[jll2000]

I'm new to this, and haven't yet been to a meeting. I've just been getting idea's to see if I can manager it. I just ate a 1/2 eaten taco from the other night (made at home), and everything minus the ground beef came out to 5 points. How many points are in ground beef?

[lois lane]

Jil, I'm not doing weight watchers, but it would probably depend on the ground beef. Was it lean? There's a big difference between the lean ground beef and the others.

[jll2000]

nm

[daj3333]

Ground Beef, 10% fat, cooked (3 oz) (190 cal/10 g fat) 5
Ground Beef, 15% fat, cooked (3 oz) (225 cal/14 g fat) 6
Hamburger, lean only, broiled/grilled (3 oz) (190 cal/10 g fat) 5
Hamburger, lean & fat, broiled (3 oz) (240 cal/16 g fat) 6.5
Hope this helps.

[nlm1106]

Next time try using ground turkey, especially with tacos, with the seasoning you really can't taste the difference very much.

[nlm1106]

Yeah I think that is right, for the regular lean. That's an extra oz for 1 pt less of the ground turkey when compared to ground beef. There is also the 99% fat free which is even less points. I think that one is a little dry but it might be worth it to some others. I use the Shady Brook Farms brand, they are so great. They have pretty good Italian Turkey Sausage too which I cook with spaghetti. Once you add the sauce to that the difference between regular sausage isn't so extreme.

[Kelly_S]

ground turkey breast and 90-96% lean ground beef have the same points per 4 oz serving. Personally I think turkey lacks texture and flavor of ground beef. The biggest difference between the 2 is 1 gm of saturated fat.

[Kelly_S]

I buy my 90-96% lean in bulk and repackage it and it comes out for me in my area to about the same cost as your B1G1F stuff.

I understand some don't eat red meat but was just pointing out the points are the same....I wasn't attack you about I hope you understand that

[Kelly_S]

oh good because sometimes I can be pretty 'pushy' and I am truly trying to not do that anymore.

I find my local Kroger Store in the family packs tends to be great bulk meats but I also buy some meat at Costco (aka a different version of BJs)

[kaplods]

You also have to be careful with ground turkey (if the fat and point count matter to you) to make sure that it's ground white meat turkey or ground meat, no skin added.

I really dislike ground turkey, but I love ground chicken (you've still got the potential for the ground skin problem). It's a lot harder to find in the grocery too, but it's really good when you can find it. I actually like it better than beef in tacos.

Another option that I've found is making my own lean "ground beef mix" cheaply by browning 80 to 85% lean ground beef (not the cheapest grade of ground beef, but pretty close) with dry tvp (soy protein in bulk from the health food store) and hot water or broth (to reconstitute the dry tvp). Often I add onion, celery, and bell pepper into the mix and then freeze it for use in recipes like chili, spaghetti sauce, taco filling... The tvp has virtually no fat and I usually pay about $2.25 a pound (but a pound is equivalent to about 3 lbs of ground beef), so I can combine the cheaper, less lean ground beef with the nearly no fat tvp and end up with a ground beef mixture that's as lean or leaner than 95% lean ground beef or turkey, but much cheaper.

I once made it with super cheap 70 or 75% ground beef (there was a big sale) and a much larger quantity of tvp. The results were pretty good, but less "beefy." If I were to do that again, I would add some powdered beef bouillon to the mix.

[nlm1106]

I'll have to check out that 90-96% lean beef. I haven't really seen it in the stores. I do prefer beef to turkey but when I checked the points before the turkey was always way less. I love burgers and I have been making due with the Jennie-o Turkey Burger Patties, it just isn't the same. If anyone has a suggestion for a lowfat and delicious burger pass it on.

[nlm1106]

I checked the points for the ground beef at the store. They have a nutrition label for all the different types of meat and all the different cuts hanging up. According to this chart, 90% lean ground beef is 220 cal and 11g of fat for 3 oz, which is 5pts. The lean ground turkey is 160 cal and 8g of fat for 4oz, which is 4pts. So, like I said before, its a point less and you get an extra oz. I don't know if your store has 96% lean since you keep saying 90-96% but the 90% isn't the same amount of points as far as I can tell. Also, according to the points book I have, 4oz of ground beef 5-7% fat is 6pts and 10-15% fat is 6pts. So, for me, I would rather use less points and substitute ground turkey for ground beef when the flavoring of the seasoning is so strong, like in tacos or hamburger helper or something like that.

[Kelly_S]

I don't believe that is true. I have this list and:

Ground Beef Product Nutritional Values:

90% Lean/10% Fat 169 cals, 9 g. fat, 3.7g. sat. fat, 70 mg chol.

85% Lean/15% Fat 204cals, 12 g. fat, 4.8 g. sat fat, 71 mg chol

80% Lean/20% Fat 228 cals, 15g. fat, 6.0 g sat.,74mg chol

73% Lean/27% Fat 248 cals,18 g. fat,7.0 g sat.,77 mg chol

Here is a lot more info on Ground beef:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...ng+ground+beef

I also found this which is close to what I posted (forgive me Sue and moderators if I posted an illegal site for your site):

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/beef-products/6195/2

3 oz is 173 cal/9 fat/0 fiber

also I have a pound of 85% lean in my freezer and its for 3 oz is only 204 cal/12 fat.

I'm wondering where the store got their chart from. Oh

[kaplods]

There's also a really neat way to remove most of the fat from ground beef (which allows you to buy the cheapest grade of ground beef and yet get the leanest pure beef, ground beef), and that is to simmer it in a lot of water.

Here's one website that describes the process

http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/...ad.php?t=34772

lean beef and low fat soup stock as a bonus (although when I've done this, I simmered the beef with finely diced onion and celery).

[nlm1106]

I think I'm just going to stick to the points I have been using. My points book (the WW 2007 Flex book) from when I first joined pretty much agrees with the nutritional label hanging up at Shop Rite. I trust both of them the most and I would rather count something as more points then not count enough points and over-eat.