Portion sizes (meat, fish and other protein)

misscousinitt

Hi

I'm with everyone else - he is definately taking advantage. We are quite big meat eaters, but I have toned it down considerably over the last couple of years with the odd splurge here and there.

16oz for a steak is huge! We are big meat eaters and we generally have 6-8oz. A whole chicken - well that is just outragous for one person; and a full cooked breakfast ( a really generous one ) never has more than 2 sausages and 2 rashers of bacon!

Personally, I would take up the idea of popping to the butchers and getting some individual portions and pick up some frozen fish from the supermarket and just serve veggie meals with the meat on the side. I wouldn't make an issue of it, just do it - he will soon get the message.

Good luck.

Triker

I think you're being taken advantage of too.

How long is he staying for? I'd try and meal plan the rest of the week and leave it at that.

Serve portions you're comfortable with and add bread on the table to bulk the meal out for the [STRIKE]greedy git[/STRIKE] very healthy appetited person.:D

Make curries with tons of rice, spag bol with loads of pasta and cheese etc.


Or slip some ex lax in his brew so he won't be able to eat you out of house and home because he'll be stuck on the loo.....or is that a bit naughty.:whistle:

Incidently my friends daughter had sunday dinner with us not so long ago, a teen not a child. I had made a huge lamb roast for 7 of us, there was plenty to go round, also seconds and enough for another meal...I was going to do a curry. That was until my friends daughter decided she was going to help herself to all the rest of the joint and picked it up and started gnawing away.

She didn't even eat hardly any but I had to bin the rest of the joint as no-one else could have used it as her chewed bits were all over it. I was furious and she won't be invited again.

Nicoll

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

Thankyou for the replies everyone,you've actually made me feel better as I thought I was being bit of a mean skinflint before.
Our friend is here for a few weeks since he's doing some training for his work and did'nt fancy a hotel or a bed and breakfast place.
We'd feel bad asking for a contribution as his mum has put us up before and would'nt accept anything,but that was always for just a couple of days at a time.
I must admit I'm finding it a bit hard putting up with his expectations since he only seems to like the best,needless to say he will not be coming shopping again even if he is a bit bored again at the weekend.
I have been serving lots of veg,stuffings,yorkshire ect with his meals but he can certainly still put away a lot of meat.
I've decided to make vegetarian for all of us tonight,goodness knows how he'll take it but I feel I have to make a stand now before my food bill becomes even bigger.It might also make it easier to bring up the fact that the food bill can't grow any more.
Wish me luck on that one.
Once again thanks for your help,I'll let you know what happens.

Good for you. I get very annoyed with people who take advantage. When you next go shopping, don't say where you're going so he can't ask to accompany you, then you can get what you want and if he doesn't like it then he can cough up for a B&B next time. Maybe when you get home from shopping just say something along the lines of " I decided to do a shop whilst I was out to save time later" if you think he might be offended you going without him. Not that I would worry about offending him but you sound nicer than me :rotfl:

Triker

Well if you're putting him up as a favour for training I think for his and your sake you need to have the conversation NOW re some board and lodging money. Seeing as you're saving him a fortune for not having to pay for it.

I'd say something like ' I just wondered whether you'd prefer to either give some money/contribution straight to me to get your shopping in over the next few weeks or you'd prefer to get it yourself. I'm only asking as we've seen a huge jump in our shopping bills as your a meat eater and we're not and you obviously have a healthy appetite, if you feel you can't then I'm afaraid you'll have to have what we have and it'll be smaller portions as I have to factor in my budget. You are aware how much things cost aren't you?'

freyasmum

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

Can anyone advise me.
We don't eat meat but have an old friend of the family staying for a few weeks who does.
I have no idea as to what to expect for to serve as a portion when it comes to meat and although I am not mean I think our dear friend may be taking the mick and since we're footing the bill I'm a tad peeved.
As an example I cooked a 4lb chicken yesterday to make him a roast dinner,I served a leg and one whole side of the breast intending to make a curry for him with the rest.He sat after his dinner and picked the carcass bare. That's just pure and utter greed :eek: I don't care wht he says he eats, there's no WAY he eats that at home!
Also when he has breakfast - I bet he does, he isn't the one paying! :rotfl: he likes four saugages and four slices of bacon with half a black pudding and the usual eggs ect.
I got a bit fed up when we went shopping and I picked up some rump steak for his dinner it weighed around 9 ounces and he put it back and picked up one that was just over a 1lb in weight saying that the other one was a wee bit small for his taste.
It's the same with sandwiches ect he has to have loads of meat in them and he'll only have roast cuts from the deli none of the prepacked stuff.
It's costing us a fortune (our food bill has doubled in this past few weeks) and although I'm not a mean person I feel our hospitality is being abused.
I feel like just buying a whole cow and telling him to get stuck in.
Any advice or am I just not being realistic since I've never had to serve meat before.
Only good thing to come out of this is I'm learning how to cook differently.

