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Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:40 pm
Lava says...



Hi!
Okay, I need to know what food an average American consumes in a day.
What are the meat-eating patterns? (I'm a veg and the only non veg friend I have, eats meat about once a month) How frequently?
What are the common meat dishes?

Also typical
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner:

Other snacks/tea time? Anything like that?

And does the entire family eat at the table? Or as it suits the person? ( Just a general idea, please)
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Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:00 pm
Carlito says...



The 'traditional American breakfast' is pancakes (or waffles) with eggs, toast, and either bacon or sausage. Most people don't eat this because they don't have the time or energy. Usually people only eat this at restaurants.
'Ego' type waffles/pancakes you can cook in a toaster, pop tarts, toaster strudel, toast oatmeal, fruit, cereal, french toast (not that common...takes a while unless it's pre-made and you cook it in a toaster :))

For lunch it could be almost anything. Leftovers from dinner the night before, a sandwich (turkey, ham, roast beef), pizza, burger, hot dog, really anything from a fast food place. There's a lot you could eat here.

Again, dinner could be almost anything. A lot of American families eat out at restaurants or fast food places because it's quick and easy. Popular American dinners I can think of; pizza, spaghetti (or really any pasta), burgers, really any meat, soup.

I'm a vegetarian too but my family all eats meat. Hamburgers, pork roasts, chicken breasts/strips/legs/wings, meat loaf, stews, hamburger helper :), casseroles, soups, tenderloins, ring bologna. That's all I can think of for meat entrees.

For snacks and stuff, everyone is different. Personally when I get home from school I have a snack (lunch type things), to tide me over until dinner. I know of a lot of people that do this.

Hope I helped! PM me if you have any questions! :D

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Sat Mar 14, 2009 7:02 am
Eos says...



I eat fairly healthy compared to a lot of my friends, but I'll try to give an average of what is generally eaten in American throughout the day. This isn't my diet, but this is the idea I get when I see what everyone is eating around me.

Breakfast foods have a lot of variety. It generally ranges from pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, cream of wheat, eggs, cold cereal -- and, these breakfast foods may be sided with sausage, bacon, an/or toast.

In between breakfast and lunch there may be a snack, but a smaller one since there isn't a real large time jump in between these meals. Usually a muffin, a yogurt, or a snack-bar of some kind. Perhaps something out of a vending machine? Potato chips?

Lunch can be any number of things. Any kind of sandwich, sub or soup is acceptable. Actually, anything is acceptable if in good portion. Salad, cheeseburger, fries, nachos, anything.

There is also a snack time usually in between lunch and dinner. Again, this isn't a large meal, maybe just something to hold you over. I would usually go with a yogurt and some granola... but most people may hit up a vending machine or heat up some popcorn? I don't think many people eat meat for snacks, but beef jerky can be very common.

Dinner is definitely the time for big meat meals. Steak, chicken, pork, the works! At dinner time, any sort of cuisine can be served. It's America, y'know, a big mixture of cultures. But I guess you could say the typical American meal is the "hamburger, fries, and coke" deal. Hope I helped some!
  





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Fri Mar 27, 2009 2:11 am
TexanWriter says...



I don't know how other people eat, and I'm a bit healthier than my friends, so here's what it's usually like for your not-so-typical American:


Breakfast: If Mom feels like cooking (we aren't allowed to cook except to help with dinner) it's generally eggs and toast. If not, I make myself cereal, instant oatmeal, or grab a handful of dried cranberries or raisins.

Lunch: Anything from sandwiches to fast-food to leftovers. Usually leftovers of yesterdays dinner.

Dinner: For us, the sky's not the limit. Outer Space is. Chicken, pork, beef, seafood, you name it. Salad, mashed potatoes, I can't really name them all. Ocassionally we order pizza or go out to a resturant.

I'm sure this wasn't as helpful as tnm22's or eos', but I just thought "Hey, this is somethign I can contribute to!"

Hope this was helpful!
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Sat Apr 04, 2009 8:54 am
J_Fang says...



It entirely depends on the type of person they are, the major factors are: their age, their personality and the region of the states they live in.

So I'll break down what I experienced at the three basic times in my life.

Region: Southern USA (Kentucky to be more specific)

Child (until about the 5th Grade or 11 years old)

Breakfast: Sausage Gravy and Biscuts; Bacon, Letuce, Tomato and (Insert Condiment here) Sandwich; overly sugar coated cereal; or left-overs...
Orange Juice, Chocolate Milk, or Regular Milk (most people dank whole milk)

Lunch: Whatever the school cafeteria served: Slopy Joe's (Ground Hamburger and tomato paste with spices); Pizza; Fried Chicken; Meatloaf; Caserol (can't tell you what's in it, but neither of us probably want to know).

