Fresh ingredients, simple techniques and great food.
Lunch
Our brunch today came courtesy of Foremost – the developer of the land around us – as a community outreach. We enjoyed spending time with our neighbors and an Applewood Smoked Bacon and Fried Egg sandwich on a Brioche Bun.
Dinner
We enjoyed the rest of the 13 Bean Soup, with a single slice of Dave’s Killer Bread, for $1.81 per serve.
Lunch
Our fake “English Breakfast” included Italian Toast, Giant Baked Beans, Bacon and Fried Eggs.
A very enjoyable lunch for $3.14 per serve.
Dinner
Our attempt at a Scallop Pie back in December was not all that successful, so Foodie Greg thought we should try this easy Coquilles Saint Jacques recipe from Ina Garten.
This was a very excellent dish, although in truth we shared three serves! The Velouté was very flavorsome and the Mushrooms – surprisingly – enhanced the overall flavor. The Bay Scallops were tender and flavorsome contributing to a very enjoyable and tasty meal, that wasn’t hard to prepare, for $5.94 per serve.
Lunch
We returned to Pho Saigon 1 for a shared Bahn Mi and Egg Rolls, after a couple of months absence. The Bahn Mi didn’t seem up to their normal standard, and the Egg Rolls were slightly overdone. An okay meal for $12.92 per serve with tax and tip.
Dinner
We had our postponed Fishy Friday of Barramundi, Waffle Fries and Malt Vinegar Coleslaw.
The Malt Vinegar Coleslaw requires soaking the Coleslaw in Malt Vinegar for an hour before making the dressing. We both agreed it was the best Coleslaw we’ve had. We preferred the Waffle Fries to Steak Fries because the greater surface area worked better for the oven bake. A decent meal for $6.13 per serve.
Lunch
Foodie Greg found Frozen Shepherd’s Pie at Whole Foods on special, so we decided to give them a try, despite being very disappointed with Boomerang’s “Aussie” Pies. For the record, their “Aussie” pies are terrible. Absolutely the worst example I’ve ever eaten.
Their Shepherd’s Pie was just boring for $2.70 per serve, after all discounts. Add 40c for Green Beans.
Dinner
A last minute change of plans had us finishing the Quick Moussaka for $4.88 per serve.
Lunch
When you lack inspiration, go with a classic Ham, Gouda and Tomato toasted sandwiches.
A pretty good sandwich for $2.48 per serve.
Dinner
It’s been a long time since we did a ‘Thursday Night Steak Night’ Rib Eye. We paired it with another of the Aldi Bacon and Cheese Twice Baked Potato, and home made Creamed Spinach.
We get a perfect hard sear on the outside of the Rib Eye in our “high tech” wok that contributes as much smokey flavor as cooking on the grill outside. A fast, hard cook balances the perfect crust with keeping the inside ‘blue’ or very rare. The Double Stuffed (Bacon and Cheese) Potatoes and Creamed Spinach emulate a traditional steak house meal for only $6.29 per serve.
Lunch
We toasted some Dave’s Killer Bread and spread liberally with Delice de Bourgogne and topped with Snow Pea Shoots.
While it wasn’t the ripest Delice de Bourgogne we’ve had, its funky ammonia vibe worked really well with the Ham and Snow Pea Shoots for $2.87 per serve.
Dinner
We returned to our Quick Moussaka, which give us four serves.
By defatting the Lamb early in the process, we avoided having fat rise during the bake, for a much better looking result. At least it looks better until we made a mess of it serving! A very tasty meal for $4.88 per serve.
Lunch
We took some Turkey Bacon Chipotle Meatloaf from the freezer and heated it with two Chibatta rolls and added some Chipotle Coleslaw for a rather good lunch sandwich.
The Chipotle Hot Sauce in the Dressing is a perfect foil for the chipotle in the Meatloaf, while the Coleslaw adds a crunch for textual variety. Pretty decent for $3.27 per serve.
Dinner
We reheated the remaining Choucroute with Fingerling Potatoes and Beer Bratwurst on top.
Beer Bratwurst and Choucroute is a classic pairing because they work so well together. A decent meal for $3.78 per serve.
The Foodies didn’t venture out this month, but did have one group of vaccinated friends for a long-postponed get-together.
The averages for this month were at the lower end of our averages.
The variation is small month to month.
Our most expensive meal of the month was The Country Deli as we missed our modified Bento Box with Tataki Tuna. The Deli was for $18.86 per serve.
This month, lunches at home cost 21% of the cost of eating lunches prepared outside the home. Our evening meals prepared in the home are 31% of the cost of take-out meals.
Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $321.78 per person in January. We actually spent $60.17 for lunches at home plus $41.52 for lunches purchased or eaten out: $101.69 per person in total.
If every evening meal cost us the same as our average this month, it would be $483.91. We actually spent $138.58 for dinners at home and $31.22 for our two dinner from a restaurant, or $169.80 per person in total.
We saved about $530 per person by preparing almost all our meals at home and we have a lot more control over what we eat.
Lunch
We chose to prepare a Ham Salad in a Chibatta Roll hot from the oven.
A simple, but very tasty sandwich, for $2.08 per serve.
Dinner
As we had a fresh Ham Bone, Foodie Greg pressure cooked it into an unctuous stock that served as the basis of 13 Bean Soup.
The Apple Cider Vinegar added at the end freshens the entire Soup, while the home-made Ham Stock adds unctuousness that won’t ever come from a water base to the Soup. Rich, thick and tasty for $1.72 per serve.
Lunch
It was way past time for a Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich from Skewers Halaal . The sandwiches and shared fries were $8.75 per serve.
Dinner
Both Aldi and Amazon Fresh stock frozen Tuna – Ahi or Sockeye, and tonight we did a taste test, which left them about even, despite Amazon Fresh being nearly twice as expensive as Aldi!
There’s an interesting mix of textures between the very tender Tuna, through the crispness the slaw adds to the Rice, to the creaminess of the Avocado, it all comes together with the acid from the Asian-inspired Dressing. A good meal for $4.10 per serve.
