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Potato Cakes, an Arby's fan favorite

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I wish!

Yes, that's a wishful-thinking headline.  

I was a huge fan of the Arby's Potato Cake.  When they were still on the menu, potato cakes were my go-to side when I ordered a meal from Arby's.  In fact, I would crave them, the cakes would often be my primary reason to visit Arby's, with what sandwich to pair with the cakes a secondary thought.

For me, they were the ultimate fried potato, better than fries, better than regular tater tots elsewhere, with that awesome crunchy exterior and fluffy potato interior.  Those golden-brown triangles of fried potato deliciousness were so good, I wished they were a side competitors would copycat.

But Arby's discontinued the tater cake side back in early 2021, in favor of crinkle-cut fries.

Hey Arby's, the crinkle-cut fries suck!

In today's "Available for a limited time" fast food world (think the McDonald's McRib, Taco Bell's Naked Chicken Chalupa, or Long John Silver's Lobster Bites), you would think Arby's would occasionally put potato cakes on the menu "for a limited time," after all, it's a cult favorite.  But they haven't done so.  Go to the Arby's Facebook page and you'll see somewhere in the various comments, and multiple times, people begging, if not demanding Arby's to bring back those tater cakes.

The decision to drop tater cakes for crinkle-cut fries was obviously a financial one, it's cheaper to produce fries than cakes.  The decision certainly wasn't based on taste, because again, those crinkle-cut fries suck.  I say market the tater cakes, take advantage of the "available for a limited time," offer - it would boost overall sales.  And I say kick things up a notch, also offering a spicy version of the tater cakes, as spicy nuggets, spicy chicken sandwiches, and spicy versions of burgers are all the rage right now.

Arby's is missing a big opportunity here.  PUT POTATO CAKES BACK ON THE MENU, to include a spicy version (or perhaps a sriracha ketchup dipping sauce).  Manipulate the "limited time" mantra.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

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Another Thinking Out Loud Moment when in a diet frame of mind...

I've been on a gluten-free diet, coming up on the three-week mark.  In addition to dropping any wheat products from the daily menu and trying gluten-free products instead, I've also been counting calories, monitoring protein and carb counts, and tweaking the diet as I go along.

Part of that tweaking has been to try and flip-flop when a traditional food item is consumed during the day.  Eggs and bacon for breakfast?  Eat them for lunch or dinner instead.  Pizza and salad for dinner?  Nope, that's now breakfast food.   And if you're going to eat dessert, do it for lunch, DON'T make it the last thing you eat for the day.  It's a flip-flop of the traditional menu, a reversal of what's typically eaten for dinner is now breakfast, and what is typically eaten for breakfast becomes the dinner norm (no pancakes or waffles allowed).

The goal is to consume fewer carbs and when carbs are consumed, to eat the bulk of them earlier in the day, so the body can burn the glucose off with the day's activity, rather than store it as fat.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

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If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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I'm currently doing a new challenge, the Bachelor on the Cheap Going Gluten-Free Challenge 2023.  I'm eating healthier and part of that is eliminating wheat products from my diet.  I feel better when not eating so much regular bread, pasta, crackers, and such.

So in line with that, here's a name some baker wanting their own place can steal, GF Hutton Bakery.  The tagline is, "When GF Hutton Bakes, people be eat'n!"

People who were around in the 1970s and got sick of the overkill of television ads for a certain investment banking firm will get it.

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Another "Thinking Out Loud" Moment...

You know how you go to the airport and there are usually several places (but never enough) to charge your phone?

Why is that limited to airports, coffee shops, and the mall?

Everybody has been there and done that with a dead or about-to-be-dead phone, be it at work, at a restaurant, bar, traveling, at an outdoor activity, sporting event, or elsewhere.  It could be no access to an outlet, don't have the charger, or a dramatic drain on the phone for whatever reason.

Somebody needs to open up a store (and franchise it) where you can charge your phone for free.  In addition to cordless charging stations built into tables and countertops, the store would also have plenty of outlets for older phones and traditional charging. 

How would the store generate revenue?  Sell phone accessories from vending machines.  Chargers, cases, screen protectors, earbuds, etc., could all easily be sold from a vending machine.  But that probably wouldn't be enough to pay the rent.

Enter, the modern Automat

The Automat:  A turn-of-the-20th-Century vending machine-style experience where customers could select a meal from a posted menu, drop some coins into a slot, and then pull out a packaged lunch from a food locker.  An instant hit with busy lunch break eaters in big cities, the Automat was a simple lunchroom, with no tables or formal dining room, just a counter with stools and a chrome kiosk ordering station with glass windows.

