It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
you believe the statement?

<http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
717,0,7359675.story>

"This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
almost unchanged for 10 years."



--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of
St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew;
sometimes in a pickle."
Where are my pearls, Honey?

Melba's wrote on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:20:18 -0500:

> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...sun-cooking-sc
> hools-20100 717,0,7359675.story>

> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals
> are going to be prepared in one form or another by someone in
> the house," says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst of the
> NPD Group, where he has followed Americans' eating and
> drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average American gets
> about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's almost
> unchanged for 10 years."

I wonder what they are counting as restaurants? A large number of
Americans eat lunch in cafeterias, in other words, say, 48x5 =240 meals
a year. A good fraction of those may be school kids and they probably
eat closer to 200 of course. For myself, even if I am retired, I eat in
a restaurant at very least once a week, most often lunch. I have to add
to that, the prepared food I may take home, often salads from a salad
bar. I wonder how frozen entrees and canned soups are counted?

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> you believe the statement?
>
> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> 717,0,7359675.story>
>
> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> almost unchanged for 10 years."

Unchanged in 10 years? I see the lines getting longer at the fast food
place drive through and I see much more prepared foods at supermarkets.
As for 200 meals a year, that is on the light side if you go out to lunch
every day at work. We eat out usually one a week for dinner a couple of
times a month for breakfast and I think we are on the lighter side of eating
out. I can see where a lot of couples would easily top that 200. I'd also
guess that it may be down the past year or so, but unchanged in 10 years
seems a stretch.

On 7/18/2010 7:20 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> you believe the statement?
>
> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> 717,0,7359675.story>
>
> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> almost unchanged for 10 years."
>
>
>
Not in this house, probably less than 100 meals a year outside the house
for us. I'm just to lazy to want to get dressed in long pants and a
sports shirt just to go eat some food I could cook myself. And I would
have to wear real shoes too instead of my Crocs.

On 7/18/2010 7:20 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> you believe the statement?
>
> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> 717,0,7359675.story>
>
> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> almost unchanged for 10 years."

I don't know. That's almost 4 meals a week pp..... we don't eat out
that often unless we are on a trip. If you count meals eaten on a
vacation... we do way more than that.

Here lately, we aren't going out as much as we used to. Why pay for
something that you can do better at home. I hardly ever order steak in
a restaurant... they are seldom as good as the ones we make on the
grill. Becca makes Mexican food so well that eating in a local
restaurant is often a disappointment. We both are enjoying making
Asian food and experimenting with that.

When we do go out, Most of the time I like to order things that we don't
uaually make at home.

George L

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> "Melba's Jammin'" > wrote

>> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>> you believe the statement?
>>
>> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>> 717,0,7359675.story>
>>
>> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are
>> going to be prepared in one form or another by someone in the
>> house," says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group,
>> where he has followed Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25
>> years. "The average American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a
>> restaurant and that's almost unchanged for 10 years."
>
> Unchanged in 10 years? I see the lines getting longer at the fast
> food place drive through and I see much more prepared foods at
> supermarkets. As for 200 meals a year, that is on the light side if you go
> out to
> lunch every day at work. We eat out usually one a week for dinner a
> couple of times a month for breakfast and I think we are on the
> lighter side of eating out. I can see where a lot of couples would
> easily top that 200. I'd also guess that it may be down the past year
> or so, but unchanged in 10 years seems a stretch.

Not only do I like to eat out, if I count how many times we order
chinese food or pick up a sub, or stop for breakfast on the way
to shopping or whatever, I don't have any trouble believing the
200 number. Sometimes we go long stretches with never eating
out, then we have stretches where there isn't much cooking going
on here.

Forget when we were working, every lunch was a meal out.

nancy

"George Leppla" > wrote in message
...
> On 7/18/2010 7:20 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>> you believe the statement?
>>
>> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>> 717,0,7359675.story>
>>
>> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
>> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
>> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
>> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
>> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
>> almost unchanged for 10 years."
>
> I don't know. That's almost 4 meals a week pp..... we don't eat out
> that often unless we are on a trip. If you count meals eaten on a
> vacation... we do way more than that.
>
> Here lately, we aren't going out as much as we used to. Why pay for
> something that you can do better at home. I hardly ever order steak in a
> restaurant... they are seldom as good as the ones we make on the grill.
> Becca makes Mexican food so well that eating in a local restaurant is
> often a disappointment. We both are enjoying making Asian food and
> experimenting with that.
>
> When we do go out, Most of the time I like to order things that we don't
> uaually make at home.

