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.

He already ate, he doesn’t eat mince. This is one of those times when reading at least the ops posts is advantageous

but my actual point still stands: he left nothing from her after she'd been out at work all day.

To the celery moaners with their Italian ancestors, it's soffritto

Ask Gennaro though he doesn't appear to buy his from Waitrose

There are some shitty attitudes on this thread....
If this happened in my house I would probably have stabbed him
Your post isn't exactly screaming with virtue

Everyone is going to have a different view depending on how much meat they think is "normal" in a sauce.

)I thought I ate quite a lot, but reading this it seems perhaps not.)

I would make a meat sauce for spaghetti with 500g mince, onion, garlic 2 tins of tomatoes, carrots, finely chopped courgettes, mushrooms and peppers, and a glass of wine.
I'd split it in half and get two meals out of it (usually lasagne the second time).
So 62 or so grams of meat per person, but plenty of sauce to go around- I think the sauce is the main thing rather than the meat content of it. If I needed it to go further, I'd add more tomatoes before I added more meat.

If I was making burgers, on the other hand, I'd probably buy at least 600g mince for one meal for 4 people.

You were hangry OP. There's nothing worse than thinking you're coming home to food that you pre-prepared and it's gone. For that you have my sympathy.
But it's not too much food for the DCs if they ate it. The problem is your DH could have given them extra pasta/veg/bread if they were hungry and still kept your portion back for you.

@Dontforgetyourbrolly

I find that English people serve pasta like mince with a side of pasta . In reality it should be pasta with a small portion of sauce stirred through, that would be the problem.

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.

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.

If they ate it then it wasn't too much.
You sound like a food miser!

@Ihopeyourcakeisshit - sod off with the selective quoting.

i said IN MY HANGRY STATE i would have stabbed him.

A food miser? Two children ate a pound of beef between them and she's a food miser? I've heard it all now.

I can understand the children not stopping to think that granny should have a portion put aside but I do think OP's husband was very thoughtless not doing that for her. She made it! Why would she not expect to be eating it when she got in?

@ElizaDarcysDeeds

You were hangry OP. There's nothing worse than thinking you're coming home to food that you pre-prepared and it's gone. For that you have my sympathy. But it's not too much food for the DCs if they ate it. The problem is your DH could have given them extra pasta/veg/bread if they were hungry and still kept your portion back for you.

Yes the actual issue here isn't greedy children its another DH who shows so little thought and care for his wife.

I can get at least 12 portions out of that maybe more

12 portions out of 500g of mince? That’s 40g, raw weight of mince. Cooked weight makes that about 25g. That is about a third of the portion a dietitian will recommend as a portion size. So unless you are bulking that out with a whole load of vegetables or pulses, those portions are way too small.

Just beef mince? You need some pork, too- that's for flavour.

And don't use too many onions, Vinnie.

Op, That "Bolognese" sauce sounds depressing AF. Surprised they ate the lot.
Seriously no garlic? Not even a pinch of salt/sugar?
No herbs?
Be amazed, not shocked. My kids would disown me for cooking and attempting to feed them that bland beefy tomato mix.

Can all the food purists shaming OP for her recipe bugger off? You're starting to sound like Jamie Oliver with your assumptions about what everyone will have at home as cupboard staples and what people will know how to cook.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

A food miser? Two children ate a pound of beef between them and she's a food miser? I've heard it all now.

I can understand the children not stopping to think that granny should have a portion put aside but I do think OP's husband was very thoughtless not doing that for her. She made it! Why would she not expect to be eating it when she got in?

Really, you've heard it all now??!! Her post is more about the kids eating it when it was meant to be 'for us.' Sure, her DH should have left her some but the kids ate it, so what?! It's subjective but, to me, 500g really isn't that much.

@LemonSherbetFancies

I made it for me and the kids, DP just wanted the pasta which he was going to add some pesto towards.

I agree with 2 small kids eating 500g of mince between them with some pasta is shocking.

You'd nothing in it but mince, tomatoes? I assume you'd red wine / tomato purée too?

Any veg?

I can't really imagine a Bolognese without those additional ingredients but if you didn't have them, then I can see two hungry kids eating that.

It's still quite a lot, I agree.

My Bolognese recipe is 1kg mince, but includes, leeks, celery, onions, a rich sauce. From that I'll serve 3 kids & me, with enough for a small lasagne after. We wouldn't get two full Bolognese dinners from it.

Therefore a half quantity, minus veg, wouldn't quite feed the 4 of us. So it's really not that exceptional that the kids are it all.

The amount of people putting celery in bolognaise?

I always use celery! I use a Jamie Oliver or Rachel Allen recipe, both include celery.

Celery is a standard part of soffrito that forms the base of any Ragu. It's weird not to have celery in Bolognese!

Missed this point - yes, absolutely this!

If the children are normal weight, I think it is best to allow them to be guided by their appetite. I think knowing when you are hungry and when you are full is unusually difficult for a lot of people and children should be left in peace to recognise that. DS2 has always eaten massive main courses and is rake thin (adult now), but never picks between meals, only drinks water, doesn't have a sweet tooth. So many variables.

@INeedNewShoes

I think that 'bolognese' needs to become a protected term. I'm too upset to sleep having read what some posters are putting in. 4 tins of tomatoes and lentils!? That just is not bolognese.

Lentils are a brilliant cheap way to stretch mince by adding protein rather than veg, so it makes people fuller for longer. Much used in our more skint days . I still add lentils because that’s how ds prefers it

@TinselTitsAndGlitteryBits

There's so much wrong on this thread..

A poster making 500g of mince last TWELVE meals?
The amount of people putting celery in bolognaise?
Someone just saying that add a tin of beans to theirs?

I feel like I've just entered a parallel universe!

FWIW, I think 500g of mince is a lot for just the two kids - but they've eaten it now. So there's not much that can be done.
I'd be more annoyed if I had plated it up and they wasted it.

Have you never heard of soffrito

500g mince would make 6 - 8 adult portions of Bolognaise here. I include carrot, celery and onion. Courgette and pepper, plus a tin of chopped tomatoes (amongst other flavourings and seasonings). 8 portions of its being used for a lasagne, with 1 adult Bolognaise portion left over. I use passata if it’s going to be a lasagne though.

@EspressoDoubleShot

Agree this is a fantastic thread,window on mn and the dysfunctional food threads

Competitive portion size✔️
500g mince feeds 14+✔️
Call that Bolognaise? It’s a mere ragu?✔️
Smelling salts required at mere mention of celery✔️
Meals that are huge, generate leftovers and even the rugby playing prop husband would struggle to finish this portion✔️
Meals eked out✔️
Addition of pulses,lentils, kilograms of vegetables to food✔️
Chicken curry bulked out with tortilla,kidney beans,sweet corn that actually render it a chimera of a dinner. Neither curry or chilli ✔️

Just the type of classic mn thread we all love

You’ve just summed up what I was thinking! A rare thread where I have actually read all the posts!

It’s made me realise that I just can’t get worked up about things like this … I don’t think I have the energy.

For what it’s worth…it does sound a lot for two kids but they were obviously hungry and enjoyed it so no real harm done.

In this house, 500g would never do more than 4 portions but we love food and it’s a big focus of our day. If you want to feed me 42g (12 portions) that’s fine but don’t be offended if I ask for seconds or devour the dessert!

With 500g mince i would feed myself and 2 10 year old 2 generous portions each of spaghetti bolognese. Definitely too much for 2 kids

There wasn’t enough pasta.