Hamburger Helper Points Help
 

I have a mix here that is 2 pts/serving as packaged without the meat. So I'm figuring 3 points for a serving with turkey and 4 with ground beef, 85% lean. Thoughts? I want to make a batch and use it for work lunches.
thanks,
D

Utilize the calorie database here or use something like Calorie King and total the cal/fat/fiber for all ingredients and divide by the number of servings. Don't forget some of them you add other things to (milk?) so you would have to calculate that amount in too.

DH eats HH ALOT!!!!! Most are 7 points per cup with the leanest hamburger, some are as much as 9. Don't forget they have milk in them as well as the meat. If you tell me the specific flavors I can help you figure the points. Or you can use the databases like calore king :)

Frankly I don't find the worth the points. For 7-9 points for a mere cup I could eat 4 ounces of grilled chicken, 1/2 of mashed potatoes, and still have points for a 2 point treat in the evening. I don't find one cup of that stuff filling. But we eat it ALOT!! So I add lots of zero points veggies to my plate and eat maybe a half a cup.

If you do figure the points let us know, I am curious if turkey is less, not that DH would eat turkey LOL. We get our beef from our farm, dairy cows are very lean, so lean in fact I have to add water to the pan to keep the beef from sticking b/c there just isn't enough fat. Store meat now grosses me out and I still find I have to drain thier 95% lean, which I never have to do with the meat we get.

Better than that would be to make your own casseroles
 

You can control the ingredients and end up with a more healthful product. Weight Watchers cookbooks and other diet cookbooks have terrific recipes for ground meat, and they really aren't all that much harder than using that stuff in a box that's full of chemicals and maybe even transfats, which are the worst things on earth according to a recent article I read. You could make up one or two casseroles and then eat them all week. If I make a baked ziti, for example, I double the recipe and then I don't have to cook in the middle of the week.

I try not to eat that type of stuff, not b/c I don't like it, but b/c it's loaded with preservatives and tons of sodium. Ground turkey (93% lean) is 16 pts per lb, I bought Perdue and it had the nutritional info on the pcks and I used the point finder. Try browning ground turkey and add a ton of veggies to it, and use a can of pasta sauce, I like Hunts Chunky Vegetable spaghetti sauce (26 oz), add herbs you like and it's really good. And it gets even better the next day. :)

dairy cows
 

Yep, they stay nice and lean. All their fat goes to production of the milk! :) Do you raise any goats for dairy as well?