Offended by chicken cutlet recipes

amother

Lightyellow

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 2:13 pm

STMommy wrote:

My crazy making recipe in a frum magazine or cookbook is London Broil Salad. If I could afford red meat you better believe I am NOT throwing it into a salad!

My family does not like meat in salad so I don't serve it, but I do think it's a smart way to stretch a small amount of meat.

amother

Sage

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 2:20 pm

amother Red wrote:

Great, so we’re doing meatballs wrong? My kids do in fact eat an entire family pack of ground beef worth of meatballs. And the spaghetti too. I can stretch a pound of ground beef for sloppy joes, but no way will my kids be satisfied with just one or two meatballs.

I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong. I guess I'm just not understanding. Where I live, a family pack is 3-4.5 lb pounds of meat, 1/4 lb of meat per person makes way more than 1-2 meatballs each, and that means a family pack could feed 16 people.

I don't understand how sloppy joes uses a pound of meat, but meatballs that have extra fillers in it require 3-4 times that. But if that's what you have to do for your family, you do it. What

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

amother

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 2:31 pm

Hi everyone, thanks for the validation!

No, I’m not actually offended by chicken cutlets. Thanks, some of you, for your concern about my mental health and ability to control my feelings. The ‘non-sensitive questions’ threads gave me an opening to voice my opinion, and no, I’m not a snowflake.

Thanks also for the kind offers of recipes. Baruch Hashem my family has plenty to eat, and I’m quite savvy in the kitchen. We’re generally not a family who ‘lacks,’ per se, but luxuries like chicken cutlets are something we forgo for the privilege of being a klei kodesh family.

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who has a wistful feeling when seeing the ‘easy go-tos’ that are out of my reach. (Forget about the meats lol!) It sounds silly to say I’m ‘triggered by cutlets’ 😂, but hey- there could be worse, no? This is a safe place to share, and it seems that there are others with me.

I’m glad this created a discussion, and when you see those frozen cutlets on your freezer, or your kids complain about ‘chicken again’ remember the bounty that you have.

Good Shabbos!

Amarante

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 2:48 pm

amother Amber wrote:

I BH can afford cutlets and find them to be most economical rather than chicken on the bone. But I'm always baffled by the weekday dinner recipes that call for expensive cuts of meat, even Dinner Done which is easy, family friendly food, has some really fancy meats as a quick and easy dinner and I can't wrap my head around that.

Put this in context of what it might be replacing.

In general even the most expensive meats are cheaper than even relatively inexpensive takeout or prepared convenience food - apart from being healthier.

So what a lot of these quick and easy recipes and articles are trying to do is change people's mindset so that they cook more at home.

Now if you aren't eating takeout, delivery restaurant or whatever but are cooking every night, then it is less relevant to you but the rationale is that it saves people money even if raw ingredients are pricer.

I find the prices of kosher restaurants to be insane for not very "fancy" or "fine" food. Yes I realize that they have significant prices but I could cook rib eye for the cost of a hamburger.

watergirl

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 3:13 pm

amother Red wrote:

I guess it depends on how big your making the meatballs and how many people you’re making them for. For my family (2 adults, 2 teens, 1 10 year old), a family pack of ground beef is enough for everyone to have 8 golf ball sized meatballs or more, and plenty to go into the freezer for later as well. My youngest never has more than four meatballs, and neither do I, but in theory there’s always plenty.

Amarante

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 3:22 pm

watergirl wrote:

I still don't understand the portion size.

One third pound hamburger - no filler is a huge hamburger. How many pounds of meat are being served as meatballs which use extenders like breadcrumbs? No one goes away hungry from that size burger except possibly a teenage boy engaging in lots of physical activity who has a bottomless pit for a stomach. LOL

I don't know what amount of meat or chicken is being served as a portion. A portion of meatballs - sauce and a good serving of pasta?

Also the comparison to a sloppy Joe is weird as well. Bolognese sauce is a bit like a sloppy Joe as it is loose meat that is in the sauce instead of as meatballs. Lots of people make it to serve over pasta because it is easier to make since essentially you are sautéing the meat and creating a sauce with it as opposed to having to make individual balls. If one pound in a sloppy Joe mixture feeds a family then make Bolognese sauce and the same ratio should work equally well.

Last edited by Amarante on Fri, Dec 30 2022, 6:51 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Teal

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 3:24 pm

I enjoy reading the fancy recipes in the magazines but to me they're just fluff a d aspirational. Not anything I'm ever going to actually make, both because of the cost and the unusual ingredients that I'd have to buy special just for this one dish.

I'll tell you what I'd like, if they'd switch off. Say one week, fancy and exotic and the next week, regular every day and more budget friendly.

