't order that day and never went back.

for the first time. They were mostly confused by the extra bun in the middle.

I think the Big Mac was loosely based on the Big Boy, which had an extra bun.

That said, I hate ordering at the kiosk. I go to McDonald's a couple times a month. What bugs me the most is that you can't get a small or medium fries and a large Diet Coke. Everything increases proportionately.

an egg McMuffin without cheese, so the calories are not bad. I discovered on the app they are buy one get one free. If you are buying for a family they have a 20% off total bill over $5. I didn’t go often but there are bargains to be had, including free food, if one uses the app.

I haven’t checked the kiosk but I could be challenged by it, too.

I’m saying the cried that goes for 100 mile walks or 60 mile runs.

I travel a lot, and I will get back in the car and wait at the drive-thru if a kiosk is the only option.

Of course, I guess if I were concerned about health, I wouldn't be at McDonald's, but about once a year I get a Mac Attack.

I don't know when this happened (is this what getting old is like?). Fortunately, we don't eat it too often. When I do, I prefer Taco Bell and they have a $1 menu. We went for breakfast at McD's a few months back, and it was like $20. We were both like, "What did we buy?!" Burger King will do 2/$5 croissanwiches sometimes, tho.

We just make our own fast food now. McMuffins are just an egg with a broken yolk. Costco sells cheap croissants.

The big one was Chik Fil' A. Nephews love that shit. But I figured out, thin sliced chicken breast marinated in pickle juice with a buttermilk coat tastes exactly the same.

Of course, now they come over all the time so I'll make it. Friggin teenagers.

Because they jacked the regular price of a carton to the over $7 range recently. It’s better for us because there’s no corn syrup in it, and it takes much less of it to satisfy.

Fast food has been inching up slowly on their marquis featured sandwiches, but there was always a value meal you could fall back on to fill up for less than $5. That’s gone away in the last few years, along with a very real decrease in the quality of the food. Wendy’s chicken sandwiches, I’m looking at you.

We get the bags of frozen fruit from Costco and the half gallon of half and half for like $4.

Frozen fruit, half and half, splenda in a ninja blender. The frozen fruit gives it the consistency of soft serve. With the half and half and splenda, you're cutting out all the sugar and a lot of the fat from heavy cream. You can use milk and it comes out fine, but for flavor/texture, we like half and half. I do use skim milk and frozen fruit to make fruit smoothies that way, too. Ice cream vs. smoothie comes down to proportion of liquid vs. frozen fruit.

We use frozen strawberries usually for ice cream, and it is so, so good.

Somewhat related, the frozen mixed berries (defrosted) and splenda in a food processor then stored in the fridge. That's what I use to make PB&J.

Mrs Frain has been after me to try not-whole-milk. I’ve been resisting based on we eat far less than we used to, but I’ll give your ideas a spin. Probably try stevia instead of Splenda if I go for non sugar.

These days, after all the reversals over the years, give me eggs, butter, coffee, and sugar, keep your margarine, sugar substitute, egg white product, and Red Bull.

Always loved the Costco berry mixes for smoothies.

Or kiosks. When they put the kiosks in up here (Alaska), magically the McDouble and small fry value deal ($3.99) disappeared. You can still buy a McDouble and fry at the kiosk, but it’s $5.73 that way.

I only ever ate there once in a great while so it’s no big loss.

But it pisses me off when I’m trying to read the menu on the wall and it keeps shifting into another screen. Really annoying.

I don't really like fadt food but I do like a Sourdough Jack with curly fries every few months at Jack in the Box. It's like a $12 combo now. Same with Subway. Foot long Cold Cut Combo is $13. I just read Subway was just purchased by a private equity company so I'm expecting less staff, lower quality food and higher prices soon.

I can definitely see that covid made the prices of fast food rise. That and the idea that no one wants to work any more.

Thought I would just go in and order. Doors locked. Got in car, got in car line. Finally got to order--Chicken sandwich. Sorry, no chicken. Summer fresh salad with strawberries. Sorry, no lettuce. This was Wendy's, I left and went over to Arby's.

It's the same food that they have always had on their menu but by mentioning it as seen in this or that show or film or saying this is what some celeb's favorite meal is they are getting a lot of orders for those things.