Food Talk And Fabulous Finds Recipes, Healthy Cooking, and General Food Topics

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 03-11-2013, 08:53 AM   #16  
Senior Member
 
celigirl88's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: CT
Posts: 285

S/C/G: 165/137/120

Height: 4'11''

Default

I use both ground turkey or chicken, even when a recipe calls for beef. (For example I found a recipe on pinterest that was a "taco pasta" and I substituted everything for anything healthier, including the meat). But by itself, yes, it does need to be seasoned. It tastes NOTHING like beef, considering it's completely different. I did notice that the first couple times I ate ground turkey or chicken though my stomach was ON FIRE. I don't know why but it made me very sick to my stomach and I almost felt like I had to "get used to it". Other than that, now I use strictly just that and love it.
celigirl88 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2013, 05:20 PM   #17  
Member
 
427pounder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 75

S/C/G: 427/412/240

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by celigirl88 View Post
I use both ground turkey or chicken, even when a recipe calls for beef. (For example I found a recipe on pinterest that was a "taco pasta" and I substituted everything for anything healthier, including the meat). But by itself, yes, it does need to be seasoned. It tastes NOTHING like beef, considering it's completely different. I did notice that the first couple times I ate ground turkey or chicken though my stomach was ON FIRE. I don't know why but it made me very sick to my stomach and I almost felt like I had to "get used to it". Other than that, now I use strictly just that and love it.
Interesting that you mention your stomach being on fire. I got heart burn the first time I ate a ground turkey burger. I wonder what's with that.
427pounder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2013, 07:31 PM   #18  
Senior Member
 
kaplods's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383

S/C/G: SW:394/310/180

Height: 5'6"

Default

Turkey isn't necessarily any healthier or lower in calorie than beef. It's the fat content that matters. In the "old days" when fat content wasn't disclosed, ground turkey usually was lower in fat and calories than ground beef. Turkey skin (fat) is often added to ground turkey so it now can be as fatty and caloric as any ground beef, and ground beef can be leaner and less caloric than turkey breast.

With both ground turkey and beef, the less fat, the higher the price. As someone mentioned, to save money, I buy cheaper, fattier ground meats (beef, turky, pork and even chorizo and other ground sausage) and brown with dry tvp granules (cheap, low in calories, and nearly fat-free) and seasonings and broth. I end up with a 90-95% lean meat equivalent to the expensive lean ground meats, for a per serving price about half of the price of the fattiest, cheapest ground beef (because tvp is about 1/4 the price per serving of cheap beef).

If you're interested just put the words kaplods, tvp, ground beef into your search, or browse the shoestring meals forum, because I've posted several versions of the recipe many times over the past few years.
kaplods is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2013, 09:51 PM   #19  
Senior Member
 
mariposssa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 424

S/C/G: size 20/14/10

Height: 5' 7"

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplods View Post
Turkey isn't necessarily any healthier or lower in calorie than beef. It's the fat content that matters.....With both ground turkey and beef, the less fat, the higher the price. As someone mentioned, to save money, I buy cheaper, fattier ground meats.
That depends....fat/calories don't really factor into my decision. I get ground turkey because it is cheaper; then I add things like garlic, onions, peppers and flax seed to make it healthier. I'm not on a low fat plan and a lot of low carb people actually do high fat instead of high protein now.

Last edited by mariposssa; 03-21-2013 at 10:01 PM.
mariposssa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-23-2013, 01:11 PM   #20  
Senior Member
 
pluckypear's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Toronto Canada
Posts: 1,448

S/C/G: 329/254.6/180?

Height: 5'4"

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by mariposssa View Post
That depends....fat/calories don't really factor into my decision. I get ground turkey because it is cheaper; then I add things like garlic, onions, peppers and flax seed to make it healthier. I'm not on a low fat plan and a lot of low carb people actually do high fat instead of high protein now.
Where I live ground turkey and or chicken are more expensive then ground beef. Even ground beef is expensive. I just eat it rarely but DH is a meataholic. Lol
pluckypear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-23-2013, 03:26 PM   #21  
Senior Member
 
kaplods's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Wausau, WI
Posts: 13,383

S/C/G: SW:394/310/180

Height: 5'6"

Default

I do a moderate-fat low-carb myself, so regardless of whether fat factors into your consideration, I was just pointing out that from a health standpoint, there's no inherent health benefit to turkey over beef, and as pluckypear mentioned, there's not necessarily a monetary advantage either.

