To think this is far too much food?

[LemonSherbetFancies]

Made a saucepan of bolognese mince and DP gave it to my 2 grandkids aged 8 and 9. Alongside pasta. They ate the lot. Aibu to think this is far too much food for 2 kids and also annoyed as although I hadn't said, it was also meant to be for us. He knew I was late him from work so feel a bit pissed off that I know have to cook something else.

I probably haven't eaten much of either in the last 15 years or so but from what I remember they were stodgy.

My DD when they were 8 or 9 year olds never overate at mealtimes. Snacks - sure. I've seen them eat a whole pizza each or massive bowl of spag bol when they were younger than that, especially on holiday, as they were starving and had been extremely active that day and hadn't had any snacks, and were perhaps eating later in the day also.

So in isolation, it's certainly not too much food. I just thought OP was making a snidey point about childhood obesity and perhaps how her grandchildren were being parented.

I don't think it sounds like a great meal TBH, we put lots of different veg into a pasta meal because it's tastier, but it also that fixes up the proportions, which should be more veg and less meat than just a tin of tomatoes and a bit of onion. It's also about the range of nutrients, which you can't get from only 2 veg in a meal. Energetic growing kids can get really hungry, so I'd have no issue with them eating everything available as long as they aren't getting fat and didn't waste it.

I'm not sure why you suggested the food was for "us" and then said actually none for your DH. You could easily have popped some veg in a pesto and that would have sorted your dinner out, it really seems a bit mean to want to deprive the kids instead.

@LavenderAskew I can't say I have ever delved into a Bolognese thread on here before, and with some of the horrors I have witnessed I daren't click on one again!

I will be genuinely very sad if those three ingredients are what you call bolognese/ ragu.

Genuinely sad?!

Active 8 or 9 year olds will need 1600-1800 calories a day, which is more than I eat most days. We didn't eat out much, but I remember being able to eat a three course meal at the pub at that age.

If they were hungry enough to eat it then it wasn’t too much food

Of course. Us Brits are well known for regulating our food intake correctly

All these responses of ‘if they ate it then it was the right portion size for them’ make it abundantly clear why this country is dealing with an obesity crisis.

Shall we just let the kids eat and eat and eat? Let the little poppets keep eating, or take responsibility for the health of the next generation? Sugary it may not be but unless made with 5% fat meat, bolognaise is high in saturated fat and the amount the OP’s GC ate could be near enough an entire day’s requirement for saturated fat.

@PurpleDaisies

You don't own the term spag bol.

Weirdly aggressive response.

What I meant was if I said I was making spag Bol for dinner, most people would know what that meant. Asian (or Indian, or loads of chilli or whatever) would be unexpected. I’d probably call it Asian style bolognese or something.

What was aggressive about it? I just stated a fact

"Asian style bolognese* could mean it's served with rice.

Bolognans say spaghetti bolognese should actually be made with tagliatelle, so you've been making it wrong as well

12 portions? Gosh I must eat a lot, I would say that would be a meal for 2 adults and 2 kids with some leftovers for the next day. Maybe 6 portions total.

@C8H10N4O2

My Italian ancestors would be turning in their graves. TURNING, I tell you!

Honestly? My Italian godmother from and still in the region wouldn't make the local ragu without it.

Hand on heart. I have family in Bologna who would be incredulous.

Although they think our version of Spaghetti Bolognese is an abomination anyway.

@ZenNudist
500g of mince makes 12 portions and more?! That's 40g of mince a portion.

For reference this is 60g of mince so 33% more than the portion size you claim.

Mumsnet magic mince. Or just a family of desperately hungry people.

So your husband fed your grandkids and you are annoyed?? My mum would give her grandchildren her last crumb and happily. It obviously wasn’t enough for 4 or they wouldn’t have been able to eat it all. You sound very mean

If they ate it, they were hungry therefore it was not too much. YABU.

@Marmite27

Yes, have heard of Soffrito but my auntie wouldn't dare put it in her ragù - the family recipe has never contained it.
That's why I'm so shocked that so many people quote it as normal!

Hey, you learn something new every day!

Yeah, tbf, I can't eat that much and I am obese!

It is way too much IMO, I can get 6 servings usually out of a pack of 500g mince if children are having it as well.

