FREE FOOD - 10 Tips for Mobile Apps

A conversation with a friend leads to this "helpful hint" post.

I usually only eat "fast food" as a last resort, rushing to or from an airport, or stuck in one. But McDonalds promoted their mobile app with the offer of "download the app and get a free sandwich." Not bad. How many apps offer to pay you the equivalent of $3 - $5 to download their app. I thought I'd download, get the freebie and delete it. But... so far, it's paying off... A few weeks ago Alice got to use her app (scan) coupon twice, scored about $8 free. (Mine only worked once. $4 for me.) But I noticed they had two offers expiring today, "buy one, get one free" breakfast and regular sandwiches. So, for dinner...I got a Quarter Pounder Deluxe, Buttermilk Fried Chicken Club, 2x Sausage McMuffins, large order of fries and a large Diet Dr. Pepper.... for $10.29! 4 meals for under $11. I enjoyed the Quarter Pounder, most of the fries, and half the drink for dinner. I stuck the rest in the fridge for later.

Here are a few tips if you download this, or similar apps...

1. ONLY buy when it's a “true” 100% discount value (or better value). "Buy one, get one free" with no other strings attached. You aren't getting a deal if they make you buy a drink, etc.

2. Don't be a sucker. Avoid the "Buy 5 get one free" deals. (Like the lame McCafe offer.) That is only a 20% discount at best. It costs them about $0.25 to sell you each $3 drink.

3. Want to redeem more than one offer on the same visit? Then make more than one transaction. Place your first order, pay for it. Then get back in line or simply say "I changed my mind, I want this other thing too." If they say no, find a different franchise because a manager that won't take your money in this circumstance is likely such a cheapskate that he/she underpays and mistreats their staff as well. *This does not apply to the unfortunate managers and teams whom work for a "cheap jerk" owner. I'd still leave, but be nice to the team. They’re just trying to pay the bills.

4. Never pay for something that is not properly prepared. Don't be afraid to ask for a "do over." Tonight my fries weren't sufficiently fresh. I only eat those things piping-hot, fresh from the frier. So, I drove around from the drive-through and stepped inside and asked for a "do over." I waited about 3 minutes to get the fries replaced, fresh from the frier. It is...always...worth it. 

5. If you go to any chain restaurant (or store) EVER, understand that you rarely have to pay full price if you educate yourself before you pull up to a drive-through or step through their doors. There is a deal offered every week. If you don't have their app, just ask if they are running any specials.

6. Cognitive Dissonance: I have great disdain for fast food restaurants in particular and chains in general. And I "know," yes, it's McDonalds...and yes we should stop eating beef altogether...and yes I loathe their scary marketing in schools, etc. but I'll fight those battle separately.

7. Read "Fast Food Nation." (yes, there's a movie too.)

8. Watch "Supersize Me."

9. Cook. Try to eat food that takes more than 5 minutes in your kitchen to un-package and heat.

10. Make an effort to enjoy food in an environment that allows you to look into the eyes of the person you cooked for, or who cooked for you. (If you live alone like me, don’t do this. It’s incredibly weird eating soup in the bathroom.)

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Connect with GoalBusters     

Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Alice Ferris      alice.ferris

Fast Food Nation (book)

Fast Food Nation (film)

Super Size Me (film)

Las Vegas Recommendations

Quentin Lee, a friend of my son and I, is on a national tour of the Broadway Production of Porgy and Bess out of New York. He's performing in Las Vegas this week so I offered him some tips on restaurants and entertainment. I thought I'd share them with all of you. I'll add to this list as time allows. But here are my top of mind favorite places that a starving singer can afford to enjoy.

Restaurants

Hash House A Go Go $$ - (At the Plaza at the end of Freemont Street)

Unreal "Twisted Farm Food" massive portions reasonable prices.

Try the Sage Chicken and Waffles ...And the BLT Bloody Mary

Lotus of Siam $$ - (On Sahara)

Try EVERYTHING! I especially love the "appetizers"

Nam Kao Tod (crispy, spicy ground pork)

Mee Krob (sweet, delicate, delicious)

Raku $$$ - "Chinatown" 5030 W. Spring Mtn Road

This is were the "other" Las Vegas Chefs come to eat. Amazing, creative, small dishes to share. Try EVERYTHING! Here are the FoodSpotting Photos.

