Now that the pandemic is nearing it’s end, we’ve decided we would like to return to having some of our meals out. After 15 months of constant cooking and cleaning for and after our meals, my husband and I are ready to break free. Eating out in restaurants is still totally out of our budget, but lately, some fast food eateries are serving up some very fine edibles.
First up is Popeye’s. Touting their meals as southern in base, they offer such Louisiana specials as po’boy sandwiches, southern fried chicken and guaranteed flounder fish sandwiches. All at reasonable prices.
I never used to like fast food, but lately, fast food has come a long, long way! Buying take-out food is a whole lot cheaper than sitting down in a restaurant. If you pack your own drinks and chips/snacks/whatever, the price is even lower. We’ve been doing the take-away thing and then bringing the food to a park or some setting that has a view, making a near perfect food experience for us.
Last week, hubby and I wanted to try out the new Popeye’s crispy chicken sandwich. TV advertisements have never swayed me on buying anything, but this particular sandwich intrigued me. At $3.99 plus tax, hubby and I put it on our bucket list to at least try this sandwich out.
I’m happy to say, the sandwich didn’t disappoint (BUT the calories and fat content, should give a person pause). It was a once-in-a-lifetime treat. On WW (Weight Watchers: please note I’m on a diet, yet still want to live!) the crispy chicken sandwich is 23 points, which means it’s the only thing I could eat all day. I’d have to fill in the rest of my day with zero point foods, such as eggs, fruit, lean turkey and veggies. Hubby had the flounder fish sandwich at $4.49, plus tax, our lunch came to $9.16. We packed our own beverages but next time I’m trying/including the strawberry lemonade!
On Father’s Day, we both wanted to go out to eat but didn’t want to do the fast food thing again nor the restaurant thing. We decided to look for a spot next to a local college to see if we could find some good bargains. Restaurants located within a college perimeter are notorious for having good decent food at very low prices to attract the paying students. We found a family-owned pizzeria that charged by the slice ($2.50) and didn’t force you to buy a whole pie ($14 to $18). Note: as Italians, we don’t do the Papa John’s or Domino’s mass-produced pizza thing. We ordered by the slice: I had one regular margarita slice, hubby has 2 specialty veggie slices, which came to the total of $8. We then went to a local family owned, dairy/ice cream store and ordered 2 soft serve, ice cream sandwiches @$1 each, bringing the total dinner price of $10. (sorry, I don’t have any photos but I will next time, as we will be going back)
So far, we’ve managed to keep our dining out experiences down to $10 per visit. That’s an awesome goal for us since our monthly meals-out budget is $25. We don’t eat our meals in the parking lot or in the car if we can help it. We drive to a nearby park, some of which have picnic tables and have our meal in as beautiful a setting as we can muster.
We’re still cooking at home. Here are some of the dishes we had this past week. All food was purchased at Aldi and some of the dishes, such as The Bubble Up French Toast (click here for the recipe) and Broccoli & Feta Cheese frittata (click here for recipe) are on the WW program (just make sure you use fat-free feta cheese and skim milk). Aldi, now offers pre-made, fresh turkey burgers. Delish! My daughter bought me a milk frother for Mother’s Day which has enabled me to make terrific, Starbuck-quality lattes. On the veggie/salad side, I steamed asparagus and made a tomato/mozzarella/red onion salad topped with olive oil and fresh basil from my garden.
It was a very healthy and low cost dining week! Not feeling any inflation jitters as yet, provided we keep watching our bottom line and seek out alternatives.
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Ciphers From Cindi 
Hi Cindi, You mentioned you never been to Wendy’s what a surprise! Get the Wendy’s app and you will be amazed at some of the offers. Always Free senior coffee but you have to ask for it at the drive thru not on the app. I use the mobile app with one of my rewards credit card and sign up for their rewards program. Right now one of their offers is buy a premium hamburger and get another one for a $1. There are so many fantastic sandwiches. Hamburgers are never frozen. You could both get the app and order separately and take advantage of two offers. Before they had $2 off their delicious salads and they serve fantastic breakfasts also have offers on them. You only have one hour after you hit a mobile offer to use it. You can customize how you want your burgers and the pub fries I get without salt and the beer sauce just cheese and bacon. Delish. Definitely try their premium burgers with the mobile offer you will be below ten dollars.
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Hubby’s been to Wendy’s. He said he liked it. Will def do once we hit the open road again. No Wendy’s here. Just McDonald’s and Burger King (which is awful!). A Panera or two but really not too many fast food choices. Ugh.
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Definitely check out in their mobile app sides and more where their breakfast burrito and sausage biscuit are $1.49 and don’t forget the free senior coffee! Sincerely Lara
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Everything looks and sounds delicious! Obviously you are a wonderful cook. I am going to start WW next Monday (target date) and like you, am doing this on my own but following the plan found on the internet. It’s nice they now have more foods included in the zero point category. This is like my 10th time doing WW!
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Still Standing, I think WW still has a bargain of getting the first week on the plan (7 days) for free. Just cancel after the 6th day and you won’t be charged. The best part of WW, IMHO, is their software. A simple search or an actual scan of the foods’ bar code tells you instantly what the points are according to your plan. A quiz determines your best plan (color). I would recommend you try this first. Lots has changed. WW frowns upon sugar and fat. I guess their scientists came to this conclusion. Apparently, it works. I have loved the app so much I singed up, also on a discount ($14 a month vs $22) for the next 3 months. Then I will cancel my membership. I should be an expert by then. So far, I am in to WW for a month and I have lost 4 pounds. It might not sound like much but for me, it’s a spectacular accomplishment. I haven’t lost an ounce in years and I was just lost when it came to proper nutrition. WW has taught me to be very mindful of what I eat, I check the points on almost everything and I’ve learned to drink 40 oz of water a day! Big, big help!
Good luck. Do whatever it is that will work for you. The best thing about WW is that NO food is off limits. You just have to plan for the splurge. And if you go astray, no big deal. Just start again the next day.
PS: I’m on the Blue Plan, 23 points a day with 200 zero foods (oatmeal, potatoes, brown rice, turkey, fruits, eggs,veggies……things like that…I love that it includes carbs)
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it is such a blessing to be able to eat out, even just a few times, again! 🙂
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Absolutely. We are ever so thankful.
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