@Beachbreak2411

So your husband fed your grandkids and you are annoyed?? My mum would give her grandchildren her last crumb and happily. It obviously wasn’t enough for 4 or they wouldn’t have been able to eat it all. You sound very mean

Why is it always women who are expected to go without? Or cook more food?

Note that OP's husband didn't cook her a meal after he served all the mince to the DGC, because he doesn't eat it.

OP was expected to come home and cook another meal.

@HarebrightCedarmoon

I was hoping somebody else other than me was thinking this! If I understand correctly, in Italy pasta is a starter served in small portions with just a small amount of ragu or other sauce, and followed by a main course of meat or fish and vegetables or salad. I assume Italian restaurants here found that British people were unable to adapt to this so turned spag bol into a main meal dish with a vast amount of meat. Most bol/ragu recipes I see on here are more like a mince stew with veg. Tasty, I'm sure, but bearing as much resemblance to an Italian dish as old school British curries did.

Who cares what they do in Italy though? We're not in Italy. It's not Right and Correct to eat pasta that way, it's just different.

I didn't say it wasn't right and correct, I'm just interested in food history. When I was growing up in the 1960s the nearest we ever got to spag bol was a Heinz tin. It fascinates me that it's become a midweek staple that nobody finds exotic in the years since.

The Radio 4 programme linked above was really interesting on this. Thanks for the recommendation, @Doomscrolling!

Link again for anyone else who's interested. 30 minutes long, good fun.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0002rk8

@LemonSherbetFancies

Sorry just a standard pack of meat and was meant to be for all 4 of us not just the kids.

WTF is a standard pack?!!!!! How big is the saucepan? How can you ask this question if you give no sense of size?!

@Bogofftosomewherehot

How can you ask this question if you give no sense of size?!

How can you ask this question if you don't RTFT? OP has already answered how big the pack was.

It's not too much food as a one off. On a regular basis, yes it is.
Maybe the children didn't actually want to eat it all but have been brought up to finish everything on their plates (something I hate - children or adults should be able to feel they can leave something if the portion size was too much for them rather than having to stuff it in when they are already full). If DH just divided the mince between the two children they probably assumed they had to eat it all.

The real issue here is not that two kids, as a one off, ate too much mince - it's the fact DH didn't even think to reserve a portion for OP who was coming home late and would need something to eat. Thoughtless.

From the British dietetic society: one portion of cooked mince is 90g. From google, mince typically loses 25% of its weight on cooking so you need more like 112.5g raw for a portion. A 500g pack should serve 4 on that basis. 6 people I can see with adding extra stuff but 12 seems a massive stretch.

Shall we just let the kids eat and eat and eat? Let the little poppets keep eating, or take responsibility for the health of the next generation? Sugary it may not be but unless made with 5% fat meat, bolognaise is high in saturated fat and the amount the OP’s GC ate could be near enough an entire day’s requirement for saturated fat

At mealtimes, yes, as they are actually pretty good at regulating their appetites when given a range of foods to choose from. They aren't going to get fat at that age eating meals cooked from scratch to satisfy their hunger. Kids get fat because they are fed junk, convenience and highly processed food, eat when they are bored and eat because of emotional need.

[quote Malin52]@ZenNudist
500g of mince makes 12 portions and more?! That's 40g of mince a portion.

For reference this is 60g of mince so 33% more than the portion size you claim.

Mumsnet magic mince. Or just a family of desperately hungry people.

[/quote]
It’s even less. 500g of cooked mince gives 12 40g portions of raw mince which will shrink to 30g on cooking.

This is a cracking thread. On the subject of mince, every so often I see references to people draining off the fat after they've cooked mince. Is this commonplace? I've never done it in my life. Fat = flavour as far as I'm concerned. I thought nutritionists were moving away from fat as the great enemy and telling us all to eat less sugar these days.

My sister is married to an Italian and lives in Italy with her Italian mother in-law - who is a great cook and a very proud Italian- and they are not having small delicate servings of pasta as a "starter" 😹 . I've stayed there many, many times and we are served vast portions of pasta and encouraged to pour more olive oil on top. She's never made bolognese when I've been there but she has made pasta with pork mince, fennel, and tomato (along with sofrito) that is amazing according to my non-veggie kids.