Author: Philip

Lunch

A cool ‘May gray’ day was perfect pie weather, and a Trader Joe’s Steak and Ale Pie hit the spot perfectly.

• The two pack is $6.49 or $3.25 per serve.

Dinner

This is a recipe that Foodie Greg created, but it’s a pretty basic seafood stew. It’s big advantage is that everything is available from a supermarket. The recipe makes six serves and it’s a favorite of Foodie Philip

• Canned Salmon $4.99 or 83c per serve
• Two cups of Half & Half $1.79 or 30c a serve
• 2.3 lbs of potato was $2.26 or 38c per serve
• Two carrots were 30c or 5c per serve
• Carton of chicken broth $1.99 or 33c per serve
• A medium onion is around 20c or 3c per serve.

The salmon chowder cost us $1.92 a serve. Served with Simple Truth Ready to bake garlic bread – $2.50 for the loaf (on special) or 60c per serve.

The total for this quick and easy meal is $2.52 per serve.

 

Lunch

Burbank Monday was a little different this week, so we ended up having burgers from a little burger shack on Riverside Drive at Camarillo St.

• Bacon cheeseburger with tomato, pickle and lettuce for $5.38 with tax.

Dinner

Time for the second half of the meatloaf, served with Trader Joe’s Grecian Style eggplant and frozen peas. We heated the peas and eggplant after frying off the meatloaf.

• Meatloaf, as per May 21, is $3.17 per serve
• The Trader Joe’s Grecian Style Eggplant with tomatoes and onions is $2.49 per can, or $1.25 per serve
• Frozen peas are $2.79 per pack and we used about 1/3 or 47c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $4.89 per serve.

Lunch

Being a Sunday lunch we bought a baguette and had it with a variety of toppings: liverwurst; mayo, egg and pickled onion; and cheddar and sauerkraut pickle.

• The baguette was $2.69 and we had about 1/4 each for lunch, or 67c per serve
• The liverwurst was $3.23 and we had about 1/4 each for lunch, or 81c per serve
• Irish cheddar is $3.69 for a 6 oz block, and we had about 1 oz each, or 46c per serve
• We had an egg each at 50c per serve
• The Australian/English style pickled onion – onions in a sweet vinegar pickle – cost $5.09 per jar and we used about half for lunch, or $1.28 per serve.

Lunch today was $3.72. It’s clearly time to make our own pickled onions!

Dinner

The semiSerious Foodies have a new stovetop smoker, and the first thing smoked was some cod, because it’s impossible to get smoked cod otherwise.

The cod would normally be cooked in the kedgeree along with the rice, but we did a somewhat deconstructed version.

• We buy the cod filets frozen: 7 pieces for $11.99 or $1.71 per piece. One of us had two, the other only one, so the average serve price was $2.57
• Rice and peas add 65c per serve
• An onion is 28c or 14c per serve
• The tomato cost $1.02 or 51c per serve
• A pint of half-n-half is $1.99 and half was used, or 50c per serve
• Other ingredients add another 32c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $4.69 per serve. The smoked cod was very good, with a more subtle smoke than commercially smoked fish. Now on to smoking pork chops!

Lunch

Wild caught smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers on an onion bagel. What’s not to like?

• Smoked salmon is normally $5.99 for the 4oz pack, but today it was on special at $1 off, with another $1 coupon, or $2 a serve
• The pack of six onion bagels is $1.99 or 33c per serve
• The avocado was a bargain at 39c or 20c per serve
• Add 5c for capers.

Lunch today cost $2.58 per serve.

Dinner

Two pounds of Prather Ranch dry-aged ground beef in the freezer was calling to us and a beef meatloaf answered. Paired with mashed cauliflower and brown gravy it makes a great diner-esque meal.

We chose Barefoot Contessa’s classic recipe with 2 lb of beef. Because we get a direct-from-farmer meat delivery, the dry-aged ground beef was around $8 a pound.

The secret to successful cauliflower mash is to let it steam off moisture after the boiling/pressure cooking. Otherwise the mash ends up too sloppy. Mash the cauliflower and parsnip or use a Cuisinart like we do, with some butter, lemon, garlic and sea salt to taste.  (But a quick search will find many interesting variations on the basic recipe.)

• 2 lb of grass fed, dry-aged beef cost $8.00 per lb or $2.00 per serve.
• A small organic cauliflower cost $2.97 and was shared among two, or $1.43 per serve per serve
• Onions add another 15c per serve
• As an alternative to chicken stock plus tomato paste, we used tomato juice for 12c per serve
• Eggs add 25c per serve
• Add in another 27c for seasonings, Worcestershire sauce and bread crumbs
• 8 oz Panko breadcrumbs are $2.99 and we used half, or 38c per serve
• The prepared brown gravy is $2.00 per pack, or 67c per serve.

