Cheap chickens - morally right for OS?

Penny-Pincher!!

We only eat Organic/Free range if it is vastly reduced.

Generally stock up on chickens from M&S when 25% off and we can buy a chicken for £2.50 for the 3 of us which we can stretch to 2 meals at a push:D

Failing this, we buy standard chickens from wherever we shop and sometimes from the butchers.

Whether its free range or value, its still dead on your plate. If people are truly animal lovers they would become vegetarians and not eat meat period!

PP
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Heva2015

I wasn't sure if anyone answered your question about soya mince but I love the stuff! You can get the dried pretty cheaply in ASDA, it is really cheap and lasts forever! My OH is an incredibly fussy creature and has to inspect every inch of his meal before he eats it but he accepted this without question.

Pink.

KittyKate wrote: »

Thanks hornetgirl I've heard a lot on here about soya mince - it seems very cheap and goes a long way - does anyone use this, and is it a decent mince substitute? (I also saw on the program about what is in value/frozen mince, and now OH only buys 'finest'. It's so expensive! Can I pad it out without him cottoning on?!)

Hi Kittykate,

Have a look at this older thread for others opinions on soya mince: Soya mince.

These threads may help too with padding out mince:

Any devious ideas for hiding veggies?

Bulking out Meals?

As this thread is more an ethical question I'm going to move it over to the Green and Ethical Moneysaving board to see if you can get some more replies.

Pink

kbarty

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

Whether its free range or value, its still dead on your plate. If people are truly animal lovers they would become vegetarians and not eat meat period!

PP
xx

I like to eat meat, but am concerned about the welfare of the animals before they get to my plate. I have thought about being a veggie but I personally think that if I gave up eating meat it wouldn't change much in the way of how meat would continue to be produced. It most certainly wouldn't stop it. BUT by supporting the ethical farmers I feel like I am making a difference. Hope that made sense.

Sarahsaver

The cheapest most ethical way of getting meat is to kill it yourself.
SHoot a pigeon (woodpigeon of course not a city pigeon) trap a squirrel (it is illegal to release one once trapped anyway) or get some live chickens from a farm and despatch them yourself. They are very cheap compared to 'free-range-corn-fed-privately educated-not just chickens but M&S chickens'
If you keep hens then borrow a cockerel and hatch some chicks and rear them - free meat! If welfare bothers you then if you feed it and kill it you will know exactly where the meat is from!
Environmentally I am not sure about the 'ethical/eco' soundness of soya mince. Better to eat beans - less processed.

Aliss

Soya mince makes you toot! :rotfl:

Chicken is very much a modern meat and has suffered as such. We buy organic free range beef/pork/lamb because it isn't that expensive, yet a chicken seems really expensive. I recommend Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Meat Book". I also plan to set up a website for cheap (not nasty!) recipes that can have meat, be veggie or vegan very soon. I've been experimenting for ages and think I've found some good 'uns.

I totally understand how hard it can be to get away from chicken as I love it myself.

mutley_muppet

piglet6 wrote: »

However, you asked about stretching mince - we always stretch ours by adding loads of veggies...onions, finely diced peppers, tinned beans (we tend to use baked, kidney, cannelini, black-eyed or borlotti - all pretty cheap in Asda and particularly good for a chilli, but we tend to add them into everything!). Similarly some chopped mushrooms and a can of sweetcorn can all help bulk it out. However, all of this does tend to "show" and your hubby will probably notice...:o

But, the one thing we always add which nobody ever seems to pick up on is grated carrots. Add them early and allow it all to simmer with the tinned tomatoes/gravy mixture and they "mush" down and seem to bulk the mince out beautifully without being able to tell what they are! :T We always add them (and we have excellent night vision, too!!!;) :rotfl:).

Piglet

I agree.

I use red, green, brown or puy lentils instead of soya mince. No need to soak any of these, just rinse them first.

People laugh at lentils, but actually if you use the right veggies etc to flavour them you can make really nice veggie sheperds pie, soups etc.

They are really cheap too & a packet will last for ages.

Justie

If you want to be OS then you'd be looking at buying meat for one or 2 meals a week and then making it stretch - the rubber chicken idea with any cut of meat. It's not that long ago that my mum would do the Sunday roast and we'd still be eating it in some form on a Wednesday and the with a cheap cut on a Thursday, fish on Friday and egg and chips on a Saturday that was our week... (and I'm only in my 30s).

Ethical chicken is more expensive partly because you get less meat on the animal - if you want to do cheap ethical meat then there are plenty of other options as have been mentioned above. Personally I would rather eat no meat than buy a £1.99 chicken but that's my personal choice, everyone has to make their own choices.

If I buy chicken pieces then I always bulk them out with a tin of chickpeas and plenty of veg or some other beans or pulses. We tend to eat more meat (and protein in general) than is necessary anyway.