The $1 Chicken Sandwich Experiment

Written By Talmage Hansen

This past Winter Break we went on a vacation to Utah. I don't think I'll go as far as Jared Scott and covenant to never drive to Utah again, but I will definitely avoid it--especially with a small car like our Volkswagen Beetle and 2 babies. So, in order to spice things up (no pun intended), I decided to do a taste test/experiment on the drive up.

Goal: Determine which of all the fast food dollar menu chicken sandwiches was the best.

In order to do this I tried to control the experiment as much as possible by making sure that each scenario was the same.

Controlled Variables:

1. I would be in the passenger seat and take notes on the sandwich as I ate.
2. The chicken sandwich was always a snack food, not a meal, so the level of hunger was the same going in.
3. All cost 99 cents or $1.
4. I would eat the sandwich "as is" and no add any condiments to it.
   

Uncontrolled Variables:

1. Varieties of chicken sandwiches (i.e. spicy or not)
2. Unexpected sickness which seemed to increase with each chicken sandwich

Results: Following are the results from this test on a scale of 1-10.

1. Carl's Jr. 6.0 Overall it was the best. Good bun, awesome lettuce, zesty mayo sauce, bigger, and good flavored and textured chicken. Their new commercial should say "Chicken sandwich. Fries. and a Coke. Get the _____ away from me. I'm eating!!!"
   
2. Wendy's 5.5 The chicken was very real tasting and looking (irregular shape) which is the reason this got 2nd. The bun wasn't special and the lettuce was poor (1 big floppy piece).
   
3. McDonald's 5.0 The chicken had an all-around good texture. The flavor was good too but a little unnecessarily spicy, the kind that detracts from the flavor. The mayo was okay. It gained some points on the chopped, crispy lettuce and a bun slightly toasted on the inside.
   
4. Jack-in-the-Box 4.5 Had a bun toasted on the inside as well, but also had 1 big slightly limp lettuce. Mayo-okay. Okay texture. There wasn't as much flavor in the chicken which actually wasn't a bad thing, it gave it a more natural taste.
   
5. BurgerKing 4.0 Had the best lettuce, it was a compromise between the 1 big piece and the many chopped up little pieces, like homemade lettuce. Unfortunately, I did not order lettuce, I ordered a chicken sandwich. The bun was toasted on the inside, but it was big and engulfed the chicken (not the bad actually). the reason it lost was the chicken which had the worst texture and flavor of all the sandwiches.

*I also did try a KFC sandwich but eliminated it from the results because it wasn't the same style as the others. It was smaller and different shaped. But as far as taste went it was the best.

Although, I did start to dread having to eat another chicken sandwich each time we pulled up to a restaurant, I don't think that it skewed the results. I am known to eat until I am full and then continue until I am sick. So I can differentiate between feeling nauseous because I am full and because of bad food. And don't think either that just because BK got last I won't be returning there. In fact, I probably eat KFC and Carl's Jr. the least because they are not convenient.

So there it is folks. A solid chicken sandwich evaluation to kick off 2010. I've heard (and read) a variety of opinions about differentfast food and there is no consensus. Too often people associate a bad experience or many other factors into it. But not here. "Unprejudiced. Unbiased. Fair." (Two-Face)

Live Pooping

I found Hannah in her crib bare bummed. She must have wiggled out of her diaper, which might I add was as clean as a wistle. I was suprise to see poop all over blanket and more suprise to see it coming out of her!
:) Good times, good times.

Upcoming Feature:
I have written up a post on our Holiday Vacation, Talmage wanted to add his 2 cents before I post it. So wait for his Dollar Chicken Sandwhich Study that he did while on our trip.

Babies & Cupboards Don't Mix

Hannah keeps crawling into cupboards and Heber has been shutting her in. Not to mention about ten times a day I am putting cupboards contents back in after they take them out.

Does anyone have suggestion on how to keep kids out of cupboards (favorite kind of child locks, etc.)?

The Hansen Family Christmas Party...

... went off without too many hitches. We had it at our house this year. My selfish reason was so that I could put Heber and Hannah down for bed and not have to deal with two fussy babies. I would rather clean my whole house twice (before and after) than deal with two fussy babies. I know your thinking I am crazy. Another bonus is not having to travel. Especially since we'll be going up to Utah for a Christmas vacation and that is more than enough traveling for me. Plus I love hosting, especially decorating before, you probably think that is crazy. Almost as crazy as loving to wrap presents and giving talks in church. Yeah, that would be me.

Some of things that were eventful for me:

• I made six big ice candles for the event. I made three the week before for a very small dinner party, just to test it out and they were super cool. I was so excited about the six, but they didn't freeze all the way because the freezer somehow turned off while Talmage cleaned the fridge (candles or a super clean fridge, I choose a clean fridge) . I was bummed but I won't have to make six more for the Grandy Family Christmas Party.
• Apparently if you turn on our living room fan all the lights go out in half of the house. It was perfect timing, while reenacting the nativity when it was a dark, silent night. Everyone seemed bummed but I secretly was happy thinking we could get a whole bunch of candles and this will be the best, most memorable Christmas party ever!!! ... I know I am such a kid.
• I got to see my new little niece, baby Gemma. She seriously looks like a doll, all serene.
• I will never forget the look on Dad Hansen's face when I took his white elephant eatable gift of smoothy mix. He got it back in the end though. Have I ever told you that I heart smoothies? They are probably my favorite dessert. Healthy and delicious, slimy yet satisfying. Dad Hansen must love them too.
• I was giggling with delight, inside of course, over Heber's shepherd costume. Complete with shepherd head dress and diaper. Hannah was a sweet little angel.
• The food was incredible!
• Can't forget the thoughtful gifts exchanges (Thanks Mom and Dad Hansen and Melanie and Lincoln)
• Sweet little Daisy giving everyone hugs and kisses before she left.
• The wild kids having a wild good ol' time playing upstairs.
• Caitlyn and I's inside joke about her moving to California.
  