Pretty much the same here, but then I am not American
--
--
https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:20:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>you believe the statement?
>
><http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>717,0,7359675.story>
>
>"This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
>be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
>Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
>Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
>American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
>almost unchanged for 10 years."

That's because more and more meals consumed in the home are purchased
pre-prepared from the frozen foods section, packages off the shelf,
delis, and take outs... very few meals are actually prepared at home
anymore other than to open the package and heat. Pasta with jarred
sauce ain't cooking.

"brooklyn1" > wrote
> That's because more and more meals consumed in the home are purchased
> pre-prepared from the frozen foods section, packages off the shelf,
> delis, and take outs... very few meals are actually prepared at home
> anymore other than to open the package and heat. Pasta with jarred
> sauce ain't cooking.

Good point. They may be counting some of the frozen meals as home cooked.
After all, you do have to push a couple of buttons on the microwave. I see
more and more of the frozen entrée or complete meal in a bag stuff now that
may be replacing some restaurant meals.

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in
:

> Good point. They may be counting some of the frozen meals as
> home cooked. After all, you do have to push a couple of
> buttons on the microwave. I see more and more of the frozen
> entr‚e or complete meal in a bag stuff now that may be
> replacing some restaurant meals.

I have not eaten a frozen meal since I was married to my first wife
and the extent of her culinary talents consisted in choosing the
Stouffer's selection for the evening meal, then heating it in the
oven.

Since I retired, we eat at home more often. In the last couple of
years, our dining out consisted mostly of stopping by a pho house
on the walk home, especially when the weather was abysmally cold
during the most recent bus strike.

Since I went on Weight Watchers (because it's more fun if you
watch), I have cooked most meals. We have gone out four times in
five weeks. And it's not that we can't afford it.

Yesterday, I made a mushu pork in the crock pot.

In article >,
Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> you believe the statement?
>
> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> 717,0,7359675.story>
>
> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> almost unchanged for 10 years."

It depends on the health of the economy. More people eat home when the
economy goes south, like now, because eating out is the first place
people look to when they need to save money.

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:20:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>you believe the statement?
>
><http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>717,0,7359675.story>
>
>"This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
>be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
>Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
>Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
>American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
>almost unchanged for 10 years."

We're Canadians so it may not count.
We normally drive into town once a week and probably on 3/4 of those
trips we eat lunch in a restaurant. That makes it abut 40 restaurant
meals a year. We alternate between three places where we really enjoy
the food, a 50's themed place, Wimpy's; a Vietnamese, Pho Nam Thanh;
and a Middle Eastern, Diwan.

Ross.

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:48:10 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> "brooklyn1" > wrote
>> That's because more and more meals consumed in the home are purchased
>> pre-prepared from the frozen foods section, packages off the shelf,
>> delis, and take outs... very few meals are actually prepared at home
>> anymore other than to open the package and heat. Pasta with jarred
>> sauce ain't cooking.
>
> Good point. They may be counting some of the frozen meals as home cooked.
> After all, you do have to push a couple of buttons on the microwave. I see
> more and more of the frozen entrée or complete meal in a bag stuff now that
> may be replacing some restaurant meals.

i think the difference between 'from a restaurant' and 'not from a
restaurant' is pretty clear.

your pal,
blake

"Michel Boucher" wrote

> Yesterday, I made a mushu pork in the crock pot.

That sounds good! Can you pass me the recipe you use? I love my crockpots!

George Shirley wrote:
> On 7/18/2010 7:20 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>> you believe the statement?
>>
>> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>> 717,0,7359675.story>
>>
>> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
>> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
>> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
>> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
>> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
>> almost unchanged for 10 years."
>>
>>
>>
> Not in this house, probably less than 100 meals a year outside the house
> for us. I'm just to lazy to want to get dressed in long pants and a
> sports shirt just to go eat some food I could cook myself. And I would
> have to wear real shoes too instead of my Crocs.


Perhaps it's just another example of Colorado Casual, but there are few
nice restaurants I can think of in the entire state where you couldn't
wear shorts and Crocs. I am often surprised at the sporty dress when we
go out for a special dinner. (When we moved here 26 years ago I wrote
to Eastern friends that dress code for cocktail parties seemed to be
shorts, hiking boots, and a backpack.)

gloria p

George Leppla wrote:

> Here lately, we aren't going out as much as we used to. Why pay for
> something that you can do better at home. I hardly ever order steak in
> a restaurant... they are seldom as good as the ones we make on the
> grill.


