I do so sometimes (more often 10 oz. or so). It’s not a panacea, but it’s probably better for me than the equivalent amount of pop.
Powers &8^]
**MsRobyn ** said:
But it is a value, you just don’t have to eat it all in one sitting.
Well, sure, and when I order that much, I tend to do just that. But when you factor in the “don’t waste food!” mindset and the “if you don’t clean your plate, you won’t get dessert” mindset, you get a lot of people eating a lot of food. I’ve also noticed that some restaurants make it difficult to take leftovers home; one restaurant near me has a “boxing” charge of (IIRC) $2.00 per person that they add to the bill if you request a doggy bag. Others require the server to take the food back to the kitchen to box it, and it’s not always a priority with servers.
We see the latest salvo in the burger wars - here McDonalds has the “Big Angus” - going from a quarter-pounder to now a 1/3-pound meat patty. Plus bacon, cheese and whatever other fattening ingredients you wish to add.
There’s also a mindset I’ve taht several co-workers ahve mentioned, so I’m not alone. If I buy a package of nibblies - cookies, chips, whatever - or some baking, I rarely have the willpower to just eat a simple portion. As a result, part of my (unsucessful) dieting means I don;t often buy bags of cookies, or pastry or pie - especially from Costco, where a pie is big enough to feed a village in Bangladesh.
I also like to point out that food is stupidly cheap (but not sure I’d want to be responsible for changing that). It used to be the biggest cost after housing; today we probably spend more on information, when you add up cell, telephone, cable, internet, etc. It only becomes a significant expense if you eat at restaurants a lot.
I still think the culprit is less the corn-syrup-fructose-vs-sucrose issue as I think it’s the attempt to substitute sugar for fat. Perhaps the correct mix of those two in the diet is a necessary appetite regulator, and fat-free foods coupled with sugar-water soda is what’s helping do us all in…
MsRobyn said:
Yes, it is the mindset that is the problem. Hell, I almost never order appetizers or dessert, and often take half my dinner home. I can’t imagine eating appetizer, a full dinner, and desert, and still being able to move.
It’s amusing to me, I’ve noticed when I go visit my parents they typically have dessert. Usually I will eat enough of entree and sides to be too full for dessert right after dinner. Since this is often holidays and the like, I will have a bit of dessert a little later after dinner has settled.
Really? What places do you go? I think I’ve only been to one place that the waitstaff wanted to take my plate in back to box it for me, and I don’t eat there regularly (been there twice). Just about anywhere I go in the standard sit down variety will get you a to-go box, no hassle no charge. Unless it’s a buffet*, you’ve bought the food, it’s yours whether you eat it there or take it home, so they shouldn’t be fussy about that, and if they are then talk to the management. And if the servers aren’t responsive to your request, take it out of their tip. And let them know why.
*All-you-can-eat buffets are the exception, because of their pricing strategy. The idea is to charge enough that the prices averaged across the customer base work out slightly in the restaurant’s favor. That means the small eaters (1 time through and they are full) balance the huge eaters (4 plates and may be ready for dessert). Too expensive, small eaters won’t go. Too cheap, can’t break even, nevermind make profit. So they have to have a “can’t take it with you” policy, or everyone becomes a big eater.
Right, I agree, after I finish my salad and entree, I can’t image eating dessert also. Once in a while if there’s a group of us, we’ll split an appetizer. Sometime when I have had a big lunch I go for just dessert.
I also agree about “doggie bags”, I have never seen anyplace reluctant to let me take it home. (I don’t, but my date often does)
Except, as you said, a buffet, and even there they will often be OK if you want a piece of whole fruit to go. I eat at the Disney buffets a few times a year and they are quite generous in that regard.
I’ve had a buffet place frown at me for trying to walk out while eating a cookie.
The restaurant that charged was a fancy restaurant; I can only assume that the charge covered whatever extras, like plastic cutlery. I haven’t been there in several years, so I don’t even know if they still do that. I didn’t take leftovers home that night.
I’m not sure why some restaurants take the plates back to the kitchen to box, unless it’s to “freshen it up” a bit. A friend of mine works at a restaurant that does that, and if the pasta-to-sauce ratio looks a little off, they’ll fix it. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense, and it’s annoying.