Dinner: Chili, either in a bowl with crackers and onion, or as a burrito; Grilled/Baked Chicken, mashed potatoes, (green vegetable of some sort) and there were generally beets available (my dad loved them); Beef Stew (chunked steak, carrots, onion, potatoes, brocoli and sometimes corn); Pork Chops and sides.

Typical sides were the same for school as at home, corn or mashed potatoes (somtimes with gravy).

Teen (14 to 18 )

Breakfast: Skipped.

Lunch: School Lunch; almost always the Pizza line.
And either flavored water or chocolate milk (which they started to put milk into clear plastic bags once I was a sophmore in highschool)

Dinner: Until I was 16: Skipped; at most typically a just a snack (like a small ham sandwich)
16+: Skipped or Fast Food from McDonald's, Carl's JR (Hardee's in the south), Rally's, etc. etc.

Adult 18+ (I never wake up until at least noon--my college schedule and work schedules almost always allowed for this)

Region: Southwest (Arizona)

Breakfast: Skipped.

Lunch: Skipped.
Dinner: Fast Food.


An unexpected 4th addition:

When I worked out and dropped a lot of weight, I ate every 2 hours to keep my metabolism up my food intake was consistent.

**A Very health conscious person**
As soon as I woke; (8am) Breakfast: 4oz Steak or 6oz Chicken Breast, 1.5 cups of brown rice, 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites, a lot of black pepper (helps with digestion). 1% Skim Milk White and Orange Juice 8oz each. A Multi-Vitamin.

9:00am: Work out until 10:00am and water only.

12:00pm: A single serving of Stir Fry worth 600 calories and 1 ½ cups of Brown Rice. No Soy Sauce.

2:00pm: Gronola Bar

4:00pm: 1 pre-packaged single serving Fruit Yogurt

6:00pm: 1 cup of sliced fruit (an orange or banana or peaches)

8:00pm: 1 cup of sliced fruit (same as above)

10:00pm: 1 cup of yogurt.

12:00am: 1200mg of fish oil then and 8oz of 1% Skim White Milk.

(That's a very regimented lifestyle that I was living at the time and I loved it. Money and time prevent me from doing it now, but I did allow myself one day a week that varied to add a chicken sandwich from a fast food joint to my 4 or 6 pm snack.) *Also unless otherwise stated I drank flavored water (the kind with carbonation, but not calories from wal-mart)
  





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Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:55 am
ina says...



Depends on region and also ethnicity of the family. For me, I do not really have a set cultural background so we tend to eat a variety of things. Typically the meat I eat is chicken, fried or baked in strips or baked with lemon sauce or other type of sauce. Other meat that is common is in hamburgers.

However, families with strong cultural backgrounds will eat differently. For example, my stepdad's family is from Mexico and they commonly eat tamales, carne asada, and menudo. My Asian friends eat things such as rice with almost every meal (although I am not sure about other parts of their diet).

Typical meals, for me, a teenager without a lot of time in southern California:

Breakfast:
Toaster waffles; Pop-tarts or toaster strudel; Toast with butter or jelly; Cereal with milk

Lunch (Main):
Lunchable; Sandwich with lunchmeat, cheese, and lettuce OR peanut butter and jelly

Lunch (Side items)/Snacks:
Potato chips; oreo cookies; chips ahoy cookies; vegetables with ranch dip (commonly mini-carrots)

Dinner: Spaghetti; Mexican night (burritos or enchiladas); stir fry; chicken pot pie; lasagna; baked chicken; typically with a side of rice, baked or mashed potatoes, vegetables, and/or rolls


again all of this varies GREATLY!!
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:09 pm
JabberHut says...



I can give you my schedule, if it helps. ^_^

Breakfast

Before High school: Cereal or Pop-Tarts

High school: Skipped

Lunch

Pizza, chicken- or hamburgers, subway/deli sandwiches, macaroni & cheese, tacos, and that's basically it.

Dinner

Pastas of all kinds, steak sandwiches, hot-dish (or casseroles), and anything that makes dinner a tad more formal/lovable/delicious than lunch. xD



And I snack ALL the time. I can't eat a meal for five hours straight, but after a 20 min. meal and I wait for another 20 minutes, then I'll eat some more. Digestion ftw! xD But snacks can include anything from candy to carrot sticks, popcorn, chips, s'mores--finger foods generally.
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Fri Jun 05, 2009 8:11 pm
gsppcrocks10 says...



Well, my personal diet is normally a couple of peices of peanut butter toast for breakfast, a sandwich or leftovers for lunch, and then whatever my mom feels like making for dinner. Sometimes she just makes Macaroni and Cheese other times she makes chicken. It's pretty random. Sorry I can't help anymore.
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Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:14 pm
Angels-Symphony says...



lavabubblingout wrote:Hi!
Okay, I need to know what food an average American consumes in a day.
What are the meat-eating patterns? (I'm a veg and the only non veg friend I have, eats meat about once a month) How frequently?
What are the common meat dishes?