• The Party-After-the-Party playing Dance Dance Revolution Signs was one of my personal favorites.

Thank you, come again.

The other day I was grumpy and frustrated, I was trying to read this really long boring article for my Introduction to Art class. I couldn't take it and started complaining, "this is taking forever to read! All this article is saying is Bla bla bla bla bla." Then Heber mimicked me, "bla, bla, bla, bla, bla." I was laughing so hard. Good bye grumpy Rachel, thanks to the little Hebity.

Heber & Hannah's Birthday!

Hannah and Heber had their first birthday yesterday! Can you believe that they are one years old!!! Crazy! So we sang them happy birthday like five times through out the day, gave them extra hugs, kisses and had extra play time with them, let them stay up almost an hour after their bed time. During that time I let them do some of their favorite things like take a bath, chase and be chased by the vacuum and of course play all while they listened to Christmas music and dance (bounced up and down) happily.

Aunt Amanda called them and talked to Hannah on the phone and told her happy birthday, Hannah was just happy to have phone held up to her instead of me taking it away from her.

Grandma Hansen stopped by this morning and gave them birthday presents. Hannah is entranced with her doll

and with the little man that came in the toy truck.

Hannah is "reading" a book from Grandma Hansen.

No birthday cake but I made them banana, oatmeal, wheat muffins topped with bananas today.

Heber is thinking of a wish for his birthday.

Happy because he got his wish

Heber stuffing his face.

Hannah stuffing her face.

Hannah trying to eat her entire cupcake in one bit, candle and all.

Doesn't Hannah kind of look like her cousin Daisy in this Picture?

Heber can't decide if he wants to play with his truck or eat his muffin scraps. He kept going back and forth between the two.

a good ol' blog

Things that make a good blog:

1. Consistent posting (One post a week is good enough to be consistent)



2. Good writing (Proof reading and spell checking posts, along with a good writing style)
   
   
3. Pictures (Picture can make or break a post, posts are much more interesting with pictures)

I generally lack all three but yet I still try to keep blogging. Why? To tell you the truth I have no idea. Maybe I do it out of duty because I enjoy reading others blogs and feel I should contribute or I think that it will be fun for me and others to look back on. Who knows?
Anyways, I am always thinking of posts. Here are a few of the blog post that I have been thinking about doing recently, they are in no particular order.

• Like how I made a bathroom rug out of chicken wire and old white/off white towels that were cut up. My thumb has been numb for a couple weeks (!!!) because of the pressure I put on it from the scissors cutting through thick towels (My thumb is getting less and less numb and should be back to normal in a couple more weeks):

• Or when I painted our dinning room table and chairs:
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  After
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Hannah tried to "help me paint" as you can see....

• Or when Talmage and I rode a bike for 109 miles in the El Tour De Tuscon with most of Talmage's family. Talmage did it in 5 hours and 48 minutes and 14 seconds and I did it in 7 1/2 hours. It was fun and hard all at same times

• Or Or when I decorated the Christmas tree:
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Or when we had a big fancy thanksgiving at McKays and I made a scrumptious homemade crust for this pies or yummy stuffing with homemade, whole wheat bread (I even liked it and I don't normally like stuffing (I also liked Jana's stuffing too, I liked how everything was in bigger chunks)):

• Or when I finished 2 out of 3 classes and would have finished the last one already but can't take the final test till December 10 (why do they have scheduled tests online, isn't the purpose of online classes the perk of having a flexible schedule, for reals)
• Or how I have been working on this painting for a friend of our family (Not finished yet, I hope it looks better then this when I am done). It is some bridge in London.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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• Or lately when Hannah has been a show off and holds her bottle with one hand (I could get her to show off for the picture, go figure).

• Or when I switch the kids room with the guest room and they have started to sleep better because that room is warmer and cozier.
  
• Or when I decorated the stair case for Christmas (not finished yet though):

• Or when I decorate all the high spots (places where the kids can't get to) for Christmas:
  

• Or when I made these flower holders in the backyard (the flowers die in when I was gone for a weekend):
  
  

• Or when I do laundry Hannah watches intently and sees how I pull the close out of the basket and put them in piles, she sweetly wants to help so she pull close out of the basket too.



• Or how Heber and Hannah like crawling up the stairs, so when it is their nap time I "herd" them up the stairs like cattle.



• Or how Heber is always trying to take Hannah's bottle

• Or when I thought I saw Heber take his first step but it was out of the corner of my eye and can't be 100% positive.
• Or when Hannah tries to pick up two bottles and other stuff all at one time while trying to stand up and she looks like a grandma all hunched over, so precious.
• Or how I fixed up this old mirror, the after picture did not turn out well:
  
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  After (so I should have retaken this picture but I didn't want to reupload another picture)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  OK, I think you got my point. I think about blogging but hardly ever do it. Very lame, I know.

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Next post I am thinking about doing is on Heber and Hannah's Birthday!!! Which is today! They are one years old! ...but I am way to blogged out to do that post today ...so cross your fingures that it happens before the end of December.