15 ms·

I've always hated American breakfast. My family often traveled when I was a child, which meant many Mcdonald's and Ihop breakfasts. The insane greasiness, salti

by fiblye 10y ago

I've always hated American breakfast. My family often traveled when I was a child, which meant many Mcdonald's and Ihop breakfasts. The insane greasiness, saltiness, and sweetness of it all made me sick. To this day, I still can't eat any sort of typical breakfast food without feeling nauseous (which I suppose could be due in part to the conditioning of eating and then hopping back into a hot, smelly car for a 12 hour ride) Breakfast for me has always been a sandwich with veggies or other typical lunch food, just a smaller portion. The whole "breakfast all day" campaigns more and more restaurants push kind of bothers me since there's no "lunch all day" movement anywhere. If you want a good sandwich or spaghetti at 9 AM in the US, good luck. I'm living in Japan now, and the typical breakfast offered at hotels here is some meat, veggies, rice, and bread. Far more balanced and I don't feel like shit all day.

mablap 10y ago
Oh friend, I am not American but we share similar childhood memories. I have traveled much in America and McDonald's/IHOPs/Denny's were a staple breakfast! When I was in Japan, I would often eat breakfast in a hurry by getting some groceries from 7-11. Such a breafast would usually consist of a smal pack of fried rice, with a pastry or two, and some juice or milk, for about 500Y if I remember correctly. Everything tasted good, but I cannot say it was "healthier" than what I'd have in America. But again, that was a 7-11 5 minute breakfast...
niftich 10y ago
I grew up in central Europe and we traditionally ate open-faced sandwiches of artisan bread or bread rolls. You'd top it with some margarine or cream cheese, salami and cold-cuts, thin-sliced cucumbers or radishes, or serve fresh bell peppers on the side. In the US, Subway's deli sandwiches come close, albeit I've found them much heavier, in both the amount of bread, and the sheer quantity of meat. I too wish that more fast food restaurants served lunch alongside breakfast, instead of exclusively breakfast in the mornings.
- douche 10y ago
  I wish there were places in the States that made those little sandwiches. Was in Berlin recently, and every corner bakery makes them. Delicious, and super cheap.
  - trentmb 10y ago
    > I wish there were places in the States that made those little sandwiches. Your home? I've found that they can make whatever I want... EDIT: This wasn't a cuckold joke- just a remark that you can to a large degree command your diet
    - douche 10y ago
      Haha, I doubt you're giving me horns Of course when you make it yourself you can do whatever you like (although you lose the economies of scale). Trying to get something on the go in this area pretty much means you're reduced to Dunkin Donuts, Mickey D's, or whatever paltry offerings the gas station Quik-e-mart carries, though.
      - trentmb 10y ago
        > Haha, I doubt you're giving me horns Sorry- a bit sauced. I wasn't!
    - Dutchie 10y ago
      Non-native speaker here. Why could this be understood as a cuckold joke? (My dictionary says this about cuckold: "The husband of an adulteress, often regarded as an object of derision.")
      - gjm11 10y ago
        Because "Your home? I've found that they can make whatever I want..." suggests that _qhtn is in the habit of getting breakfast at douche's home (and can get "anything I want"!), and that douche doesn't know this.
AcaudalAoudads 10y ago
I don't think most Americans would consider McDonalds or IHOP typical breakfast food. I've lived in the US for 10+ years and only been to IHOP and Denny's 3 or 4 times combined, and only go to McDonalds for breakfast when I absolutely can't take the time to eat at home.
- csydas 10y ago
  Eh, mildly disagree. While they might not consider that they need to go to McDonalds or IHOP, ask what people think of for breakfast and for sure they'll say "cereal, pancakes, waffles, donuts, muffins, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, sweetened oatmeal, etc.", which certainly are all central to the McDonalds/iHop menu. While it's not exclusive to the sweets the article discusses, there are a lot of sweet things involved, and for quite a few, drowning the product in syrup or honey or sugar is pretty common, if the product itself isn't already. Heck, most people I know add sugar to the already sweetened instant oatmeal they prepare. It was a bit different when I moved abroad and breakfast instead was just as others in the topic are describing it - an open-face sandwich with a small bit of butter, vegetables, and meat of some accord, usually with a coffee and maybe some cheese. I first was shown it by my partner, who I thought was just too tired in the morning to bother with anything else, but soon learned it's what she grew up with.
  - JPKab 10y ago
    Just to be clear, there is a difference between the commercial, industrialized restaurant breakfast offerings vs. what people traditionally eat in their homes. I grew up in the rural south, and our traditional breakfast fell into seasonal categories. In the colder months, we'd eat 2 eggs, a small helping of buttered grits, and bacon. Warmer months or autumn depended on what was available, but often times we'd eat fresh shrimp or "trash fish" (stuff we'd caught like spot, croaker, trout, flounder) fried up with grits. The grits were always only buttered, never sweetened. Never pancakes or any starchy, sugary items. Older folks knew these things were energy killers, and ironically the families I knew that ate tons of starches were the ones whose parents had bought into the whole "fat kills you, eggs are bad" mantra pushed by the government. I find it extremely ironic that these families were eating less healthy than the "redneck" families they assumed were killing themselves. No older American who grew up doing farm work thinks the IHOP breakfast is remotely healthy.
adventured 10y ago
IHOP and McDonald's is not a typical every day American breakfast. Talk about exaggerating cliches about Americans. Cereal is the #1 breakfast food in the US, served at home. Cereal, bacon, pancakes, waffles, french toast, eggs, toast, yogurt, sausage - most of those are more likely on a typical day for American adults than going to IHOP or McDonald's. Teenagers would include poptarts and the equivalent (which are obviously candy). The US is a massive consumer of eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast, the article pretends that hardly exists.
- imron 10y ago
  > Cereal is the #1 breakfast food in the US, served at home. And if you look at the added sugar content of most cereals, I'm sure the main point of the article still stands.
  - JPKab 10y ago
    Cereal is garbage. My former job was working with retail sales data for numerous clients, including the household names that run the two largest cereal companies in the nation, and I can assure you of this: They are having HUGE year over year declines in cereal sales. People increasingly know it's shit, and the sales numbers show it.
- OJFord 10y ago
  I had to Google "poptarts", which combined with pancakes and waffles I'd say supports the article fairly well. Yoghurt and cereal are actually mentioned in the article, for the average type bought being not much better than anything else. Eggs, bacon, and sausage are fine - but still not a great choice for every day.
  - theparanoid 10y ago
    I've 1 egg (80 calories) and 1 sausage (85 calories) for breakfast, every day.
    - 10y ago
personomas 10y ago
Burger King has lunch/dinner all day!
kaybe 10y ago
When I was travelling in the US I thought it was great. Eat one normal portion at 8 or 9 in the morning, walk around all day and only get hungry at 6pm or later.
- spacecowboy_lon 10y ago
  yes if you cave a busy day and wont be able to fit a proper lunch in the Full English is the way to go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huSP7PtctC4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huSP7PtctC4
- cylinder 10y ago
  Hah, the difference is, in middle America they are washing that breakfast down with a Coke or a coffee with 10 sugars, then a big fast food burger at noon, then snacks, then a big dinner.
  - JPKab 10y ago
    I think this is a very cartoonish and incorrect statement. I live in Arkansas, and nobody I know eats like that. Nobody I grew up with in rural Virginia eats like that either. Unusually ignorant and poor people in rural America will eat that way, but there are plenty of those in the inner cities as well. While of course there are higher rates of obesity in "middle America", the portrayal you paint reeks of elitist snobbery.
    - cylinder 10y ago
      I'm from Texas, I witnessed this all the time growing up, as well as working in a professional office for a software company. Did I say everyone does it? No, but it is common enough. Are people improving? Yes, many, but still most are stuck with horrible habits. In the 90s, my school teachers almost always had a can of Coke or fast food fountain soda cup for breakfast. Yes, Coke.
maxerickson 10y ago
If I end up in a situation where McDonald's breakfast is the option, I always just get a couple of hashbrowns. 300 calories (150 each), deliciously greasy. I can't imagine eating them regularly though.

