Month: January 2017

Lunch

Time for another supermarket chicken of which we used half of a breast. We used the remaining salad from two nights ago in the wrap.

• Wholemeal wrap is 50c
• Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/6 or 33c per serve
• The salad kit was $2.49 but we used half, or 63c per serve
• The chicken is $9.99. Divided into four portions or $2.50 each, one breast is split into two serves, or $1.25 per serve.

Lunch today was $2.71 per serve.

Dinner

Winter weather calls for a return to warming winter food: tonight bacon, black bean and beef chili. The chili is great and makes four serves.

• Bacon cost $6.99 for the container, but this recipe used about 1/3 of that, or 58c per serve
• Onion and garlic – about 5c a serve
• The beef we used is expensive – pasture raised, dry aged ground beef from our monthly meat delivery – at $9.04 or $2.26 a serve
• Spices – about 12c a serve
• Diced fire roasted tomatoes are $2.19 the can, or 55c per serve
• Tomato paste was 89c or 23c a serve
• The beans were 99c a can, or 50c a serve
• Cheese was 55c per serve
• Instead of sour cream we used guacamole ($2.99) mixed with a tiny amount of sour cream. We used half the guacamole across two serves -75c – with about 10c per serve of sour cream, or 85c per server

All up dinner cost us $4.84 for a very filling serve. We served with an English muffin, which adds 50c per serve to bring the total to $5.34 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch today we finished the Quinoa Chowder with the addition of bratwurst and it was the best the soup had tasted. We mostly absorbed the full cost of this soup in other meals.

Lunch today cost less than $4.00.

Dinner

When we thought about doing meatloaf we were deciding between a meatloaf and the Australian rissole. We decided to do the meatloaf using a traditional rissole recipe, which worked fairly well.

We used half of the Trader Joe’s Kale and Broccoli salad kit, while the ground beef came direct from the farm in our Prather Ranch meat delivery.

• Dry aged 85/15 ground beef $8.69 or $4.35 per serve
• 8 oz Panko breadcrumbs are $2.99 and we used half, or 75c per serve
• A pastured egg is 50c or 25c per serve
• The onion is 6c per serve
• The organic cauliflower gave us three serves for $3.60 and we split one of those serves tonight, or 60c per serve
• The salad kit was $2.49 but we used half, or 63c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $6.64 for some very, very generous meatloaf serves.

Lunch

For lunch we headed to The Swinging Door Texas BBQ Restaurant with a friend. We’ve been here before and back then there were some inconsistencies in the meals, but today everything was great: mac and cheese, baked beans, collard greens and the tri tip, pulled pork and brisket all excellent.

All for a very reasonable $15.00 per person with tax.

Dinner

For dinner we decided to finish last week’s supermarket chicken by heating the leg and thigh portions we had left. We served with roast cauliflower and a mushroom gravy.

Frankly, it was all a bit bland other than the cauliflower, which was tasty and a bit interesting.

• The chicken was $2.50 per serve
• The organic cauliflower gave us three serves for $3.60 or $1.20 per serve
• The mushrooms were $3.99 or $2.00 per serve
• The gravy base was $1.79 or 80c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $6.50 per serve.

Lunch

As we had to head down Topanga Canyon Blvd to Lowes, we decided to stop in at The Country Deli for lunch on the way. Foodie Philip had his usual marinated skirt steak, eggs and home fries, while Greg had a hamburger with egg – almost Australian style!

Lunch at The Country Deli averages $21.00 with tax and tip.

Dinner

Greg decided to try something new: Quinoa Chowder with Spinach, Feta, and Scallions without the cilantro. Instead of spinach we harvested stunning nettles from our yard. I have to say, buying a bag of organic greens is way less effort than harvesting and then separating leaves from the nettle.

The soup was okay. Definitely not a world beater but also not horrible. WE found we needed to add salt to the result. We served with par baked roasted garlic bread.

• The nettles were free
• We purchased about half a pound of quinoa for $3.01 but used the 3/4 left, or 75c per serve
• The jalapeño pepper was 10c or 3c per serve
• The potatoes were $1.01 or 25c per serve
• The feta was $3.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Add 30c for spices and other ingredients
• The roast garlic bread was $2.50 or 63c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $2.96 per serve.

Lunch

A cool 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

Thursday night is – traditionally – our ‘steak’ night. Tonight we dined on aged rib eye from our Prather Ranch meat delivery, with crash hot potatoes and creamed mixed greens.

We also experimented with some creamed stinging nettle as we have so much growing in our yard, fresh and ready to eat. Gloves are definitely needed for harvesting and processing, but the result is pretty good. Like other greens but with more flavor. We’ll definitely be revisiting the nettle growth again.

• Rib eye was $20.47 or $10.24 per serve
• Cream was $2.49 for a pint, or $1.25 per serve
• Organic green were $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Potatoes run around 30c per serve.

Dinner tonight was simple, but tasty. At $12.79 it wasn’t the cheapest meal, but compared with a steakhouse it’s reasonable, particularly considering the quality of the ingredients.

Lunch

A large supermarket chicken gives us six serves because we can use just half a breast in two wraps.

• Wholemeal wrap is 50c
• Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/6 or 33c per serve
• Deli edamame salad was $3.44 or 86c per serve
• The chicken is $9.99. Divided into four portions or $2.50 each, one breast is split into two serves, or $1.25 per serve.

Lunch today was $2.94 per serve.

Dinner

We chose beef massaman curry for the cold evening, and to use some top sirloin 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.

• 12.8 oz of aged top sirloin was $11.29 or $5.65 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 $9.42.