Thread: Real cost of food after preparation

James Silverton wrote:
>
> Hello All!
>
> I recently worked out the rather ridiculous cost of fresh store-bought
> fava beans. I wonder if anyone has calculated the real cost of other
> foods, particularly vegetables?

> I don't eat fresh green peas often but I
> wonder how much of the weight you buy comes from the pods themselves

Buy snap or snow peas where the only waste is the tiny bit of stem.

> and
> how much do you trim off asparagus before cooking it?

That depends on how frugal you are. I trim the very bottom 1/8" or so
which is dried out, and then I trim the nice tender upper part from the
remainder. The parts all go in the steamer, and when the upper parts are
done they come out and are eaten as meal one. The tougher lower parts
steam a bit longer, and are then made into cream of asparagus soup for
meal two. Total waste is very minimal.

>
> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is trout where
> the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I don't trust any fish
> seller displaying trout filets ("for your convenience" or so you can't
> see the eyes.)

Well, since most of that trout is farm raised and was frozen, the
fillets are just fine.

Pete wrote on Tue, 25 May 2010 10:01:48 -0500:


> James Silverton wrote:
>>
>> Hello All!
>>
>> I recently worked out the rather ridiculous cost of fresh
>> store-bought fava beans. I wonder if anyone has calculated
>> the real cost of other foods, particularly vegetables?

>> I don't eat fresh green peas often but I
>> wonder how much of the weight you buy comes from the pods
>> themselves

> Buy snap or snow peas where the only waste is the tiny bit of
> stem.

>> and
>> how much do you trim off asparagus before cooking it?

> That depends on how frugal you are. I trim the very bottom
> 1/8" or so which is dried out, and then I trim the nice tender
> upper part from the remainder. The parts all go in the
> steamer, and when the upper parts are done they come out and
> are eaten as meal one. The tougher lower parts steam a bit
> longer, and are then made into cream of asparagus soup for
> meal two. Total waste is very minimal.

>> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is
>> trout where the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I
>> don't trust any fish seller displaying trout filets ("for
>> your convenience" or so you can't see the eyes.)

>:Well, since most of that trout is farm raised and was frozen, the
>fillets are just fine.

You are obviously more frugal than me to use trimmings as you do and
while, snow peas are fine in their place, I just buy frozen little peas,
which are quite satisfactory. My experience with the freshness of trout
filets has not been very satisfactory and the deboned trout that I buy
has not been frozen. I like to broil trout in its skin and there is then
little chance of overcooking.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Tue, 25 May 2010 11:14:33 -0400, "James Silverton"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Pete wrote on Tue, 25 May 2010 10:01:48 -0500:
>
>
>> James Silverton wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello All!
>>>
>>> I recently worked out the rather ridiculous cost of fresh
>>> store-bought fava beans. I wonder if anyone has calculated
>>> the real cost of other foods, particularly vegetables?
>
>>> I don't eat fresh green peas often but I
>>> wonder how much of the weight you buy comes from the pods
>>> themselves
>
>> Buy snap or snow peas where the only waste is the tiny bit of
>> stem.
>
>>> and
>>> how much do you trim off asparagus before cooking it?
>
>> That depends on how frugal you are. I trim the very bottom
>> 1/8" or so which is dried out, and then I trim the nice tender
>> upper part from the remainder. The parts all go in the
>> steamer, and when the upper parts are done they come out and
>> are eaten as meal one. The tougher lower parts steam a bit
>> longer, and are then made into cream of asparagus soup for
>> meal two. Total waste is very minimal.
>
>>> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is
>>> trout where the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I
>>> don't trust any fish seller displaying trout filets ("for
>>> your convenience" or so you can't see the eyes.)
>
>>:Well, since most of that trout is farm raised and was frozen, the
>>fillets are just fine.
>
>You are obviously more frugal than me to use trimmings as you do and
>while, snow peas are fine in their place, I just buy frozen little peas,
>which are quite satisfactory. My experience with the freshness of trout
>filets has not been very satisfactory and the deboned trout that I buy
>has not been frozen. I like to broil trout in its skin and there is then
>little chance of overcooking.

Trout in a cast iron frying pan over an open fire, butter, salt/pepper
is nothing better. Broil is second best.

