Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 3

Skint_Lynne

thriftylass wrote: »

How many parts veg do you add. We only make 6-8 largish portions (chilli, lasagne, spag bol etc) out of 2lb mince. But then I only add one large onion, 2-3 cans of chopped tomatoes, stock, some mushrooms, and spices. Even your 10 portions then only have ~90 gr of meat (never mind 20 = only 45 gr each ).

P.S. Ooops, just read that 100-80 gr is a normal portion of meat (the one that equals that stack of cards :eek:). But I find that too small sometimes. Althoug it's probably healthier to have that little. (P.S. I only weigh 8.5 st, so I need it I guess :rolleyes:). But I make up for it by counterbalancing that with more fruit and veg than needed

Usually, I would only get 4 portions out of 2lbs of mince, 5 at a push, so by adding the lentils, I got the 10 portions. I add 2 tins of toms normally, but yesterday with the lentil mixture it was 2 cans of toms and a carton of passata. I added 3 onions yesterday, usually it is 1 or 2, depending on the size. I added a lot of lentils, but am not sure of the quantity, 2 grated carrots and a small handful of oats.

So, by my normal standards, the lentils did bulk the meat out somewhat. I admit it, I am a greedy guts.:drool:

Sometimes I am amazed when I read on some threads about people getting 15 portions out of 1 lb of mince and 1 chicken providing 10 meals. It depends on how and what you eat and what you are personally comfortable with I guess.

cw18

When I was a child it was hammered into me (although my parents didn't practice what they preached) that we only need 2 ounces of red meat or 4 ounces of white meat/fish in a day - and I think those are raw weights !! I now (due to finances) work on around 4 ounces cooked weight when doing a roast, or raw weight for anything else (sausages being an exception, when DS gets 200g and I have 150g - though currently on about 140g speciality bought in Whoopsie that he won't touch).

But I use the real cheap 'free flow' frozen mince and pad it out with soya mince. To 150g frozen weight of mince I add reconstituted soya mince (think it's 50g dried that gives equivalent of 135g mince - ran out last week, so don't have a packet on hand to check!). By the time I've added my onion (and quarter to half a pepper if I currently have any in my freezer), and

• peas and sweetcorn (mince and mash)
• kidney beans, tinned tomatoes and spices (chille)
• bolognese sauce and mushrooms (spag bol)
• baked beans (pasta casserole)

I can make as many as 8 portions (deffo 8 for spag bol as I add oodles of mushrooms), but a minimum of 4 (normally 5 or 6) of the others - so we have the equivalent of as little as 36g and a maximum of 72g mince combo with these meals, which is actually 19-38g 'real' mince.

On that basis 2lb mince (plus 300g dried soya mince) would give me around 36 meal portions (and without soya should still give me around 18) :eek: Didn't realise I was stretching it that far, but does explain how come a 750g bag of mince - that used to go in one meal for 5 of us - now lasts me a couple of months for 2 of us, and that's with mince on the menu at least once a week.....

I tried padding with green lentils, but DS questioned the 'funny peas'. No questions at all since I started using soya mince (and he hates "all those funny vegetarian meats" :rolleyes2 )

thriftylass

cw18 wrote: »

But I use the real cheap 'free flow' frozen mince and pad it out with soya mince. To 150g frozen weight of mince I add reconstituted soya mince (think it's 50g dried that gives equivalent of 135g mince - ran out last week, so don't have a packet on hand to check!). By the time I've added my onion (and quarter to half a pepper if I currently have any in my freezer), and

I was always a big meat eater and back home in Germany that was the main part of the meal . But I eat a lot less now (back home you used to get cold cuts for breakfast, meat in cooked lunch and again cold cuts for tea, Saturdays were roast chicken night - half a chicken each and maybe some salad :rolleyes:). I might try the soya mince and the cheap frozen mince in addition to the lean mince we use. Probably soya mince though as I guess the cheap frozen mince has more than 20% fat and BF doesn't like it (he notices it, I tried bying cheaper mince but I might be able to sneak some soya in). I don't think I'll get lentils, peas or kidney beans past him (our chilli goes without . I'll try a few things....Thanks for all the tips

Frugaldom

Good morning

Liking the mince debate as it's something I use regularly. If I buy the 500g pack and bulk it out with carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and oats then I get 3 meals for 3 from it, so 55.55g red meat per serving or just a tiny bit under 2 ounces. (I think it's about 7g protein per ounce red meat). Protein is what I think our basic diet lacks, apart from DS, who drinks protein shakes every day. If I estimate that we need 60g protein per day, then the mince or chicken, eggs & beans that make up the basis for most of our meals only amounts to about 35g per day. Hmm...

cw18

If I'm doing my mince/soya mix for mince and mash or pasta casserole, then I often add a dribble of gravy browning (the liquid stuff - a bottle lasts me years, just coming to the end of the second or third in the 24+ years I've owned my own homes!) to darken it up a bit. In the chille or spag bol the other ingredients hide the fact the mince isn't as brown as it could be

My son won't eat the better quality minces - and most definitely not the 'lean' ones !!

cheerfulness4

nykmedia wrote: »

so 55.55g red meat per serving or just a tiny bit under 2 ounces. (I think it's about 7g protein per ounce red meat).

That was a shock when I read that. I've never realised that the protein in meat was proportional - always just thought 50g meat was 50g of protein. Oh heck - I need to really learn about nutrition.

grandma247

Good morning.
I have found a bbc article on protein here it says most women need 45g a day but i find I need more than that because a lot of my energy comes from protein rather than lots of carbs,fats and sugar. If I eat too many carbs I get lethargic because I cannot break it down properly. As to too much fats and sugar well we all know where they end up!
I try to eat a variety of protein containing foods to stay healthy.

cw18

I don't seem to have a problem getting enough protein - my diet is actually a tad high on fats and low on carbs, with protein regularly making up considerably more than the recommended 15% of my calorie intake :eek:

It's amazing where it comes from....... Just a couple of slices of multi-grain bread (bought on Whoopsie) gives me over 12g !!!

shaz_mum_of__2

The other problem with some non meat proteins is that you need to eat certain foods together to ensure they are absorbed ........we did this in nutrition at catering college but i forget the specifics it's something to do with the number of amino acids in non meat proteins ...................not sure that was of any use whatsoever really:rotfl:

Lynne i use the red lentils to stretch meat and they need no soaking and almost disappear when cooked .........especially in a tomato based sauce

sf - your better off not working there it never ceases to amaze me how employers treat staff ....................i was always nice to mine(some would say too nice) I bought their kids presents gave them time off for school plays etc i treated them the way i would like to be treated and i never once had one let me down

Shaz

cheerfulness4

grandma247 wrote: »

I have found a bbc article on protein here

What an interesting link! I've found that really helpful. Thanks.