A Journal Entry and An Award.

Well, we are on day 15 of the NFFP (No Fast Food Program). The brain is a fascinating thing. It tells the alcoholic that it needs a drink, it tells the smoker it needs a nicotine fix, it tells a fast food junkie, (me), I need a Big Mac!

Day #12: I don't know if it's because the "no eating any fast food" is still strong in my brain, but I don't think I've ever noticed as many advertisements as I have lately. I'm sure that they've always been there, I just must be noticing them more. White Castle has new special on 30 Sliders. But the more I thought about eating even more than a few of the tiny burgers, made me feel ill. That feeling helped me get through the rest of the day.

Day #13: I didn't work, so I got to stay home all day. If it weren't for all the fast food TV ads, I probably wouldn't have even given fast food a single thought.

Day #14: We have an all day class at work. For lunch they ordered pizzas from a small mom & pop shop not far from the shop. I ate a couple of pieces, but I'll let you know that I had made my lunch and had it in a cooler in my truck, "just in case", the food came from some other place. I can save my lunch for another day.

Day #15: The sign across the street reads, "MEET RONALD McDONALD LIVE TONIGHT!".

Oh, have I ever mentioned that we live directly across the street from a McDonald's???

That's right, all we have to do to get McDonald's is walk across the street! What I'm thankful for is that our youngest daughter Vivienne just happens to be at my mother's house for an over nighter. Our oldest daughter Emerson didn't notice the sign because of the way she walks home from school. No one is the wiser. Life is good.

Okay... On to the last thing. An Award! Some of you may already have this award and you may be getting it again! Here is my new award, given to me by my beautiful wife Becky over at Living the Life with the Wife of Riley .

This one has rules:

1. Each Superior Scribbler I name today must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving bloggy friends.

2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to THIS POST, which explains The Award.

4. Each blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post http://randomthoughts-tammy.blogspot.com/2009/08/good-better-best-never-let-it-rest-till.html and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives this prestigious honor.

5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog

And the winners are...

#1: In My Mind It's Always Funny

#2: Don't Make Drugs

#3: Poetikat's Blasts From The Past

#4: Torizworld

#5: IntenseGuy

And that's all for today.

Until next time... PEACE!

Taking It In A Whole New Direction...

Okay, I know I've been SUPER BAD about my blog. But I'm vowing to get better, RIGHT NOW!




As you've probably read over at my wife's blog, Living The Life With The Wife Of Riley, we have decided, (as a family), not to eat ANY fast food for the next year.

This includes any type of food from any place that is a "chain", such as McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's, (you know who they are).

Here's what I've decided to do: Over the next year I will write a journal, (right here on Blogger), of the trials and tribulations of not being able to have the foods that, quite frankly, I have grown up with and have eaten, at least, two or more times a week for the past 40 years! And as an added bonus, we figured out how much money we would spend each day on fast food and decided to run a "savings total". An average trip to McDonald's for a family of 4 was about $17.00. If we went to Wendy's it was about $23.00. So "on average" we were spending about $20 everyday we ate fast food. We were shocked when we thought back and discovered we were eating something what we consider "fast food" at least 4 to 5 times out of every 7 day week.


I, on the other hand, was also eating fast food everyday for lunch when I am working. So add another, on average, $6 a day for me!


This idea took a little bit of getting used to. The rules had to be established to the family because, for some reason or another, some of us had no idea what was, (or wasn't), considered "fast food".


For example, I wanted to get Subway one day. I was thinking that because it doesn't have a drive thru and it does offer a few "healthy choices", it would be okay. According to Becky, I was WRONG! It fell into the "It's a corporate chain and you can find one in every town" category.


And of course the kids can make a pretty good argument. Our oldest daughter Emerson was watching a Wendy's television commercial and heard their new slogan, "It's not fast food... It's Wendy's!" Yeah, nothing gets past her, does it?


So, to clarify, the rules are as follows:


#1: You may purchase NOTHING from a corporate "chain" that sells food you can get in under one minute.


#2: A "Sit Down" chain where you get an actual menu you have to open and hold, a waitress that actually comes over to your table to take your order and then brings your order to you, (such as Denny's for example), is NOT considered Fast Food. We can eat there if we wish.


#3: The great Steak 'n Shake debate... I said that a waitress takes your order and brings you the food if you go in and sit down. Becky says that it has two strikes against it however. Strike one, it's a chain. Strike 2, it has a drive thru. Therefor, Steak 'n Shake is Fast Food!


