Blog Posts by The Daily Meal

Quick: which fast-food sandwich do you think has more fat and calories, a McDonald's Big Mac or Wendy's Asiago Ranch Chicken Club? If you guessed the Big Mac, you'd be wrong by nearly 10 grams of fat and almost 200 calories. While it might not be super-easy to discern which fast-food items are better for you than others, there are a few common-sense giveaways. First of all, whenever something has more than one type of meat (especially if advertised as "Meat Lover's" or the like), that's a sure sign of calorie overload. Also, the more ingredients piled in, the more calories, so maybe next time you're at Chipotle you should forego the sour cream and cheese. And one beef patty will generally suffice.

We took a look at the menus of the major chains, and have assembled a roundup of the least healthy fast-food items out there. Maybe next time you'll think twice before ordering that Baconator! - Dan Myers, The Daily Meal

America's Healthiest Fast-Food Sandwiches

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The iconic breakfast sandwich that's just 300 caloriesWhen McDonald's Egg McMuffin breakfast sandwich debuted in 1972, it perfected breakfast on the go with a sandwich that took everything that usually ended up on a plate - fried egg, toasted bread, and a side of bacon - and put it into a portable package. (The melted American cheese is a nice touch, of course.)

Click here to see How to Make a Tricked-Out McDonald's McRib

At that point, a few McDonald's stores were offering breakfast, but none of the items on the menu were things you couldn't get anywhere else. Franchisee Jim Delligatti, who had helped create the Big Mac sandwich not long before, offered coffee, donuts, rolls, pancakes, and sausages at his store, for example. But franchisees who weren't offering breakfast didn't consider the potential gain worthwhile in light of the fact that they would have to open four hours earlier - Delligatti, for example, opened at 7 a.m. instead of 11 a.m., and at his store, breakfast only comprised 5 percent of sales. But before long,

Ho, ho, ho-ly crap are those holiday drinks at your local coffee chain bad for you. We know, we all want to indulge in a sugary-sweet holiday drink while we're out shopping for Christmas presents, and sometimes we just need an excuse to feel the holiday spirit. But with all the gingerbread cookies, peppermint bark, pies, hams, - and don't even make us count the wine and beer - the holiday drinks we've come to love and expect every holiday season are just adding onto your daily limit of calories and sugar.

While we can't tell you that a peppermint mocha is as good for you as a carrot stick, we can tell you that at every coffee shop you visit, there is a healthier holiday option available. With fewer calories, grams of fat, and the true killer of it all, grams of sugar, these drinks can still make your holiday season sweet as can be. - Marcy Franklin, The Daily Meal

Click here to see the Best and Worst Holiday Coffee Drinks

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Once the plates have been cleared, the candles blown out, and the dishwasher loaded, there's nothing left of Thanksgiving except for the leftovers. For many, reheating a plate full of mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing, and gravy is a good enough way to reminisce about the food-filled holiday, but for others, there's only one thing they look forward to when it comes to the scraps: the Thanksgiving turkey sandwich. After many brainstorming sessions and extensive research, we were able to dream up the ideal leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich, and developed the perfect recipe to make it a reality. With the help of our friend Alexis Murphy of Jac o' lyn Murphy, we tested and tested until we got it right, and can now present you with the ultimate leftover Thanksgiving sandwich. - Anne Dolce, The Daily Meal

Click here to see How to Make the Ultimate Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwich

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Not that we don't enjoy a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, but why not make one at home?Fall is the season for cozy sweaters, colorful leaves, and of course, the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL). And even though the world panicked when Starbucks kept running out of their Pumpkin Spice syrup, there's no shortage of Pumpkin Spice Latte goodness: from the VIA pre-packaged pumpkin brew to the Pumpkin Spice Latte ice cream in stores this month, you don't have to go far to find a PSL.


Learn How to Make a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Home

But with the fall treat comes a hefty price, and added-on calories and sugar. Besides schilling out $5 or so for a pumpkin drink, you get nearly 20 percent of your daily value of calories from fat from one 16-ounce Pumpkin Spice Latte, with whole milk and whipped cream. That's a whopping 410 calories for one drink?! Even a Grande PSL made with nonfat milk and no whipped cream still adds up to 260 calories.

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More importantly, the key ingredient to a PSL - the pumpkin spice syrup - hides a slew of

Thanksgiving has always consisted of a standard menu - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy - with possibly a few additions and variations thrown into the mix. But with such a pre-determined meal every year, it's always fun to come up with some ways to add variety to the meal. Last year, the American Farm Bureau Federation reported that the average Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people cost $49.20. That's quite the bargain at $5 dollars a person, but what if you wanted to go a little crazy and max out your credit card on the Thanksgiving meal? We decided to play a little game called "What if we were zillionaires?" and mixed things up to figure out a way to spend more, not less, on Thanksgiving dinner. - Kristen Castillo, The Daily Meal

Click here to see How to Host a Ridiculously Expensive Thanksgiving

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Improving on the original while cutting out the caloriesSure, it's easy enough to walk into a mall and shell out $3 to $4 for a classic cinnamon roll at Cinnabon, but what if you could make a version at home that was better than the original and lower in calories? It sounds too good to be true.

Click here to see How to Make Your Own Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll at Home

But Devin Alexander, author of Fast Food Fix and the Biggest Loser series of cookbooks, has done just that. She says:

"My version of the Cinnabon has also become the recipe in the book [Fast Food Fix] that I've used to prove to skeptics that, in fact, these [fast- food] recipes can be duplicated to satisfy cravings with a fraction of the fat and calories of their original counterparts. Though I believe many of the [other] recipes [in the book] truly duel the originals, this one happens to travel much better than many since it doesn't need to be hot. The rolls are just fine if they sit at room temperature for several hours."

Click here to Learn How to Make More Fast Food

Have a homemade Halloween by whipping up some of the most beloved candies in your own kitchenWhat are your favorite Halloween candies? With the celebrated candy-filled holiday just around the corner, the editors at The Daily Meal mused on what sugary classics our Halloweens wouldn't be complete without. While many were oohed and aahed over, the TWIX bar kept coming up as one we loved the most during our trick-or-treating years.

Click here to Learn How to Make TWIX Bars and More of Your Favorite Halloween Candy at Home

The TWIX bar was introduced in the U.S. in 1979. Although very little is recorded about the TWIX bar's history, few can argue about its loveable traits - a crunchy, shortbread cookie topped with caramel and slathered in chocolate is hard to resist. Though each serving has 12 grams of fat and 250 calories, TWIX is an unmistakable favorite because you get not one but two candy bars with each purchase.

Click here to Learn How to Make Fast-Food Favorites at Home

This candy, while enjoyed all year long, defines the Halloween season for