Month: June 2017

Lunch

Yeros wrap time again.

• The fully cooked sliced gyro/yeros meat is $3.99 per 10oz pack. There are really four serves, so each serve is very slightly cheaper than the chicken, at $1.00 per serve.
• The flatbread is 50c per serve
• Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/6 or 33c per serve
• We served 1/4 of the tabouli salad or 67c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.50.

Dinner

We still had half the shredded beef ragu left and decided to serve with mashed potato. Then Foodie Greg saw some chopped butternut squash and his mind went back to ‘yellow mash’ – the name his mother used for squash and potato mixed, in order to get him to eat squash or pumpkin!

We elevated the mash by using sour cream, pecorino and spring onion, and it was really tasty and a perfect companion to the ragu. It makes at least four serves, so we have two for bubble and squeak later.

• Beef chuck steak cost $6.93 or $1.73 per serve
• The sweet onion was 46c or 12c per serve
• Sliced crimini mushroom – a bit more than the recipe called for – cost $2.29 or 58c per serve
• Organic baby carrots were $1.69 for the pack, of which we used 1/4, or 11c per serve
• Beef broth is $1.99 for 2 pints, or 13c per serve
• Crushed canned tomatoes with no added salt were $1.49 or 38c per serve
• Add 30c for thyme and other seasonings
• The squash cost $1.99 or 50c per serve
• Russet potatoes weer $1.49 but we used 2/5 or 15c per serve
• Sour cream is $2.99 for a tub, and we used 1/3 or 25c per serve
• Spring onion  adds 15c per serve
• Snow peas were $2.99 but we used only half a container, or 75c per serve.

The mash was a much better accompaniment to the ragu, while the blanched sugar snap peas added crunch, all for just $5.15 per serve.

Lunch

Take a small naan bread, top it with feta and kumato and sprinkle on fresh thyme, then roast until the feta has softened and the tomato dried. One of the tastiest lunches we’ve ever had.

• The kumatos (black tomato) are $3.49 for six, or 58c per serve
• The garlic naan is $3.69 for six and we had two each, or $1.23 per serve
• The feta in brine was $6.50 and 1/2 went into lunch, or $1.63 per serve
• Add 10c for the thyme.

Lunch today was more expensive than our usual home prepared lunch at $3.54 per serve, but it was worth it.

Dinner

If you can have pulled pork, why not pulled beef, which for some reason is called shredded beef despite being prepared much the same way. Paired with some gnocchi it was basically “meat and potatoes!”

The meat sauce – ragu – made four serves.

• Beef chuck steak cost $6.93 or $1.73 per serve
• The sweet onion was 46c or 12c per serve
• Sliced crimini mushroom – a bit more than the recipe called for – cost $2.29 or 58c per serve
• Organic baby carrots were $1.69 for the pack, of which we used 1/4, or 11c per serve
• Beef broth is $1.99 for 2 pints, or 13c per serve
• Crushed canned tomatoes with no added salt were $1.49 or 38c per serve
• Add 30c for thyme and other seasonings
• The gnocchi was $1.69 or 85c per serve.

The ragu was intensely rich and satisfying, but didn’t pair well with the gnocchi so we’ll repeat the ragu with mashed potatoes tomorrow night. Still a very tasty meal for $4.20 per serve.

Lunch

Finish a par-baked panini roll and the stuff it with home made pulled pork and top with pickled onion!

• Par-baked roll is 55c
• A serve of pulled pork is $3.89 or $1.95 per serve
• Pickled onion or bread and butter pickles adds 20c per serve.

Lunch today was tasty and cost $2.70 per serve.

Dinner

It’s been a long time since we’ve had Jambalaya – either at home or out – and this recipe avoids the “stuck to the bottom” problem a lot of jambalaya suffers from, by cooking in the oven.

We dropped the chicken, but used a chicken andouille sausage and fresh shrimp, which is added fresh for each meal. It turned out well.

We made a half batch, which makes four serves

• 1 lb of shrimp is $6.99, but we only used half, or $1.75 per serve
• Instead of andouille sausage, we used an Applegate Farm sausage from Whole Foods for $8.99 or $1.13 per serve
• Canned fire roasted tomatoes cost $1.69 or 43c per serve
• Bell pepper was $1.00 or 25c per serve
• Scallions, onion, garlic  and herbs adds 35c per serve
• Tomato paste adds 12c per serve
• Rice adds 35c per serve.

A satisfying, if a little hot in this iteration, meal with perfectly cooked shrimp, which was achieved by waiting until the meal was ready, then adding the peeled shrimp to the top and back in the over for 5 minutes. Not bad for $4.38 per serve.

Lunch

It was back to Burbank Mondays, so Philip had his usual In and Out Double Double, animal style for $4.08.

Dinner

We have pulled pork pulling on our taste buds, so a simple quesadilla made with flatbread, topped with a fried egg or two makes a great tasting, but simple, meal.