Tell him to pay up or get himself carted :rotfl:

A portion size of meat is actually only the size of a deck of cards. Feed him your normal vegetarian grub, at least for a few days each week!

I was gonna say "would he eat stirfrys" but actually no. I'd just feed him the same as what you're eating and maybe put meat in a few times a week. To stay with someone and expect not only that they eat differently to how they normally do, but to expect them to provide you with whole chickens for each meal is ridiculous I agree, it is a total abuse of your hospitality.

Seakay

To be honest, as an omnivore I have no idea why you vegetarians are cooking meat for a semi permenant guest in the first place. He's staying with you, he joins in with your ways. It's called manners - not that it sounds as though he knows anything about those.
For your information, health sites suggest a portion of meat for an adult should be 3-4oz. THey also advise that meat should be like a garnish on a plate principally composed of green veg and salad with some carbohydrate.

"It is not always or possible to measure what you are about to eat. However, your hands are readily available at all times. You can use these comparisons to guess portion sizes when you're eating out or at a friend's house:

A woman’s fist is equivalent to a serving of fruit or veg
A rounded handful is equivalent of a serving of raw or cooked veg, half a portion of cooked rice or pasta. A rounded handful is also equivalent to a good serving of crisps
The palm of your hand is equivalent to three ounces of meat, chicken or fish
A tennis ball is equivalent to a portion of ice cream, pasta, potato or rice
A CD is the equivalent to a serving of pancake or waffle
A thumb tip is equivalent to a teaspoon of butter, margarine or peanut butter"

bigmuffins

:eek:

Maybe have a quiet word with his mum? (- you mentioned that she has put you up in the past), something along the lines of what a healthy eater he is and how he put away a whole chicken at one sitting. She will probably be mortified and have a word with him to curb his appetite!

It is taking the proverbial though - no normal person would eat that amount!

As you are veggie, I wouldn't expect you to cook meat anyway, if you are vegetarian on principle. Go back to your normal menus, and if he doesn't like it, he can either buy meat himself (with all the money he is saving on hotel cost) or get a takeaway.

Is the training funded by employer? If so, then he should be getting his expenses paid and could well afford to pay for his keep.

Good luck!
:beer:

blueberrypie

I'm in agreement with everyone else - he is really taking advantage of you. And I also agree with Seakay that he's already taking advantage in expecting you to cook meals for him that are different from what you'd usually make for your own family anyway. There's absolutely no reason why he shouldn't eat the same vegetarian meals that you serve up for your own family all the time - if he feels that he absolutely can't survive without having meat daily, he could easily buy his own meal at lunchtime and have as much meat as he wants - at his own expense. He's treating you very unfairly.

gunsandbanjos

I work in a restaurant and our steak are usually about 7-8 oz, and they are more than big enough!

He is taking the mickey big style, as you are putting him up for nothing i would expect him to be very grateful and eat whatever you guys usually eat.

If i was a guest in someones house i would not like to think i was putting them out in any way. I certainly would not expect them to cook me a different meal to theirs and i would be wanting to contribute to costs if it was more than a day or so.

kalaika

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

...I've decided to make vegetarian for all of us tonight,goodness knows how he'll take it...

As others have said, as he is living with you, not just visiting for a day or two, he should not expect you, as a household of vegatarians, to cook him meat for every meal and he should be happy to eat the meals that you make as normal. By all means treat him to some meat a couple of times a week if you would like to, but don't feel obliged to do so for every meal or even every day.

As for the amount of stuff he's eating, I've got an image in my head of some man mountain that staying with you in order to put away that much. The amount of food he is eating is humongous. Four sausages, four bacon rashers, plus the rest for breakfast is way too much. Eating an entire chicken is disgraceful.

If I were you, I'd just be cooking whetever you normally cook most of the time and he can just eat that, only buying meat for some meals if you would like to, and certainly not for every meal.