Those vending machine-style eateries eventually gave way to fast-food restaurants in the 1950s and 1960s, but have actually started to make a comeback as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Automats don't require a cashier or a server, making them ideal for contactless service.

A modern concept Automat features digital menus, credit card processors, and phone apps. There's been an upgrade to the food too.  Sure, you can still get a sandwich and a cup of coffee, perhaps a slice of pie.  But the modern Automat menu includes trendy foods like ramen and fusion foods like chicken wonton tacos.

There's your money maker.  Grab a bite to eat while you charge your phone. 

You read it here first...

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

follow me on Twitter @Bacheloronthe1

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Grilling and backyard barbecue fun is more popular now than it ever has been.  Sales of grills and smokers in the U.S. hit $2.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to top $3 billion in 2024, a popularity trend with no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

So wouldn't it be great if there was a one-stop shop where you could buy a grill, grill accessories, charcoal, wood, rubs, sauces, pick up a recipe book AND the meat to put on the fire?  Bonus, this store concept includes not only a meat counter and custom butchering services, but a full service restaurant, where you can enjoy grilled and smoked meats, veggies, sides and desserts.  Picture it, enjoying a meal while picking up new grilled fare ideas, tips and advice from the experts on staff.  Enjoy a steak prepared on the Weber Kettle you're thinking of buying, or bite into some baby back ribs that were smoked low and slow on that Traeger you've had your eye on.

A grill & smoker store/meat counter/restaurant:  Everything you need in one-stop-dedicated-to-grilling-and-smoking place!  

I need to sell a 'few' more books to bring this concept into reality...

I would order this in a heartbeat, think of all the topping options...

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Another Thinking Out Loud moment...  The wheels are always spinning...

Many restaurants these days have menu options that satisfy specific dietary needs and restrictions, vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and dairy free being the more common dietary requests.

Going beyond menu options, restaurants, bakeries and meal prep kitchens that are dedicated to specific dietary needs such as vegan and gluten free are enjoying a rapid rise in popularity.

But eating keto is a bit left out.  Sure, you can order a burger or sandwich without a bun - wrapping it up in lettuce instead - but most eating establishments don't really have true keto options, let alone a dedicated menu.  It's more like, "order something without the potato" or "hold the rice."  About 5% of Americans eat keto, compared to about 0.5% who eat vegan (that means 1/2 a percent for those of you who live in Valley Center).  Yet vegan has gone from "diet" status to being named a cuisine.

Keto deserves the same status change, it's no longer just a diet, it's a cuisine!  A method of cooking in its own right, give me a BBQ restaurant that uses sugar free rubs and serves tender brisket that doesn't need a molasses, brown sugar and ketchup based sauce.  Give me a pizza joint that is dedicated to a low carb, keto friendly crust that tastes and chews like a regular crust.  How about a joint that serves up avocados similar to how some places serve up baked potatoes?  Somebody develop a charcuterie board restaurant chain that creates a 'board' for you in Subway or Jimmy Johns fashion.  Walk in, order "The Mobster" a selection of deli sliced pepperoni, salami and prosciutto, coupled with Italian hard cheeses like Parmesan and Asiago.  Boxed up with some arugula, peppers and olives and a side of olive oil w/crushed black pepper to dip in... well that's a great lunch!

You can't tell me that a fast casual restaurant with a full fledged charcuterie board menu wouldn't be an immediate hit!  Hmmm...  Menu development forthcoming, to include those 'stuffed' avocados...

So there 'ya go, some ideas for a restaurateur to open up something keto...

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

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If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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By Mike Thayer

The wheels are always spinning...

As a jack of all trades and a master of none, I'm always considering tasks, chores, challenges etc., how they're typically done and if perhaps there's a better way of doing something. Once-in-awhile, that kind of thinking leads to new concepts.

Some of those ideas/concepts are big ticket items, well beyond tweaking recipes, coming up with hacks, organizing a closet for a better 'get ready in the morning flow', using power tools in new ways or making multi-tasking more efficient. 

So I'm posting those thoughts on Bachelor on the Cheap and calling it, "Thinking Out Loud."

Should I hold my ideas close to the vest, jump through the hoops of obtaining rights, making proposals and networking?  Perhaps, and if I could somehow simply package these ideas up and display them for sale on a shelf in a retail store, I would.  But the good ol' days of honoring handshake deals are gone and jumping through corporate hoops isn't my thing.

