The McDonald's business model is one of the best ever in the food service industry.

Many of us have lived on Mac food through thin economic times are thankful for good tasting, nutritional food for the lowest possible price and still enjoy it with even more sheckels in our pockets.

Yes, that's right, I said nutritional. It may be "fast" but the nutritional value of McDonald's fare is as high as any.

It's no surprise that McDonald's prospers during economic downturns.

Expect that Mac will continue to enjoy healthy profits through the recession as many other restaurant chains suffer and even fold.

My dad used to defend hamburgers and pizza by saying they have the basic food groups.  With a burger you can get your meat, dairy, salad veggies and starch.  With pizza you get meat, dairy, veggies and starch.

I've lived on sandwiches for a good part of summer and often wonder how they differ from a hot meal.  If I heat my sandwich THEN I get a hot meal.  Bread, meat, dairy and veggies.  It's funny how we think.  I MUST sit down to a meal of meat, potatoes, veggies and a dinner roll for it to be considered a good hot meal.

Breakfast MUST be eggs or cereal with toast and fruit.?   Meals, for the most part, are just tradition.  The forefathers would be appalled at eating cold pizza for breakfast..or the equivalent.

Saber, you and I don't agree on a lot of things but here we are in sync.  McDonald's has great value as do others.  Most fast food places now have dollar menus (even KFC) and I'll continue to use them for economy and ease.

Mcdonald's is Nasty....!

I gotta tell you guys my daughters laugh at me when every time they talk us into having fast food...Without fail, I puke my diner - sometimes I don't stop the car completely. I just slow down enough to safely open the door and let it go.  They actually laugh at me....

I usually feel better afterwards though.

--virgil

Nancy, remember Cosby's justification for feeding his kids chocolate cake for breakfast?  Eggs...milk...flour...

I've had cherry pie and ice cream for breakfast  Milk, eggs, flour, fruit

You see, it's all about tradition.  I'm all for the new tradition of cherry pie, chocolate cake, and ice cream for breakfast.  That should cover all food groups except veggies.  Wait, are cocoa beans veggies?

This morning it was left-over homemade apple pie and a glass of milk (ran out of ice cream!).  D'oh--no protein.  Guess I should've topped it with bacon.  

JASON:  eeeeeuuuuwwwwwwww !!!

Fast food grease pits usually get a bump in economic downturns. McD's is a model of business for several reasons. I seldom go to one when I'm home, but on the road I look for one if I want to pull over. McD's is consistant. I know there will be a bathroom, I have a good idea what the menu is and how much it will cost, I know I won't be waiting forever to get my order. Go to one McD's in the country and you've pretty much seen them all.

Nancy, It's a good day when we are on the same page.

Your father had good common sense instincts.

Actually, he was spot on with his assessment of burgers. He saw that meat is meat, lettuce is lettuce, tomato a tomato and bread the same as any other offered for sale anywhere else and that the combination does indeed contain all the food groups in a healthy diet.

So called "fast" food chains, particularly McDonald's have been unfairly maligned for years by critics with all sorts of bogus claims about causing obesity, and other hogwash.

The fact is, you might criticize Mac for frying its burgers, (saturated fat) but aside from that the restaurants serve the same meats, chicken, potatoes, bread and produce that is sold in the supermarkets which is obtained from the same vendors which people routinely prepare and consume at home.

In fact, McDonald's foods are likely to be of even higher quality than some markets, as Mac's suppliers are held to rigidly high standards in order to be an approved vendor.

McDonald's kitchens are also likely to be cleaner than an average home, as the company mandates and assures through regular inspections that franchisee's adhere to the strictest health department standards lest they lose their franchises.

Much the same can also be said for other similar restaurant chains.

Sure, it may not be a great idea to eat a lot of fried red meat, sausage, bacon, etc., but if you're going to do it at all, it really doesn't matter whether you do it at home, Mac's, Jacks, Wendy's, In And Out, Carl's or the King's.

If you don't like fried, Burger King and Carl's are flame broiled, and if you like your meat unfrozen visit In And Out for fresh.

One thing, though. It's never a good idea to be nasty at the drive through unless you want a vengeful employee including an extra unordered ingredient in your sandwich.

Those of you who as a teen have ever worked in a restaurant know what I'm talking about.

