Most junk food in the US has gone off the rails in terms of price. Like seriously, don’t spend money on food that has zero nutritional value and is actively harmful to your health. You’ll feel so much better and your bank account will be so much bigger.
I guess I have corporate America to thank for no longer buying chips, candy, or baked goods that I might’ve otherwise splurged on as a treat. Can’t justify it with prices the way they are.
I was with you, up until baked goods. What’s wrong with baked goods? A nice loaf of bread freshly baked from a bakery? Or maybe a baked potato with cheese and bacon? Or maybe a big bag of pot…wait, sorry. Wrong kind of baked.
😋
I think baked goods as a treat would be cakes or cookies.
Also from what I hear in USA bread is generally of very poor quality, but probably better from a baker.
Funny, some of the best bread here is also some of the cheapest.
As a Dane I eat a lot of rye-bread, and Schwarzbrot is the best IMO.
It is also cheap, because it is very simple to make. And being simple to make, makes it high quality because there aren’t a lot of additives.
But AFAIK the cheap bread in USA is simply illegal in EU, because it uses additives that aren’t allowed here.
Anyways, yes of course you can get quality, but bread should not be expensive just because it is of proper quality, the ingredients used to make good bread are dirt cheap.
You can find affordable bread without added sugar here too but it’s less common in rural areas where ‘food deserts’ are a thing. This is why we have so many fat people. We add too much sugar to everything.
Wonder Bread, which is the OG American fortified “white bread,” is definitely available in Europe. I don’t think any of the ingredients are illegal in Europe, it’s just that it’s wholly devoid of the nutritional value imparted by proper fermentation
OG?
No Wonder bread is not available in Europe. At least I can’t find anywhere where it is.
And my guess is that if some specialty stores import it, it is not sold as bread but as an American specialty.
But I don’t see why anyone would import it, it’s just a generic white bread with no particular quality.
Mass produced, store bought bread is trash, but you can also find some of the nest quality bread you’ll ever taste if you go to specialty bakers insteadof supermarkets. I live in Wyoming and I can buy breads made with heirloom grains that are actually highly nutritious. The same applies to cookies, etc. Remember, the USA is a major producer of grains. We grow grain of exceptional quality. We just don’t sell it to our own people at a discount. We export the good stuff for profit and eat the low quality high yield stuff.
I was in California in the 80’s, and the store bought bread tasted very well back then IMO.
I bought some at a local shop, and used as part of my breakfast I made myself in my hotel room to save money. 😋
Legit. I sound like an old man but I remember when junk food cost at least 3 bucks or something. In my area its 6.79. 6 fucking 79? Fuck offffff. This shits predatory and crazy
I might’ve eaten a disgusting amount of Costco sized Doritos during the early pandemic. A giant bag for $3.50. Now those bags are closer to $8 and I can’t remember the last time I bought chips.
Im still a fat bastard, and every time I’m in the supermarket I’ll go into the junk food aisle. Almost always I do the grandpasimpson.gif and leave empty handed.
Frito Lay fucked up by charging $7 for a bag of chips. It took a chunk out of their profits when people stopped buying them. They have reversed course for now.
During the pandemic… PepsiCo raised prices … By the third quarter of 2022, net pricing was up 20% from a year earlier.
senior managers made clear they didn’t want to go backward on prices,
the company’s stock down more than 20% from a peak in 2023
company tried anything else that might lure customers: promotions, shrinkflation. None of it worked.
PepsiCo … planned to lower prices … Up to 15% off some snacks, Laguarta described the cuts as “very surgical.” It also underwent a series of cost cutting measures, including layoffs.
PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta receives an annual base salary of approximately $1.69 million, with a total annual compensation package—including stock awards, options, and performance bonuses—totaling roughly $23.9 million to $28.8 million
I’m with you about forgoing chips/candy these days. I can’t get behind paying 3 bucks for a small snickers bar.
I will say it has me baking more these days if I want something sweet or want bread. Thank God tortillas are still cheap, I have no idea how to make them… yet.
Corn tortillas are easy and taste great fresh. Buy Masa Harina and use the recipe on the bag. (2 cups masa harina, ½ tsp salt, 1½-2 cups hot water.)
If you aren’t sure enough to buy a 5-pound bag, Bob’s Red Mill sells a 624-gram bag with complete instructions on the back. Remember to plan ahead to let the dough rest an hour to absorb the water, and have waxed paper or a cut ziploc bag to flatten it between.
Don’t try to use corn meal or polenta. The nixtamalization of the corn before grinding is important.
Flour tortillas aren’t hard either, plenty recipes online.
Costco sells uncooked tortillas from TortillaLand, and they’re fucking amazing. Cook like 60 seconds in a hot skillet on each side and you get a fresh, hot tortilla. No oil or anything needed. It’s wonderful. If you can find them, I’d recommend checking them out.
