Ground Meat Comparison

Since I'm an "adult" now, I've always tried to watch what I eat. But I got into a conversation with my son about how closely I watch it. Fortunately I research everything, and have actually learned some things from the next generation. I was brought up that ground turkey was better for you than ground beef. But guess what? In all of my research, butchers have caught up to the difference. This entry is about comparing the nutritional contents of ground beef to ground turkey.

"Back in the day," I was brought up that ground turkey was better for you than ground beef. But, the manufacturers of beef have progressed. So, here is my research between the two (due to research on buying both, and online). I'm going to share the RAW information, since I don't know how you prepare it... The ground meat for turkey was 97/3 and the beef was 95/5.

	Turkey	Beef
Serving Size	100g	100g
Calories	149	137
Calories from fat	75	45
Total Fat	8g	5g
Saturated Fat	2g	2g
Cholesterol	79mg	62mg
Sodium	94mg	66mg
Carbs	0	0
Protein	17g	21g
Vitamin A	0	0
Calcium	1%	1%
Vitamin C	0%	0%
Iron	7%	13%

Bottom line? HMMMMM. Seems to me that beef is healthier than turkey. The only real differences are in taste and price. Beef costs more than turkey, but it is "better" for you if you can find the right blend. It ultimately comes down to selection of the mix. I compared apples to apples here. If you select a lower cut of meat, that will change the chart. But, you need to watch it if you care about your health...

A Lifetime of Using Polka Dot Casserole as a Guide

The following is a recipe from the 1970s for Polka Dot Macaroni & Cheese Casserole. By keeping a copy of this and listening to my Grandmother's advice that "recipes are a GUIDELINE and raid your pantry to use what you have," I've also given you a list of my other recipes & suggestions based on this.

Polka Dot Macaroni & Cheese Casserole (original)

• 7 oz. macaroni (cooked & drained)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 11 oz cheddar cheese soup (1 can)
• 2 hot dogs, cut into penny thin slices

1. Heat oven to 375 F
2. Spread macaroni in oblong baking dish (10 x 16 x 1 1/2")
3. Blend milk & Worcestershire sauce with soup in a bowl
4. Pour over macaroni, stirring to mix well
5. Arrange hot dog slices on top of macaroni & cheese
6. Bake 25 mins or until mixture is hot and bubbly

Recent Recipe Modifications

• Mish-Mash Casserole
• Homemade "Hamburger Helper" Casserole
• Homemade "Chicken Helper" Casserole
• Ditto Casserole (with hot dogs)
• Pepperoni Dot Casserole 

Suggestions

✔ I recommend using the toaster oven because:

• I'm cooking for myself & the other few "dinner guests" that are here
• They still all serve 4-6, depending on how you cut it
• There are STILL leftovers
• My entry about living in an apartment but trying to cut utility costs (click HERE to read it)

✔ I use an 8x6x2 Pyres casserole dish, because it fits into my toaster oven
✔ Oil or grease the casserole dish before you pour the mixture
✔ My recipes above save cost at the grocery store because you make it more from scratch
✔ There are less "preservatives" and "additives" in my recipes than a boxed meal

Corned Beef & St. Patrick's Day

Corned Beef Hash breakfast via Wikipedia

Something that has been on my mind for a few decades, is why Irish-Americans gravitate to eating corned beef on St. Patrick's Day and drink a lot of green beer. Okay, I understand the green beer part, but I've always wondered about corned beef since I've never eaten it and have received a LOT of junk mail promoting it for breakfast and lunch on St. Patrick's Day. So, I am going to summarize based on these 3 key websites (and yes, this is my bibliography):

• The Corned Beef entry on Wikipedia
• The Irish Culture and Customs
• The St. Patrick's Day Myths

The name of corned beef most likely came about when meat was dry-cured with salt in Europe and the Middle East. The word "corn" derives from Old English which describes the meat being dry-cured in CORNS of salt. The pellets of salt were approximately the size of kernels of corn and were rubbed into the meat to keep it from spoiling.

Canned Corned Beef via Wikipedia

Irish corned beef was used and traded extensively from the 1600s to the mid 1800s for England and as provisions for the British naval fleets & North American armies due to its non-perishable nature. It was traded to the French for feeding the colonists and slaves in their Caribbean sugar plantations. Corned beef as a commodity started to die out in the mid 1800s when slavery was abolished but it did have a resurgence during World War II in the canned form. Makes me wonder about where Spam started.

During the Great Potato Famine, raising cattle to sustain the British Isle and Atlantic trade crowded out land in Ireland for other agricultural development and prevented the raising of crops to feed the local population. Which is why a ton of people from Ireland emigrated to the U.S. Because beef was less expensive than pork here, that is why the Irish immigrants substituted it in recipes on holidays.

Which leads me to my conclusion. According to all of the research & reading that I've been doing, corned beef on St. Patrick's Day is an Irish-American tradition, not a true Irish national tradition. That's why I haven't had it yet and why I'll be making a bacon joint instead...