But don't dwell on the thought.

Saber, cool huh?  :-)

For those who don't want fried burgers go to Carls Jr.  Don't want beef?  Get the charbroiled barbeque chicken sandwich, it's awesome.  AND it's on some sort of healthy looking grain bun.

McDonalds also offers fruit.  Your fast food diet is pretty much what you make it these day.  Last night I had my usual double cheese burger (1.00) small fries (1.00) and the 42 oz coke (99 cents).  The only snag was after I left I discovered my coke was a diet and that's one thing I cannot drink.....at any price.

We agree again, Nancy!

Diet soda bad, sugar good.

I had just added the Carl's and Burger King broiled choices to my original comment as you posted.

Mac also has some very good salads, as do other chains following the trend toward healthier food choices. 

The new Angus burger with mushrooms and Swiss is also very tasty.

Yeah, Jason, apple pie for breakfast, topped with cheese and nuked a few seconds to melt the cheddar.

A while back when the market plunged 1000 points over a few days, the only stocks that were in positive territory were McDonald's (MCD) and Kraft (KFT). Fast food and junk food. Yep. Safe investments indeed.

You know, the Egg McMuffin is not all that bad for you. It only has about 300 calories and not all that much fat. It's when you add the second one plus the hash browns that you get into trouble. But, if you're going to eat a thousand calories in one meal, it should be breakfast. Even the burgers are OK if you leave out the sauce and the super large fries...the fries...more fries...McDonald's has the best fries on the planet. Just eat the fries. 

My family gets cravings for fast food sometimes, but it's usually Der Weinerschnitzel.  We love that place!  Hot dogs, corn dogs, chili dogs, kraut dogs, chili burgers, etc.  Luckily my whole family is on the same page about our triglyceride needs, so we rarely argue about where to get our fast food.  McDonalds is okay, but I absolutely can't stand Jack in the Box (everything tastes like plastic) and Taco Bell is okay, I guess.  Sometimes we'll go to Sonic, but it's mainly for their slushes.

Most of the time, though, we eat homemade meals because it's cheaper and healthier--well, not that much healthier, I guess, when you consider that we cook a lot of artery-clogging junk around here: biscuits (from scratch) and gravy, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc.  Last night we had pork chops and dressing and potatoes and jello--nary a green vegetable or fruit in sight (I'm still feeling dirty about it, too--we almost always have both, to go along with all the grease, though no one in my family ever eats the veggies.)  Oh well, we're all sick with colds around here and we wanted starchy comfort food.  Tonight I'm making chicken noodle soup (homemade,) so that should ease my guilty conscience.

Well, this thread sure brought out the self-flagellant in me.  I'm wishing I could be as cavalier as the rest of you guys about junk food.  What's your secret? 

It's all about balance CB. You can have everything you want, as long as you get a DIET Coke. That makes it all OK ;-)

I too have a cold, and Saber was kind enough to make chicken soup for me!  Mmm, cheesy tortellini and french cut green beans too.  A tiny blob of hot sauce in the broth clears the sinuses.

While Saber pays homage to McD's, he's not telling you what an incredible cook he is.  My hips are the proof. 

But while he blogged this morning, I refilled my coffee and ate a handful of Fritos dipped in bean dip!

While I'm confessing, I'll add my junk favorites:  Egg McMuffin, mushy soy tacos from Jack, enchiritos and taco supremes from the Bell, and the beloved breakfast burrito!  Carl's has one now graciously infused with gravy atop the meat, spuds, eggs and cheese!

Lol, H8cloz!  It's not so easy when you have a pediatrician to answer to.  When she asked what I typically feed the kids I said oatmeal for breakfast (got a nod) spaghettiOs or Campbell's soup for lunch (got a wince) and a meat, a starch, a veggie and a fruit for dinner (got a prescription for a vitamin supplement.)

NO, IT'S NOT ALL ORGANIC, MACROBIOTIC TOFU, LADY!!!!  We're Okies, for God's sake!

So, that's where a lot of my guilt comes from.  I need an Okie pediatrician, I guess.

Best fries on the planet are at Checkers.  Lightly seasoned battered or whatever and in put in the carton like sticks.  Their burgers are a lot like Burger King to me...nothing special. 

