Month: March 2018

Lunch

A gray, rainy day is obviously a pie day, and today we enjoyed Trader Joe’s Steak and Stout Pies again, for $3.25 per serve.

Dinner

A pound of ground pork always comes in our Prather Ranch meat delivery, and we’ve been honing a few favorite ways to use it, including tonight’s Turmeric Coconut Curry with Pork.

We substituted bok choy for the cabbage because we have it (and it tastes better).

• The pork came from our Prather Ranch meat delivery – 1 lb of ground pork cost $8.31 or $$2.08 per serve
• Add 45c for onion, ginger and turmeric
• Coconut milk was $1.89 or 48c per serve
• Bok Choy was $1.29 and we used half, or 65c per serve
• Almond flakes were $2.49 but we used only 1/5 or 25c per serve
• Add 44c per serve for black rice.

Dinner tonight had a good balance of heat. The bok choy provided a nice textural alternative to the pork and rice. A decent meal for $4.35 per serve.

Lunch

We ended up at The Country Deli for lunch where Philip had his usual marinated skirt steak with eggs, while Foodie Greg had a pastrami on rye with fries.

Lunch at The Country Deli runs $21.62 per person (average) with tax and tip.

Dinner

After the meat heavy lunch, we went meat-light for dinner with a new recipe: Creamy Chickpeas and Prosciutto. We opted to not serve with any bread because we didn’t need the extra food.

There was some discussion on the recipe’s page about the calorie count for the meal. The two calorie heavy components are the flat bread and chickpeas. Most cans of chickpeas do run 12-1300 calories, but the Simple Truth brand (Kroger/Ralph’s) we got comes in at 450 calories for the can, reducing the overall calorie count to around 780.

Foodie Philip had two eggs, while Greg had one.

• Pastured eggs are 50c each or 75c average per serve
• The beans were $1.00 or 50c per serve
• The prosciutto was $5.99 but we used ⅔ or $2.00 per serve
• Heavy cream was $1.79 and we used half or 45c per serve
• Add 30c for tomato paste and smoked paprika.

Dinner tonight was better than expected! It could have used  more tomato paste, and perhaps a little chopped tomatoes for a little acid, but overall, it is a good dish and well worth the $4.00 per serve it cost.

 

Lunch

A ripe avocado has to be eaten almost immediately so we decided to mix with some boneless, skinless sardines and sprinkle heavily with chili lime seasoning before toasting.

• Two slices of bread are 32c per serve
• The avocado was 89c or 45c per serve
• The sardines are $1.99 a can or $1.00 per serve
• Add 35c for butter and chili lime.

Without the chili lime ‘salt’ this would have been very boring, but the hint of acid works well, creating a decent sandwich for $2.12 per serve.

Dinner

We had some pork cutlets in our Prather Ranch meat box, so we decided on a stir fry with eggplant, bell pepper, bok choy and a Trader Joe’s green chili simmer sauce.

The recipe was Foodie Greg’s invention and made four good serves.

• The pork was $15.53 or $3.88 per serve
• Bok Choy was $2.77 and we used 2/3 or 46c per serve
• The eggplant was $1.05, or 26c per serve
• The bell pepper was $1.25, or 32c per serve
• The simmer sauce was $1.99 or 50c per serve
• Add 33c for brown rice.

The simmer sauce was disappointing as it lacked any real spice or flavor, so overall the meal was okay, without being great, for $5.75 per serve. We’ve added some fish sauce to the remainder to amp up the flavor.

Lunch

After buying some more tabouli, we were ready to use the balance of the gyros meat. Today we finished baking a Trader Joe’s par baked panini rustic roll each and stuffed it with the meat and tabouli. It was pretty tasty.

• The fully cooked sliced gyro/yeros meat is $3.99 per 10 oz pack. There are really four serves, so $1.00 per serve
• We served 1/2 of the tabouli salad or 67c per serve
• The  par baked rustic roll is 63c per serve.

Lunch today was pretty good for $2.30 per serve.

Dinner

A simple dinner of brined and roasted pork loin, roast kabocha squash and a kale salad with lemon dressing. The pork loin was drizzled with a little balsamic reduction.

The pork loin came from our Prather Ranch meat delivery. Like almost all pork and poultry that we cook, we brined the pork loin for just over two hours. Brining makes the meat juicier and protects against over cooking.

