2 Chicken breasts revisited

[treehugger]

Even if there wasn't the issue of too small portions, I can't imagine having a smoothie as the entire content of my dinner unless I'm sick and can't eat anything else. That's just weird.

I actually do have smoothies for a full meal. But, I do not think that is an appropriate meal for a child. Maybe if it was a side, or something. But seriously, kids need to eat! I do not understand people who don't think that's important.

[Kailash]

I actually do have smoothies for a full meal. But, I do not think that is an appropriate meal for a child. Maybe if it was a side, or something. But seriously, kids need to eat! I do not understand people who don't think that's important.

My child is so very picky. I would be THRILLED if she would drink a smoothie for any meal. ( I could hide so much nutrition in one!)

[RosyDaisy]

Why don't some of these people who live in rural areas plant a small veggie garden? It's not that hard or expensive to do, and it would be a great family project.

[LadyBlue]

(Even though all the pasta I eat these days is 5g/carbs a s1.5 cup erving, vs the 45g+ of a 1.5 cup serving of regular pasta. (And who eats just one and a half cups of pasta?!) I aim for meals around about ~25-35g of carbs.)

caveat: I am a pastry arts grad, and have had a fair amount of time in line kitchens, as well as being married to an adult-onset type 1 diabetic. I know a lot about cooking and nutrition, for individuals and large groups!

5g/carbs pasta? Please tell me where you find such a miraculous creation? MrBlue has secondary diabetes (type 1 caused by removal of his pancreas) and pasta is a staple here. We pad it out with cheese and meat, but it would still be great to have lower carb versions.

I honestly can't tell you how many breasts I use for cooking. I cook my meats by poundage. Most of my kids are now pre-teen or teen and eat tons, but for a family of 10, I need 3lb of chicken if it's being mixed into something. If it's stand alone, I need 5lb. I actually need 6lb if I'm trying to make basic BBQ because I have three boys who will refuse to eat any sides and hover over the plate of chicken like a pack of hoovers.

We buy our cow on the hoof and pay for processing which saves us a ton. When using hamburger, I need 2lb if it's being mixed into something and 3lb if it something like tacos so it's meat heavy. I don't know why I need more chicken than beef but I do.

I can't figure out how much meat I need for cow that is not hamburger. I seem to either get it too much or too little and the kids aren't consistent. We're never sure if we'll have left-overs, or whether Dh and I will be scrounging for leftovers in the kitchen for roasts, steaks, etc.

For rice dishes, we need 5 cups of rice raw, makes more cooked. For pasta, we need 3lb of pasta raw. I try to have enough to have at least one serving left over. I have three children with food deprivation in their past and psychologically if we don't have leftovers most of the time, they feel they aren't getting enough food. So, my quantities are slightly heavy.

What surprises me is that I've seen fundies deliberately underfeeding their children for a decade and a half BUT it was something that was rather hush, hush. I am seeing an alarming trend of fundies being open and boasting of deliberately underfeeding their children. I am concerned that the trend has become so persistent that it has become normalized for these groups and they no longer feel the guilt and shame that made it so hush, hush previously. I'm very concerned that this open boasting about it is going to encourage even more and the trend seems to be growing.

I'm kind of disturbed that our food amounts are about the same here and my kids are only between 1 & 12yrs, and only 4 of them. My lasagnas have about 2lbs of beef, half a bag of carrots, 1000ml of cottage cheese... and we're lucky to have 1 or 2 pieces left. If we have burgers, it's between 10-12 for everyone. I usually use 3 cups of raw rice, but 5 cups of raw pasta for things like a macaroni casserole. The 5 cups usually means the kids have enough for a snack the next day, though. I'm quite pleased that a $20 pork loin (took up an entire rectangular tray) lasted 2 nights with a tiny bit left ofter for a sandwich for someone tomorrow. I nearly never have leftovers. Unless it was basically stew, soup would never make a meal here, even if MrBlue liked it.

I need more vegetarian meals besides pasta. The only thing I really have is eggplant parm & it's hard finding decent eggplant at the local stores we have to shop until we have a new vehicle.

[jenny_islander]

Can your husband eat beans and potatoes (with their skins)?

White bean chili with corn chips

Red bean chili ditto

Potato and carrot curry with yogurt and mixed brown/white rice

Casserole of diced potatoes (with skins) covered with white sauce that has been mixed with sauteed onions or leftover veg., topped with cheese and browned

Green split pea soup with sturdy whole-grain bread

Yellow split pea soup ditto

Any of the above recipes can be flavored with a little meat. If you get ground beef in odd sized packages, you can throw the extra 2.7 ounces into the curry. Green split pea soup can be completely vegetarian, or you can make it with a ham bone. Etc.