Amarante

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 3:31 pm

amother Teal wrote:

There are plenty of magazines and websites that do this. They will have a regular feature of economical recipes and/or dishes that can be made in a hurry or that use few ingredients or pantry items.

A lot of recipes are completely kosher or can be made kosher by modifying a bit. Eliminate the pork and shellfish recipes and skim the rest.

Why limit to frum magazines for recipes when there are so many better sources?

amother

Teal

Fri, Dec 30 2022, 3:39 pm

Amarante wrote:

Because frum magazines are the ones I read, lol. And I like tearing out recipes on paper that I don't have to copy or print up (no printer at home). I don't want to tweak recipes, either I just want a basic recipe I can follow without making changes or calculations.
I don't like googling recipes or following along on an iPad, I guess I'm old school like that.

PinkFridge

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 7:34 pm

Amarante wrote:

What amother teal said. These are the magazines I read. Frankly, I haven't been too excited by recipes I've seen in the secular "women's magazines." Especially cakes and cookies. Online though is another story and I'll often get recipes or inspo from blogs.

amother

Denim

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 7:44 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

I hear OP. I can afford chicken cutlets but we try to eat cheaper to save money.

I wish the magazines would offer a column for easy dinners in a budget. Learn how to use legumes, beans, and other cheaper sources of protein in easy dinners.

I saw a magazine advertised a contest for best budget friendly recipes. There's a plan for this.

amother

Red

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 10:28 pm

amother Sage wrote:

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

When I make meat sauce like sloppy joes, I use three 29 oz cans, so each person gets very little actual meat but the whole sauce is flavored. We usually finish 2/3 or 3/4 of that, plus 2-3lb of pasta.

When I make meatballs, the meat is the main part. And we (1 adult, 7 kids age 2-12 that eat dinner usually) will eat 4 lb of meatballs easy. Plus 2lb of spaghetti.

So I don't usually do it, just for special occasions. Smile

And I can't imagine any of my older kids eating just one hamburger!

amother

Lightyellow

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 11:20 pm

amother Red wrote:

And I can't imagine any of my older kids eating just one hamburger!

Ok now I'm curious, what do you make that's cheaper?

ETA: do you put in fillers? Most people add rice or potatoes or bread crumbs to make the chopped meat stretch.

Also, I grew up this way but I'm usually too tired from work to do this consistently - you serve fruit, vegetables, soup, etc so you're not coming in to the main course starving. You can make a cheap side dish as well to fill people up, they don't need to fill up on meatballs.

amother

Pumpkin

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 11:33 pm

amother Red wrote:

And I can't imagine any of my older kids eating just one hamburger!

Honestly I’m shocked that 8 people eat 4lb of ground beef in one sitting. Or 2-3lb of pasta for that matter.

amother

Birch

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 11:35 pm

amother Pumpkin wrote:

Honestly I’m shocked that 8 people eat 4lb of ground beef in one sitting. Or 2-3lb of pasta for that matter.

That is 1/2 pound of meat per person and since at least some of the eaters are toddlers, that means some people are eating 3/4 of a pound of meat. That size portion is not normal.

Not to mention that meatballs contain breadcrumbs or equivalent fillers and binders so the actual amount of balls eaten would be enormous.

amother

Red

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 11:41 pm

amother Lightyellow wrote:

Ok now I'm curious, what do you make that's cheaper?

Spaghetti & tuna sauce
Scrambled eggs & pasta
Fish sticks & mashed potatoes
Chicken & rice
Baked ziti
Soups
Tacos
Quiche, rice, and roasted vegetables
Chicken wings
among other dinners

We will usually finish 3/4 of the meatballs in one night, and the rest will be gone by lunch. I rarely make them because it's expensive as I said.

I make 3 pans of baked ziti, we finish most for dinner and the rest is gone by breakfast.

It may sound like a lot of food, but interestingly my kids are not overweight. (I am, but I blame it on pregnancies, I haven't changed my food intake.)

amother

Pumpkin

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 11:41 pm

amother Birch wrote:

I completely agree. My family are all
Typical eaters, we are not skinny or particularly picky. We are well nourished. But we eat much less than Red’s family. I’m wondering why or how. In me experience 1lb of pasta easily feeds 8 and yet her family is eating more than 2x amount.

amother

Pumpkin

Sat, Dec 31 2022, 11:44 pm

amother Red wrote:

Your family of 7 kids and 1 adult finish 3 9x13 pans of baked ziti? Each pan using (in my recipe) 1lb of pasta, 1 jar of sauce and 12 Oz cheese? (Or thereabouts)?