#4: A local "burger or hot dog joint" that is a one of a kind place, (not a chain), and privately owned is NOT fast food. We can eat there if we wish.


#5: Pizza... Pizza Hut and Domino's are both a large corporate chain and falls into the fast food category. The local pizza place down the street that you can only find in that ONE place? They are NOT fast food. We can eat there if we wish.


#6: Chinese Food... Panda Express, BAD! Lin Ming's around the corner from our house and the ONLY Lin Ming's we can find in the United States, GOOD!


#7: The "NO" list so far: (This includes, but is not limited to), McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Arby's, Subway, Hardee's, Carls Jr., Jack in the Box, KFC, Popeye's Chicken, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Domino's, White Castle, Sonic, A&W, Panda Express, Johnny Rockets, Mr. Submarine, Steak 'n Shake and Jimmy John's.


If any other's come up in the future, I'll discuss them at that time.


Now, the "No Fast Food Project", as it has come to be known, was started two weeks ago on Friday, August 28, 2009. Here are a few things that have happened in the past two weeks...


On day one.. Yes Day ONE!... My mother had kept the kids at her house for a few days before school started again. She drops the girls off that afternoon and both kids bring in hot fresh Happy Meals from McDonald's into the house. The smells were good, I drooled a little bit, but it passed and we were ok.


Day #4: The back story... For YEARS now, we have seen "SONIC Burgers" advertised on Cable TV. I've had SONIC before during trips down to Tennessee to visit family, and I LOVE them! I've looked them up on the Internet from time to time, (usually after seeing one of the television commercials), but the closest one I could ever find was down in Southern Illinois about 280 miles away.


So, day #4 of the NFFP, (No Fast Food Project), and I have take a quick drive northwest of where we live to go to a Air Conditioning call for work. 12 miles from where we live I see a large banner approaching. It is hanging over a bright yellow and red building and it reads, "GRAND OPENING! SONIC DRIVE-IN!!!"... In the words of Shakespeare, "You've got to be f**kin' kidding me!!!". But I resist the urge and drive on by.


Day #6: Have I mentioned how much I love Burger King? With a plethora of fast food places out there that do nothing but fry just about everything on their menu, Burger King gives one a break from the griddle and cooks up their burgers using actual fire on a grill. The only problem I really had with them was price. So on day #6 I start to see new billboards popping up all over the place. "Burger King Double Cheeseburgers proudly join the $1 menu!" During a normal day I may drive by and see a Burger King possibly 2 or 3 times. Today I must have driven by and saw 20 of them! I confess... I actually pulled into one the Burger King parking lots. I actually thought to myself, "Becky will never know! How would she ever find out?" But again, I resist all of the temptations as the guilt took over my body. "What the hell am I thinking???", and I drove out of the parking lot. In the words of Longfellow, "F**k my life...".


Days 7 through 9 go smooth. No real temptations.


Day #10: My birthday... We drive up to the Walworth County Fair in Wisconsin. As soon as we get there I being to salivate more than Pavlov's dog hearing midnight church bells. To my relief, Becky told me, "Fair food is okay. We only go to two fairs a year so eating here is alright. Fair food has it's own category." COOL! But I'm very happy to tell you that I didn't "pig out". My eating at the fair consisted of, Fresh Sweet Corn on the Cob, a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich and later that evening I had to have one of my all time faves, an Elephant Ear. Ahhh... You sweet fried dough and cinnamon sugar concoction. In the words of Jackie Gleason, "How swweeeet it is!"


Day #11: Labor Day... Becky and I decided to just chill out and hang out at the house. But it was late in the afternoon that gave me a truly guilty feeling. I didn't have guilt about thoughts of cheating with fast food but rather, what have we done to our children??? As we watched TV, EVERY television commercial break had at LEAST 2 to 3 fast food ads. Our youngest daughter, 4 year old Vivienne, sees one of the ads for Wendy's and tells us, "I want Wendy's chicken nuggets and a frosty." When we told her no, she proceeded to repeat the request about 7 or 8 more times. We calmly explained, as best as we could to a 4 year old, that we will no longer be having Wendy's for the next 11 and a half months. The meltdown was NOT pretty. I felt so bad for her. I felt like we just let her open all the presents on Christmas day and then said, "Okay, let's take everything back to the store!". After she calmed down, we made a pizza and all was well with the world again.


So as of now we are all caught up to the present day.


So, on day 11 of the NFFP, the total of money saved from not eating fast food = (Drum roll please)...


$220.00


I hope you will follow me and my family as we continue our journey of the NFFP.


Until next time... PEACE!