Is this a good price?

sparklewing

Went to the butcher today but having never been to one before not sure if I got a good price and since I generally chuck food in the trolley without checking prices I don't know what I'd usually pay.

Got:

3lbs steak mince
2lbs steak sausages
1lb smoked bacon
1lb chinese pork stir fry
4 steak and sausage kebabs

For £18.50 it is for lasagne, spag bol, meatballs, toad in hole, kebabs, pork stir fry and sausage egg and chips for 2 people (bacon is for sandwiches) so that works out at 14 meals plus the bacon. Hopefully with some leftovers.

Actually must confess here that I don't even know what a sensible portion of meat is, I bought pounds as it was a nice round figure but is half a pound of mince per person for a meal normal? Should it be more/less?

Was also a bit dissapointed as butcher doesn't do chicken, well he does but it's pre frozen and defrosted and since I was buying a months worth to put in freezer I couldn't get it and had to go to the Spar(£6 for 4 chicken breasts)

I presume it'd be cheaper to buy non steak mince and sausages but as I say it was my first time in a butcher and I was a bit confused so just pointed at nearest thing

~Chameleon~

Half a pound of mince for one person is rather a lot. If I make something like spag bol or chill with a pound of mince I can usually get 4-6 portions from it depending what veg and other bits I've put in to pad it out more

sparklewing

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Half a pound of mince for one person is rather a lot. If I make something like spag bol or chill with a pound of mince I can usually get 4-6 portions from it depending what veg and other bits I've put in to pad it out more

That's great thanks. Although due to Mr Sparkles aversion to veg/lentils/fake mince, probably not much padding will happen except my secret grated veg :rolleyes:. Sounds like the price is ok then for the amount of meals I'll get. Think the sausages will stretch much further than I've guessed too.

It's all trial and error to start with I suppose.

gillypep

Just as a reference point, restaurants & pubs etc work on (or used to, I've been out of the trade for about 10 years lol) a 4oz serving of meat per serving ie. 1lb of minced beef for lasagne or cottage pie would be 4 portions. you can bulk meat out with oats or pulses etc depending on what you're cooking and make it go further. Thats what I still base my portions on for my family anyway but bulk it out when I need to! Hope that helps

fairy3

Hi there,think you have done really well with your purchases and agree with others I usually do 4 portions per pound of meat + 1 for the freezer(must confess have never had steak sausages though!)Regarding padding I have three teens who sound like your OH but I add a large TBSP of stuffing (tesco12p) to mince dishes and they have never noticed in two years! You really cannot taste it at all in the finished product (spag bol, chilli etc)With the chinese theme I find that using noodles and rice is always popular and doubles the padding for little effort and cost, adding a few mushrooms and soy sauce to the noodles turns them into a chow mein 'side dish' (honest!)Good luck!Jx

sparklewing

Thanks everyone, especially with the portion sizes guide, we both carry a bit of extra padding so reducing portion sizes is probably a good plan anyway, plus hopefully home made food will be a bit more filling than the rubbish we've been eating previously. I'll experiment with adding stuff and see if Mr Sparkle notices

jcr16

u spent £18.50 and gonna get 14 meals so thats £1.32 i think per meal. not bad imo. plus u also got the bacon. and if u can make it go ever futher then excellent.

i think u got a good deal there.

Rowan9

i think you did really well and have got a good variety of food as well. I also do about 4 portions from 1lb mince, sometimes more. My OH hates anything odd but doesn't know I add a handful of pinhead otameal and some TVP to any mince dish. It really e x p a n d s it. One tip for your sausages is to do something like stewed/ braised sausages with veg and then slice the sausages up once ready - that way nobody knows how many sausages they got
W