On May 25, 7:26*am, "James Silverton" <not.jim.silver...@verizon.net>
wrote:
> Hello All!
>
> I recently worked out the rather ridiculous cost of fresh store-bought
> fava beans. I wonder if anyone has calculated the real cost of other
> foods, particularly vegetables? I don't eat fresh green peas often but I
> wonder how much of the weight you buy comes from the pods themselves and
> how much do you trim off asparagus before cooking it?
>

What puzzles me is why is chicken cheaper than vegetables? Vegetables
used to be cheaper, right?(Other than potatoes) I know there is
wastage because of the bones, but still.

I peel the butts of the asparagus. If it is green and tender, it all
goes in. My wife snaps the butts and discards them, but usually the
top half of the butts (if that makes sense) is edible.

Then after eating it isn't worth ****. Oh, wait, yes it is.

--Bryan

"spamtrap1888" <[email protected]> wrote

What puzzles me is why is chicken cheaper than vegetables? Vegetables
used to be cheaper, right?(Other than potatoes) I know there is
wastage because of the bones, but still.

**************************************************
Meat in the US is really very cheap. That does not mean it is good though.
Pork and chicken are raised in factories, not farms, and the process is
rather streamlined getting it from live animal to the table.

A fellow I know is doing some work for a pork producer. The facility he is
at slaughters 18,000 hogs per 10 hour day, six days a week. It is just
minutes from the live truck in to the finished product being trucked out.

James Silverton wrote:

> Hello All!
>
> I recently worked out the rather ridiculous cost of fresh
> store-bought fava beans. I wonder if anyone has calculated the real
> cost of other foods, particularly vegetables? I don't eat fresh green
> peas often but I wonder how much of the weight you buy comes from the
> pods themselves and how much do you trim off asparagus before cooking
> it?
>
> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is trout
> where the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I don't trust any
> fish seller displaying trout filets ("for your convenience" or so you
> can't see the eyes.)

You also need to include the cost of the extra time you spend on
preparation and shopping.

--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com, insanejournal.com)

spamtrap1888 wrote:

>
> What puzzles me is why is chicken cheaper than vegetables? Vegetables
> used to be cheaper, right?(Other than potatoes) I know there is
> wastage because of the bones, but still.
>



Possibly because we eat vegetables from another hemisphere for half the
year? If you consider what is not available "fresh" grown in the U.S.
during the winter, we'd be living on canned or frozen for six months
but we choose to eat asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, melon and berries
etc. all winter. They didn't walk from Chile to your neighborhood
grocer's by themselves. And the grocer's overhead costs don't go down
just because produce is in season, so there's not much motivation to
lower prices in the summer except for weekly "loss leaders".

gloria p

James Silverton wrote:
> Hello All!
>
> I recently worked out the rather ridiculous cost of fresh store-bought
> fava beans. I wonder if anyone has calculated the real cost of other
> foods, particularly vegetables? I don't eat fresh green peas often but I
> wonder how much of the weight you buy comes from the pods themselves and
> how much do you trim off asparagus before cooking it?


I usually only buy asparagus when it is in season and I buy it at a
neighbourhood fruit and vegetable stand. I don't have to break off much,
and I like asparagus so much that I am willing to pay for the tail
ends that get chucked. I love fresh peas, but I find them obscenely
expensive. You buy a quart basket of them for about $4 and after
spending more than 20 minutes shelling them you have enough for two
scant servings.

For those of us you like asparagus and peas, there is a similar
vegetable that is available for only a short time in the spring....
fiddleheads. There is very little waste. You just scrap off that little
bit of brown beard around the sides and soak them in salt water for a
while, then boil them. They are quite tasty.

> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is trout where
> the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I don't trust any fish
> seller displaying trout filets ("for your convenience" or so you can't
> see the eyes.)

Around here we can buy whole small trout, but the larger ones are
usually filleted because they can split them down the middle and sell
one side or one end. I often buy trout fillets.

Dave Smith wrote:

> For those of us you like asparagus and peas, there is a similar vegetable
> that is available for only a short time in the spring.... fiddleheads.
> There is very little waste. You just scrap off that little bit of brown
> beard around the sides and soak them in salt water for a while, then boil
> them. They are quite tasty.

