Month: January 2017

Lunch

Is there a better sandwich than a BLT? The smoke and salt from the bacon, as well as that meaty umami, a little acid from the tomato, a wet crunch from the lettuce and a little mayonnaise to keep the bread dry and add a little creaminess. On a par-baked roll right out of the oven, it was a great lunch. We served two rolls each.

• The par baked rolls are 63c each
• The bacon was $6.99 for 12 slices, and we used two per serve, or $1.68
• We used one kumato per serve or 58c
• Lettuce and eggless mayo add another 25c per serve.

Lunch today was a big serve for $3.14 each.

Dinner

Two thin cut pork chops from our Prather Ranch delivery had been dry brining overnight. Tonight we smoked them and paired with caramelized pearl onions and apple, braised in apple cider. To offset some of the sweetness of the cider we swapped 1/4 for apple cider vinegar, which definitely offset the sweetness!

Because they were thin cut, we didn’t want to risk over-cooking by frying them off for a better appearance. The result of the salty brine and smokey preparation was very hammy and delicious.

• The 12.7 oz of pork chops were $9.95 or $4.98 per serve
• An Envy apple was $1.08 or 54c per serve
• The frozen pearl onions were $1.69 or 85c per serve
• The sparkling cider was $2.89 for the bottle, but we needed 1/3 of that for the recipe (a little less because we offset with the apple cider vinegar) or 48c per serve
• A little fresh rosemary came from our herb garden.

Tonight’s restaurant-worthy meal cost just $6.85 and a little prep time and was a great meal. The pearl onion and apple worked really well as a variation on the “apple and pork” cliche.

Lunch

For lunch we added a burrito stop to our shopping trip.

Lunch today was $6.00 per serve – a slight increase.

Dinner

Dinner at home with a friend, so we cooked the cioppino base and then added mussels, scallops and cod for tonight’s meal. They were extracted from the stew and served with a generous amount of the broth. The balance of the broth mix will be used to cook up some more seafood later.

• Olive oil – less than 3c serve
• Fennel bulb at $2 makes for 33c serve
• Onion at 50c makes it 9c a serve
• Four large garlic cloves are about 1/4 of the 50c garlic – 7c serve
• Tomato paste 90c can but only half was used, for 8c serve
• Diced tomatoes in juice – $3.99 or 67c serve
• 1.5 cups dry white wine – about $1 or 16c serve
• 5 cups fish stock $6.20 or $1.03 serve
• 16 oz of White Wine and Garlic Mussels are $4.00 or $1.33 for each very generous serve
• The pack of frozen scallops was $8.99 or $3.00 per serve
• For the firm fleshed fish, Greg used Kroger Wild Caught Pacific Cod. The 40 oz pack costs $16.89 but only 8 oz was used (two filets). $1.69 a serve.
• Served with Simple Truth Ready to bake garlic bread – $3.49 for the loaf . We used about 2/3 for the meal, or 78c per serve

Dinner tonight cost $9.26 a serve with a very generous amount of broth left to cook up the next meal and much more generous servings of mussels, scallop and fish than a more expensive restaurant meal.

Lunch

A cold and somewhat windy day so we went for a soup option: Progresso Manhattan Island Clam Chowder – a clam chowder without dairy. This is a simple ‘heat and serve’ soup without adding water or dairy.

One $2.00 can makes one serve.

Dinner

A nice warming beef  beef massaman curry seemed appropriate and we used for the cold evening, and to use beef chuck eye steak from our Prather Ranch meat bounty! While this would normally be done with stewing meat we sliced the raw beef and gently simmered it to temperature in the curry at the end.

Beef massaman is warming without being too spicy. We use a curry base we buy from Amazon for this simple, quick meal.

• 19 oz of aged chuck eye steak was $11.33 or $5.67 per serve
• The curry is $3.38 per can or $1.69 per serve
• Coconut milk is $1.69 per can or 85c per serve
• Peanuts were $2.99 but we only used half, or 75c per serve
• Potato adds 25c per serve
• The bunch of carrots was 89c but we used half in this dish, or 23c per serve.

Dinner tonight was perfect for the weather: delicious and warming but a little expensive at $9.45.

Lunch

A nice sunny day before the wind kicked in, so we toasted an onion bagel each, and filled it with avocado, capers and smoked salmon. Delicious.

• An onion bagel is 50c
• Salmon was $5.99 or $3.00 a serve
• The avocado was 35c per serve
• Add 5c for capers.

