I believe the English muffin breakfast sandwiches I make at home are better than those I can buy at a fast food restaurant. Why? My sandwiches cost me less and I control what I put in them.
The money saved may not be dramatic but it can add up. Locally, I spend around $2.00 at a fast food restaurant for a similar sandwich (not including the cost of getting there). Here is the cost breakdown for what I make at home (minus electricity used by griddle to cook):
| English Muffin $ | 0.28 |
| Canadian Bacon | 0.26 |
| Egg | 0.19 |
| Cheese (if used) | 0.50 |
| Butter | 0.01 (estimated) |
| Total $ | 1.24 |
I often omit the cheese. It not only cuts the cost, it also cuts 60 calories and 230 g of sodium. Although you can have them omit the cheese at the restaurant, it does not cost any less.
Being able to select the ingredients is another big advantage of making breakfast sandwiches at home. I often use organic cheese, Omega-3 rich eggs, and nitrate-free Canadian bacon. Plus, I sometimes choose the high fiber, multi-grain, “light” English muffins as well.
The nutritional breakdown of my version is:
275 calories 12.5 g fat 633 mg sodium 8 g fiber
How does that compare to the fast food chains? According to their website, their sandwich has a total of
300 calories 12 g fat 820 mg sodium 2 g fiber
I do not think the numbers are dramatic. They do make me feel a little better about my version, especially when I usually do not add the cheese.
I plan to increase my ingredient control a little further by trying to make my own English muffins. No, I don’t plan on milling my own grain (yet) or raising my own hogs (again), I just think it sounds like a fun thing to try and make 🙂