With fiddleheads, there appears to be a trade-off between palatability and
toxicity. The longer you cook them, the less toxic they become, but the
worse they taste. If you get the timing JUST RIGHT, you end up with
something tasty which won't give you a day or two of misery.

<http://blogs.wsj.com/magazine/2009/04/28/mini-specialist-found-foodfiddlehead-ferns/>
is a pretty good article about fiddleheads, including some suggestions for
what to do with them.

Bob

Dave Smith wrote:


> For those of us you like asparagus and peas, there is a similar
> vegetable that is available for only a short time in the spring....
> fiddleheads. There is very little waste. You just scrap off that little
> bit of brown beard around the sides and soak them in salt water for a
> while, then boil them. They are quite tasty.

It's probably been a month or so, but I found fiddleheads at Whole
Foods. At $16.99/lb. I had to wonder if they are worth it -- and how
many it takes to be a serving. I'd rather get chanterelles at that price
(which is what they average at WF). Not too long after that, we were
staying in Los Gatos and I was doing one of my usual photo safaris. Came
across some gorgeous ferns on the grounds and thought about those
fiddleheads. Are all ferns edible?

http://i47.tinypic.com/b6xzf4.jpg

>> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is trout where
>> the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I don't trust any fish
>> seller displaying trout filets ("for your convenience" or so you can't
>> see the eyes.)

I love whole trout, too. Albertsons butcher block used to sell a golden
trout (most likely farmed) that had a lot of meat on them. It's been a
while since I've seen one of those pretty fish in any store.

> Around here we can buy whole small trout, but the larger ones are
> usually filleted because they can split them down the middle and sell
> one side or one end. I often buy trout fillets.

When I don't feel like messing with bones (my one complaint of trout)
I'll get fillets if the price is right.

--Lin

Lin wrote on Tue, 25 May 2010 13:09:48 -0700:

>> For those of us you like asparagus and peas, there is a
>> similar vegetable that is available for only a short time in the
>> spring.... fiddleheads. There is very little waste. You
>> just scrap off that little bit of brown beard around the
>> sides and soak them in salt water for a while, then boil
>> them. They are quite tasty.

> It's probably been a month or so, but I found fiddleheads at
> Whole Foods. At $16.99/lb. I had to wonder if they are worth
> it -- and how many it takes to be a serving. I'd rather get
> chanterelles at that price (which is what they average at WF).
> Not too long after that, we were staying in Los Gatos and I
> was doing one of my usual photo safaris. Came across some
> gorgeous ferns on the grounds and thought about those fiddleheads. Are
> all ferns edible?

> http://i47.tinypic.com/b6xzf4.jpg

>>> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is
>>> trout where the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I
>>> don't trust any fish seller displaying trout filets ("for
>>> your convenience" or so you can't see the eyes.)

> I love whole trout, too. Albertsons butcher block used to sell
> a golden trout (most likely farmed) that had a lot of meat on them.
> It's been a while since I've seen one of those pretty
> fish in any store.

>> Around here we can buy whole small trout, but the larger ones
>> are usually filleted because they can split them down the
>> middle and sell one side or one end. I often buy trout
>> fillets.

> When I don't feel like messing with bones (my one complaint of
> trout) I'll get fillets if the price is right.

I think I mentioned that the trout I buy is deboned tho' head, skin and
tail are still on.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton wrote:
>
> Hello All!
>
> I recently worked out the rather ridiculous cost of fresh store-bought
> fava beans. I wonder if anyone has calculated the real cost of other
> foods, particularly vegetables? I don't eat fresh green peas often but I
> wonder how much of the weight you buy comes from the pods themselves and
> how much do you trim off asparagus before cooking it?
>
> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is trout where
> the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I don't trust any fish
> seller displaying trout filets ("for your convenience" or so you can't
> see the eyes.)
>


Depends on what you call 'wastage' really.

'Fresh' peas in the pods, the pods go into the vegetable stock pot. In
our family, asparagus ends also ended up in the soup pot.

When we have fresh trout, only the head is removed after cooking. If
sauteed properly, the skin is crisp and delicious. ?Why throw it away?
Only the very end of the tail needs to be removed; the flesh can be
eaten to that point. The bits you throw away can be used to make fish
stock in any case.

