NEW FEATURE: Fast Food and Chain Restaurant Do-it-at-Home DUPES for LESS!
Screw Wendy's Price Gouging: Make Their Chil at HOME!
Their big "secret?" Sugar, and probably butter. Sugar helps cut the acidity of the tomato and "caramelize" the ground beef. Butter adds richness and brings out some of the other flavors.
Let's get started. I recommend a slow cooker. A large can of tomato juice, dark red kidney beans. They reportedly use dark red and "pink." I prefer the richness of dark red. Just personal preference. One to 2 small cans of diced tomato. Go ahead and start those on medium or high in the slow cooker.
Brush frozen hamburger patties with butter and a light sprinkling of sugar. Diabetics like me can substitute a little honey or even artificial sweetener to taste. A secret I've learned to more evenly browned hamburger patties in the air fryer is to stand them up against the edges and separate them so they brown more evenly all around. You can also pick up metal mesh or silicone risers fairly inexpensively to separate the patties for better, more even browning.
"Wendy's" chili your way. Cheaper. At home. Any time you like.
Another of their secrets? In addition to diced onion, tomato and green peppers, they add celery. Sounds weird, but I love the tender pieces of celery in their chili. Probably also cuts the acidity. I also do not think they use fresh any of that. Evil empire Walmart has a store brand bag of frozen diced onion, green peppers and celery, so I'm sure you could find it in any decent grocery store. You'll want to add this very close to the end of the cooking time so you don't wind up with mush.
Stir in one to two packets of chili seasoning mix or create your own blend of spices to the slow cooker, then chop your burger patties into the desired size and add. The great thing about all these dupes is you customize to your own personal taste, making healthier swaps when you choose, although Wendy's chili reportedly the "healthiest" thing on their menu. Maybe add a tablespoon or two of butter to the mix, let it simmer. I do my chili for 12 hours on high. I like tender beans. I would add the frozen onion, green pepper and celery blend no more than 30 minutes before turning off the cooker or even after.
American readers from the north might want to add cinnamon powder to taste for a Skyline Chili flare, although I personally detest cinnamon in my chili. I'm southern, so I love peanut butter sandwiched between regular old saltine crackers crunched up in my chili and shredded cheese. Try shredded Colby Jack. Mild and delicious. Sometimes a little dollop of sour cream. Whatever floats your boat.
Better Tasting, Cheaper,
Healthier Than Big Mac at Home!
Super Simple At-Home "Special Sauce"
Thousand Island salad dressing with a little ketchup stirred in. Seriously. I've done it and it tastes almost identical to the much-hyped McDonald's "Special Sauce."
No Thousand Island dressing? Use Miracle Whip or (less tasty) mayo, a little pickle relish, ketchup. Not quite as good in my opinion, but it works.
Can you imagine if you added a touch of ranch dressing???? Experiment, customize and still save money.
YES! You can do better than this salty, greasy McDonald's mess at home and save money! Live better cheaper, baby!
According to Wikipedia, the Big Mac is: made with two 1.6 oz (45 g) beef patties, a "special sauce" (similar to Thousand Island dressing), shredded iceberg lettuce, one processed American cheese slice, two slices of dill pickle, and minced onions, served on a three slice sesame seed bun.
First off, "processed" cheese? No. Just no. Get you some sliced REAL cheese of your own favorite variety. Colby Jack would be freaking awesome!
Start by placing 2 frozen hamburger patties (I get a box for around 5 bucks at Family Dollar and they are delicious) in your air fryer for best, easiest prep. The secret? Do NOT stack them. Stand them up on the sides for even heating and better "sear" all around.
While those are cooking, prepare your buns. Plain ol' hamburger buns or whole wheat buns for a healthier option. Lightly butter a non-stick frying pan, place a top bun flat side down, two bottom buns crust side up, in the pan and "grill" until lightly toasted. The butter or margarine gives the buns a nice little touch of added flavor.
Next, whip you up a batch of "Special Sauce," scroll down for.
Either chop iceberg lettuce or, time saver, get a bag of chopped iceberg lettuce at your grocery store for a little bit of nothing per bag. Chop some fresh onion or, even tastier in my opinion, sprinkle some minced onion from the spice section into the butter or margarine left from toasting the buns and saute it until softened.