I agree with you about steak, but I think I'd be much happier to eat at
home if I didn't have to do 100% of the shopping, prep, cooking, and
cleanup. (His mother didn't raise him right.)

gloria p

"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> you believe the statement?
>
> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> 717,0,7359675.story>
>
> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> almost unchanged for 10 years."
>
>
>
> --
> Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
> Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of
> St. Pectina of Jella
> "Always in a jam, never in a stew;
> sometimes in a pickle."
> Where are my pearls, Honey?

"Melba's Jammin'" wrote

> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> you believe the statement?

> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> almost unchanged for 10 years."

Sorry, hit a wrong key and sent a blank.

10 years ago was 2000 and I think we havent changed that much. The radical
change was about 1985-1990 when young adults seemed to not have a clue and
there was a huge expansion of pre-made frozen foods.

One stat will be the same probably from 1985 to now, which is the lunch at
work. People seldom bring lunch to work and instead normally have easy
access to some sort of cafeteria affair.

Now if they were thinking a real restraunt, (not just lunch at a local
cafeteria) then 200 may fit but feels high. With lunch added for workers,
this may fit fairly well.

"cshenk" > wrote in
:

> "Michel Boucher" wrote
>
>> Yesterday, I made a mushu pork in the crock pot.
>
> That sounds good! Can you pass me the recipe you use? I love
> my crockpots!

Sorry, not the Mushu recipe (I can post that too if you want), but
anyway, it's from the Weight Watchers Momentum books, Slow Cook It:
165 All-New Slow Cooker Recipes, page 60.

Hoisin Pork Rolls

Prep, 25 min.
Slow cook 2 hours
Serves 4

Ingredients

60 mL water
35 mL hoisin sauce
30 mL dry sherry
30 mL low-sodium soy sauce
2 garlic gloves crushed through a press
25 mL cornstarch
5 mL grated peeled fresh ginger
5 mL sugar
625 g pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into matchstick strips
250 g sliced mushrooms
500 mL matchstick carrots
125 mL drained canned bamboo shoots
500 mL loosely packed shredded romaine lettuce
125 mL coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
125 mL thinly sliced scallions
4 22 cm fat-free flour tortillas

1. Whisk water, 15 mL hoisin sauce, sherry, soy, sauce, garlic,
ginger and sugar in 5- or 6-L slow cooker until smooth. Add pork
and mix well. Stir in mushrooms, carrots and bamboo shoots.

2. Cover and cook until pork and vegetables are fork tender, 2-3
hours on high, 4-6 hours on low, stirring once halfway through
cooking time.

3. Combine romaine, cilantro and scallions in medium bowl. Spread
each tortilla with 5 mL remaining hoisin sauce. Top each with
generous 175 mL pork misture and romaine mixture. Fold in sides
and roll up.

NOTE: If the sauce gets too thick, add 15 mL hot water to the slow
cooker when stirring the pork mixture halfway through the cooking
time in step 2.

COMMENTS:

1. I have no garlic press so I crushed them under a blade and
chopped them fine.

2. I used much more than 5 mL of grated ginger.

3. For mushrooms I prefer cremini.

4. I did about 900 g of pork. It turned out fine.

5. Couldn't get bamboo shoots (the store was out). Next time.

6. We used Weight Watchers whole-wheat tortillas. Had a devil of a
time finding them but I knew they were out there.

Per serving (1 rolls): 388 cal., 6 g fat, 57 mg chol., 1 g sodium,
8 g fibre, 35 g prot.

Points value: 7.

In article
>,
Stan Horwitz > wrote:

> In article >,
> Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>
> > It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> > you believe the statement?
> >
> > <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> > 717,0,7359675.story>
> >
> > "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> > be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> > Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> > Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> > American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> > almost unchanged for 10 years."
>
> It depends on the health of the economy. More people eat home when the
> economy goes south, like now, because eating out is the first place
> people look to when they need to save money.

I don't know, Stan. Lots of restaurants are offering special deals to
get people in the door and it seems to be working, based on what I've
seen.


--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of
St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew;
sometimes in a pickle."
Where are my pearls, Honey?