Here are a few examples of ideas I would love to get paid for, but really have no interest in pursuing myself. 

Somebody in the business world will appreciate these ideas, just remember, you probably heard about it here first.

Thinking Out Loud:  Hey Pizza Joints, America Needs Chorizo Pizza!

Thinking Out Loud:  Another Thinking Out Loud Moment: America needs more burger meat options

Thinking Out Loud: America needs breakfast pizza

$pend Wisely My Friends...

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate this Thinking Out Loud idea and want to support more great food, product, service review content, recipes and other great information on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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By Mike Thayer

In another Thinking Out Loud Moment motivated by my appreciation for Chorizo sausage in enjoying a breakfast taco, a thought occurred to me.

Why don't the major pizza joints offer Chorizo as one of the meat options on their regular menu?

With roots in Spanish and Mexican cuisines, Chorizo is a flavor sensation becoming more and more popular in American cuisine, highlighting the taste of sweet pork and roasted flavors from spices such as smoked paprika and chili powder.  Found most commonly in tacos, we can thank our neighbors to the south in particular for feeding us the beauty that is Mexican Chorizo.

Buy why limit that great flavor to tacos, burritos, quesadillas and queso dips?

Chorizo lends itself to becoming a GREAT pizza topping.  All the notable, classic meat toppings for pizza, especially pepperoni, create a depth of flavor in the pizza crust they are delivered on, with the oils being absorbed by the sauce and the dough during the baking process.  Not only do you get the robust punch of flavor biting into that slice of pepperoni or chunk of Italian sausage, those notes carry over into the crust, along with that sauce, a true marriage of flavors.  Chorizo belongs at that wedding!  The oils from Chorizo permeate whatever vessel it's delivered in/on, I'd say even better than pepperoni does.  Blooming in the essence of smoked paprika and chili powder, the sausage embraces warm, soft tortillas and can also deliver those depth of flavor notes on a pizza crust.

Visualize a Chorizo pizza, and not one of those "Limited Time Only" offerings by national chains that experiment with Chorizo, chicken and BBQ sauce and actually screw things up if creating new Chorizo fans was the goal...  No, I'm talking a regular, classically prepared pizza, thin or thick crust, a classic marinara sauce, Chorizo, perhaps some bacon to go with it, some onion, maybe some bell pepper and of course the cheese.  Classic Mozzarella is fine, but a pepper jack blend would be good too.

Try ordering that at Pizza Hut, Papa John's or Domino's.  You can't and it's a shame.  The national chains are failing to deliver (see what I did there, the play on "deliver"...) on some fantastic Chorizo sausage flavor and as consumers of pizza, that's a pizza crime!

Given the popularity of Chorizo, I'm a bit surprised it's not a regular meat topping option on ANY of the major pizza chain menus.  The first one to put that on their menu is going to see a nice spike in sales.

Related: Another Thinking Out Loud Moment: America needs more burger meat options

Related: Food Review: QT Kitchens Chorizo, Egg & Cheese Taco

$pend Wisely My Friends...

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate this Thinking Out Loud idea and want to support more great food, product, service review content, recipes and other great information on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

follow me on twitter @Bacheloronthe1

follow me on Pinterest

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A mix of 80/20 ground beef, pork sausage, pre-cooked bacon bits, cheddar cheddar cheese & other ingredients.

By Mike Thayer

Last month, I told restaurant owners and entrepreneurs that America needs breakfast pizza.  Seriously, for all the love of pizza, why hasn't one of the major pizza chains ventured into breakfast?

Related: America needs breakfast pizza

So here's my latest Thinking Out Loud Moment:  America needs more burger meat options!

For the most part, restaurants that specialize in burgers, focus only on beef burgers.  Why the restriction?  Sure, some places do buffalo burgers, others do other exotics like elk or ostrich.  But those are few and far between and more expensive to boot.  About the only real variant with burger joints is a battle of better beef...  Common ground beef/chuck/sirloin vs. Angus beef vs. American Wagyu (which is a hybrid of Black Angus and Japanese Wagyu). 

We deserve better and I'm not talking exotics either.  Keep prices reasonable with meats already commonly known and consumed, cheaper in price than beef and yes, DELICIOUS in burger form!