Place bottom bun on plate, give it a light coating of your "Special Sauce" and then put on one hamburger patty. For a little kick, sprinkle the patty with black pepper and a little onion powder or any spice of your liking. You can customize this recipe in oh so many ways you could never get it from McDonald's.
Place a slice of your preferred cheese on the burger patty, then one of the bottom buns. Another burger patty, another slice of cheese if you wish, more "Special Sauce," onion and lettuce, pickle slices, then top bun. Ta da!
I'm not a nutritionist or a health professional of any kind, so I'm not giving a guess on nutritional value. It will depend on how you personally make it. But, I'm guessing you can do much better than the sodium and fat laden McDonald's version which, by one report I found online has "25 grams of (much saturated) fat (more than 40% of an adults daily recommended intake). 940 milligrams of salt (the majority of the 1,500 mg daily salt intake recommended by the American Heart Association)."
Year-Round "McRib" Style Do-it-at-Home Hack
Forget waiting until "they" decide you should be able to buy one and satisfy your "McRib" craving year round for a lot less money. My favorite part of this hack is that I can do it almost entirely from my personal favorite money-saving store, Family Dollar. That makes me holler.
The base is Banquet family size BBQ rib patties. You think the "McRib" is anything more than a frozen, processed, shaped rib meat thingie? Please. As of this writing it's under 5 bucks for 6 patties.
The secret's in the sauce. The Banquet ones don't come with a whole lot of sauce and it just doesn't have that tangy little kick you need to pull off this hack. Bull's Eye Everyday Original at Family Dollar is about $2.50. The best part of this hack, though, is that you add your own personal favorite BBQ sauce.
I recommend placing the rib patties in the slow cooker and smothering generously with sauce. Cook thoroughly for food safety, see package for instructions.
Do-it-at-Home Chick-fil-A Waffle Fries: Hold the HATE and the SILICONE!
Despite the fact that Chick-fil-A is some nasty self-righteous anti-LGBTQ+ HATERS, many folks "just can't quit 'em" because of those oh so yummy waffle fries. Bump that. You can do it at home better, cheaper and healthier.
I did a research dive into what makes them so addictive. It's pretty simple. They're just damned ol' frozen potatoes in a fun waffle shape. They deep fry them in canola oil and add sea salt. Oh, and Dimethylpolysiloxane. That's a form of silicone, honeys. But don't take it from me. "Here's the bad news: Dimethylpolysiloxane is a form of silicone and it's added to cooking oil to prevent it from bubbling and splashing when hot..." Read More: Complete Mashed article.
We can do better than that. Get you some potatoes. Fresh, from the earth potatoes which you can buy in bags at the grocery store dirt cheap. Or even from a local farmer's market or Amish community. You can go to the extra time and trouble of peeling if you want, but for better taste and added nutrients, leave the skins on.
Get yourself an inexpensive "potato lattice maker" like this one at Temu currently only $4.99. First time app users can save 30% with code fav40311 if you place an order within 24 hours of downloading the app. You're welcome.
Don't even have to slice the potatoes first. The handy dandy lattice maker slices and waffelizes (I just made that word up) all at once.
Now the healthier part. We're not going to deep fry. For flavor, brush lightly with canola or your favorite oil, olive would be awesome. Arrange in your air fryer, making sure to space them out and avoid "stacking" so the hot air can get all around the surfaces of the fries for more even crispy cooking.
Remove from the air fryer and sprinkle with sea salt. Or maybe Pink Himalayan Salt! That's it. Hate-free, silicone-free, cheaper and better tasting. Enjoy!
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The only remotely tough part of this hack is the buns. As far as I know Family Dollar doesn't have anything big enough. You should be able to find the Pepperidge Farm hoagie buns or something similar at a grocery store near you.
You can either wait until assembly to add sliced or diced onions, or cook add them right into the slow cooker toward the end of cooking for even more flavor. Top with sliced dill pickle like the Micky D's version, or be a complete and utter rebel and spice it up with bread and butter pickle slices!