Only downside is because they’re uncooked, they have a limited fridge life, unlike the pre-cooked ones, but they taste soooo much better.
Making tortillas from scratch is also not that hard, and that way you never have to worry about pre-cooking shelf life, as long as you generally have flour, oil, and baking powder kicking around.
I freeze tortillas in groups of 10-12 when I buy a giant package of then… They come out fine but you have to thaw them so they can be separated from eachother.
Tortillas are amazing right off the pan. It’s hard to eat anything else. So depending on your views on that information, you might want to wait or hurry up on making your own. Pro tip, make sure to use flour that a Mexican store would have and they seem to go through quickly.
No problem. I just got King Arthur’s flour once by mistake, those turned out terrible. I’m sure there’s a reason that your Abuela videos will explain. They are so good.
Like seriously, don’t spend money on food that has zero nutritional value and is actively harmful to your health.
Oh fuck off with this holier than thou horseshit. It’s a chocolate bar. People aren’t living off these things as their only meals every day of the week. It’s a treat coming home from work, or for a job well done.
I’ll never understand folks who seem to get personally offended by how strangers choose to treat themselves. It’s self righteousness bordering on narcissism.
My local grocery outlet still has gummy works in the plastic thing for like $2, and Marshall’s still has treats for a decent price. If you’re expecting cheap stuff from your local grocer, that’s on you.
Most junk food in the US has gone off the rails in terms of price. Like seriously, don’t spend money on food that has zero nutritional value and is actively harmful to your health. You’ll feel so much better and your bank account will be so much bigger.
I guess I have corporate America to thank for no longer buying chips, candy, or baked goods that I might’ve otherwise splurged on as a treat. Can’t justify it with prices the way they are.
I was with you, up until baked goods. What’s wrong with baked goods? A nice loaf of bread freshly baked from a bakery? Or maybe a baked potato with cheese and bacon? Or maybe a big bag of pot…wait, sorry. Wrong kind of baked.
😋
I think baked goods as a treat would be cakes or cookies.
Also from what I hear in USA bread is generally of very poor quality, but probably better from a baker.
Good bread is available here but people are cheap and lazy so they don’t go looking for it.
Funny, some of the best bread here is also some of the cheapest.
As a Dane I eat a lot of rye-bread, and Schwarzbrot is the best IMO.
It is also cheap, because it is very simple to make. And being simple to make, makes it high quality because there aren’t a lot of additives.
But AFAIK the cheap bread in USA is simply illegal in EU, because it uses additives that aren’t allowed here.
Anyways, yes of course you can get quality, but bread should not be expensive just because it is of proper quality, the ingredients used to make good bread are dirt cheap.
You can find affordable bread without added sugar here too but it’s less common in rural areas where ‘food deserts’ are a thing. This is why we have so many fat people. We add too much sugar to everything.
Wonder Bread, which is the OG American fortified “white bread,” is definitely available in Europe. I don’t think any of the ingredients are illegal in Europe, it’s just that it’s wholly devoid of the nutritional value imparted by proper fermentation
OG?
No Wonder bread is not available in Europe. At least I can’t find anywhere where it is.
And my guess is that if some specialty stores import it, it is not sold as bread but as an American specialty.
But I don’t see why anyone would import it, it’s just a generic white bread with no particular quality.
Mass produced, store bought bread is trash, but you can also find some of the nest quality bread you’ll ever taste if you go to specialty bakers insteadof supermarkets. I live in Wyoming and I can buy breads made with heirloom grains that are actually highly nutritious. The same applies to cookies, etc. Remember, the USA is a major producer of grains. We grow grain of exceptional quality. We just don’t sell it to our own people at a discount. We export the good stuff for profit and eat the low quality high yield stuff.
I was in California in the 80’s, and the store bought bread tasted very well back then IMO.
I bought some at a local shop, and used as part of my breakfast I made myself in my hotel room to save money. 😋
Most of us have plenty really good bread options, it’s just many people choose poorly
Baked goods are also carbohydrate delivery vehicles. As far as your body is concerned they all raise blood glucose the same (candy, bread).
I could never imagine being as uptight as you. Do you shit through a needle or something with how much your ass must be clenched at all times?
it’s important to realize bread and candy are the same thing.
Even red meat. I’ve basically given up on beef and pork because it’s so expensive. Just tofu or poultry these days.
Legit. I sound like an old man but I remember when junk food cost at least 3 bucks or something. In my area its 6.79. 6 fucking 79? Fuck offffff. This shits predatory and crazy
I might’ve eaten a disgusting amount of Costco sized Doritos during the early pandemic. A giant bag for $3.50. Now those bags are closer to $8 and I can’t remember the last time I bought chips.
