Hamburgers....His and Hers

Last weekend I was craving a hamburger.  It's been quite some time since I've had red meat.  I love steak and burgers and I have missed them so.  A tiny little portion of steak just won't cut it for me so it's easier to avoid the temptation altogether while in active weight loss mode!  I'll celebrate with a proper steak house steak (Capital Grill is one of my favorites) upon reaching my goal.  But for whatever reason, I really needed some hard core red meat last Friday.  Perhaps it was the unseasonably summer-like weather we've been blessed with in the Northeast. Perhaps due to the numerous BBQ smells wafting through the air as everyone fires up their grills.  Perhaps because after a long day on Friday both my husband and I needed a simple (as you know from former posts, simple for my husband is a relative term) meal.

I have noted several times that it is very hard to diet in conjunction with a man in the house.  Making hamburgers seemed a good way for both of us to enjoy a meal and work within our food needs.  I quickly looked up in my Weight Watcher's book the point value for ground beef.  According to my book 2 oz of 95% lean ground sirloin is 2 points and 2 oz of 90% ground sirloin is 3 points.  I have never seen 95% but always buy 93% lean.  So we are in a grey area of estimation.  At the end of the day I used the 3 points for 90% just to be safe.  The book also says that 2 oz is roughly 1/2 cup.  I am so glad I used my food scale to see what 2 oz was because there is NO way 2 oz is 1/2 cup.  To give you a visual see below:

That's right everyone, 2 oz of ground meat is slightly larger than a golf ball.  Upon seeing this, I realized that 2 oz was a ridiculous serving size and there was no way a meatball was going to cut it for dinner!  I therefore readjusted the sides I was initially thinking so I could double the portion size to 4 oz at a value of 6 points.  It's funny to realize how warped our perspective on portion size is in this country given the all you can eat buffets and Cheesecake Factories of the world.  But when made a 4 oz burger patty looks like this:

While it's not a monstrous burger by any means, it is a decent size.  I added lettuce, tomato, avocado (2 points), and a slice of 2% American Cheese (1 point).  I used an Arnold Deli Flat for a bun (1 point).  So the total value for my burger was 10 points.  I had some broccoli on the side and it was a satisfying meal that scratched an itch!

Now, that was the "hers" version of an American classic.  I never venture to make my husband's hamburgers because there are way too many components to it.  I simply like the ground beef salted and peppered (on my non diet days a blob of cream cheese in the center makes a lovely treat!).  This would be far too simple for my man.  I don't know if it's a Southern thing or a "him" thing, but this is what his burger mix looks like:

Seriously???  I'm suppose to diet around this guy?  If memory serves me correctly you are looking at 1 lb of ground sirloin (minus my 4 puny ounces!), an egg, bread pieces, worchestire sauce, and the shinny stuff on the meat is a good squeeze of honey.  Is this a burger or a meatloaf for goodness sake?  Once mixed, these turn into the following:

That's right - you are looking at two ginormous man patties.  That is in fact a dinner plate in case there was any confusion about that.  Each patty is roughly 1/2 pound plus all those special additives.  This would not be my first choice of ingredient combinations if calories were not an object, but I have tasted this concoction and it isn't that bad.  

But now you all see what I'm up against.  This meal was "garnished" with a baked potato, baked beans, and a small serving of broccoli.  I think there may have been something else but I just can't recall.  I'm still overwhelmed by the frisbee sized burgers.  I will let you all know that my husband only ate one of these for dinner and saved the other for lunch.  

The moral of the story for those of you reading is that you can in fact eat the same, yet different meal with your unsupportive non diet conscious spouse!  The trick is to avoid temptation and stick to your own food plan within the menu.  And seriously, who wants all that extra stuff anyway, yuk (just keep telling yourself that over and over!).  Until tomorrow, happy and healthy eating for all!