Month: November 2016

Lunch

Our morning was taken up (mostly) waiting for an interview with CIS, so we grabbed a burrito from our favorite Mexican place on the way home.

Burritos are $5.50 each.

Dinner

Since we had another Boston Butt in freezer from our Prather Ranch delivery, we decided to have pulled pork again, because why not? The ability to prepare a slow cooked meal like this is a side benefit of working from home.

Paired with a semi-prepared kale and broccoli salad from Trader Joes we had a great meal for three, with enough leftover pulled pork for another two meals.

• The pork but was $20.53 or $4.10 per serve
• Chicken stock adds about 14c per serve
• Onion and garlic adds about 15c per serve
• The kale and broccoli salad was $2.49 or 84c per serve

Dinner tonight was, again, excellent for just $5.23 per serve.

Lunch

An almost normal Burbank Monday schedule had Foodie Philip back at In and Out Burger for his Double Double Animal Style.

Lunch today was $4.03 per serve with tax.

Dinner

Although it was a favorite last winter, and the winter before that, this is the first time we’ve had the Chipotle Bean Soup with Bacon Recipe this year.

• Bacon ends cost $4.99 for the container, but this recipe used about 1/2 of that, or 50c per serve
• Onion and garlic – about 5c a serve
• Spices – about 12c a serve
• The beans were 99c a can, or 99c a serve
• The adobo chipotle adds 50c per serve
• The avocado cost $1.29 or 65c per serve
• Sour cream cost $3.99 but we used 1/8 on tonight’s meal, or 25c per serve.

All up dinner cost us $2.56 for a very filling serve.

Lunch

For variation, and because it was cold, we heated the chicken, then sliced it thinly for the wrap. This worked much better than the larger chunks of chicken we had been working with.

• The flatbread is 50c per serve
• The roast chicken is $9.99 for the bird, but we used .75 of a breast, or 94c per serve
• We served 1/4 of the tabouli salad or 67c per serve.
• Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/6 or 33c per serve

Lunch today cost $2.44 per serve.

Dinner

The Lemon Chicken Orzo soup has been missed during the warmer months, but now the weather is cooling down, it’s a great cool weather meal, that’s quick to prepare, if you use cooked chicken. The recipe makes four serve. Orzo is a small pasta with the size of rice grains.

For the observant, this is basically just a grown up version of chicken noodle soup that we served with a par-baked Roll.

• Carrots cost 25c or 7c per serve
• Celery, thyme, oil and garlic adds 15c per serve
• Chicken broth cost 40c per serve
• The store-bought rotisserie chicken breast is $2.25 each leg and thigh and we used the other 2/3 of a breast, or $1.50 per serve
• The orzo is $1.42 for a 1 lb box, but only half was used for our four serves, or 18c per serve
• Add in 12 c for the other seasonings, etc.
• Six par baked rustic rolls were $3.29 or 55c per serve

Dinner tonight cost $4.07 per serve!

Lunch

• The flatbread is 50c per serve
• The roast chicken is $9.99 for the bird, but we used .75 of a breast, or 94c per serve
• Deli rice salad salad is $2.69 or 67c per serve
• Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/6 or 33c per serve

Lunch today cost $2.44 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight we did a variation on Pioneer Woman’s Easy Chilli Rellenos.  In this iteration we substituted butternut squash, bacon and smokey cheese for the basics in Pioneer Woman’s recipe.

Once again, we purchased butternut squash pre-cut. The biggest hassle with using it as an ingredient is the peeling and chopping. Buying pre-cut eliminates the issue. Baked ahead of the casserole, it should be just soft when going into the oven.

Bacon and smokey cheese are always a good combination. We decided the bacon could be cooked a little longer, until just crisp, to add more texture.

• The pre-cut butternut squash was $1.99 for a 12oz pack or $1 per serve
• We used half the $2.84 pack of ‘Dutch smoked cheese’ (not Gouda!) or 71c per serve
• Eggs are 50c each or $1.25 per serve
• We used bacon ends and pieces where the pack was $3.49 but we used about 1/3 or 58c per serve
• A pint of half and half is $1.49 and half was used or 37c per serve
• Add 5c for seasoning.

Tonight’s dinner cost $3.96 per serve. The squash, bacon and cheese is an excellent combination.

Lunch

Time for the second meal from our Popeye’s purchase, but with salad instead.

• Eight pieces, dark and spicy – of which we eat 2 per serve – is $10.89 with tax, or $2.73 per serve.
• Chickpea Balela salad from Trader Joe’s $2.69 or $1.35 per serve.

Lunch today cost $4.08 per serve.

Dinner

There is an enormous amount of Chioppino and even taking out the balance of the fish, shrimp and mussels there’s at least four serves of ‘soup’ left.

Dinner tonight cost $9.78 a serve with even more of the tasty solids than last time because we hadn’t divided evenly. There’s still a lot of flavorsome liquid left that will likely become a lunch time soup.

Lunch

Smoked salmon scrambled eggs on an onion bagel is a perfect Sunday lunch indulgence.

With scrambled eggs it’s important to anticipate when the eggs will be cooked, because they continue cooking on during service and on the plate. If you leave them in the pan until they appear cooked, they will be over-done on the plate.

• Five pastured eggs went into the scramble, or $1.25 per serve
• An onion bagel is 50c
• The wild caught smoked salmon was $5.99 or $3.00 per serve.

Lunch today cost $4.75 and was exceptionally good.

Dinner

Cottage pie is the beef version of shepherd’s pie (made with ground lamb). The recipe makes four serves.

• The Prather Range aged ground beef is $8.95 or $2.24 per serve
• The carrots were 50c or 13c per serve
• An onion adds 8c per serve
• Potato add 53c per serve
• Add 30c for seasonings, mostly Trader Joe’s 21 spice mix in the meat.

Tonight’s meal cost $3.28 per serve and was delicious and warming.