Lunch today was generous and delicious for $3.90 per serve, but would have been better with a little thinly sliced shallot.

Dinner

Once again we had Emeril Lagasse’s Stir Fried Beef and Broccoli but sliced up a top sirloin for the beef and used udon noodles. This is a very simple dish, but very tasty. We upped the garlic and ginger in the sauce and replaced the honey with sweet chili sauce. We don’t mind a bit of spicy heat!

• The broccoli florets where $3.49 or $1.75 a serve.
• The top sirloin came from our farm-direct meat delivery for $11.43 or $5.72 per serve.
• The ginger and garlic was 38c or 19c per serve
• The noodles were $1.99 for the pack, or $1.00 per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $8.66 per serve.

Lunch

Another Burbank Monday had Philip at In and Out Burger for lunch.

A Double Double is $4.08 with tax.

Dinner

Time to  use the chicken legs (thigh and drumstick) from our supermarket roast chicken this week. Tonight we paired it with Jamaican rice and peas, which are really beans. The recipe makes six serves.

The chicken was steamed over the cooking rice. The rice and peas was okay, but it needs more beans, and we found a generous sprinkling of Trader Joe’s Lime and Chili and some fresh lime went a long way to improving on the recipe.

• The chicken was $2.50 per serve
• Onion and garlic add 10c per serve
• The rice adds 25c per serve
• A can of black beans costs 99c or 17c per serve
• Coconut milk is $1.69 per can or 56c per serve
• The habanero was 25c or 4c per serve
• Add 10c per serve for seasonings and oil.

Tonights ‘rice and peas’ cost $1.22 and with the chicken, $3.72 per serve. With our improvements, the rice will be better tomorrow night. A little piri piri sauce gave the dull chicken some interest.

Lunch

A rare sunny day so we toasted an onion bagel each, and filled it with cream cheese, capers and smoked salmon. Delicious.

• An onion bagel is 50c
• Salmon was $5.99 or $3.00 a serve
• Cream cheese and capers add 40c.

Lunch today was generous and delicious for $3.90 per serve.

Dinner

Having decided that we were not being inventive enough with our pound of ground pork that comes in our Prather Ranch box each month, and somewhat constrained from dairy because of Philip’s sensitivity, Greg decided on a pork version of Tom Kha Gai with the pork substituting for chicken.

This version has a lot more flavor from the crisp-fried pork than any chicken version we’ve had. A success. The combination of flavors are exceptionally well, although we felt we could add a little heat. A little research supported that: tom kha gai is served with a chili oil!

The recipe made four serves, and we served with naan bread. Nothing like breaking down cultural barriers!

• The dry aged, ground pork was $8.69 for 1 lb, or $2.17 per serve
• Lemon grass was 27c or 7c per serve
• The ginger was 16c or 4c per serve
• Limes were $1.95 or 49c per serve
• The coconut milk was $1.69 or 43c per serve
• Sliced crimini mushrooms were $2.29 or 57c per serve
• A four cup carton of stock is $2.39 and we used four cups of chicken, and two cups of mushroom broth, or 90c per serve.
• A pack of four naan are $1.99 or 50c per serve.

Including the naan, tonight’s really tasty meal, cost $5.17 per serve.

Lunch

Another cold and rainy day pushed us toward something warm for lunch, so we did our version of a quesadilla made with flatbread, and added half a chicken breast to it.

• The chicken breast cost $1.25
• One flatbread (half of two) costs 50c a serve
• Half a can of refried beans, shared across two halves: 26c
• 2 oz of cheddar split between two is 50c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.51 per serve.

Dinner

We had Beef Short Ribs remaining from an earlier Prather Ranch delivery and the weather made having an oven on for a long time very attractive.

Once again, we paired them with a goat’s cheese polenta mix and served with steamed sugar snap peas.

• Two pounds of Short Ribs cost $17.03 with bones, or $8.52 per serve
• The 10 grain ‘hot cereal’ is $5.99 for a 25oz pack, but we used about 1/8 or 38c per serve.
• Two carrots cost 61c or 31c per serve
• 4oz of goat’s cheese cost $3.99 or $2.00 a serve
• A cup of red wine costs 80c or 40c per serve – 11.61
• The pancetta is $3.29 for the pack, and we used what was left after the Pea and Ham soup, or $1.10 per serve
• The peas were $2.99 or $1.50 per serve, although we didn’t finish all of them.

Dinner tonight cost $14.21 for a very generous serve.