We cooked the pork loin to 135 F and rested it for 15 minutes before carving.

• The pork loin was $14.73 or $7.37 per serve
• The salad kit was $3.00 or $1.50 per serve
• The kabocha squash was $1.98 and we used half, or 50c per serve
• Add 25c for seasoning.

Dinner was a good balance between the salad, squash and pork. We like the skin crispy on the squash because it gives a good texture contrast with the more starchy squash. The slightly tart lemon dressing worked well with the squash, as did the pork. Each component worked well alone, or in any combination. A winning meal for $9.62 per serve.

Lunch

Another cold and dreary day so we decided to finish the split pea soup and serve with ‘fry bread’ (a buttered piece of bread in the panini press).

• The soup cost $0.68 per serve
• The bread (with butter) is 16c per serve
• Add 25c for butter.

Lunch today was a good call on a rainy day for $1.10 per serve.

Dinner

We still had two serves of the Horseradish Sweet Potato mash, so Greg decided on “bangers and mash,” or in this case Trader Joe’s excellent bratwurst with the sweet potato mash and onion gravy.

• The bratwurst are $3.49 for the pack, or $1.75 per serve
• The sweet potato mash was 59c per serve
• The onions were 22c or 11c per serve
• Butter adds 20c per serve
• Chicken stock adds 50c per serve
• Add 15c for seasoning.

We expected the bratwurst and mash to be good, but the star of this meal was definitely that onion gravy. A simple, but good, meal for $3.30 per serve.

Lunch

Because it was a gray, rainy day we put two Trader Joe’s Steak and Stout Pies in the oven, and heated some of the leftover Sweet Potato and Horseradish Mash.

• Trader Joe’s Steak and Stout pies are $6.49 for two or $3.25 per serve
• The Japanese sweet potato was $2.92, but we got five serves, one of which we shared today, or but we will get at least four serves, or 29c per serve.

Lunch today was satisfying for $3.54 per serve.

Dinner

While we’ve cooked Rhode Island Clam Chowder, it was before we started this record, so it’s new to The semiSerious Foodies! A non-dairy alternative to traditional clam chowders, the dairy is replaced by gelatin to provide unctuousness. We also substituted clam juice for chicken stock, because we had it left over from the smoked trout chowder, and to amp up the seafood flavor.

• The clams were $5.24 or $2.62 per serve
• The bacon ends and pieces were $4.49 and we used about 1/5, or 45c per serve
• Onions, carrot, garlic, celery and herbs add 60c per serve
• Half a cup of dry white wine adds 25c per serve
• The clam juice was $3.39 and we used ⅓ or 57c per serve
• Potatoes were 61c, or 30c per serve
• Gelatin is $2.69 and we used 1/6 or 23c per serve.

The clam chowder was very, very good. Great mouth feel from the gelatin and a lot of flavor from the clams and clam juice, for $5.02 per serve.

Lunch

Today’s toasted sandwiches started with a pouch of Lemon Pepper Salmon – the perfect amount for one sandwich – and a slice of gouda on one sandwich, with Heirloom tomato, gouda and mayo on the other.

• The salmon was $2.79 or $1.40 per serve
• Gouda slices are 12 for $3.99 or 33c per serve.
• Three heirloom tomatoes were $2.87 and we shared half of one, or 48c per serve
• Two slices of bread are 32c per serve
• Add 45c for mayo and butter.

We were uncertain how well the salmon would pair with gouda (or any cheese) but it worked well. Tomato and cheese is probably the most cliché toasted sandwich, but when done well, is incomparable. Two good sandwiches for $3.30 per serve.

Dinner

Time to slice up that meatloaf and fry it off to get great extra flavor thanks to the maillard reaction on the surface. Pressure cook some Japanese sweet potato, which is not as sweet and further balance the sweetness with some horseradish.

We took some of the greens from a supermarket salad and dressed them simply in vinegar and olive oil to provide a green touch. Mashed potato always calls for gravy!

• The meatloaf from two nights ago cost $6.55 per serve
• The Japanese sweet potato was $2.92 but we will get at least four serves, or 59c per serve
• The salad kit was $3.00 but we only used about 10% or 15c each
• The gravy was $1.79 or 90c per serve, although some leftover went into the mash for an extra kick.

The fried meatloaf is always good. The gravy and mashed sweet potato went well together, probably better than the gravy and meatloaf! All up a good meal for $8.33 per serve.