November 14, 2026

WEEKLY MENU 11.15.26

The Weekly Menu 11.15.26 celebrates National Fast Food Day with permission to pick your fave!

The Weekly Menu 11.15.26 gives us permission to eat fast food! National Fast Food Day is on Monday, when I recommend going hog wild and heading to the fast food restaurant of your choice. Is it the healthiest way to go? Of course not. But, once in a while, a little treat won’t go amiss.

McDonald’s isn’t actually the favorite fast food around here. I think that distinction goes to Taco Bell for the boys (is there anything better than ten tacos at midnight?) and to Arby’s for Bert. I vacillate between Arby’s, Wendy’s and McDonalds. We were all alone in the house a couple weekends ago and were delighted that we could run out and get a few Arby’s sammies for the two of us. Then we wondered if adoring Arby’s is dating us. If we were younger and hipper, we probably wouldn’t have to fight the blue-hairs to get to the counter first. Just saying.

What’s the Nationwide fast food favorite?

For all of America, unlike our household, it is McDonald’s.

Here are the top 10 restaurants in America by sales, according to the report:

McDonald’s ($53.1 billion)

Starbucks ($31.6 billion)

Chick-fil-A ($21.6 billion)

Taco Bell ($15 billion)

Wendy’s ($12.3 billion)

Dunkin’ ($12 billion)

Burger King ($11 billion)

Subway ($10 billion)

Chipotle ($9.9 billion)

Domino’s ($9 billion)

While sales have grown for a healthy majority of the top 50 businesses, those collective billions of dollars don’t tell the whole story. Nation’s Restaurant News points out that although the Technomic report indicates sales growth across the industry, the rate of that growth lines up pretty cleanly with the price increases on popular fast food menu items over the past year—meaning that we’re not necessarily going out to eat any more than we were before. Indeed, there’s data to suggest that we might be doing just the opposite, pulling back on fast food spending because those dining options no longer feel like a bargain.

Food and Wine

Holy moly, that’s a lot of fast food. Sales are actually “sluggish” lately due to the increased prices in most of the fast food restaurants. Fast food doesn’t equal cheap food anymore. We don’t actually eat a ton of fast food around here, despite indications to the contrary. When the boysies were little we ate a bit more, but that’s really decreased over the years. It’s much more of an occasional treat now.

Baby Boy and I developed a little bit of a taste for Quarter Pounders during the pandemic (there’s an understatement), but overall I’m more likely to hit up the Golden Arches for breakfast. (An Egg McMuffin, Hash Browns and a Diet Coke is the breakfast of champions. Or at least this champion.)

McDonald’s is a kid favorite because of the Happy Meal.

There’s no scientific data to back this up, of course, but, come on. Those things are tempting now and I’m 63 years old. I love a little kit, and when you throw in some tasty food, some fries and some tchotchke item, I. Am. There. And McDonald’s never disappoints. (Affiliate links follow – see Disclaimer Page for details.)

You don’t actually have to go to Mickey D’s for the toys anymore. They are purchasable everywhere. Check out how stinking cute these chicken nugs are:

And the first non-creepy Ronald McDonald I’ve ever seen:

Apparently, it’s big business all around, not just at the restaurant itself.

Plus, everyone is trying to figure out how best to make the iconic menu items at home. I’ve looked at a ton of recipes that purport to make fries that taste just like McDonald’s. You can brine them in salt or salt and sugar. You can coat them in corn starch. How about a double fry in two different kinds of oil? Yeah. No.

How about if I’m really jonesing for McDonald’s fries, I stop in and buy some fresh ones?

What’s for eats on the Weekly Menu 11.15.26?

Sunday dinner is comfort, pure and simple. Chicken and Stuffing, and simple it is – I use boxed stuffing mix for the base and add some grated swiss cheese. I pound out the chicken to make it thicker, then make little piles of stuffing in a casserole dish, and lay the chicken on top to cook. Ridiculously easy and it smells so good when it’s cooking.

Monday is National Fast Food Day. What will you get? What will we get? Decisions, decisions.

The Pork Salsa Verde Tacos didn’t get made last week because I got a better offer and headed out for a midweek date night with Bert. So they’re on again. Wednesday is another casserole dish dinner. I’ve been waxing poetic about soup season being back, but casserole season is too ~ Yippee! I do love me a one-plate meal. Sloppy Joe Sliders are a cafeteria staple that the whole family enjoys and it would be sacrilege to serve them without some sort of semi-fried spuds, so frozen oven fries it is. Fries two nights this week? Don’t judge.