Month: June 2018

Lunch

We had quite a lot of roasts vegetables from the tray bake a couple of nights ago, so rather than reheating, we put them in a pan and mixed in a savory custard to make a baked vegetable, crustless quiche.

It turns out to be a great way to use up the vegetables and halloumi when reheating tends to dry them out.

• Baked vegetable and halloumi was $1.93 per serve
• Add two eggs per serve or $1.00.

Lunch today was really good for $2.93 per serve.

Dinner

This month’s meat box came with a Chateaubriand – a top sirloin roast – so we gave it the prime rib treatment by cooking slow and low to medium rare, then a hard, hot blast to render the fat and give a good crust on the outside.

The Chateaubriand will make at least four serves, as does the asparagus, but we finished all the garlic butter mushrooms tonight! We also prepared a horseradish cream sauce.

• The 2 lb Chateaubriand was $31.03 or $7.76 per serve
• Baby Bella Mushrooms were $2.99 or $1.50 per serve
• The asparagus was $3.69 and we used about half, or 92c per serve
• The creme frisch was $3.79 but we used only ⅛ or 23c per serve
• Add 75c for butter, horseradish and seasonings.

An excellent meal for $11.16 per serve.

Lunch

With a fresh supply of pastrami, we prepared two sandwiches for toasting: pastrami, bread & butter pickles and Swiss and pastrami, Sauerkraut & Swiss. Both were good.

• The pastrami was $11.99 for 16 oz and we used 3 oz across two sandwiches, or $1.13 per serve
• Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 33c per serve
• The Bubbies (natural) Sauerkraut is expensive at $6.99 or 22c per serve, but it is a very superior sauerkraut without the bad odor of most sauerkraut
• Add 45c for butter and garlic dip.

Lunch today cost $2.45 per serve.

Dinner

An unseasonably cool day lead to our favorite Bacon and Black Bean Chili, which makes around six serves.

• The ground beef was $9.17 or $1.53 per serve
• The beans are $1.19 per can and we used two, or 40c per serve
• Canned tomatoes were $1.29 or 22c per serve
• Tomato paste was 79c or 13c per serve
• Bacon pieces were $4.49 for the pack and we used about 1/4, or 19c per serve
• Add 30c per serve for seasoning
• Add 20c for labné
• The avocado was 25c per serve.

This is a pretty good chili made even better by the ‘fixin’s’ on top for $3.22 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch we finished the second half of the Smokey Gouda and Kambocha Squash Custard/Quiche from two nights ago. It was definitely better this time, even though we served cold. We thought that the kabocha squash absorbed some moisture while the cooler temperature firmed the cheese a little improving the texture and flavor.

A good lunch for $2.20 per serve.

Dinner

Nigella Lawson is famous for her baking sheet meals. We’ve cooked variations on her Double Potato Halloumi Bake many times and tonight we created our own variation: Bratwurst, Asian Yam, Onion, Bell Pepper and Garlic.

The vegetable and halloumi portion makes four serves. The bratwurst, just two.

• The bratwurst are $3.49 for the pack, or $1.75 per serve
• The oriental yam was $1.09 or 27c per serve
• The bell pepper was $1.49 or 38c per serve
• The red onion was 67c or 17c per serve
• Halloumi cost $3.64 or 91c per serve
• Add 20c for seasoning and garlic.

We enjoyed this sheet bake very much. The asian yam is not as sweet as sweet potato and not as mealy as regular potato, so it was a hit. Everything melded together well for $3.68 per serve.

Lunch

Instead of sharing two different sandwiches, today we both had avocado and smoked trout as the avocado and trout are too much for one sandwich.

• Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
• The avocado was 50c or 25c per serve
• The smoked trout is $3.49 per can or $1.75 per serve
• Add 45c for butter and garlic dip.

This is a pretty good sandwich for $2.77 per serve.

Dinner

It’s been a long time since we had a rib eye steak, but tonight we broke the drought and grilled it. Served with the Cauliflower Gnocchi in Blue Cheese sauce it was a satisfying (and filling) meal.

• The Rib Eye was $19.90 or $9.95 per serve
• The gnocchi was $2.69 or $1.35 per serve
• Blue cheese crumbles were $3.49 and we used half or 87c per serve
• Heavy cream is $3.29 per pint, but we used only ¼ or 42c per serve
• Organic frozen peas were $1.99 per pack or 50c per serve
• Add 30c for other ingredients.

Again, a satisfying, but not outstanding, meal for $13.39 per serve.

Lunch

The Foodies are still on independent lunch track due to Foodie Greg’s dental work, so Foodie Philip added smoked turkey breast to the Swiss and moon touched tomatoes – along with the garlic spread – for a pretty tasty sandwich.

• Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 33c per serve
• The turkey breast is $2.99 for 8 oz and one went on the sandwich, or 38c per serve
• The moon touched tomato adds 15c per serve
• Add 45c for butter and garlic dip.

A decent sandwich for $1.53 per serve.

Dinner

With Foodie Greg on a “soft food” diet, we prepared the smokey gouda and kabocha squash custard, a.k.a. crustless quiche.

As an experiment we used turkey bacon instead of pork. If turkey bacon is your only bacon choice, don’t bother. It’s terrible: tastes of nothing in particular and has a weird texture.

• Five eggs are $2.50 or 63c per serve
• The kabocha squash was $1.94 and we used the remaining half, or 24c per serve
• The turkey bacon is $2.99 and we used ⅓ or 25c per serve
• The gouda was $6.99 and we used half, or 88c
• Add 20c for heavy cream and seasoning.

The kabocha squash may have been a little past its prime, but overall it was a good meal for $2.20 per serve.

Lunch

The Foodies were at different places during lunch. Foodie Greg had crisp bread, while Philip caught up with a little chicken salad late in the day.

Average cost about $1.20 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight’s meal was put together without much pre-planning so we decided on Southwest Beans and Sausage with brown rice.

The recipe makes four serves and it basically just involves cutting up stuff, opening a couple of cans, and cooking some rice, which is always faster in the pressure cooker!

• The Andouille Sausage is the most expensive component at $5.99 or $1.50 per serve
• Bell pepper: $1.13 or 16c per serve
• Onion: 10c per serve
• Fire roasted diced tomato (canned): $1.69 a can or 48c per serve
• The pinto beans are 99c a can or 28c a serve
• For the herbs, 15c a serve
• And the rice: 33c a serve

Dinner tonight cost $3.00 a serve. It’s a very tasty, warming stew with a little heat from the andouille.

Lunch

For lunch we went immediately for our favorite sandwich: a Bahn Mi for $8.75 per serve with tax and tip.

Dinner

It was time to revisit the Peruvian Meat Sauce, a.k.a. Red Curry and Pink Peppercorn Meat Sauce, we had on June 18th. This time with soba noodles.

Nothing unusual about using a Thai curry with a Peruvian recipe and serving with Chinese noodles!

Again we found that the recipe makes for three generous serves.

• 1lb of Prather Ranch ground pork is $9.26 or $3.09 per serve
• Limes were $1.56 and about half went into the dish, or 26c per serve
• The can of coconut milk was $1.99 or 66c per serve
• The curry paste was $2.29 for the can, or 76c per serve
• The soy adds 42c per serve
• Add 35c for the toasted coriander, pink peppercorns, rice wine and cornstarch
• Soba noodles add 40c per serve
• The cost of the bok choy has already been accounted.

Dinner tonight was, again, amazing. Definitely the best “spaghetti with meat sauce” ever, and it cost $5.94 per serve.