IME you can replace 1/4 of the flour in any bechamel-based sauce with whole-wheat flour; the taste will be less delicate and the color less pretty, but it will be satisfying and less starchy. You can also replace 1/4 of the regular pasta in any recipe with whole-wheat pasta without having to adjust the other ingredients to account for the taste--my family doesn't even notice. You can cook them in the same pot, just add the longer-cooking pasta first.

[Loveday]

5g/carbs pasta? Please tell me where you find such a miraculous creation? MrBlue has secondary diabetes (type 1 caused by removal of his pancreas) and pasta is a staple here. We pad it out with cheese and meat, but it would still be great to have lower carb versions.

5g/carbs pasta is available under the name 'Dreamfields.' I buy it all the time as I'm diabetic. It's a little pricier than regular pasta, but not by much, and I can't tell the difference between it and regular pasta (except of course it doesn't spike my blood sugar). Not sure where you are, but most grocery stores in the US carry Dreamfields. :)

[LadyBlue]

Can your husband eat beans and potatoes (with their skins)?

White bean chili with corn chips

Red bean chili ditto

Potato and carrot curry with yogurt and mixed brown/white rice

Casserole of diced potatoes (with skins) covered with white sauce that has been mixed with sauteed onions or leftover veg., topped with cheese and browned

Green split pea soup with sturdy whole-grain bread

Yellow split pea soup ditto

Any of the above recipes can be flavored with a little meat. If you get ground beef in odd sized packages, you can throw the extra 2.7 ounces into the curry. Green split pea soup can be completely vegetarian, or you can make it with a ham bone. Etc.

IME you can replace 1/4 of the flour in any bechamel-based sauce with whole-wheat flour; the taste will be less delicate and the color less pretty, but it will be satisfying and less starchy. You can also replace 1/4 of the regular pasta in any recipe with whole-wheat pasta without having to adjust the other ingredients to account for the taste--my family doesn't even notice. You can cook them in the same pot, just add the longer-cooking pasta first.

Thanks for the ideas! He can't really eat high fiber foods (IBS, too, poor guy), so beans are a rare food, but the other ideas are handy. I'll add them to my meal ideas list.

5g/carbs pasta is available under the name 'Dreamfields.' I buy it all the time as I'm diabetic. It's a little pricier than regular pasta, but not by much, and I can't tell the difference between it and regular pasta (except of course it doesn't spike my blood sugar). Not sure where you are, but most grocery stores in the US carry Dreamfields. :)

We're in Canada & I've never seen that brand, but I'll keep an eye out, thanks!

[jenny_islander]

Here are a couple of recipes:

Old-Fashioned Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

This is light but nourishing. If you just don't feel like eating anything, but you have to eat something, this will wake up your appetite.

Put a bag of green split peas, a split onion, a peeled carrot, and a trimmed stick of celery in plenty of water, with a bay leaf and some celery greens. Cook and cook until the vegetables are very soft and the peas dissolve if you mash them against the side of the pot with a spoon. Get a great big bowl or a second pot and put a colander over it. Pour the soup through the colander. Mash the peas and vegetables that land in the colander with your wooden spoon or ladle until nothing is going through into the bowl anymore. Discard the solids, reheat the broth, and season to taste (I like salt, pepper, and thyme). Serve hot with bread, or cube some cold potatoes and reheat them in the soup after you strain it.

Cheap and Tasty Vegetable or Mostly-Vegetable Curry

This is just hot enough to notice. If you like it hotter, add some chilies.

Take a soup pot with a thick bottom. Pour a tablespoon of whole mustard seeds into the bottom of the pot and turn the heat to Medium. Watch the seeds--when they start to hop around, pour them out into a dish and set aside. Meanwhile, chop 2 onions, mince 3 large garlic cloves (or measure the equivalent in garlic powder), mince some fresh ginger to get 1 tablespoon (or measure 1 teaspoon powdered ginger), cut carrots into coins to get 2 cups, and trim and cube 2 pounds potatoes. You can substitute a cut-up head of cauliflower for 1 pound of the potatoes if cauliflower is on sale.

When you have taken out the mustard seeds, put in a tablespoon of canola oil. Put in the onions, add 1/2 teaspoon each sugar and salt, and stir it around. You can add the odd fraction from a package of freshly ground beef or any other small portion of fresh meat you have to use up. When the onions are golden brown, put the mustard seeds back in, add the garlic and ginger, and also put in 1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander and a tablespoon of supermarket-type curry powder (unless you make your own). Stir it around until the pot is fragrant.