by fiblye 10y ago

mablap 10y ago

Oh friend, I am not American but we share similar childhood memories. I have traveled much in America and McDonald's/IHOPs/Denny's were a staple breakfast! When I was in Japan, I would often eat breakfast in a hurry by getting some groceries from 7-11. Such a breafast would usually consist of a smal pack of fried rice, with a pastry or two, and some juice or milk, for about 500Y if I remember correctly. Everything tasted good, but I cannot say it was "healthier" than what I'd have in America. But again, that was a 7-11 5 minute breakfast...

niftich 10y ago

I grew up in central Europe and we traditionally ate open-faced sandwiches of artisan bread or bread rolls. You'd top it with some margarine or cream cheese, salami and cold-cuts, thin-sliced cucumbers or radishes, or serve fresh bell peppers on the side. In the US, Subway's deli sandwiches come close, albeit I've found them much heavier, in both the amount of bread, and the sheer quantity of meat. I too wish that more fast food restaurants served lunch alongside breakfast, instead of exclusively breakfast in the mornings.

douche 10y ago
I wish there were places in the States that made those little sandwiches. Was in Berlin recently, and every corner bakery makes them. Delicious, and super cheap.
- trentmb 10y ago
  > I wish there were places in the States that made those little sandwiches. Your home? I've found that they can make whatever I want... EDIT: This wasn't a cuckold joke- just a remark that you can to a large degree command your diet
  - douche 10y ago
    Haha, I doubt you're giving me horns Of course when you make it yourself you can do whatever you like (although you lose the economies of scale). Trying to get something on the go in this area pretty much means you're reduced to Dunkin Donuts, Mickey D's, or whatever paltry offerings the gas station Quik-e-mart carries, though.
    - trentmb 10y ago
      > Haha, I doubt you're giving me horns Sorry- a bit sauced. I wasn't!
  - Dutchie 10y ago
    Non-native speaker here. Why could this be understood as a cuckold joke? (My dictionary says this about cuckold: "The husband of an adulteress, often regarded as an object of derision.")
    - gjm11 10y ago
      Because "Your home? I've found that they can make whatever I want..." suggests that _qhtn is in the habit of getting breakfast at douche's home (and can get "anything I want"!), and that douche doesn't know this.