When you add up your total cost, you'll see there's absolutely no reason for the price McDonald's charges and you won't feel like ever paying it again since you can do it home and live better cheaper. Enjoy!
Check back for many more fast food and restaurant dupes coming soon!
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Make Fries at Home Without All the Nasty Additives
Shove it, Clown
I bought frozen hamburger patties. I air fry them and make sandwiches at home I call Big Macs my dumb ass didn't pay 20 bucks for.
Eat that, McDonalds.
They featured a lot of food products in this section and I ordered a "healthy snack pack"that contains Stonyfield Fruit Snacks, Fiber One bars, Pirate's Booty puffed rice snacks, Skinny Pop,
Veggie Straws, Fiber One Brownies and Snyder's Mini Pretzels.
I had looked at a lot of these items on Dollar Tree online and thought about buying them in bulk from them until I got to the checkout and saw that the shipping fee was twice what the cost of the stuff was. Also, the deal I got from Oriental Trading is at least $10 less than buying each item at just $1.25. Plus, I used a free shipping offer and saved even more.
I'm not pushing Oriental Trading in particular. That's just where I found this deal and got the idea to check places that don't specialize in food for... food. I'm pretty sure places like Best Buy and Staples online have bulk snack packs they sell primarily to businesses to stock break rooms and the such. Why not stock your pantry and see if you can save some money in the process?
Another great place to save on food items is iHerb, which is primarily an online pharmacy. Kind of like Walgreens on steroids with much lower prices. They have the traditional over the counter medications, vitamins, supplements and beauty products, but also have an entire grocery section with some phenomenal deals. Check it out here.
Save $ on Food by Shopping Stores That Don't Specialize in... Food
My personal living better on a puny budget journey is teaching me a lot. Also, being without transportation in a small rural community with no food delivery options is making me get really creative.
I've recently gotten really into crafting, so I've been looking for sources for cheap craft supplies. Well, that led to a completely unexpected discovery of sources for cheap food, delivered.
I kept getting emails from Oriental Trading and ignoring them until they offered a free shipping deal and I thought, why the heck not. I searched for craft supplies and found some really good deals, then stumbled on a section featuring bulk deals.
Do Those Scan Your Receipts Things Really Work?
Eh, for me personally, not all that great. I shop more online and can't get out to the stores as often as I'd like, so I don't get a lot of paper receipts. I've tried all the ones I'm aware of and I still only use two. If you have a lot of paper receipts, it's definitely worthwhile. Even if you don't, you might as well stack up every penny you can and wind up with a gift card or PayPal deposit that you can use for stuff you need.
The primary one I use is Fetch. They're pretty much the biggest and are buying up all the smaller guys. I make sure to scan all my receipts and even linked my email so they can scan for e-receipts. I haven't had a lot of luck with them finding e-receipts, though. It actually does add up eventually and I have cashed out from them. They offer a wide variety of gift cards you can redeem points for and, if you're feeling generous, you can even turn those points into donations to various excellent charities.
Check out Fetch here. Please be sure to use my referral code and start out with a free 100 points: FYXUQ2
The other one I use is receiptJar which is lesser well known but I actually like it better. I've also cashed out from them and they tend to do a better job of finding my e-receipts. It works pretty much like Fetch and even has few extra fun little features. Cheat hint: You CAN use the same receipts on both and get credit for them on each! Don't tell them I told you! Use my code if you download the app: BRUCCDTRW
Go Shelf Stable and Save
I live alone, so buying a gallon of milk at a time just means I have milk go bad on me before I drink it. So, I started buying quarts. Smart. Less waste. Then, I found the ultimate way to save on milk in particular. Go shelf stable. I found quarts of milk at my local Dollar tree in boxes that don't have to be refrigerated until you open them. Is it any good? I can't tell any difference between the taste of it and what I used to get from Wally-world. My local Dollar Tree had whole, 2% and 1% in stock when I was there last.
Just looked at Walmart online and a quart of Prairie Farms regular old refrigerated milk is $2.54. For $1.25 each, I can save a bunch and even stock up, keeping what I need on hand and reducing store runs, which in itself saves money. They also even often have almond milk and oat milk for those with special dietary needs or preferences.