Month: February 2019

Lunch

While reheated fried chicken isn’t quite as good as freshly fried, it’s still pretty good. We served with a Taylor Farms Avocado Ranch Salad kit.

• A 10 piece special was $13.98 and we had two piece each, or $2.80 per serve
• The salad kit was $3.00, but we’ll get four serves, or 75c per serve.

Not a bad lunch for $3.55 per serve.

Dinner

For dinner Foodie Greg tried a new recipe: Sausages with Lentils. We used the Feta, Spinach Turkey sausages from our Keller Crafted box, and French lentils.

• The sausages were $5.00 for the pack or $2.50 per serve
• Du Puy Lentils (black lentils) are $2.99 for a 500g (about 1lb) and we used half or 75c per serve
• Add 30c per serve for red wine
• Add 35c for the other ingredients.

This wasn’t Foodie Philip’s favorite. While the sauce alone was a little salty, combined with the somewhat bland lentils, it was reasonably balanced for $3.90 per serve.

Lunch

We were holding the remaining Popeye’s for Sunday lunch, so today we reverted to toasted sandwiches. One with sliced turkey breast, sun dried tomato spread and Swiss, the other with Sweet & Spicy Tuna, capers and Swiss.

• Sprouted rye bread is 32c per serve
• The tuna pouch was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve
• Add 40c for butter, and sun dried tomato spread.

Lunch was pretty decent for $2.06 per serve.

Dinner

We souse vidé two dry aged pork chops to just short of the recommended temperature, and the did a quick sear in the high tech, non-stick wok. They turned out as well as they did last time – great!

We served with stir fry bell peppers and bean sprouts.

• The pork chop was $12.20 per serve
• Add 20c for avocado oil
• Bean sprouts add 38c per serve
• Carrot adds 10c per serve
• Add 25c for dressing ingredients.

A very good meal for $13.33 per serve.

Lunch

As we’re having vegetarian tonight, we went “fishy” at lunch with canned smoked tuna.

• The smoked trout is $3.49 per can or $1.75 per serve
• Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
• Two avocados were $1.98 but we shared one, or 50c per serve
• Add 30c for butter.

A good sandwich for $2.87 per serve.

Dinner

We over-catered with the grilled eggplant, so we had leftover. Add some more peanut satay sauce and a very inauthentic Vietnamese inspired salad.

• Eggplant was $6.78 or 97c per serve
• The peanut butter was $1.99 and we used about 1/2,  or 25c a serve
  
• Other seasonings in the satay sauce add 35c per serve
• Add 50c for marinade ingredients
• Carrot adds 10c per serve
• The bean sprouts were $1.49 and we used half, or 38c per serve.

It was worth braving the cold weather to grill outdoors because this is a great meal for $2.55 per serve, although we have learnt that reheating slightly enhances the texture, so perhaps next time we’ll grill in the day when it’s warmer and reheat for the meal.

Lunch

Foodie Philip was passing Popeye’s on the way home, so why not pop in and pick up some dark and spicy fried chicken.

• A 10 piece special was $13.98 and we had two piece each, or $2.80 per serve
• The red beans and rice is $3.99 or $2.00 per serve.

We enjoy Popeyes from time to time, for $4.80 per serve.

Dinner

Thursday night is traditionally our steak night, so tonight we defrosted a 10 oz rib eye from Keller Crafted and prepared it in our (new) high tech, non-stick wok. On the induction cooktop we can directly set the temperature, and we get a really good, quick sear on the outside.

We served with a home made Caesar Salad with home made dressing.

• At 10 oz the rib eye is $8.10 per serve
• The cos lettuce was the remainder of our gift
• An egg is 51c or 26c per serve
• Add 15c for the other dressing ingredients
• Baked cheese bites (substituting for croutons) are $2.69 for a pack and we shared half, or 67c per serve.

A fairly simple meal, but when everything is of high quality, the meal becomes something special for $9.18 per serve.

Lunch

With a little of the white bean chili left over, we opted to stuff a rustic panini roll fresh from the oven with the chili as a “sloppy Joe.”

• We shared a served of the chili for $2.07
• The panini roll is 63c.

Definitely a sloppy sandwich, but tasty for $2.70 per serve.

Dinner

Our guests tonight had some dietary restrictions so we went vegetarian with grilled eggplant, peanut satay sauce and a very inauthentic Vietnamese inspired salad.