When did Kraft become junk food?  The make gazillions of things but I LOVE mayo.  I can eat just a mayo sandwich.  I bought Safeway mayo this last time to save a little..bad move.  Bad, bad move.  It's not that it's awful but it ain't Kraft or Best Foods.

Isn't Kraft mac and cheese the ambrosia for the Gods?  Can't stand mac and cheese myself but it got a lot of people through college.  Along with Top Ramen that is.

You guys know motopoet?  He will NOT eat anything green and not much along the lines of veggies at all.  Potatoes, corn..that's about it.  When he was a kid I worried about it and the pediatrician said if he's healthy leave him alone and give him vitamins.  Go look at his picture..lol..does he look malnourished?

Never eaten at Checkers...I'll give it a try. Kraft Mac & Cheese is kid bait. My kids eat far too much of it, probably because I like it so much. Fish sticks, shoestring fries and Kraft Mac & Cheese...my favorite dinner when I'm stressed out. Probably do better if I ate the packaging. Also, Mac & Cheese mixed with tuna and peas...Mmmmm.

My first memory of "Kraft" was on the packaging of those mini colored marshmallows. I remember the word "Kraft" was in a pink triangle on the upper right corner of the bag, must have been 1965/66 or so. Ever since then, the word always makes me think of comfort food.

No kidding, Nancy.  Mark's a big guy and he looks healthy to me.  Both of my kids are off the charts height and weight wise.  The pediatrician just stares at me every time I take them in for their check-ups because they're both so BIG, and their Dad is only an inch taller than me, so I don't know where it's coming from unless it's all the Okie food.  They never used to get sick, either, once I took my son out of daycare, but now that I've got him in pre-school we all catch colds at least 4 times a year.  Pre-schools are little Germatoriums.  I considered sending my son to school with a tube of Clorox Wipes, but then I realized I didn't want him to be THAT KID--the one who ends up being Howard Hughes, so I just send him to school and let all the germy kids breathe all over him and accept the inevitable.

And Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is a staple around here--and usually paired with fish sticks.  My pediatrician would barf if she knew, probably.

And Checkers is great!  We've been there twice.  I love their milkshakes!

Ahhh well Catherine, your kids are the germy ones when they have a cold so I guess what goes around comes around.   ALL kids are germy if they're in the public.  I went over two years witout a cold and two weeks ago started coming down with a nasty one.  I'm around people less that ever but I keep my little guy two days a week and he's in daycare the other 3.  Not to mention his mommy and daddy are both teachers and around kids all day every day.  Poor baby doesn't stand a chance..and neither do I it seems.  LOL.

He was sooo sick last week so it's good he spent Friday with me.  I kept telling him (6 months old) that I knew just how he felt since he had given it to me the week before.  Even at that age, when he saw me with a kleenex he started throwing himself backwards.

I think we worry too much about kids in a lot of ways.  Mostly it's a lack of exercise that's causing obesity in so many kids.  I know since I left waitressing, bartending, and retail and planted myself at a desk I gained 20 pounds all in the wrong place.  Gravity has a way of finding the lowest spot to deposit the fat it doesn't need.

Get those kids off the computer, the game boy, the x box, and let them run off some of those McDonalds fries.

Cat..thanks for the heaads up on Checkers/Ralleys milkshakes, I haven't  tried them.   

Yeah, CB, she would barf up her Kraft Mac & Cheese, cause she probably eats it too! But what's wrong with your kid growing up to be a Howard Hughes, apart from the psychosis, germaphobia, sociopath dying alone and extremely rich part. Germs are the best thing for them, it builds their immune system and makes them much healthier in later years. That's a hard one for me and my kids, since I'm such a clean freak. I'm "that kid".

My mom caught our cold, too.  She catches everything the kids catch because she sees them at least twice a week, and it's impossible to refrain from catching a cold from kids this little.  The baby sneezes on you while you're holding her and then leans in and wipes her face on your shirt.  My four-year-old wipes his nose on his hand and then touches everything in my mom's house.  Honestly, my four-year-old is so gross it would probably be impossible to turn him into "that kid."  He's really more like "that other kid"--the Pigpen type, with the dirt cloud around his head.  I was a filthy little tomboy with holes in my pants knees and walked around perma-barefoot, so I can't really blame him. 

 October was Monopoly month!