I'm talking about the chicken breast I grilled last night. Yesterday, I needed to take out some chicken to defrost before using it for dinner.
I've read articles and other blog posts about how our chicken breasts have increased in size over the last several year for a variety of reasons - antibiotics, hormones, chicken feed, small cages, deliberate breeding. And now I'm afraid that my beloved Costco bag-o-chicken has succumb to one (or all) of the above.
The protein in my main meals consists mostly of chicken and/or beans. I eat red meat less than once a month, pork on a rare occasion and never cook it for myself, and can't eat seafood. So chicken is a mainstay in my diet. The big bags are really cost effective for the amount of chicken I use. While the organic and free-range chicken is certainly appealing, the cost and the (sometimes) difficulty in getting it prevents me from doing so. A friend of mine who tends to shop on the organic side of things told me she also buys her chicken at Costco, but it's organic. The breasts, she said, are definitely normal chicken breast size. I'll have to do some comparative shopping and maybe some more research before I buy anymore, however the new bag of chicken has scarcely been used. The problem is, after seeing that super-breast and the others in the bag, I'm a bit hesitant to use anymore. The thought of it has given me a slight case of the heebee jeebees.
I know exactly what you mean about the size of chicken breasts these days. The only time I've found it helpful is when I buy a package of two, still on the bone, to boil and shred for casseroles. One package alone can provide what calls for a whole chicken!
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm immersed in my new WFPBD, it makes things even harder when cooking for my husband. Based on the size of the portions, he might have to eat the dish for days!
Yes! It makes for using less pieces that's for sure. I've never had a boneless one weigh a pound before. That's HEAVY!
DeleteI'm not sure what WFPBD is?!?! Is it a clean eating or paleo type diet? But I understand the eating a dish for days. I make 1-2 dishes a week and eat them for the week between lunch and dinner. By the end of the week, I'm ready for a new recipe!
My doctor encouraged me to try a "whole food plant based diet". It's the way he's eaten for a few years and he really believes in the health benefits. It's very much like a vegan diet. It's been over a month and going well so far.
DeleteGood for you! I love me some cheese and bread...Moderation I can do, but cold turkey would make me grumpy. :)
DeleteThey pump regular chicken and meat generally with filler. Whey, sugars and water tend to be the go to stuff here in Europe but they can use other protenes to lock in the waterbut generally it's whey. This can be anything up to 30% of the weight. So if you work the maths buying the untreated organic isn't that much more. I don't know how it is with you but I expect it's not to different.
ReplyDeleteToo much chicken fed to a man will result in a hissyfit about how the loo paper is placed in the holder. :-)
Yes, I'm afraid that is true about the chicken. I guess that's just a fact about it, especially when the very standards that are supposed to protect us as consumers allow it. There's been lots of info out there about how organic isn't really all it's cracked up to be either as they are still allowed to do certain things to food and call it organic. But the product that was recommended to me comes with good reviews, so I may try it.
DeleteAs for too much chicken, I have no problem cooking other things, but when what is cooked lasts for DAYS I just can't justify making so much of a variety. Chicken and the veg meals seem to do leftovers better than the other meats which is my logic. Plus, I always place the paper in the bathroom (loo) the right way. And with huge breasts, what's there to complain about. ;)
Oh I did that too. A big pot filled with veg and a meat. These days I'm buying to cook in ones and twos and find the 3 pack a bit of a nuisance for I end up eating two meals of the same thing. But that I can live with.
DeleteWhen I do make a pot I have it the 1st day and let it sit outside the fridge for the rest of that day then portion it into tupperware for days I don't want to cook.
Well :-) not being a breast man size isn't important to me. And frankly any guy that complains about size is an idiot or gay or mother fixated. If the fool doesn't know how to make his woman feel wanted, beautiful and hot by his hunger for her, and if she doesn't feel a delight with what her breasts -whatever the size- does for her man he's doing it wrong.
And Yeah, any guy who's ever lived with a woman knows you rarely feel 'everything' is beautiful. It can be the bane of a young man's existence when he moves in with a woman for we have this testosterone driven need to solve problems. But trying to solve that one is like trying to stop a tide. But we can show you we treasure you. Not worship, only girls want to be worshiped, women know treasured means their man thinks they are strong.
Very well put. Worship can only last so long, and that pedestal can be a long way down. I like "treasure". That's a good word.
DeleteThere is a critter outside that Rigby is OBSESSED over this week. I'm not sure if it's a rabbit or squirrel or what, but she just laps the back yard looking for it and guarding the house from it. When I finally bribe her back inside, she's just exhausted.
Oh, what could it be. Nothing that could damage her. You don't have those big cats that might view her as lunch ?. I know in theory at least you are in the range of the Puma. But how 'in the hills' are you. Is it edge of city or a finger of housing projecting into a wild mountain with it on three sides of you.
DeleteAnyway I how I hope it goes so she can relax.
We haven't had any of the mountain lion sightings like they've had in the Hollywood Hills, so I don't think it's that. We do have coyotes in ours, but I haven't seen any roaming the neighborhood since I've moved in so they're not coming down as far as I can tell. It's something that scurries. She takes off after it and runs along the fence line. I can't see it so I know it's small.
DeleteShe's now curled up on my bed as she decided to pretend she was sick last night so I'd let her out about 2am. She then proceeded to chase it along the fence and sit in the middle of the yard as alert as can be...didn't look sick to me! She had no intention of moving so I left her out there and went back to bed. Such a stinker!
How is the 2nd week of your exhibition at the library? I hope it's going well.
a CAT !!!!!!. I had to be quite writing that word, Jessy has her issues. I cat would stay in a range until it found something better. It something semi tame and knows dogs. A wild animal would've left once it knew Rigby was there. The stress of her would send them to a place nearby without a dog/cat to worry them. Of course that's my twopenceworth. But then I don't get how a wild cat entered 30 miles into the one of the biggest cities in the world without being spotted. And even though I get they could move in from the west crossing Topanga, you'd still expect a sighting before Bel Air.
Delete:) Could be a C-A-T. She's at it again tonight. Just begging to get outside. Whatever it is, it's tormenting her.
DeleteI hope your final recipe comes out tasty.
ReplyDeleteOh ya, it was fine. I'm having a bit of a mental block about it though, thinking it tastes funny, but really it's fine. :) Every so often I find a food thing to obsess over - my last one was arsenic in rice. Now it's injected chicken. I'm sure it too shall pass.
DeleteWe get the Costco bags of thighs and legs for BBQing...but I have noticed the thighs are fatty lately....so it is organic we go too!
ReplyDeleteI have been buying organic chicken for the same reason. I don't usually use organic anything...but the chicken is our main meat so with hormones and stuff. I have changed to organic.
ReplyDelete