Also typical
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner:

Other snacks/tea time? Anything like that?

And does the entire family eat at the table? Or as it suits the person? ( Just a general idea, please)


The food depends on the family. Americans usually eat things like pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, cereal, and steak.

In a white family's house or european house they'll usually eat dishes representing their culture (as this goes for every culture). Pasta, meatballs, mashed potatoes, beans, mac and cheese, meatloaf. Ice cream, cake, or pie for desert. For breakfast usually pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, omelettes, eggs, cereal, bagels, toast, and so on. For lunch sandwiches, burgers, salads, light pasta dishes, or fastfood. For dinner usually some sort of meat with carbs (rice/potatoes/beans).

For snacks they eat chips or crackers.
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Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:10 pm
Blue Giraffe says...



Again, to repeat everyone else, it differs from family to family. My family is very southern, but because we live overseas we have some European influences. An example of my day usual day's meals:

Breakfast: Unlike most teens, I eat something for breakfast. Usually an Eggo (toaster waffle) but sometimes cereal, microwaveable oatmeal, toast, just about anything quick and easy. On the weekends it can be something more time consuming, like eggs, toast, and bacon or pancakes.

Snack: My school sells food after first period, and most people have a bag of chips or some fruit or something like that. Most teens are addicted to soda, and the ones that aren't are either raised that way or on a diet.

Lunch: Some kids at my school just take a plate of french fries, but I usually just have a turkey/lettuce/tomato sandwich, or whatever the school's serving, which ranges from burgers to lasagna to fish sticks and the likes.

Some people have an after-school snack, especially the people that don't eat lunch.

Dinner: Just about anything, usually with meat (chicken, steak, pork chops, pot roast, etc) as the main dish unless it's soup or pizza or something like that. There's usually a side dish of a veggie of some sort too.

Adults (I assume) would eat along the same lines, except probably something healthier at lunch and dinner. Some adults are rather weight-conscience, and eat special diets or diet foods, which can be a large range of things.
  





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Tue Jun 09, 2009 4:21 pm
Mira says...



Let me see if I can be of any help. :)

For breakfast I usually eat the same things for the school week: cereal, Pop Tarts, oatmeal, or waffles. On the weekend, my parents usually cook eggs and bacon or breakfast tacos.

Lunch isn't usually set... I kind of just eat what I feel like having at the moment. However, a few common meals would be sandwiches - either peanut butter or meat. I'm not really sure about lunches, considering I usually skip it on the weekends, or I buy the same thing for the school year - egg rolls, burritos, crispitos (yum :)), or hot dogs...

Dinner is not always the same, but I few things I eat most often are: ramen and Hot Pockets. Some of my favorite dinners are spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, and barbeque chicken.

I don't eat snacks often, because my meals usually fill me up, but snacks can consist of fruits (preferably grapes for me), vegetables, chips and dip, or something else that is small.

Eating as a family at my house is kind of rare. We used to eat together when I was little, but it doesn't really happen anymore. Even if we eat at the same time, my parents sometimes eat alone in the kitchen at a two person table in there. I end up eating with my brother most of the time. Unless it's in the morning, when I eat by myself.

Eating meat? Hmm... I suppose I eat meat everyday, but I don't exactly keep tabs on it. I'd say it's usually lunch or dinner for me. ^-^ Hope I helped. :)

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Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:27 pm
niteowl says...



I work at a supermarket, so perhaps I can give a glimpse into what a broader section of the population eats.

Breakfast: Cereal is the most common by far. Oatmeal, waffles, Pop-Tarts, eggs, bacon, bagels, Toaster Strudel, and pancake mix are also bought a lot.

Lunch: Lunch meat and bread are always popular, so I'm guessing lots of people eat sandwiches. Frozen meals are also a customer favorite (these are probably for both lunch and dinner). Hot dogs are also a favorite, especially in the summertime.

Dinner: This is where most people eat most of their meat. Chicken is cheaper than beef, so people tend to buy more of that. Beef is pretty popular as well (especially when it's on sale), as is pork (many customers love their ribs). Fish and shrimp are also kind of common, but other kinds of seafood are expensive (someone bought 59 dollar crab the other day!) so we don't sell as much of it. Another popular item is our pre-cooked served-warm rotisserie chicken (either in pieces or the whole thing). Big turkey and ham aren't sold much in summer but fly off the shelves during the holidays. Canned or frozen veggies serve as a side dish, and possibly a salad.

Snacks/Dessert: Yogurt, cheese sticks, cookies, crackers, snack bars, candy, bananas, apples, S'Mores, ice cream, chips, donuts. Also a lot of people like pop, bottled water, Vitamin Water, and juice.

As to whether people eat as a family or on their own, it depends on the family and their schedule. Right now, we all eat dinner together, but in the past, we've eaten on our own due to on-the-run schedules. Breakfast and lunch are almost always on our own, except maybe on the weekends.
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