In article >,
brooklyn1 > wrote:

> On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:20:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
> >It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> >you believe the statement?
> >
> ><http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> >717,0,7359675.story>
> >
> >"This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> >be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> >Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> >Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> >American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> >almost unchanged for 10 years."
>
> That's because more and more meals consumed in the home are purchased
> pre-prepared from the frozen foods section, packages off the shelf,
> delis, and take outs... very few meals are actually prepared at home
> anymore other than to open the package and heat. Pasta with jarred
> sauce ain't cooking.

Yes; the article continued with a similar comment.


--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of
St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew;
sometimes in a pickle."
Where are my pearls, Honey?

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:14:15 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> brooklyn1 > wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:20:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>> >you believe the statement?
>> >
>> ><http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>> >717,0,7359675.story>
>> >
>> >"This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
>> >be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
>> >Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
>> >Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
>> >American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
>> >almost unchanged for 10 years."
>>
>> That's because more and more meals consumed in the home are purchased
>> pre-prepared from the frozen foods section, packages off the shelf,
>> delis, and take outs... very few meals are actually prepared at home
>> anymore other than to open the package and heat. Pasta with jarred
>> sauce ain't cooking.
>
>Yes; the article continued with a similar comment.

I didn't read the article, didn't even click on it, didn't have to...
from the title and the comments I knew exactly what it would say.

Melba's Jammin' > wrote in
:

> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals
> are going to be prepared in one form or another by someone in
> the house," says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst of the
> NPD Group, where he has followed Americans' eating and
> drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average American gets
> about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's almost
> unchanged for 10 years."

The math doesn't work or we are missing parameters.

If 70% of meal are prepared in the home, and only 200 meals (the
other 30% one assumes) a year are eaten out, that means that the
average USAian only eats 222 days out 365 (assuming three meals a
day). That is if 200 is indeed 30% as he suggests.

If we change that to cover two meals a day, the number of 333 days
is much closer to a full year.

Has anyone noticed a geographical difference in home cooking v. eating out? I doubt I get 100 restaurant/pre-prepared meals per year. Most people that live where I do (western WI) cook at home most of the time. I visit my brother in Houston, TX and it seems everyone is going to restaurants daily; while the Viking stove stands idle. I visit my folks in Pheonix and I can't get over the restaurant traffic. From Sonic to steaks; these places are packed all the time.

Maybe I'm off, here, but might it be more a northern/souther thing, a rural/urban thing, or an "I'm just a Bozo" thing?

"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> you believe the statement?
>
> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> 717,0,7359675.story>
>
> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> almost unchanged for 10 years."
>
> --
> Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ


I guess I'm not an "average American". I certainly do NOT eat 200 meals (a
year) in restaurants!

Jill

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:44:39 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

> Not in this house, probably less than 100 meals a year outside the house
> for us. I'm just to lazy to want to get dressed in long pants and a
> sports shirt just to go eat some food I could cook myself. And I would
> have to wear real shoes too instead of my Crocs.

I think the word "restaurant" threw you off. McDonald's is a
"restaurant", so is the local coffee shop and donut shop (if there's a
place to sit and sip coffee with your donut), even Noah's (bagels) has
seating.... when they let you sit and eat, it's a restaurant.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
news:AbD0o.416840$_m6.378841@hurricane...
> Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> "Melba's Jammin'" > wrote
>
>>> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>>> you believe the statement?
>>>
>>> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>>> 717,0,7359675.story>
>>>
>>> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are
>>> going to be prepared in one form or another by someone in the
>>> house," says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group,
>>> where he has followed Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25
>>> years. "The average American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a
>>> restaurant and that's almost unchanged for 10 years."
>>
>> Unchanged in 10 years? I see the lines getting longer at the fast
>> food place drive through and I see much more prepared foods at
>> supermarkets. As for 200 meals a year, that is on the light side if you
>> go out to
>> lunch every day at work. We eat out usually one a week for dinner a
>> couple of times a month for breakfast and I think we are on the
>> lighter side of eating out. I can see where a lot of couples would
>> easily top that 200. I'd also guess that it may be down the past year
>> or so, but unchanged in 10 years seems a stretch.
>
> Not only do I like to eat out, if I count how many times we order
> chinese food or pick up a sub, or stop for breakfast on the way
> to shopping or whatever, I don't have any trouble believing the
> 200 number. Sometimes we go long stretches with never eating
> out, then we have stretches where there isn't much cooking going
> on here.
>
> Forget when we were working, every lunch was a meal out.
>
> nancy

I nearly always took my lunch to work. I'd prepar it at home so it
certainly didn't add to up 200 meals out a year. I did the same thing with
every job. I'd have to say I eat out except maybe 6-8 times a year for
dinner. Rarely for lunch.