Normally I don't peel carrots; that's for 'company' food LOL.
Unfortunately TMU prefers her potatoes peeled, but on my own they don't
get peeled for boiling.

"Arri London" wrote:

> Normally I don't peel carrots; that's for 'company' food LOL.
------------------------------------------
You want an argument, change the subject.

I just scrub them with a 3M pad and call it a day.

Don't know if it's true or not, but was always taught that most of the
"food value" of most vegetables was next to the skin.

Some things you don't forget<G>.

Lew

Lin wrote:

>> For those of us you like asparagus and peas, there is a similar
>> vegetable that is available for only a short time in the spring....
>> fiddleheads. There is very little waste. You just scrap off that
>> little bit of brown beard around the sides and soak them in salt water
>> for a while, then boil them. They are quite tasty.
>
> It's probably been a month or so, but I found fiddleheads at Whole
> Foods. At $16.99/lb. I had to wonder if they are worth it -- and how
> many it takes to be a serving.

$16.99 per pound??? Wow. I thought that they were expensive at $5 per
pound. If they are normal size, 6-8 would make a good portion. They
are tasty, but as I said, they are similar in taste to asparagus and
fresh peas, so anyone who doesn't like those things may not lake them.

Lew Hodgett wrote:
>
> "Arri London" wrote:
>
> > Normally I don't peel carrots; that's for 'company' food LOL.
> ------------------------------------------
> You want an argument, change the subject.

Hah!
>
> I just scrub them with a 3M pad and call it a day.
>
> Don't know if it's true or not, but was always taught that most of the
> "food value" of most vegetables was next to the skin.
>
> Some things you don't forget<G>.
>
> Lew


It's more about my being a really lazy sod!

My grandmother certainly carefully peeled most vegetables prior to
cooking.

Arri wrote on Tue, 25 May 2010 18:13:42 -0600:


> James Silverton wrote:
>>
>> Hello All!
>>
>> I recently worked out the rather ridiculous cost of fresh
>> store-bought fava beans. I wonder if anyone has calculated
>> the real cost of other foods, particularly vegetables? I
>> don't eat fresh green peas often but I wonder how much of the
>> weight you buy comes from the pods themselves and how much do
>> you trim off asparagus before cooking it?
>>
>> Another food that I like with a large amount of wastage is
>> trout where the skin, head and tail have to be removed. I
>> don't trust any fish seller displaying trout filets ("for
>> your convenience" or so you can't see the eyes.)
>>
> Depends on what you call 'wastage' really.

> 'Fresh' peas in the pods, the pods go into the vegetable stock
> pot. In our family, asparagus ends also ended up in the soup
> pot.

> When we have fresh trout, only the head is removed after
> cooking. If sauteed properly, the skin is crisp and delicious.
> ?Why throw it away? Only the very end of the tail needs to be
> removed; the flesh can be eaten to that point. The bits you
> throw away can be used to make fish stock in any case.

I have tried various crisp fish skins from time to time and I find most
of them disgusting and that includes salmon skin sushi hand rolls and
Japanese grilled eel. The fish oils seem to concentrate in the skin and
I just don't like it. I admit that I did once or twice enjoy some *very
fresh* deep-fried sole.

I don't make stock or soup from scratch tho' I quite like miso soup and
Hawaiian Saimin but I use prepared store-bought Japanese stock for
those.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Sat, 29 May 2010 15:13:21 -0400, "James Silverton"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I have tried various crisp fish skins from time to time and I find most

this is where I said UGH

> of them disgusting and that includes salmon skin sushi hand rolls and
> Japanese grilled eel.

Same conclusion. TY. I don't order those things because they don't
sound like I'd like them. I did try Unagi and it was fine, but I
still can't order it because just the thought of eel makes me queasy.


--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

In article <[email protected]>,
sf <[email protected]> wrote:

> Same conclusion. TY. I don't order those things because they don't
> sound like I'd like them. I did try Unagi and it was fine, but I
> still can't order it because just the thought of eel makes me queasy.

Oh! Me, too! The eel, even though it is cooked, just creeps me out.
I imagine if I were starving, I would eat it, but we are not starving,
so those who like it can have my share.

Regards,
Ranee @ Arabian Knits

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/