Cheap Protein Sources starter pack

Hey, @pinkdrunkenelephants@lemmy.cafe , this is not a great way of showing this, because there's no real comparison between the different things listed. For instance, an average egg is about 6g of protein, which means that it's $.035/g. A single 5oz can of tuna will have about 22g of protein, which works out to about $.045/g. One pound of uncooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast will have about 105g of protein, which is around $.048/g. And so on, and so forth.

I also dispute your pricing models. In my area, boneless, skinless chicken breast is typically around $3/#, which brings it down to $.029/g. Ground beef is both more and less expensive, depending on fat content; 80/20 (20% fat) runs around $5.20/#, while 94/4 runs $8.50/# (...and doesn't taste very good by itself, unless you prefer your hamburders dryer than Ben Shapiro's wife). That ultra-lean ground beef has 96g/#, which brings it to $.089/g, while the delicious 80/20 only has 40g/#, bringing the price up to a steep $.13/g, almost 5x more expensive per gram than B/S chicken breasts.

If you don't care about taste, TVP can be had in bulk for cheap, and unflavored whey protein can also be bought in bulk.

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Not sure I've ever seen the pound sign (lovingly called the "hash tag" by today's youth) actually used to denote the unit of measure. I like the cut of your jib

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- The original name of that character is Octothorpe
  
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This reply is bean erasure

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- Nah, I eat a lot of beans. I just didn't want to go through everything. Plus, you do get a lot of carbs from beans, which can make dialing macros in a bit challenging.
  
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It's just a meme, but I take your point. Since I can't do all of the math myself, threads where folks like you compare prices of foods at stores/restaurants to home cooking, prices of ingredients, etc. with sources is, of course, highly encouraged.

And to be clear, I'm not saying that to be lazy; I genuinely can't tabulate everything on my own though I am tabulating a lot of the prices for things I happen to know about and can thus throw in to the giant soup pot of knowledge, as it were. There's gonna be stuff I forget and get wrong. It's just part of being human.

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- The term "meme" has really lost all meaning, huh. It is an info graphic.
  
  Also weird rambling. Just take the feedback.
  
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You could have used the same unit for everything, just saying.

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Need to normalize by protein content/$

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I know pricing is regional but where I am I can often get whole chickens for < $2/pound, and dry beans are going to be better on everything except arguably time (and that only if you don't plan ahead).

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Yeah, dried beans are the way to go. You can get a pound of beans for around the same price as a can and those will double or triple their weight when soaked. I've found you can skip the overnight soak (though its preferable) by cooking them in a pressure cooker for about twenty min with a pinch of baking soda.

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- We’ve got an instant pot, and cook dry beans 2x / week… don’t need the baking soda, if you do them for a bit longer — 32 minutes for small (like black beans) and 40 for garbanzo beans.
  
  And yeah. A IP or any pressure cooker makes a huge difference for us not having to soak them first
  
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For me, nearly all the prices for those items are cheaper. Eggs, for example, cost $1.25/dozen here.

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beans

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beans

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- the magical fruit
  
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If you're looking for cheap, dried beans are about 1/2-1/3 the price per serving over canned.

They are more work, needing either a long boil, overnight soak in water, or a pressure cooker. But the cost saving is enough for me to buy mostly dried beans.

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Yeah, I really really need to get a pressure cooker. 🤦

I've tried the overnight soaking method before and it didn't work out at all. Maybe a pressure cooker with baking soda will.

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- My husband is great at cooking beans, and I've learned from him that if you follow the instructions on the package, the beans will always end up being undercooked.
  
  If you don't have a pressure cooker, then you just need to boil them for hours to get them tender. He doesn't even soak them -- just boils them for hours and hours.
  
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You should be able to get chicken thighs for around $1.79/lbs. region depending. Chicken is also easy enough to mince into ground at home with a decent knife. Don't pay the premium for ground chicken. I'll buy cheap chicken and turn it into dumpling filling by mixing in mushrooms and cabbage and use that for a variety of things. Frozen dumplings being most of it, but whatever is leftover can be made into meat balls or added to soups and stir fries.

Also, don't skip the fish market. I can get yellow croaker for $3/lbs. or less which is a great way to add variety into your diet. I try to make a point of checking if there's cheap fish every time I shop and if there is, I'm buying just enough to cook that very evening. During trout season, rainbow trout goes to $2/lbs. This works well as fish is quick and easy to cook and it's best when it's very fresh. I'll usually braise the yellow croaker with lots of ginger and green onion in a lightly sweetend sauce flavored with doubanjiang, but it's also good steamed or baked.

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I want that fiiiish

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- Yo it's so tasty!! I've seen em sold in bags frozen, too, for not too much more (like $3.50/lbs) so I guess they freeze well, but I haven't tried it.
  
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Based on what I've read and advice I've been given, skip the tuna. It should only be consumed in very limited amounts (if at all) due to the mercury levels.

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Salmon's a better canned seafood, honestly. It's worth the ~$4.

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Idk exactly how the price breaks down, but if you can have a chicken or two that's laying it feels like you have infinite free eggs.

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Pound of ground beef for $6?

What year is it?

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2030 apparently, because here in 2024 ground beef in my area is $4.

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- I haven't seen that price for ground beef since like 2017.
  
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The cheap shit still goes for that price at stores like Aldi or Walmart sometimes. I've seen it happen.

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- In the Midwest it's lately been $3-3.50/lb in regular grocery stores.
  
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Depends on the fat content

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I'm ngl I didn't check the name of the community and was expecting a cum joke

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🤢🤢🤢

That is disgusting. But damn funny

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Where the fuck are you getting eggs for $2.50. $5 here in Missouri.

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Are these quantities representing roughly equivalent amounts of proteins/calories?

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Lot of sad protein in here. Crap list op, sorry

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I am trying to figure out why turkey isn't on there, tbh

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- Since you posted it, I'll assume you're a turkey trying to push your anti turkey meat agenda. Nice try.
  
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Adjust these prices up by 30% for south Florida, except the beans. I can cook 5lbs of black beans for like $10 total.

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I love edamame, I could eat it all day!!

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I absolutely dislike edamame flavor. And beans are very common fare in our house because we just enjoy them as much as a good steak.

My Wife suffers from celiac and so I need to cook a gluten free menu. And a lot of "gluten free" products contain various types of bean flours in their mix. I tried 3 or 4 different types of edamame products and the basic beans. None pass muster at the table for either of us. The edamame pastas were particularly vile.

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Greek yogurt is about a third that price if you just make it yourself.

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It's not Greek yogurt unless it comes from the yogurt region in Greece, otherwise it's just filtered milk solids

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Why is soybean so expensive and beef so cheap. Beef should be much more expensive.

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Subsidies

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