Put in the fresh vegetables and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until everything is tender and the sauce has thickened. Meanwhile, start a pot of brown and white rice or heat up some naan if you have any.

Taste the curry, add salt and pepper as needed, and serve with the rice and some thick plain yogurt--the kind that comes in 2-pound tubs, bought on clearance. If the ingredients are cheap, you could make a cucumber raita out of the yogurt.

[nelliebelle1197]

Our largest expenditure is food. I do not cheap out on what goes into my kids' bodies. We would never have "giant" chicken breasts because I buy free range organically fed chicken, not GMO chicken. I am really picky about meat, produce and dairy. My kids even take their own locally produced milk to school. I do not get these people at all.

[GiGi_41]

Chilli with spaghetti? Is that like a Mexican/Italian hybrid? :lol:

I had never heard of this until I moved to Wisconsin. The first time I made chili for my SO, he asked me where the macaroni was? I looked at him like he was the devil...

Chili does not have pasta in it...I mean, some chili aficionados believe it should also be bean-free!

[Arete]

Chili with pasta or beans.....I'm sorry, it is blasphemy. Thus saith the Lord. :naughty:

[OkToBeTakei]

Our largest expenditure is food. I do not cheap out on what goes into my kids' bodies. We would never have "giant" chicken breasts because I buy free range organically fed chicken, not GMO chicken. I am really picky about meat, produce and dairy. My kids even take their own locally produced milk to school. I do not get these people at all.

I was wondering about the huge chicken breast thing. Thinking I was missing out or that we had puny chickens :lol: Now I know.

[nelliebelle1197]

I was wondering about the huge chicken breast thing. Thinking I was missing out or that we had puny chickens :lol: Now I know.

Steroids and antibiotics, baby!

[longskirtlotsakids]

Actually, no. All chicken in the US is required to be raised hormone free. The chicks may get antiobiotics in their water, but there are strict withholding time.

Also, GMO is not the same as selective breeding. Chickens are not GMO. Soybeans and corn are.

I agree strongly that meat is healthier raised on grass or freerange, mostly on

[lizziesmom]

Chili with pasta or beans.....I'm sorry, it is blasphemy. Thus saith the Lord. :naughty:

Chili is something we all have opinions about. Personally, chili without beans is blasphemy. And if you haven't tried chili mac don't knock it. :lol:

[LadyBlue]

Here are a couple of recipes:

Old-Fashioned Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

This is light but nourishing. If you just don't feel like eating anything, but you have to eat something, this will wake up your appetite.

Put a bag of green split peas, a split onion, a peeled carrot, and a trimmed stick of celery in plenty of water, with a bay leaf and some celery greens. Cook and cook until the vegetables are very soft and the peas dissolve if you mash them against the side of the pot with a spoon. Get a great big bowl or a second pot and put a colander over it. Pour the soup through the colander. Mash the peas and vegetables that land in the colander with your wooden spoon or ladle until nothing is going through into the bowl anymore. Discard the solids, reheat the broth, and season to taste (I like salt, pepper, and thyme). Serve hot with bread, or cube some cold potatoes and reheat them in the soup after you strain it.

Cheap and Tasty Vegetable or Mostly-Vegetable Curry

This is just hot enough to notice. If you like it hotter, add some chilies.

Take a soup pot with a thick bottom. Pour a tablespoon of whole mustard seeds into the bottom of the pot and turn the heat to Medium. Watch the seeds--when they start to hop around, pour them out into a dish and set aside. Meanwhile, chop 2 onions, mince 3 large garlic cloves (or measure the equivalent in garlic powder), mince some fresh ginger to get 1 tablespoon (or measure 1 teaspoon powdered ginger), cut carrots into coins to get 2 cups, and trim and cube 2 pounds potatoes. You can substitute a cut-up head of cauliflower for 1 pound of the potatoes if cauliflower is on sale.

When you have taken out the mustard seeds, put in a tablespoon of canola oil. Put in the onions, add 1/2 teaspoon each sugar and salt, and stir it around. You can add the odd fraction from a package of freshly ground beef or any other small portion of fresh meat you have to use up. When the onions are golden brown, put the mustard seeds back in, add the garlic and ginger, and also put in 1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander and a tablespoon of supermarket-type curry powder (unless you make your own). Stir it around until the pot is fragrant.

Put in the fresh vegetables and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until everything is tender and the sauce has thickened. Meanwhile, start a pot of brown and white rice or heat up some naan if you have any.

Taste the curry, add salt and pepper as needed, and serve with the rice and some thick plain yogurt--the kind that comes in 2-pound tubs, bought on clearance. If the ingredients are cheap, you could make a cucumber raita out of the yogurt.

Thanks. Copied to my recipes.