• The flatbreads add 50c per serve
• Pastured eggs are 50c each or $1.00 per serve
• Half a can of refried beans, shared across two halves: 26c
• A serve of pulled pork is $3.89 or $1.95 per serve
• A smear of siracusa and roasted garlic BBQ sauce adds 15c per serve
• 2 oz of cheddar split between two is 50c per serve.

Tonight’s dinner was definitely one of the better ‘quesadillas’ that we’ve made, for $4.36 per serve.

Lunch

Sunday lunch deserves to be special, and eggs are associated with breakfast, so smoked salmon scrambled eggs on rye toast completely met the brief!

• Smoked salmon $5.99 for the 4oz pack or $3.00 a serve
• Pastured eggs are 50c each, or $1.00 per serve
• A shallot adds 10c per serve
• The rye toast adds 33c per serve.

Lunch was delicious and cost $4.43 per serve.

Dinner

After an extravagant lunch, a simple dinner of the remaining chicken legs steamed over brown rice pilaf perfectly fit the bill.

• The thigh and drumstick from the supermarket roast chicken are $2.00 per serve
• Brown rice is 50c per serve
• Shelled edamame was $1.29 or 65c per serve
• We used water instead of broth
• The left over esquites was a single serve split between us, or 73c per serve.

Dinner tonight was a simple, but tasty meal for $3.88 per serve.

Lunch

With a chicken breast still remaining, we reverted to chicken wraps for lunch.

• The flatbread is 50c per serve
• The roast chicken is $7.99 for the bird, which works out at $1.00 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 $2.50 per serve.

Dinner

Our meat box had a Boston Butt included so pulled pork it is! Paired with Esquites (Mexican corn salad) and white rice to absorb the run-off from the pork. Yum.

• At $21.04 for just over 2 lbs it makes six good serves, or $3.50 per serve
• Onion and garlic for the pork adds 25c per serve
• Chicken stock adds 14c per serve
• White rice adds 35c per serve
• For the corn we used Trader Joes Fire Roasted frozen corn to get grill flavor, which cost $2.49 for a pound, and made four serves, or 63c per serve
• Unfortunately we couldn’t find cotija cheese, so we settled for a different Mexican cheese, without as much flavor for $2.79, of which we used about 1/3 or 23c per serve
• 1 lb of limes we $1.29 and we used 1/6 or 5c per serve
• Add 30c for seasoning and oil
• Add 30c for the pickled onion.

Dinner tonight was excellent for $5.75. The esquites would have been better with cotija but it was still really good.

Lunch

Uncertain of what to have for lunch, we decided on smoked salmon on an onion bagel.

• Smoked salmon $5.99 for the 4oz pack or $3.00 a serve
• The pack of six onion bagels is $1.99 or 33c per serve
• Instead of soft cheese we used a kefir dip with shallot that is $5.49 for the tub, but we used only 1/10 per serve or 55c
• A Persian cucumber is 65c or 33c per serve
• Add 15c for capers and shallot.

Lunch today cost $4.36 a serve.

Dinner

Think cut heritage pork chops just taste better, as the fat hasn’t been bred out of the heritage breeds. Paired with a melon, cucumber and feta salad they make a very satisfying meal, although we’re still somewhat skeptical that a honeydew melon makes a good salad ingredient.

• The pork chops were $10.19 or $5.10 per serve
• The honeydew melon was $5.00 or $2.50 per serve
• The cucumber was 65c or 33c per serve
• The feta in brine was $6.50 and 1/4 went into this salad, or 82c per serve
• The mint came from our garden.

The pork chops were perfectly cooked on our griddle and the whole meal came to $8.85 per serve.

Lunch

Seeking some variation on our short list of lunch ideas, we changed it up using our supermarket roast chicken with guacamole and tabouli.

• This time only the smaller $7.99 chickens were available so each quarter is $2.00, or $1.00 per serve of half a chicken breast
• The baguette was 89c or 45c per serve
• Tabouli is $2.69 for the container, and we serve 1/4 each, or 68c per serve
• The guacamole was $3.49 and we used 1/4 or 44c.

Lunch today was pretty good for $2.57, although we’ve had better baguettes.

Dinner

Our Prather Ranch meat box arrived and we immediately pulled out a very thick cut dry aged NY strip steak that we seared on the griddle (over our induction cooktop).

Served with a salad of mixed greens that included beet leaves, smoked beets and a soft cheese.

• The NY Strip Steak was $19.99 or $10 per serve
• The salad green mix was $1.69 or 85c per serve
• Smokey BBQ beets were $2.50 (on special) or $1.25 per serve (and worth is on special)
• We were hoping for cotija cheese but had to settle for a different Mexican cheese, without as much flavor for $2.79, of which we used about 1/3 or 47c per serve.

Dinner tonight was good, and would have been better if we’d found cotija cheese, for $12.57 per serve.