In our area, turkey (when you match for protein and fat content) is as expensive or more expensive than beef. I actually preferground chicken best, but it's the most expensive (in my area), and the hardest to find.

Cheap ground turkey (in my area) tends to be made from the dark meat only and also has a lot of skin added, and it tends to have a "funkier" taste, which makes me suspect that internal organ meats are also ground into the mix. In itself, neither is necessarily a bad thing, but I also find there's rarely a cost savings over ground beef with a similar percentage of fat.

I think many people compare the cost of even the cheapest ground turkey to the cost of very lean (and expensive) ground beef, and a better comparison is comparing the cheapest ground turkey to the cheapest ground beef - or to look for labels and compare the protein and fat content. You also have to be aware that sometimes, cheap ground turkey has water added, which can make it harder to compare cost/value ration (which is why comparing fat and protein content will help).

I buy whatever is cheapest, which may be turkey, beef, or pork, which generally ends up being around 75 - 80% fat. Sometimes premium beef and turkey is on a particularly good sale, and I'll buy that. If there's only a small difference between the 80% and the 90%, I might buy the leaner cut, but usually only if I'm making hamburger patties. For ground meat, I almost always buy the cheapest, because I'm going to combine it with the tvp anyway.

Per serving, tvp is about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of even the cheapest ground pork (usually the cheapest ground meat in our area, often less than $1 per pound - well, at least until this past year, now it's usually a little higher than $1).

By combining the tvp with cheap, fattier meats I can choose the fat content simply by adjusting the amount of (virtually fat-free) tvp that I combine with the meat.

TVP can be substituted for ground meat, but it doesn't have much flavor of it's own, and it doesn't have a true meat texture. I don't mind, but hubby HATES tvp on it's own, but when I mix it with meat, he doesn't mind, and usually can't even tell. There's enough meat flavor and texture to keep him happy up to about 3 to 4 parts tvp to 1 of meat. More tvp than that, and he'll start to complain, "how much tvp is in this? It tastes a bit bland."

We used to eat recipes using the ground meat/tvp mixture almost every day, along with beans, because they were the cheapest and most filling protein sources.

Now that I've found that I do best on a pseudo-paleo diet, I have cut back on the meat/tvp mix, but it's just too affordable to give up entirely. (I do still eat small to moderate amounts of cultured dairy, legumes, sweet and waxy potato, and high protein grains like quinoa and wild rice).

My main point was to compare the cost and nutrition of ground turkey against beef (or any other meat including other brands of ground turkey) you can't just compare cost per pound without also knowing the protein and fat content. For example if you compare two brands of ground turkey, you might find that one has less fat AND less protein per pound, that's a sure tip-off that the one with the lower nutritional value has added water to their product.

While I don't worry much about fat content, it's the protein count that matters to me for meal proteins, so I often judge value by cost per gram of protein.

If you were more interested in fat than protein, you could judge value by cost per gram of fat. If you're going to be draining off even some of the fat, it would still pay to judge based on protein count.






Quote:
Originally Posted by mariposssa View Post
....fat/calories don't really factor into my decision. I get ground turkey because it is cheaper; then I add things like garlic, onions, peppers and flax seed to make it healthier. I'm not on a low fat plan and a lot of low carb people actually do high fat instead of high protein now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pluckypear View Post
Where I live ground turkey and or chicken are more expensive then ground beef. Even ground beef is expensive. I just eat it rarely but DH is a meataholic. Lol

Last edited by kaplods; 04-04-2013 at 11:52 PM.
kaplods is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2013, 11:46 AM   #22  
Patience & Tenacity
 
FrecklesTX's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 160

S/C/G: 386/T/154

Height: 5'6"

Default

I like Jennie O's seasoned stuff. Their turkey hot italian sausage is good. Don't even know it it's healthier but it does have fewer calories!