That said, though, said friend told me about restaurants he’s heard about that have a strict no-doggy bag policy because they serve food that isn’t exactly low-risk for food poisoning. I guess someone tried to sue after they left a box of leftovers in their car while they went to a movie or something. One of these restaurants gets around the PR problem by offering customers a coupon good for one free half-order in lieu of the leftovers.
re: doggy bags, I have several friends who think it’s OK to let doggy bags sit for long periods before frigging. One time we went to a restaurant on the way to the concert. The meals were HUGE(!) and we each only ate half our meals.
I didn’t get mine bagged up. I said … it’s just going to sit in the car for 4 hours, then another 45 minutes home. Food won’t be good then.
They said sure it is, just fridge it when you get home, then reheat it before you eat it.
I said, fridge it in 90 minutes or toss it. They didn’t agree.
With huge meals served (especially if the price isn’t low) that makes people MORE likely to take large meals and let them sit for longer. The mindset of not wasting food (or the mindset of not wasting the money on the expensive food) kept them saving that food through what I considered unhealthy conditions.
I’m not normally one to judge, but I don’t believe you should be frigging your food, especially if you plan to eat it later.
An article in PopSci talks a bit about this:
It should be noted, incidentally, that honey is almost the exact same thing as high fructose corn syrup. Oddly, many of the same folks who decry HFCS as the work of the Devil and responsible for all our health problems also praise the virtues of that all-natural sweetener honey.
Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback were a limited production run that operated from mid-April to mid-June.
I’m down to 15 cases of the stuff in my garage now. It’s gotta last until we can convince Pepsico to bring it back permanently.
Huh! I don’t think they had that near me… what’s it taste like?
Coke. 
I bought a case of bottles yesterday. I got the feeling that the store manager was happy to get it off his hands.
I know these are not scientifically validated data points (and my dad is a physicist, so I understand the distinction), but there’s a certain amount of observation going on in this thread anyway:
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I remember 12-oz glass bottles of soda (or pop, as we said) when I was perhaps 14, in 1982. I didn’t drink a whole bottle. I’d pour half over a lot of ice, too sweet otherwise. Of course if I didn’t drink the rest soonish, or share with little sis, mom got annoyed as the soda got flat and then poured out.
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I think I remember “RC” cola–“Royal Crown”–having bigger bottles, maybe 20 oz, but with a screw cap to preserve the fizz. Was RC Canadian? I grew up in Buffalo so we had Ca. products. But those big bottles seemed luxurious.
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However, I drank a boatload of “iced tea” that my mom made with generous helpings of frozen lemonade or limeade. Goodness knows what was in it–pre-nutritional labeling. However it was also, I think, pre-HFCS. In California, where I live now, we’d call it an “Arnold Palmer”–half iced tea, half lemonade. Pretty sweet. I drank enough that my dentist at 16 thought I was a smoker, my teeth were that dark from the tea. I was not fat as a kid, though not especially active either.
For what it’s worth.
I find it interesting, it’s called “pop” in the midwest and eastern U.S., “soda” in the far west, and “cola” in the rest (although the term never refers to clear carbonated beverages of course). YMMV, but so far, I’ve never been wrong about guessing what 1/3 of the U.S. someone is from based on what they call the beverage.
I remember the advent of 2-liter bottles and Super Big Gulp drinks at 7-11 (when was that, mid 80s?). Back then, it was standard procedure for a 2-liter bottle to last 3 or 4 days, even when the whole family was drinking from it. It was a long-lasting purchase.
In the late 90s, I lived in a LAN-party house with a ton of people hanging out constantly who would play computer games about 20 hours a day. Many of these people drank 1 or 2 bottles (2-liters each) every day. Each.
Either attitudes changed, or ingredients changed, or both.
The Soda/Pop map: http://popvssoda.com:2998/
Thanks… I forgot to mention about people who call it Coke, whether they mean Coke or Pepsi.
My department at work goes to lunch together every Friday. People have determined the most specific ways for getting exactly what they want.
Person one: Coke or Pepsi
Person two: Water with no ice
Person three: Soda water
Person four: Strawberry lemonade
Person five: Water with ice
Person six: Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi
Person seven: Root beer
No one says “cola” or “pop” or “soda” because that elicits a response question, usually listing what they carry that meets that criteria. By saying “Coke or Pepsi,” they get the “cola” of that line without further conversation.
But all that is while ordering. In casual conversation, they say “soda.”