• Eggplant was $6.78 but we will get seven serves or 97c per serve
• The peanut butter was $1.99 and we used about 1/2,  or 25c a serve
  
• Other seasonings in the satay sauce add 35c per serve
• Add 50c for marinade ingredients
• Carrot adds 10c per serve
• Mint came from our garden
• The lettuce was – ironically – a gift from one of our guests a couple of days earlier.

It was worth braving the cold weather to grill outdoors because this is a great meal for $2.17 per serve.

Lunch

We were uninspired at lunch, so we reverted to toasted sandwiches. One with sliced turkey breast, sun dried tomato spread and Swiss, the other with Lemon Pepper Tuna, capers and Swiss.

• Sprouted rye bread is 32c per serve
• The tuna pouch was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve
• Add 40c for butter, and sun dried tomato spread.

Lunch was pretty decent for $2.06 per serve.

Dinner

While we have our favorite meatloaf recipes, this Greek Style with Spinach and Feta, was definitely interesting enough to try. We will get four very generous serves from this meatloaf.

We served with prepared dolmas and tabouli.

• Two pounds of lean ground beef from our Keller Crafted meat box cost $20.05 or $5.01 per serve
• The feta was $6.49 and we used half or 82c per serve
• Spinach was $1.49 or 38c per serve
• Eggs are 51c each or 27c per serve
• 16 oz Panko breadcrumbs are $2.99 and we used 8oz or 38c per serve
• Add 50c per serve for parsley, seasoning and pomegranate molasses
• Dolmas were $2.49 and we shared half, or 63c per serve
• Tabouli was $2.69 and we used about ⅔ or 90c per serve.

This was a really good meatloaf. The lemon permeated it without dominating and the feta bought texture variation and salt. We’ll do this one again at $8.89 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch we heated some par baked rustic panini rolls and stuffed them with reheated pulled pork.

• The pulled pork is $4.18 per serve and we shared a serve, or $2.09 per serve
• The roll is 63c.

The pulled pork in a hot, crunchy roll makes a perfect cold weather lunch for $2.72 per serve.

Dinner

The only real positive about Winter are soups and stews! Foodie Greg found a new ‘creamy’ mushroom soup that seemed interesting, particularly since we still had farro on hand. The recipe makes six serves.

We had to substitute crimini mushrooms for wild, and our pancetta was more finely diced than the recipe called for, which turned out to be a positive. As it was the same size as the farro, which has a similar texture, the two became indistinguishable, giving the effect of a lot more meat.

• The farro was $1.79 for the pack, but we shared ⅓ or 10c per serve
• The pancetta was $3.29 or 55c per serve
• The mushrooms were 42c per serve
• Bone broth was $5.99 for two cartons, or $1.00 per serve
• Cream fraich was $3.79 and we used half, or 32c per serve
• Add 15c for onions and garlic
• Add 15c for celery and carrots
• Add 10c for sweet sherry
• Add 10c for butter
• Add 20c per serve for other seasonings.

This is a very good mushroom soup. The addition of the sherry/marsala (which would be better) at the end elevates the whole dish. The butter and cream fraiche brings the creamy texture without a lot of dairy. We were surprised how meaty this was, because of the interchangeability of the pancetta and farro. A really good soup for $3.17 per serve.

Lunch

A cold miserable day calls for a nice meat pie. Probably calls to Aussies stronger than Americans, but we do like a pie! Foodie Greg had Trader Joe’s Chicken Balti, while Foodie Philip had the Steak and Stout.

• Trader Joe’s pies are $6.49 for two or $3.25 per serve.

Dinner

Since our hot smoked salmon was so successful last week, we smoked cod (frozen fillets) and served them with a brown rice kedgeree. This is a more traditional kedgeree rice and is served with the cod.

• The cod fillets were six for $12.99 or $2.17 per serve
• Eggs are 51c per serve
• Brown rice adds 33c per serve
• The chili was 15c or 8c per serve
• Limes were 40c or 20c per serve
• Tomatoes add 85c per serve
• Add 55c per serve for ginger, onion, curry powder, ghee and seasoning.

While the kedgeree had more heat than our normal recipe, it was a good variation with more intense flavors. The hot smoked cod was perfectly cooked and took up good smoke flavor and color. Another good meal for $4.69 per serve.