Month: January 2018

Lunch

As Foodie Philip was out in the morning, he stopped at Popeye’s on the way home for the 11 pack special with a large red beans and rice.

• The chicken is $2.98 per serve with tax
• The red beans and rice is $2.12 per serve with tax.

Lunch today was as good as it usually is, for $5.10 per serve.

Dinner

We decided to repeat the Smoked Trout Cobb Salad using the full fillets from Trader Joe’s rather than canned smoked trout. We also decided to drop the bacon from the meal.

• The rainbow trout fillets are $7.49 or $3.75 per serve
• A pastured egg is 55c
• Cherry tomatoes were $2.79 and we used all or $1.40 per serve
• Spinach is $1.99and we used 1/4 or 25c per serve
• The avocado was $2.99 for a bag of five or 30c per serve
• The burrata was $4.99 for two, or $2.50 per serve.

Tonight’s Cobb Salad was the best we’ve had for $8.75 per serve.

Lunch

Back to a normal Burbank Monday and Foodie Philip was at In and Out Burger for a Double Double Animal Style for $4.27.

Dinner

We still had some of the Kabocha squash that we’d baked and added more to it to create a variation of the Smokey Cheese and Pumpkin Slice, that was a quiche than the savory cake that the recipe normally makes.

The recipe still makes four generous serves.

• The bacon was $6.99 for 12 slices, and we used five, or 73c per serve
• Three pastured eggs at 55c each is 41c per serve
• The kabocha squash was $1.74 each (we used 1.5), or 65c per serve
• Smoked gouda slices were $2.99 and we used half or 38c per serve
• Half and half was $1.39 per pint, but we used 1/4 or 9c per serve
• An onion adds 8c per serve.

Dinner tonight was filling and tasty. Foodie Philip served with some “fry bread” (slices of bread ‘toasted’ with butter in the sandwich toaster), which added 32c to his meal, otherwise it was $2.34 per serve.

Lunch

Due to some strangeness at Maggiano’s that involved an extra past dish that we ultimately bought home, so we reheated it and served with some spinach, bacon lardons and a poached egg. The Alfredo was very good and the egg melded into the sauce for a really rich result.

• The Fettuccini came free
• Bacon is $5.49 for the pack of 8 slices and we used two each, or $1.38 per serve
• The spinach was $1.99 and we used half or 50c per serve
• A pastured egg is 55c and we averaged 1.5, or 83c per serve.

Lunch was surprisingly good – and a good time to have carbs – for a net cost of $2.71 per serve.

Dinner

We decided to try Pioneer Woman’s Creamy Mushroom Soup and it turned out really well. We got three serves from our modified recipe.

• Sliced portabello mushrooms were $3.29 or $1.10 per serve
• Sliced white mushrooms were $1.49 or 50c per serve
• Half and half was $1.39 per pint, but we used 1/2 or 24c per serve
• Chicken stock is $1.99 or 67c per serve
• The butter is $3.99 per block, and we used about 1/2, or 67c per serve
• Add 33c per serve for sherry
• Add 10c for flour
• Add 30c for onion, celery, garlic and thyme.

The soup had a lot of mushroom flavor, which was what we were going for. Excellent for $3.91 per serve.

Lunch

A gray, windy day is soup weather and today Trader Joe’s Clam Chowder, made with half and half, and a freshly baked rustic roll really hit the spot.

• Par-baked roll is 63c
• The clam chowder is $1.69 a can or 85c per serve
• The Half and Half is $1.39 per pint, and we used 3/4 or 53c per serve.

It was a very satisfying lunch for $2.01 per serve.

Dinner

Thursday night “steak” night was dedicated to pork chops from our Prather Ranch meat delivery. Two small chops were souse vidé to just below cooked, then fried off in butter to get a golden brown finish, over which we drizzled a balsamic reduction.

We served with baked kabocha squash, which was new for us, and sugar snap peas. We liked the squash. The skin was crispy and the flesh full of flavor without being at all mealy.

• The pork chops were $12.89 or $6.45 per serve
• The kabocha squash was $1.74 but we only served half, or 44c per serve
• Sugar snap peas were $3.99 but we only used half, or $1.00 per serve.

A thoroughly enjoyable meal with a good balance between the pork, squash and sugar snap peas. The combination of peas and squash was particularly good. Most enjoyable for $7.89 per serve.

Lunch

Today’s toasted sandwiches: Crispy Lamb & Lentil with Hummus, and a sliced turkey breast, mayo and cheese.

• Two slices of bread are 32c per serve
• 12 slices of yoghurt cheese are $4.79 and we shared two or 40c per serve
• The turkey breast was $9.59 for 15 oz and we used three, or 96c per serve
• The lamb and lentil mix is $3.00 per serve and we used under 1/4 or 38c per serve
• Add 20c for hummus
• Add 20c for mayo.

Todays sandwiches were both interesting and tasty for $1.43 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight we tried a new meatloaf recipe, although slightly modified because of the amounts of meat we had on hand.

• 1 lb of ground beef was from our Prather Ranch meat box and cost $9.71 or (with four serves) $2.43 per serve
• The pork also came from our Prather Ranch meat delivery – 1 lb of ground pork cost $8.31 or $2.08 per serve
• 16 oz Panko breadcrumbs are $2.99 and we used 4oz or 19c per serve
• A pastured egg is 55c and two were required- 28c per serve
• Add 30c per serve for sundry seasonings
• Sugar snap peas were $3.99 but we only used half, or $1.00 per serve
• The steel cut oats are $3.19 for 24oz, and we used 8oz or 53c per serve
• Mushrooms were $2.29 or $1.15 per serve.

Dinner tonight was good for $7.96 per serve.

Lunch

Because it was the weekend we added egg(s) to our flatbread quesadilla with the cider braised pork.

• The flatbreads add 50c per serve
• Half a can of refried beans, shared across two halves: 26c
• Bacon is $5.49 for 10 slices or $1.10 per serve
• 2 oz of cheddar split between two is 50c per serve
• Eggs are 55c each or 82.5c per serve (average).

Lunch today was a good quesadilla for $2.91 per serve.

Dinner

It turns out that the kedgeree that we’ve been having isn’t particularly authentic, so when Foodie Greg came across Jamie Oliver’s recipe for a more authentic kedgeree, we decided to give it a go, with our new favorite fish: smoked trout.

For us the recipe served two, but we used a lot less fish and about the same amount of rice, and we dropped the yoghurt and coriander.

• The rainbow trout fillets are $7.49 or $3.75 per serve
• Add 33c for basmati rice
• Five kumato were $3.49 and we used 2, or 70c per serve
• Add 25c for garlic, onion and ginger
• Add 55c per serve for an egg
• Add 25c for the remaining ingredients.

This kedgeree was very different from the Anglicized Kedgeree we’ve been cooking, but with the smoked trout this was exceptionally good for $5.83 per serve.