This morning I was running (actually driving) errands, and I was hungry.  I thought I could make it home to have something nutritious, but my stomach argued otherwise.  So, since McDonald’s was on the way, I stopped in to see if there was something nutritious to eat there. 

Let me tell you:  there really isn’t. 

I don’t frequent McDonald’s often, unless Earl and I are on a road trip and need a potty break.  Then I stop in, buy a cup of coffee, and use the facilities.  I don’t think it’s right to pee for free. 

But today wasn’t about facilities; it was about hunger. Since I’m not a regular, I spent several minutes studying the menu.  Where I live, McDonald’s has taken to posting the calorie count after each entrée, which made my study more time-consuming. But revealing. 

I learned a quarter pounder was 660 calories.  This is without French fries, and probably without condiments.  That’s more than a third of the calories I consume in a day. Add French fries and we’re out of the ballpark. 

So I continued to study the menu board and couldn’t find much in the three hundred calorie range. But finally I found a bacon-ranch salad at 260 calories.  It came with a grilled chicken breast – well, with a pressed meat-patty-replica of a chicken breast – on top of a bed of lettuce with carrots, tomatoes, bacon, and cheese.  It also came with your choice of dressing.  I chose ranch on the side. 

Took the salad and dressing and a glass of water to a solitary booth to relax. Then I opened the plastic clamshell that held the salad, and cut a bite of the chicken while studying the labels on the dressing.  Aaarrrggghhh!!! The dressing package had 180 calories.  How disheartening, because, while the salad seemed reasonable, the dressing adds too many calories for a luncheon snack. Unless you don’t care. 

I care.  I live in Michigan, one of the top ten obese states in the nation.  I don’t want to be included. So what I learned is that McDonald’s is a great place to purchase coffee when you’re searching for a bathroom, but it’s not so great if you’re concerned about your caloric intake and your weight.

While I’m on the subject of ice cream, let’s explore the downtown St. Joseph, Michigan, cityscape in regard to this issue.  It’s a small downtown, just recently discovered by tourists who overflow the area on summer weekends.

Time was, a decade back, when tourists weren’t as welcome as they are today. But things have changed. One thermometer of this change is the number of ice cream shops within a two to three block area, each seeming to make it this year.  There’s Kilwin’s, a chain that I first encountered in Illinois.  It’s pricey and sells fudge, candy, and coated apples as well as ice cream.  Although I’ve never been a devotee, the line out the door is often intimidating.

Then there’s the Chocolate Café.  It too is pricey, sells various cakes and candies, and also serves lunch.  It expands to the sidewalk with little tables and chairs, so customers can sit outside and watch the scene. The hot chocolate is to die for. The soup is pretty good too.

Cabana’s is the local offering.  Not a chain, not high end, good value.  Also serves hot dogs.  I have never been in Cabana’s, but if I were an ice cream afficionado I would start there.  I like the idea of leaving my dollars in a local establishment.

The new kid on the block is Yo Bubbs.  It’s not really ice cream at all; rather it’s a self-serve yogurt emporium:  fourteen different flavors of yogurt that pour out when you pull a particular lever; umpteen topppings such as Snicker’s® chunks, sour worms, raisins, and cherries; and a variety of sauces to cover the entire thing.

I visited Yo Bubbs expecting not to like it at all.  I listened to the introductory speech for all newbies and then took the cardboard cup (a very large cardboard cup) and studied the yogurts available that day.  I wanted only a sample, so I slowly pulled the vanilla yogurt lever until a small amount plopped into the bottom of my cup.  At fifty-two cents an ounce, you want to be careful.

By the time I’d chosen a topping and a sauce, my total weight (which is how you pay for Yo Bubbs) was only three ounces, or a dollar fifty-six.It was just the right amount for me to determine if Yo Bubbs is my thing.  I really didn’t want to like it; after all those huge cardboard bowls encourage over-buying, over-paying, and over-eating.  Or over-wasting. But the truth is I liked it. A lot.

Better than Kilwin’s.  Better than Chocolate Café.  Not as good as Rainbow.  Or homemade Rainbow.  (See previous blog.)  But still . . . I find myself hoping Yo Bubbs survives the dead of winter when the tourists have gone home and only locals venture forth.

I went to the supermarket earlier today to get ingredients for various recipes I’m making in the coming week.  I’ve made many of them before, but not recently. And what I learned is that in the interim the ingredients for old recipes are difficult to find.  Even if the recipe itself is worth enjoying.

Case in point:  My supermarket does not stock quart sized ice cream, which is what I needed for a dessert I’m preparing.  You can buy Ben and Jerry’s® pints at almost five dollars a pop (That would be ten dollars for a quart!), or you can get Edy’s quart-and-half for almost seven dollars a pop.  Obviously, the latter is more cost effective, but it still begs the question.  What happened to the quart?

Then I looked for a small box of animal crackers.  If you’re of a certain age, you remember the little box that looked like a circus wagon with a string handle.  They were nowhere to be seen.  I could have used vanilla wafers as a substitute, but since I need only half a cup the giant sized box of what is now called ‘Nilla Wafers seemed pricey.  Another substitute was macaroons, but they were nowhere to be seen either.  So I think I’ll settle for some coconut flakes in my freezer that are waiting to help.

What I really learned today is why Michigan is the tenth fattest state in the union, just slightly behind Arkansas.  It’s because small sizes and plain foods are disappearing from our shelves.  But that’s not the only reason.  McDonald s and other fast food entities bear some responsibility, as do large portions in restaurants and the fact that most people don’t understand what a standard serving is.

A disappearing quart of ice cream is only the most recent item to add to our obesity.