The meatloaf had great texture and flavor, and cost $5.27 per serve.

 

Lunch

A day of activity in Burbank including some postponed from Monday had both of us eating out at lunch and In and Out Burger are our go-to option.

• Double Double is $4.03 with tax.

Dinner

A second trip to Burbank did not seem attractive so the nighttime activity was cancelled, leading to a “well, I hadn’t planned for that” moment. Our Quesadilla interpretation was elevated from  lunch to dinner with the addition of a couple of fried eggs.

• One flatbread (half of two) costs 50c a serve
• Half a can of refried beans, shared across two halves: 26c
• A very generous serve of salsa is 20c per serve
• 2 oz of cheddar split between two is 50c per serve
• Two eggs at 50c each add $1.00 to the meal.

Dinner tonight cost $2.46 per serve.

Lunch

Today, Trader Joe’s Tarte D’alsance. This is definitely the best of Trader Joe’s ‘tarts.’

• Trader Joe’s Tarte D’Alsace is $4.49 or $2.25 per serve.

Dinner

Thursday night is, traditionally, our steak night, although it’s very loosely interpreted. Tonight we paid Beef top sirloin steak with dressed salad greens and crash hot potatoes.

Top Sirloin is a cut I grew up with, but we called it Rump Steak because of the difference in meat cut naming between the British/Australian system, and the US system. Rump was my father’s favorite steak.

After the experiment with cooking NY Strip blue, we decided to go the same route with the slightly less tender Sirloin. Both are dry aged and we’ve decided that dry aged beef should be cooked no more than rare.

The salad greens were dressed with olive oil and Worcestershire sauce, and sprinkled with crumbled blue cheese.

• 0.8 lb of dry aged Top Sirloin Steak from Prather Ranch was $11.43 or $5.72 per serve.
• Three small potatoes each cost 55c per serve
• The crumbled blue cheese adds about 30c per serve
• The salad greens and dressing add another 50c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $7.07 per serve and is comparable to a much more expensive restaurant dish.

Lunch

Chicken wraps again.

• Supermarket roast chicken is $7.99 and we get four portions from it, with one breast split into two wraps, or $1.00 per serve.
• The salad kit is $3.49 and we used about 1/3 split over two serves, or 75c per serve.
• The flatbread is 25c per serve
• Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/12 or 17c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.17 per serve.

Dinner

A leftovers night anchored by the roast chicken legs and thighs from the supermarket chicken, with the left-over red beans and rice, and the remainder of the salad kit we’ve been using for lunch wraps.

We reheated the red beans and rice in the cast iron pot it was cooked in,on the induction cooktop set to 195ºF, so it never actually boils. The chicken was placed on top to gently steam hot, which was very successful with no drying.

Note: In our ‘new’ home we don’t have a microwave oven. We thought we’d really miss it, but after three months, we find we can comfortably avoid one.

• 1/4 of the roast chicken is $2.00 per serve
• Leftover red beans and rice is $2.61 per serve.
• The salad kit is 75c per serve.

Dinner tonight was quick because it was mostly leftovers or prepared food, and cost $5.36 per serve.

Lunch

Chicken wrap time again! Back to the smaller chicken and with a change to the ready-to-mix salad rather than a premixed small one. The salad kit provides more salad for the dollar, and covers more meals.

• Supermarket roast chicken is $7.99 and we get four portions from it, with one breast split into two wraps, or $1.00 per serve.
• The salad kit is $3.49 and we used about 1/6th split over two serves, or 32c per serve.
• The flatbread is 25c per serve
• Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/12 or 17c per serve.

Lunch today cost $1.74 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight we had lamb sausages, home-made semi-dried tomatoes, packaged dolma’s and roasted fennel with feta. The feta substitutes for the parmesan in the original recipe.

• The lamb sausages which were perfect and not over seasoned so the lamb flavor came through, and cooking on a flattop grilled them to perfection:  $17.26 for six, or $5.75 per serve
• Roast fennel was an experiment because one of the semiSerious Foodies is sensitive to aniseed flavors, but the roasting softens those flavors and ups the sweetness. $2.96 for three bulbs or 99c per serve
• Plum tomatoes were $2.26 or 38c per serve
• The tin of dolma’s is $2.49 or 83c per serve.

Dinner tonight was really delicious and cost $7.95 per serve. The lamb sausages were perfect, the roast fennel equally so, and while the tomatoes were a little more than ‘semi-dry’ they still tasted good.