Food stamps as a dieting tool.

[Darnell 8,478]

That never happens out here. Whole chicken never goes under $1 lb. I might see drumsticks or thighs on sale for .99. Ground beef is 2.99+, fruit is expensive as are fresh vegetables, especially in the winter. I don't think I could feed myself for $250 month unless I ate rice, beans and pasta every day. Throw in some milk, juice etc and the budget is gone.

wow - do you have many unions in your area? if so, your food costs are higher, as the absorption of higher costs get reflected in the retail price for the final purchaser/consumer...

[Dakine10 5,452]

Cheap meat is disgusting and not fit for human consumption. It's a horrorshow. Arsenic apples from China, and non organic potatoes aren't much better. The Monsanto GMO diet is totally cheap and economical, even if you're buying whole foods and not processed, but I can't bring myself to eat that #######, much less feed it to growing children.

I agree. Unfortunately the cost is only cheap if your looking at the grocery bill. Factor in the health care bills down the road and it becomes apparent that it's only cheap in quality, not cost.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Watch this if you dare, You have no idea what has gone before you. The last thing my wifes great aunt lips in ChengDu China were "I wish I had a piece of meat to eat "before she died.

It doesn't have one extreme or the other. The average American eats almost 200 lbs of cheap meat a year. Now we have factory farms that mass produce animals that need to be pumped full of antibiotics and sterlized with chemicals before we can eat them. I'm sure there's a solution somewhere in between those extremes.

[*Snowdrop* 603]

My doctor uses a recommended portion chart for the main food groups. It recommends (for the average healthy adult) eating protein 3 x a day. That can come from meat, fish, beans, eggs, pulses or nuts.

For meat the portion size is 100g raw or 75g cooked - cooked that looks like the size of a pack of playing cards. 100g is roughly 0.2 pounds of meat.

Here are all the portion sizes for the different food groups and recommended daily allowances:

http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/p/hi-portion-size#textBlock279775

[spookyturtle 9,465]

wow - do you have many unions in your area? if so, your food costs are higher, as the absorption of higher costs get reflected in the retail price for the final purchaser/consumer...

The big chains here are Stop&Shop,and Shaws/Star Market. We also have Hannaford, the Big Y and Market Basket. Market Basket has the best prices, but there aren't many of them and they are spread out. I have to travel a bit to get to one, which I do every couple of weeks. Stop&Shop and Shaws are union stores, not sure about the others.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

it started because i watched a documentary, i can't remember right now the name of it, but it detailed how grocery chains source their ground beef. it was quite disgusting. i simply can't buy or touch it anymore and since i do the cooking, i refuse..

but if you're looking for gristle in your ground beef - walmart's prepackaged tubes contain the bulk of it.

No Walmart. Its Vermont. we have one but they do not have food

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I thought this was common knowledge. Apparently not!

You're talking about Fox News here - they don't do knowledge. Knowledge is Fox News' #1 enemy. If knowledge wins, Fox News is gone.

[Darnell 8,478]

My doctor uses a recommended portion chart for the main food groups. It recommends (for the average healthy adult) eating protein 3 x a day. That can come from meat, fish, beans, eggs, pulses or nuts.

For meat the portion size is 100g raw or 75g cooked - cooked that looks like the size of a pack of playing cards. 100g is roughly 0.2 pounds of meat.

Here are all the portion sizes for the different food groups and recommended daily allowances:

http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/p/hi-portion-size#textBlock279775

How much for a kilogram of pulses in your area ?

[*Snowdrop* 603]

How much for a kilogram of pulses in your area ?

Not sure - it's not a weekly purchase as a big bag of dried beans etc last a long time in our household. We get those from Costco every now and then when needed. Probably have one evening meal a week where the sole protein is pulses. The rest is either meat or fish.

Re previous posts on cheap meat vs more expensive. I'd prefer to get a good quality chicken from a locally sourced farmer's market and pay a little more and then make that meat go further.

A medium sized bird (2lbs) can be roast chicken for dinner for three of us, followed by cold chicken for lunch for three people for two more days, plus possibly enough pickings for one more lunch, then we boil the bones to make stock for a soup which is lunch for another 2 days for all three of us. So one chicken can create up to 16 meals.

[Darnell 8,478]

any good recipe for cooking pulses ?

or you have a favorite sauce that works?

[*Snowdrop* 603]

any good recipe for cooking pulses ?

or you have a favorite sauce that works?

This is the sort of thing I like to cook when we do the no-meat meal - the recipes with chickpeas can be any swapped to other beans/pulses or a mixture depending on your preference

Sauté of chickpea, butternut squash and chard, served with mint yoghurt

http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/saut-of-chickpea-butternut-squash-and-chard-served-with-mint-yoghurt

Kosheri

http://cookbad.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/kosheri.html

Chickpeas and Spinach with Honeyed Sweet Potatoes.

http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2011/01/chickpeas-and-spinach-with-honeyed.html

Sweet onions with lentil stew

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sweet_onions_with_lentil_01078

Edited November 25, 2012 by *Lynne*

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Not sure - it's not a weekly purchase as a big bag of dried beans etc last a long time in our household. We get those from Costco every now and then when needed. Probably have one evening meal a week where the sole protein is pulses. The rest is either meat or fish.

Re previous posts on cheap meat vs more expensive. I'd prefer to get a good quality chicken from a locally sourced farmer's market and pay a little more and then make that meat go further.

A medium sized bird (2lbs) can be roast chicken for dinner for three of us, followed by cold chicken for lunch for three people for two more days, plus possibly enough pickings for one more lunch, then we boil the bones to make stock for a soup which is lunch for another 2 days for all three of us. So one chicken can create up to 16 meals.

You can feed 3 people 3 meals each from a 2lb chicken? A 2lb bird is about the size of a Cornish game hen.

Edited November 25, 2012 by spookyturtle

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

You can feed 3 people 3 meals each from a 2lb chicken? A 2lb bird is about the size of a Cornish game hen.

I assume that means 2 pounds of meat.

That's almost a 1/4 pound of meat (.22222 lb.) for each of 9 meals. That's plenty of meat. Add in potatoes, onions, pasta, vegetables. Sharp knives are the key.

Edited November 25, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[spookyturtle 9,465]

I assume that means 2 pounds of meat.

That's almost a 1/4 pound of meat (.22222 lb.) for each of 9 meals. That's plenty of meat. Add in potatoes, onions, pasta, vegetables. Sharp knives are the key.

Plenty of meat for who? I burn a lot of calories. If I grill a 4lb chicken it makes 2 meals for 2 people. There probably isn't 2 lbsof meat in a 4lb bird. The way people here are eating meat is bad for your eyes. You have to squint and stare to find a bit of meat.

[Danno 1,228]

Plenty of meat for who? I burn a lot of calories. If I grill a 4lb chicken it makes 2 meals for 2 people. There probably isn't 2 lbsof meat in a 4lb bird. The way people here are eating meat is bad for your eyes. You have to squint and stare to find a bit of meat.

I hear ya dude, I need some meat on my plate, at least a chicken quarter or something.

When I get up from the table I want to feel like I got something don there.