Jill

"jmcquown" > wrote in
:

> I guess I'm not an "average American". I certainly do NOT eat
> 200 meals (a year) in restaurants!

But you, or people you know, might buy takeout at lunch.

Maybe, if you don't, someone is out there eating your share :-)

Reminds me of the story Orson Welles used to tell. His doctor, it
seems, had suggested to him that the next time he had dinner for
four, he invite three of his friends to share the meal.

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:23:00 -0600, "gloria.p" >
wrote:

>
> Perhaps it's just another example of Colorado Casual, but there are few
> nice restaurants I can think of in the entire state where you couldn't
> wear shorts and Crocs. I am often surprised at the sporty dress when we
> go out for a special dinner. (When we moved here 26 years ago I wrote
> to Eastern friends that dress code for cocktail parties seemed to be
> shorts, hiking boots, and a backpack.)

No matter what you wear, your money is still green.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:53:46 -0500, George Leppla
> wrote:

> When we do go out, Most of the time I like to order things that we don't
> uaually make at home.

There's only one place where we order what we make at home (a steak
and we don't cook many steaks - so it's a treat), but we only go there
on the way home from a car trip.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:48:10 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
> wrote:

>
> "brooklyn1" > wrote
> > That's because more and more meals consumed in the home are purchased
> > pre-prepared from the frozen foods section, packages off the shelf,
> > delis, and take outs... very few meals are actually prepared at home
> > anymore other than to open the package and heat. Pasta with jarred
> > sauce ain't cooking.
>
> Good point. They may be counting some of the frozen meals as home cooked.
> After all, you do have to push a couple of buttons on the microwave. I see
> more and more of the frozen entrée or complete meal in a bag stuff now that
> may be replacing some restaurant meals.

I think they are counting working stiff lunches.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

jmcquown > wrote:

>"Nancy Young" > wrote in message

>> Forget when we were working, every lunch was a meal out.

>I nearly always took my lunch to work. I'd prepar it at home so it
>certainly didn't add to up 200 meals out a year. I did the same thing with
>every job. I'd have to say I eat out except maybe 6-8 times a year for
>dinner. Rarely for lunch.

If I don't plan ahead and brown-bag it, I will usually end up eating
two meals out (lunch and dinner) each day I work at a customer's site
(which could be as many as three times a week). This adds up to
a pretty unacceptable level of expense, even if I mostly enjoy
the places I end up dining; so I try to limit it (with only
partial success).

Steve

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:03:54 -0400, blake murphy
> wrote:

> On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:48:10 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> > "brooklyn1" > wrote
> >> That's because more and more meals consumed in the home are purchased
> >> pre-prepared from the frozen foods section, packages off the shelf,
> >> delis, and take outs... very few meals are actually prepared at home
> >> anymore other than to open the package and heat. Pasta with jarred
> >> sauce ain't cooking.
> >
> > Good point. They may be counting some of the frozen meals as home cooked.
> > After all, you do have to push a couple of buttons on the microwave. I see
> > more and more of the frozen entrée or complete meal in a bag stuff now that
> > may be replacing some restaurant meals.
>
> i think the difference between 'from a restaurant' and 'not from a
> restaurant' is pretty clear.
>
I certainly would not call a frozen entree bought in a grocery store a
restaurant meal. It's convenience food. Frozen meals prepared at
home are not restaurant food either.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf > wrote:

>On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:03:54 -0400, blake murphy

>> i think the difference between 'from a restaurant' and 'not from a
>> restaurant' is pretty clear.

>I certainly would not call a frozen entree bought in a grocery store a
>restaurant meal. It's convenience food. Frozen meals prepared at
>home are not restaurant food either.

Yep, I think that's a clear distinction.

It's a little less clear if you buy prepared foods from a
grocery store and eat them there. But probably, it counts as
a restaurant meal. (The state taxes/regulates such activities
as though they are a restaurant.)

Steve

sf wrote on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:06:38 -0700:

>> On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:48:10 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>>
> >> "brooklyn1" > wrote
> >>> That's because more and more meals consumed in the home
> >>> are purchased pre-prepared from the frozen foods section,
> >>> packages off the shelf, delis, and take outs... very few
> >>> meals are actually prepared at home anymore other than to
> >>> open the package and heat. Pasta with jarred sauce ain't
> >>> cooking.
> >>
> >> Good point. They may be counting some of the frozen meals
> >> as home cooked. After all, you do have to push a couple of
> >> buttons on the microwave. I see more and more of the frozen
> >> entrée or complete meal in a bag stuff now that may be
> >> replacing some restaurant meals.
>>
>> i think the difference between 'from a restaurant' and 'not
>> from a restaurant' is pretty clear.
>>
> I certainly would not call a frozen entree bought in a grocery
> store a restaurant meal. It's convenience food. Frozen meals
> prepared at home are not restaurant food either.