Gotta go generic brand, that’s where the deals are
Im still a fat bastard, and every time I’m in the supermarket I’ll go into the junk food aisle. Almost always I do the grandpasimpson.gif and leave empty handed.
Frito Lay fucked up by charging $7 for a bag of chips. It took a chunk out of their profits when people stopped buying them. They have reversed course for now.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-04-07/how-7-bags-of-doritos-cost-pepsico-billions-in-sales
I’m with you about forgoing chips/candy these days. I can’t get behind paying 3 bucks for a small snickers bar.
I will say it has me baking more these days if I want something sweet or want bread. Thank God tortillas are still cheap, I have no idea how to make them… yet.
Corn tortillas are easy and taste great fresh. Buy Masa Harina and use the recipe on the bag. (2 cups masa harina, ½ tsp salt, 1½-2 cups hot water.)
If you aren’t sure enough to buy a 5-pound bag, Bob’s Red Mill sells a 624-gram bag with complete instructions on the back. Remember to plan ahead to let the dough rest an hour to absorb the water, and have waxed paper or a cut ziploc bag to flatten it between.
Don’t try to use corn meal or polenta. The nixtamalization of the corn before grinding is important.
Flour tortillas aren’t hard either, plenty recipes online.
Red Mill, great company imo, when I was keto I loved their gluten free options to faux “breading”. I had a pretty decent tempura/tonkatsu recipe.
Thank you for the advice on how to prep. I know me I would have rushed it or bought the wrong corn!
I came here to bitch about overpriced candy and now have multiple options to make tortilla’s! Gotta love Lemmy eh?
Costco sells uncooked tortillas from TortillaLand, and they’re fucking amazing. Cook like 60 seconds in a hot skillet on each side and you get a fresh, hot tortilla. No oil or anything needed. It’s wonderful. If you can find them, I’d recommend checking them out.
Only downside is because they’re uncooked, they have a limited fridge life, unlike the pre-cooked ones, but they taste soooo much better.
https://www.tortillaland.com/where-to-buy/
Making tortillas from scratch is also not that hard, and that way you never have to worry about pre-cooking shelf life, as long as you generally have flour, oil, and baking powder kicking around.
We freeze a bunch and they have been fine.
Also some grocery stores sell uncooked tortillas. And some Walmart’s
Eeeeew Walmarts. A pipeline of questionably manufactured foods that no longer have any safety or quality controls.
Buy Canadian.
Good to know; I’ve never tried freezing them!
Oh this is a great starter option and there’s a Costco on the other side town. I’ll go look for them tonight, thank you!
You’re welcome!
You’ll either find the TortillaLand or the Tortilla Fresca packs. We prefer the TortillaLand, but both are uncooked and both are excellent!
Video showing packaging and cooking: https://youtu.be/4535gNwvy3k
Enjoy!
Thats perfect! Like she said in the video I wonder how well they freeze? 44 is a LOT of torillas. Thank you for posting the video!
I freeze tortillas in groups of 10-12 when I buy a giant package of then… They come out fine but you have to thaw them so they can be separated from eachother.
Thats great to know! Thank you!
Tortillas are amazing right off the pan. It’s hard to eat anything else. So depending on your views on that information, you might want to wait or hurry up on making your own. Pro tip, make sure to use flour that a Mexican store would have and they seem to go through quickly.
Thanks for the advice! I have a really nice Mexican market right across the street.
But before that I’ll watch a couple hundred videos of abuela’s making them first! Also a buddies mom might be a resource, she makes killer tamale’s!
Thanks!
No problem. I just got King Arthur’s flour once by mistake, those turned out terrible. I’m sure there’s a reason that your Abuela videos will explain. They are so good.
I appreciate the heads up, I know I would have done the same thing thinking APF is APF. I had no idea there was a difference!
Oh fuck off with this holier than thou horseshit. It’s a chocolate bar. People aren’t living off these things as their only meals every day of the week. It’s a treat coming home from work, or for a job well done.
If you need a $7 candy bar “as a treat” for a job well done I’m not sure you’re an adult.
I’ll never understand folks who seem to get personally offended by how strangers choose to treat themselves. It’s self righteousness bordering on narcissism.
deleted by creator
Right, if you need anything other than nutrient paste and water for a job well done, you’re definitely not an adult
How I spend my money is completely up to me, not some jag off on the Internet who thinks they’re better than others.
I think the word your looking for is “want”, not “need”. There is a very large difference in meaning between the two.
This particular store is heavily inflated. The exact same bar at the store by me is $3.29.
It’s also 6 servings worth, and the whole bar is 720kcal.
Tbh if you’re purely viewing it as kcal per $ that’s not that bad.
My local grocery outlet still has gummy works in the plastic thing for like $2, and Marshall’s still has treats for a decent price. If you’re expecting cheap stuff from your local grocer, that’s on you.