AcaudalAoudads 10y ago

I don't think most Americans would consider McDonalds or IHOP typical breakfast food. I've lived in the US for 10+ years and only been to IHOP and Denny's 3 or 4 times combined, and only go to McDonalds for breakfast when I absolutely can't take the time to eat at home.

csydas 10y ago
Eh, mildly disagree. While they might not consider that they need to go to McDonalds or IHOP, ask what people think of for breakfast and for sure they'll say "cereal, pancakes, waffles, donuts, muffins, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, sweetened oatmeal, etc.", which certainly are all central to the McDonalds/iHop menu. While it's not exclusive to the sweets the article discusses, there are a lot of sweet things involved, and for quite a few, drowning the product in syrup or honey or sugar is pretty common, if the product itself isn't already. Heck, most people I know add sugar to the already sweetened instant oatmeal they prepare. It was a bit different when I moved abroad and breakfast instead was just as others in the topic are describing it - an open-face sandwich with a small bit of butter, vegetables, and meat of some accord, usually with a coffee and maybe some cheese. I first was shown it by my partner, who I thought was just too tired in the morning to bother with anything else, but soon learned it's what she grew up with.
- JPKab 10y ago
  Just to be clear, there is a difference between the commercial, industrialized restaurant breakfast offerings vs. what people traditionally eat in their homes. I grew up in the rural south, and our traditional breakfast fell into seasonal categories. In the colder months, we'd eat 2 eggs, a small helping of buttered grits, and bacon. Warmer months or autumn depended on what was available, but often times we'd eat fresh shrimp or "trash fish" (stuff we'd caught like spot, croaker, trout, flounder) fried up with grits. The grits were always only buttered, never sweetened. Never pancakes or any starchy, sugary items. Older folks knew these things were energy killers, and ironically the families I knew that ate tons of starches were the ones whose parents had bought into the whole "fat kills you, eggs are bad" mantra pushed by the government. I find it extremely ironic that these families were eating less healthy than the "redneck" families they assumed were killing themselves. No older American who grew up doing farm work thinks the IHOP breakfast is remotely healthy.

adventured 10y ago

IHOP and McDonald's is not a typical every day American breakfast. Talk about exaggerating cliches about Americans. Cereal is the #1 breakfast food in the US, served at home. Cereal, bacon, pancakes, waffles, french toast, eggs, toast, yogurt, sausage - most of those are more likely on a typical day for American adults than going to IHOP or McDonald's. Teenagers would include poptarts and the equivalent (which are obviously candy). The US is a massive consumer of eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast, the article pretends that hardly exists.

imron 10y ago
> Cereal is the #1 breakfast food in the US, served at home. And if you look at the added sugar content of most cereals, I'm sure the main point of the article still stands.
- JPKab 10y ago
  Cereal is garbage. My former job was working with retail sales data for numerous clients, including the household names that run the two largest cereal companies in the nation, and I can assure you of this: They are having HUGE year over year declines in cereal sales. People increasingly know it's shit, and the sales numbers show it.
OJFord 10y ago
I had to Google "poptarts", which combined with pancakes and waffles I'd say supports the article fairly well. Yoghurt and cereal are actually mentioned in the article, for the average type bought being not much better than anything else. Eggs, bacon, and sausage are fine - but still not a great choice for every day.
- theparanoid 10y ago
  I've 1 egg (80 calories) and 1 sausage (85 calories) for breakfast, every day.
  - 10y ago

personomas 10y ago

Burger King has lunch/dinner all day!

kaybe 10y ago

When I was travelling in the US I thought it was great. Eat one normal portion at 8 or 9 in the morning, walk around all day and only get hungry at 6pm or later.

spacecowboy_lon 10y ago
yes if you cave a busy day and wont be able to fit a proper lunch in the Full English is the way to go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huSP7PtctC4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huSP7PtctC4
cylinder 10y ago
Hah, the difference is, in middle America they are washing that breakfast down with a Coke or a coffee with 10 sugars, then a big fast food burger at noon, then snacks, then a big dinner.
- JPKab 10y ago
  I think this is a very cartoonish and incorrect statement. I live in Arkansas, and nobody I know eats like that. Nobody I grew up with in rural Virginia eats like that either. Unusually ignorant and poor people in rural America will eat that way, but there are plenty of those in the inner cities as well. While of course there are higher rates of obesity in "middle America", the portrayal you paint reeks of elitist snobbery.
  - cylinder 10y ago
    I'm from Texas, I witnessed this all the time growing up, as well as working in a professional office for a software company. Did I say everyone does it? No, but it is common enough. Are people improving? Yes, many, but still most are stuck with horrible habits. In the 90s, my school teachers almost always had a can of Coke or fast food fountain soda cup for breakfast. Yes, Coke.

maxerickson 10y ago

If I end up in a situation where McDonald's breakfast is the option, I always just get a couple of hashbrowns. 300 calories (150 each), deliciously greasy. I can't imagine eating them regularly though.