[hyperpower]

$35 for 6 meals for two people at McDonalds? What?

Where I live, one meal at McDonalds is about $12. So 6 * 2 * 12 = $144. Not that much of a difference.

Also, if you aimed for 2200 calories per person per day with that $170, then it isn't really fair comparing to a single McDonald's meal, is it? It sounds like buying whole foods is cheaper.

[wahern]

Does McDonalds not have the $5 McValue Meals where you live? In the Bay Area, $5 + tax gets you a McChicken, 4 chicken nuggets, small fries, and small drink. $6 to upgrade to a McDouble cheeseburger instead of the McChicken. Altogether ~1000 calories per meal.

That's darn good value for your money, at least for a prepared hot meal that's convenient in most locales. $5 for ~1000 calories, plus the ingredients are fortified; the lack of fiber notwithstanding, it's not a horrible thing to eat several times a week. I live in SF where McDonalds is not very convenient, and where food prices, including prepared takeout, aren't too bad if you know where to go--my wife sometimes brings empty casserole dishes to one of our friendly neighborhood Chinese restaurants to fill up, without paying extra, though for us it's fortunately more about convenience when raising two kids with a bunch of extracurriculars than it is about penny pinching.

FWIW, I love cooking and cook as much as I can, usually at least 3 times a week, which with leftovers means 4 or 5 dinners. But between cooking, cleaning, and shopping, it can be be quite time consuming, and excepting myself, the rest of the family isn't keen on eating beans 3 nights a week. (I'm only allowed to make Red Beans & Rice a few times a year. Ditto for similar big pot meals :(

[1718627440]

Here it is more like $5 gets you a coke at McDonalds.

[bastawhiz]

Sorry, I didn't multiply by two; it would have been $70. I checked the nutrition facts on the menu, it was a mix of meal deals and had nearly the same calorie counts that I was aiming for. Still less than half the cost of groceries (minus all the food I already had).

But if we're talking about the balance of macronutrients, I'd love to hear how you manage to beat the cost of fast food with legumes/nuts/yogurt and don't have a huge percentage of your calories from fat. 40g of protein from almonds is nearly a thousand calories and 90g of fat. 40g of protein from black beans is five Chipotle bowl orders worth of beans or four cups of fava beans. 35g of protein from nonfat Greek yogurt is nearly 3/4 of a pound of yogurt. If you can't stand to eat nearly a pound of nonfat yogurt in one sitting like most of the population, you'll only get 30g of protein from a 32oz tub and spend as much as a McDonald's sandwich (and get the same amount of fat).

[ac29]

> I'd love to hear how you manage to beat the cost of fast food with legumes/nuts/yogurt and don't have a huge percentage of your calories from fat

Lentils are $2/lb and a pound has approx 100g of protein. They've a little less than 1g of fat per 10g of protein.

[cma]

"For only $11.99, the 40 piece Chicken McNuggets® from @mcdonalds will get you right for tournament time."

That will get you 5000 calories for $36 if you are willing to only eat mcnuggets. Plus the sauce.