Sweets Raku $$ - Next door to Raku it is ASTOUNDING.

True culinary art. Kind of pristine, white decor with open kitchen. Reminds me of Japanese Sci-Fi because of the minimalist design. Only 4 dishes offered each night. They are perfect.

On Facebook

Mon Ami Gabi $$$ - In the Paris Casino. Excellent outdoor dining right on the strip. Go for the ambiance and enjoy breakfast or brunch and bloody mary's and/or mimosas. 

Bars

Ghostbar - Palms (across from the Rio). Incredible views, excellent rooftop experience, active dance scene, excellent "showman" bartenders

Voodoo Lounge - Rio - Similar experience to Ghostbar 

Chandelier - Cosmopolitan 

Three floors, very hip. "Experimental" drinks on the 2nd floor. Ask for the "Fire Breathing Dragon" (with nitrogen frozen rasberries) or the ??? can't remember the name but it's served with a flower bud that stuns your mouth and then gradually changes causing the drink to change flavors as you drink it. Very cool.

Red Square - Mandalay Bay

It's a great restaurant too, but unless I want caviar, I just go for the bar. Very, very cool. Sit at the Ice Bar or visit the "Freezer." You can get a Frozen photo opp with your drink if you ask when you order for a fur coat photo.

Most of the top FoodSpotting Photos are Mine.

Attractions

Stratosphere Highest thrill rides including world's highest controlled free-fall

Neon Museum 45 min tour of classic Vegas Neon.

That's a taste of one of my favorite cities. I'll add more when I can.

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Connect with GoalBusters     

Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Alice Ferris      alice.ferris

What Potlucks Say About Your Organizational Culture

Office potlucks. In some companies, they are a treasured, anticipated tradition. In others, it's a dreaded obligation that people look forward to being over. So what do they say about your organizational culture?

In a successful potluck, i.e., a gathering where guests bring a dish to share with everyone else, all guests participate and bring their best, and the guests generally enjoy each other's company and the food. If your office potluck doesn't go well, here are ways to interpret the things that can go wrong.

1. Only a few play. I attended a potluck once where only about a quarter of the guests brought a dish. Some tried to make what we had feed everyone, but in the end, people just left. This sometimes can be an indication of guests not wanting to invest personally in their work environment. Another indicator is office decor--how many personal items (photos, desk items) are around?
2. People bring what's easy. At another potluck at that same organization, we had several bags of chips and one person emptied out the candy bowl in the reception area to bring for their "dish." In this case, guests resented that the company was not willing to invest in a small lunch for the staff. The perception was, "the company is being cheap."
3. No one wants to go. Maybe people don't want to spend time with each other? In one situation I observed, guests skirted the edge of the room, swept in and snagged what food they could put on a plate quickly, and went back to their offices. This organization has many silos, and these silos were demonstrated in the potluck attendance.

Good teams generally enjoy each other's company, so I use potlucks as a litmus test for how people get along.

This post was really just an excuse to write about food. We post a lot of photos about food, so for more randomness about our favorite travel hobby, visit our Facebook page, or Foodspotting pages by Alice and Jim.

Rural Fundraising and Respect of Place

We've been working with a long time friend and colleague on a project to build a new clinic in Sanders, Arizona, a remote community near the eastern border of Arizona. If you're driving at speeds like most trucks on the Interstate, you won't even notice Sanders, but there is a growing community of Navajo and others in this rural place.

As we've spent more time in Sanders and in the Navajo Nation, we've been reflecting on how to communicate the stories and needs of this unique place. While there are volumes of stories to tell, it boils down to this:

1. Cover basic needs first. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs has been around for a while because it makes sense. In a rural community, very often people are trying to meet basic needs, like food, shelter and clothing. It becomes totally irrelevant to the community if you're trying to pursue lofty ideals if you don't have the fundamentals covered.

2. It takes time to build trust and respect. Rural communities can be a bit of a paradox, in that they are very hospitable, yet it can take a long time for you to be considered a trusted part of the community. They will show you around, but not let you in until they think you're serious about sticking around. When we were conducting our initial interviews of the board and other community members, they were polite. Now, after several visits, they're starting to reveal the real stories.

3. Best practice doesn't always apply. The challenge with "best practice" is that it has very often been vetted by organizations in metropolitan areas. True best practices, in many respects, are the simplest strategies that will work regardless of community size. Just because a strategy worked in a similar size organization doesn't mean it will work in a rural area.

