I'm partial to meatless chili and/or goulash myself. Share yours :D

One thing we definitely need to talk shop about are potato chips and french fries. The prices for these have definitely gone up the past few years -- where I live, it's $4.79 for a bag of Lay's, and $2.49 for the individual sized ones. 😨

That is absolutely fucking batshit. And chips and fries are much safer and healthier to eat if you make them at home anyway.

What I do is I slice up either a sweet potato or a Russet if that's all I have, soak it in some water for a little bit, pour 2-3 cups of avocado oil into a pan, heat it up and fry the chips or fries. Let them dry on a paper towel. Cover with 11 herbs and spices. Question mark, profit.

This is infinitely cheaper if you use canola oil, but I use the avocado oil for health. It's one of the few expensive food items I buy anymore.

They Did The Math:

Anyway, prices. Using Walmart Great Value brand for this as Walmart is ubiquitous:

Sweet potato: $0.98/each,

Russet potato: $0.83/each, $3.97/5 lb bag

Canola oil: $4.24/48 fl oz, $10.24/gallon

There are about 16 cups in a gallon, so that's $0.64 a cup if you bulk buy the big hulking jug. So about $1.92 for 3 cups, plus the price of the potato comes to about:

Sweet potato fries: $2.90/potato

Russet potato fries: $2.75/potato

Compared to the price of a large fry at major fast food joints:

McDonald's: $4.79

Burger King: $3.39

Hardee's/Carl's Jr: $3.59

Wendy's: $3.39

Conclusion:

It seems awfully silly to not just make fries for yourself at home if you're able to. Or if you're going to eat out, go to a sit-down diner where you can at least get better quality food.

But, for the purposes of this sub, it's pretty clear just making your own fries and chips and such is much easier on your wallet and likely your waistline, too, depending on what oil you use.

Some recipes I found:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-homemade-potato-chips-2217401

https://thecozycook.com/homemade-french-fries/

https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/homemade-french-fries/

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/73135/homestyle-potato-chips/