30 Day Challenge: Our First Obstacle

We’ve encountered our first obstacle in the 30-Day No Restaurant Challenge on the second day:  McDonalds filet-o-fish sandwiches.  

Why filet-o-fish sandwiches? Why those disgusting fish sandwiches that taste like a sponge? 

The answer: my boyfriend loves the weirdest foods, and when he finds something he likes, he becomes obsessed.  Since Christmas, he’s been raving about how he can't wait for Lent (even though he doesn’t follow the Lent tradition) because McDonalds has two-for-one deals on filet-o-fish sandwiches.  Every year during Lent he buys as many filet-o-fish sandwiches as his body can stand.  I guess when I proposed the challenge to him, neither of us realized that it would include Lent and his beloved filet-o-fish sandwiches.  Needless to say, he was devastated. 

The BF and I talked it over that night at home and we realized two things. One: I can make fish sandwiches at home for much cheaper and they’ll be MUCH better quality than those sponge sandwiches from McDonalds. Two: Lent is longer than the 30 day challenge, so when the challenge is over, he can still go get one, if he truly wants one.

Here’s the math:

1 filet of fish: We can buy one box of ten fish filets for 2/$6 at our local grocery store right now. We bought two boxes. That makes each fish filet approximately 30 cents.

1 bun: We can buy a package of 8 buns in the bakery section of our local grocery store for about $3. That makes each bun about 37 cents. 

Tartar Sauce: You can buy a bottle of decent tartar sauce for about $2. An average bottle of tartar sauce has 12 ounces in a bottle or 24 1 TBSP servings in it. One serving of tartar sauce would be 8 cents.

One delicious homemade fish sandwich is $0.75. The average price for spongy fish sandwiches at McDonalds around here is 2 for $3.33 or $1.66 per sandwich. This is average around here, your local McDonalds may be different.

Not only is the homemade sandwich better for you, it is 91 cents cheaper. That doesn’t include the gas it takes to drive to McDonalds or the damage to your body from all the chemicals, fat, etc. that is in the average fast food chain’s food.