4. Take time to learn how you "fit in." This doesn't mean abandoning your personality, changing your style, or trying to be someone you're not. This means observing community interactions first hand and finding the good in what you see before you immediately suggest change. Think about it--how would you like it if a complete stranger walked up to you on the street and told you everything that they thought was wrong with you?

5. You learn the most over food. This one can be true about a lot of communities, not just rural ones, but is accentuated in small towns. Most of the time, there's one, maybe two places where people hang out. For Sanders, people go to the Apple Dumplin in Chambers, about 5 miles away on the frontage road. In St. Michaels, everyone congregates at the Denny's (which is probably the best run Denny's we've ever experienced)! We've learned much more about a community by eating its food, talking to restaurant staff, and watching the locals than by formal meetings in offices.

With all these points in mind, we look forward to more opportunities to get to know these communities and hopefully bring new resources to improve their way of life. And we hope we'll best communicate not only the people's needs, but their sense of pride and respect for the place they call home.

This entry is a preview of a book in process co-authored by Alice Ferris, MBA, CFRE, ACFRE and James Anderson. Originally posted January 2009.

Connect with GoalBusters: LinkedIn - Alice Ferris / LinkedIn - Jim Anderson / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube / Myspace

Reflections on Food: San Antonio

I was reminded today by a conversation with my friend and colleague, Robbe Healey of Farr Healey Consulting that I haven't posted my review of our AFP Executive Committee meeting in San Antonio. So here are a few thoughts on, yes, more food.

Boudros on the Riverwalk was my destination two times, first for one of our AFP dinners and the second time for a very late lunch after I went to the Mariachi Mass at the Mission San Jose and before my flight back to Arizona. On the first night, we were in their private dining room. For my lunch, I sat alongside the Riverwalk, and watched the Mud King and Queen parade as I enjoyed the sunshine. Since I was a little more food focused for the lunch visit, I'll write about that.


To start, I enjoyed a beautiful prickly pear margarita. I don't normally like drinks like this--I'm usually either a bourbon drinker (Woodford Reserve--all Tim Burcham's fault) or pinot noir. But when in San Antonio... This drink was not too sweet and visually lovely.

After this, I went with the tableside prepared fresh guacamole. This is one of the things that Boudros is known for--in fact, one of Jim's food memories from his past travels was guacamole at Boudros. I texted him a photo, then ate the whole thing. I really should not have eaten THAT much guacamole, but this is excellent stuff--made with fresh avocado, roasted peppers, jalapeno, garlic, and fresh orange juice.


Up next, the sampler platter. In spite of the fact that I had just consumed WAY too much guacamole, I ate almost all of this too. Good thing this was lunch and dinner for me! The platter included half a lobster tail, coconut shrimp, a taco, grilled fish fillet, mini tostada, a southwestern egg roll and corn pudding. Sometimes sampler platters can end up being one really good thing and a bunch of mediocre ones. Not this time--my favorite was the lobster, but that's because my first food memory ever was eating lobster in Rockport, Massachusetts with my parents when I was two years old. But after the lobster, the taco was crunchy, not greasy, with lots of interesting flavors, and the fish was moist and well seasoned. I'm picky about egg rolls, so I didn't really care for that one, but otherwise, this was an exceptional plate.

I think I timed lunch well, since there was a convention moving in as we were ending our meetings, and lots of new conventioneers approaching Boudros for reservations. As I was leaving, the whole place was swamped with new guests because they had heard that Boudros was a "don't miss" restaurant. I think I'd have to agree.

Reflections on Food: Yuma, Arizona Trip Report

Cross posted from Chowhound, my favorite foodie site.

Just finished up another week long trip in Yuma and thought I'd post my dining thoughts. I'm totally bummed that apparently I crossed paths with Chowhound Yuman Ed Dibble and didn't get to meet him! Ed, next time!

Day 1: Nature's Express, Healthier Fast Food. This totally plant-based menu is deceptively good, and Dr. Carl Myers, the owner and an oncologist, has said in the past, "If I can make this work in Yuma, I can be successful anywhere!" I love the sauteed greens, which are very simple, stir fried (usually) kale with tons of garlic. I also am fond of their wraps, especially the thai peanut. They also make a darn good reuben that beats many meat-filled reubens! Real rye bread with caraway seeds and a thick layer of something that resembles meat. Not sure what it is, but it's tasty.

