vote for sandwich- my style

sandwich in the morning, sandwich in the night
makeup with a sandwich, after you fight

you start from breakfast, you go on till dinner
oh man! it makes your life easy and simpler

make it hot or make it cold
its a delight no matter how old

grill saute bake, don't you dare fry
its ready to eat, the moment you buy

have it with cheese or splash with butter
it will always keep you fit, nothing matters

grill it in the oven or bake it slow
you will always love to see the cheese flow

fill in the veggies or wait for the chick
the Que is long, you better be quick

some love it spicy, some add honey
its all fine, when it costs just a penny

gulp it with coke or enjoy a smoothie
you need to decide, whats fake whats healthy

fill it with leftover, there is nothing to waste
you bet, Sacheez...just good taste

- Vandita Tewari ( 30th Sep 2008)

Scrambled eggs with fries and salsa

Calories: 160

"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved'- the pig was 'committed'."

This is a traditional Irish breakfast which includes at least the following fried items: pork sausages, bacon rashers, egg(s), black pudding, and white pudding, accompanied by tea or coffee and usually toast or traditional brown soda bread. Often, the bacon is grilled and not fried and less commonly the sausages can be too. Other items like fries, browns, and fried mushrooms or fried tomato - all of which may also feature in similar traditional breakfasts. This may be served typically with salsa or bean.

"Never work before breakfast. If you have to work before breakfast, get your breakfast first" - Josh Billings

What does 200 calories cost and look like?

I came across this article today while surfing on the net. It was published by www.mymoneyblog.com

WiseGeek has an interesting article on What Does 200 Calories Look Like?, where it photographs the portions of several foods that equal 200 calories and sorts them by weight. Here’s broccoli next to peanut butter on the same plate:

I thought it would be neat to extend this idea and see what 200 calories costs. So I extended my usual grocery trip by finding out the price per weight for each of the food items they selected. The results are below, grouped by price per 200 calories. Image credits go to WiseGeek.com. Please go there for the full versions, these are just thumbnails for reference.

Cost of 200 Calories: Less than 50 cents
Canola Oil $0.07	Wheat flour $0.07	Brown Sugar $0.10	Peanut Butter $0.17
Cornmeal $0.20	Uncooked Pasta $0.21	Glazed Donut $0.23	Butter $0.24
Salted Pretzels $0.24	Wheat Dinner Rolls $0.23	French Sandwich Roll $0.24	Smarties Candy $0.24

Saltines $0.31	Whole Milk $0.31	Potato Chips $0.33	Werthers Original Candy $0.37
Cheetos $0.37	Hershey Kisses $0.38	Doritos $0.39	Sesame Seed Bagel $0.39
M&Ms $0.39	Medium Cheddar Cheese $0.40	Gummy Bears $0.40	Tootsie Pops $0.40
Snickers $0.40	Canned Black Beans $0.42	Canned Pork and Beans $0.46	Canned Tuna in Oil $0.47
Flax Bread $0.40	Hot Dogs $0.42	Coca Cola $0.46	Jack-in-the-Box Chicken Sandwich $0.47

.

Cost of 200 Calories: $0.50 to $0.99
Eggs $0.50	Fruit Loops $0.54	Cooked Pasta $0.54	Jack in the Box Cheesburger $0.57
Lowfat Strawberry Yogurt $0.58	Peanut Butter Crackers $0.58	Blackberry Pie $0.65	Ketchup $0.66
Cranberry Crunch Cereal $0.66	Corn Bran Cereal $0.68	Jack in the Box Fries $0.73	Jelly Belly Jelly Beans $0.75
Canned Chili Con Carne $0.79	Salted Mixed Nuts $0.81	Marshmallow Treat $0.83	Canned Sweet Corn $0.89
Avocado $0.99

.

Cost of 200 Calories: Over $1.00
Sliced Toasted Almonds $1.11	Bailey’s Irish Cream $1.20	Canned Green Peas $1.33	Red Onions $1.35
Apples $1.43	Peanut Butter PowerBar $1.52	Fried Bacon $1.65	Kiwi Fruit $1.93
Broccoli $1.93	Splenda Artificial Sweetener $2.01	Honeydew Melon $2.18	Dried Apricots $2.19
Baby Carrots $2.50	Grapes $2.55	Celery $3.11	Balsamic Vinegar $3.14
Sliced Smoked Turkey $3.19	Peppers $3.23

I know there are seasonal and regional differences in prices, so these are from the Pacific Northwest during winter. I chose the full retail price, regardless if there was a sale or coupons available. Since brand names were mentioned, I went for the brand name versions of each product in what I felt was the most popular container size for a grocery store. For example, for potato chips I chose Lay’s in the 13.75 ounce size.

Food Is Cheap
My first observation is that calories are cheap, starting at a retail price of about 1/10th of a cent per calorie. If the average human needs to consume about 2,000 calories, that’s just $2 a day. If you bought in bulk or on sale it would even lower. Obviously there is more to nutrition than just calories, but still. Some would argue that this all starts with cheap government-subsidized corn, which leads to cheap fats (corn oils), sweeteners (corn syrup), and animal feed.

We Are Getting Fat
You can really see the differences in prices as you go down the tables. The cheapest calories are from very basic items like flour, sugar, and oil. The next items are primarily processed snack foods - potato chips, candy, cheetos, and crackers. The most expensive calories include all the fresh fruits and vegetables.

How does this affect us? An estimated 30% of adults over the age of 20 are obese, and that number is rising. On top of that, the poor tend to be more overweight than the rich. Is this because we like to buy the cheaper (and more calorie-dense) food, with the poor even more so than the rich? I certainly ate my share of $2.99 Value Meals in high school because I could afford it. If you’re hungry and broke, you just want something that’s cheap and filling. Donuts and chips sound much better than white bread.

Maybe the less affluent are not as well educated about nutrition. On one hand, I can’t see how people can confuse a Burger King Stacker for health food. On the other, I think if there was a huge calorie label painted in food coloring on every single thing we ate, including eating out, it would definitely change my behavior.

This Wall Street Journal article titled Cheap Food, Societal Norms, And the Economics of Obesity tried to answer some of these questions using both economics and social behavior. One new suggestion was that being obese has less stigma in certain demographics, so they are less likely to watch what they eat.

Convenience More Than Price?
But wait, a plate full of broccoli should fill me up a lot better than a spoonful of peanut butter, even if it is 11 times more expensive. In my case, I think it’s more about laziness in combination with the price. I could buy a whole bunch of fresh vegetables, clean them, peel them, chop them, cook them, and then clean lots of dishes…. or I could buy a cheeseburger for 99 cents and throw it all away. With everyone so busy these days, which do you choose?