But neither are they "home-cooked" food!

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
> you believe the statement?
>
> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
> 717,0,7359675.story>
>
> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
> almost unchanged for 10 years."

The gotcha is "in one form or another", indicating that they are
twisting the definition of a home prepared meal in order to achieve the
desired result. In this case it would seem that they are trying to
appease the advertisers of processed, factory prepared foods and
disguise the fact that a large portion of what they are counting as a
"home prepared meal" is in realty a "home heated meal" consisting of one
or more processes factory prepared food products, heated and plated by
someone in the house.

James Silverton wrote:

> I wonder what they are counting as restaurants? A large number of
> Americans eat lunch in cafeterias, in other words, say, 48x5 =240 meals
> a year. A good fraction of those may be school kids and they probably
> eat closer to 200 of course. For myself, even if I am retired, I eat in
> a restaurant at very least once a week, most often lunch. I have to add
> to that, the prepared food I may take home, often salads from a salad
> bar. I wonder how frozen entrees and canned soups are counted?


I have to wonder too about what they are counting as restaurants. When
I was working I ate lunch or dinner in restaurants every day, four days
a week 46 weeks a year. I also went to coffee shops for my coffee
breaks twice a day most days. When I was still working my wife and I
usually had lunch or dinner in a restaurant at least once a week.

Now that I am retired I still go out for coffee every day. I have one
meal a week in a restaurant.

On 7/18/2010 12:13 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article
> >,
> Stan > wrote:
>
>> In >,
>> Melba's > wrote:
>>
>>> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>>> you believe the statement?
>>>
>>> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>>> 717,0,7359675.story>
>>>
>>> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
>>> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
>>> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
>>> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
>>> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
>>> almost unchanged for 10 years."
>>
>> It depends on the health of the economy. More people eat home when the
>> economy goes south, like now, because eating out is the first place
>> people look to when they need to save money.
>
> I don't know, Stan. Lots of restaurants are offering special deals to
> get people in the door and it seems to be working, based on what I've
> seen.
>
>
Parade magazine today had a coupon for either a free fruit smoothie or a
frappe at McDonald's. Local restaurants, since the downturn in the
economy, are floating coupons everywhere. DW came home with a couple of
free two-piece chicken dinners from Popeye's that were handed out at a
meeting she attended. Just driving around I don't see large crowds at
local restaurants either at lunch or at dinner except for the
all-you-can-eat places.

On 7/18/2010 1:16 PM, Pete C. wrote:
>
> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>>
>> It's the last sentence in the paragraph that caught my attention. Do
>> you believe the statement?
>>
>> <http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...-schools-20100
>> 717,0,7359675.story>
>>
>> "This country cooks. Something like 70 percent of all meals are going to
>> be prepared in one form or another by someone in the house," says Harry
>> Balzer, chief industry analyst of the NPD Group, where he has followed
>> Americans' eating and drinking patterns for 25 years. "The average
>> American gets about 200 meals (a year) from a restaurant and that's
>> almost unchanged for 10 years."
>
> The gotcha is "in one form or another", indicating that they are
> twisting the definition of a home prepared meal in order to achieve the
> desired result. In this case it would seem that they are trying to
> appease the advertisers of processed, factory prepared foods and
> disguise the fact that a large portion of what they are counting as a
> "home prepared meal" is in realty a "home heated meal" consisting of one
> or more processes factory prepared food products, heated and plated by
> someone in the house.

I can't believe that anyone would believe a so-called journalist would
skew the results on an article, that would be unjournalistic or something.

Said with tongue firmly in cheek.

On Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:12:37 +0000 (UTC),
(Steve Pope) wrote:

> It's a little less clear if you buy prepared foods from a
> grocery store and eat them there. But probably, it counts as
> a restaurant meal. (The state taxes/regulates such activities
> as though they are a restaurant.)

*I* would count it as eating in a restaurant; you're buying from the
store deli. Wouldn't you call a stand alone deli where you eat the
food there a restaurant? Same difference.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.