It's taken me awhile to adjust to ground turkey but like everyone else now it's my go-to for taco meat, chili, and spaghetti sauce.

I used to hate it as a meatloaf until I tried a recipe that substitued SF ketchup for tomato sauce and you sauteed the veggies (just onions for me) before mixing it with the turkey. Made the best moist delicious turkey meatloaf evar! Whip up some mashed cauliflower and it's on!!

Last edited by FrecklesTX; 05-26-2013 at 11:48 AM.
FrecklesTX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2013, 12:00 PM   #23  
Senior Member
 
elvislover324's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 3,689

Default

I don't like the idea of chicken sausage but the calorie and fat difference from pork is HUGE! I got the buffalo chicken sausage (I forget the brand but I think there was only 1 at the market) and it was SO good. It cured the craving for sausage and it was literally half the calories and a third of the fat. YUM!
elvislover324 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2013, 12:20 PM   #24  
Senior Member
 
bargoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Davis, Ca
Posts: 23,149

S/C/G: 204/114/120

Height: 5'

Default

I make chili using ground turkey and people ask me for my recipe, not suspecting that it is ground turkey rather than ground beef.
bargoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2013, 12:40 PM   #25  
Slender Nerdess Inside...
 
tehshort1's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Port St Lucie, Fl
Posts: 257

S/C/G: 201/see ticker/140

Height: 5'0"

Default

I really enjoy the ground turkey. My husband and I gloss right over the ground beef at the grocery store. While it does taste different, I tend to like it a bit more. It tastes awesome in my DH's chilli and such. I recommend checking it out.
tehshort1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2013, 09:17 AM   #26  
Senior Member
 
celigirl88's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: CT
Posts: 285

S/C/G: 165/137/120

Height: 4'11''

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 427pounder View Post
Interesting that you mention your stomach being on fire. I got heart burn the first time I ate a ground turkey burger. I wonder what's with that.
I have no idea!! It happens every now and then where it will make me so sick, and I'll get CRAZY heartburn. I wonder if it's something in the meat that beef doesn't have.
celigirl88 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2013, 10:23 AM   #27  
Senior Member
 
100Mother's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Seattle Area
Posts: 228

S/C/G: Not Moving/In Training/Ironman

Height: 5'6

Default

I usually choose ground turkey, though sometimes I can tell my body just WANTS some red meat so I'll go for lean organic ground beef. When I use ground turkey, I definitely agree that you need to season it. I also try to add black beans, because it makes it taste 'meatier' to me? Not sure if that makes sense. Example: Ground Turkey & Black Bean Tacos and Hamburgers, etc.
100Mother is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2013, 09:14 AM   #28  
Senior Member
 
CherryPie99's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Northern NY
Posts: 1,921

S/C/G: 344/119/116

Height: 5'1"

Default

I use ground turkey and ground beef. I buy the 93% lean beef and 93% or 99% ground turkey. I also use ground chicken. I eat whatever I'm in the mood for. There is not a huge difference in calories and fat.

Last edited by CherryPie99; 06-07-2013 at 09:14 AM.
CherryPie99 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2013, 09:29 AM   #29  
Claim it ,Achieve it!
 
Roo2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Illinois
Posts: 712

S/C/G: 212/104.2/120

Height: 5'2"

Default

I have tried Ground Turkey several times seasoned it well...and found it lacking.
Too expensive for me to spend money on something that I do not enjoy eating..
so I just buy lean ground beef.

maybe later down the road I will give it a try...but Ground Turkey here is expensive....maybe my tastebuds will change...
Roo2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-24-2013, 10:20 AM   #30  
Senior Member
 
BettyBooty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Maryland
Posts: 373

S/C/G: see ticker

Height: 5'4"

Default

When I eat ground meat, I choose 93/7 beef. I've tried ground turkey and just didn't care for it.
BettyBooty is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:33 AM.


We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.