Have you ever had a pork sausage burger?  They're fantastic!  Think hamburger, but using sausage instead.  Two all pork sausage patties, a toasted brioche bun dressed with mayo and mustard, lettuce, cheese, onion, pickles (optional)... It's another dose of YUM!  But unless you make one at home, you won't find that in any restaurant - and you SHOULD, it's that GOOD!

I'm talking offering folks a true menu of burger options, not just variations of how to dress beef burgers, i.e., Bacon Cheeseburger, Mushroom Swiss, Bleu Burger...  But a menu that includes pork, chicken, turkey, veal, goat and lamb options!

I would love to bite into a Bacon Sausage Burger at a restaurant!  I do it at home, because I can't get what I'd like eating out.  In fact, anymore when I grill burgers at home on my Weber Kettle, if it's not a straight optional ground meat like sausage or lamb, it's usually at the very least a 50/50 mix of beef and another ground meat.

Burger Concepts (hmmm, a possible name for a restaurant):

The Cajun Burger:  This burger takes everything that is classic Cajun and delivers it in a big flavor fashion!   It's a pork sausage and Andouille sausage patty kissed with some Cajun spice, there's a slice of melted muenster cheese and it's served on a garlic toasted bun dressed with a Cajun spice remoulade.   It's another dose of YUM!

The Mediterranean Burger:  It's lunch in the Mediterranean! This burger features ground lamb and melds together all the classic flavors of the Mediterranean. There's feta cheese, hummus, Kalamata olives and more in this great burger. 

The Garlic Chicken Curry Burger:  The taste of India featuring a mixture of ground chicken, garlic and curry. Add in a garlic/curry/ginger aioli, lettuce, tomato, red onion and cucumbers (nope, not pickles) and this burger delivers some excellent international flare!  

The Mexican Burger:  This burger features a mixture of ground beef and Mexican chorizo, which provides for a little heat. Topped with a little salsa and guacamole, this takes taco flavors up to a whole new level! 

Talk about easily expanding a menu to burger loving customers whose appetite and demand for more than just an ordinary cheeseburger is ever-growing!

Burger Concepts, a new burger joint opening near you, serving beef, pork, chicken, turkey, veal, lamb burgers and more!

You heard it here first.

America needs a breakfast pizza option

By Mike Thayer

Today is September 20, National Pepperoni Pizza Day.

So with that in mind, here's a Thinking Out Loud Moment:

This National Pepperoni Pizza Day makes me wonder... For all the love of pizza, why hasn't one of the major pizza chains ventured into breakfast? Seriously, breakfast pizza has really gained in popularity in recent years, I don't know anyone who doesn't appreciate scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese and sausage gravy served on a savory crust.  Breakfast pizza is now even available in the frozen food section of the grocery store!

I don't know how many Uber Eats drivers and the like would appreciate an early morning shift, but then again, why not?  Morning shift, night shift, does it really matter?  Perhaps having a drive thru would be key to a successful launch and I know the major pizza joints aren't set up like that and freshness could be an obstacle, but seriously, who wouldn't opt for a slice of breakfast pizza over a sausage, egg & cheese biscuit?  I would in a heartbeat.  Casey's does it successfully. Hey other Fast Food joints that do serve breakfast... Menu add? I dare you to try it.

Think about it, a Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Domino's or some other joint's breakfast pizza delivered to work for casual Friday.  How about a breakfast pizza delivered to that family gathering, the Ladies Auxilary Brunch, the Monday department meeting (instead of donuts), the Saturday morning college football pre-game show watch party?  Then there's always the, "Hey son and daughter, grab a slice of pizza before heading off to school"...  Which is WAY better than cold cereal...  Jus say'n.

A slice of breakfast pizza and a coffee?  C'mon, what's not to like?  It could be a slice, it could be a personal pan pizza.  And it doesn't have to be restricted to just pizza.  Papa John's does those Papadia things, would you go for a Ham & Cheese Papadia breakfast?  How about cheesy bread to start your day, or a few of those breadsticks dressed in cinnamon and sugar?  More than just a few pizza menu items could easily be converted to a breakfast format.

With online apps, Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc., and restaurants trending towards drive thru, delivery and carry out only, I don't see how this is not possible.  In fact, if I was a betting man, at least one of the majors already has a concept like this on the table.  But remember, you heard it here first...

I'll take a slice of sausage breakfast pizza please, with coffee, cream & sugar.

What say you, would you like to see a breakfast pizza option besides Casey's out there?  I know QuikTrip has it too, but I've never tried theirs so I don't know how good or bad it is.