Dinner at Mi Rancho. I've now given this place two tries and I think it's just okay. I tried the al carbon and the birria (stewed goat). The al carbon was better than the birria, which was very fatty and more bone than meat. The broth was good though. On the positive side, the al carbon was very flavorful, and I really like the salsa. I think I just need to go to Tacos Mi Rancho instead, because the service was erratic here.

Day 2: Ah-So Sushi and Steak. Had to attend the Village Jazz Series for work, so we thought we'd go hang outside at Ah-So and have some creative sushi. We had a great experience last February and thought we could recreate it. Well, we had to be extremely persistent to get a good experience this time. In general, I've heard from several people that the service here is sub par. I would have to agree, unless you can speak to the manager, Joe Corona. Our initial server was totally flummoxed with the request to "let the sushi chef do what he wants." While Jim was going back and forth between the concert and our table, the server came back twice trying to convince me to order something...anything...off the regular menu. Just when I was about to close out the tab and go someplace else, Joe returned from a break and spoke with me about ideas. Thank goodness! We ended up with very fresh shrimp (amaebi) with the heads battered and flash fried--crispy and delicious; mixed tempura with the usual dipping sauce spiked with chile sauce; monkfish pate, super white tuna, and togorashi crusted seared albacore. So we ended up with a great meal, but it sure was hard to get from point A to point B...

Day 3: Bad meal day.
Lunch at The Crossing with a donor. Chicken salad was incredibly icky. Swimming in mayonnaise and lots of non-chicken filler like eggs, celery and more mayo. Ugh. Our server was incredibly nice though.

Dinner--leftovers heated in the microwave in my room. Like I said, bad meal day.

Day 4: Taco trucks! YAY! Went back to Juanita's for the campechana cocktel. This is SOOO good. Delicate tomato broth with tons of fresh seafood. After that, over to Mariscos Nayarita for shrimp empanadas. Thanks Ed.

Also stopped at Raspados Piguino for dessert, since I wanted something frosty. I had never had raspados, so the kind person behind the counter gave us a quick lesson in what our choices were for this Mexican snow cone. Between Jim's functional Spanish and the counter guy's halting English, I ended up with a tamarind version with vanilla ice cream, which was mildly sweet and very refreshing. Jim had the pineapple version with vanilla ice cream--the pineapple flavor was incredibly concentrated and a great counterpoint to the ice cream. Yummy.

Day 5: Back to Nature's Express for dinner. Felt incredibly virtuous.

Day 6: Lunch at Ciao Bella. I inhaled my pesto capellini with lots of veggies. I also had the red pepper bisque, which is really rich in roasted pepper flavor. Dr. Myers would be so proud of my plant-based diet.

Happy hour at the hotel and wings at The Crossing. Even though I hate their chicken salad, I do like their spicy sweet wings. So much for the plant based diet.

Day 7: Lunch at Burgers and Beer with a client. I like their asparagus fries, but I really wish they would be more careful about trimming the woody ends. It's really inelegant to be picking stringy asparagus out of your teeth in front of a client. I also had the guacamole burger, which is a total mess, so I didn't do so well on etiquette points.

Day 8: Lunch at Mimi's Cafe with a client. I like their blue cheese and walnut salad, but everything else was just adequate.

Dinner at River City Grill. Excellent, well prepared cocktails and I really liked the red snapper dish, which had nicely spicy black beans, basmati rice, and a tasty, fresh salsa on top. Jim had the mustard crusted halibut, which was also light and tasty.

Oh, one more thing from this day--donuts from the Campus Community Center on the Arizona Western College campus. It's pledge drive. No protein in sight, but lots of coffee and sugar.

Day 9: Lunch at Highway 95 Cafe. They always seem so happy to see me there--wow, a real Chinese person. In Yuma! I stuck with the super combo bowl this time, but added some sauteed bean sprouts on top and lots of chile sauce. It's very quick and affordable.

I missed Los Manjares de Pepe, the Pupuseria, and Carla Renee this time, but they are on the list for next time. Also on the list for next time is Mustards, which had gotten good reviews from friends and Tacos Mi Rancho. Any suggestions for my next trip in May are welcomed and appreciated!

If you really want to know what we're eating on a regular basis, and other (work stuff) we're doing, follow us on Twitter or check out our Twitpics.