Author: Philip

Feb 11: Red beans; Cabbage salad and chicken

Lunch

For lunch we had the remainder of the red beans (no rice) which was quick and delicious. As per the costings from February 9th, lunch cost us $1.53 a serve.

Dinner

Because Philip was to be live on the Digital Production BuZZ and then we needed to drop by the Chatsworth house, we planned on leftover cabbage salad, and the chicken legs (thigh and drumstick) from this week’s chicken purchase.

All we needed to do was warm the chicken and dinner was on the table.

  • The chicken was $1.75 per serve
  • The salad was $3.08 per serve

Dinner tonight was $4.83 a serve. While the salad was still very tasty, it was not attractive enough to photograph.

Feb 10: Chicken Wraps; Red cabbage salad

Lunch

Back to our regular chicken wrap lunch. This week’s chicken was again $6.99 and today we shared 1/4 of that.

  • Chicken 88c a serve
  • One quarter of the $2.74 salad is 60c
  • The flatbread is 50c
  • Add some hummus at 30c

Today’s lunch cost us $2.28 per serve.

Dinner

A new recipe: Red cabbage salad, although we swapped fresh blueberries for the raisins for fresher flavor. We figure four very generous serves as a main dish.

It might not be the prettiest dish but it sure was tasty. The blueberries add a fresh bite to offset the cheese beautifully.

  • Bacon ends cost $4.99 for the container, but this recipe used about 1/3 of that, or 42c per serve
  • Blueberries $2.50 or 63c per serve
  • Blue Cheese crumbles $4.99 and we used the lot for $1.25 per serve.
  • We got the cabbage given to us, but expect to pay about $2.50 or 63c a serve.
  • Molasses (instead of brown sugar) and red wine vinegar, about 15c a serve

Tonight’s dinner cost $3.08 per serve. It’s probably better as a side dish rather than a main although it is very filling and satisfying. The bacon takes on the same color as the cabbage so you never know whether a bit will be bacon or cabbage.

Feb 9: Sushi; Popeye’s chicken with home-made Red Beans and Rice

Lunch

Convenience won out again, and sushi was purchased during a supermarket trip. Combined the two packs cost $12.78 or $6.39 a serve.

Dinner

Time to use up the final serves of Popeye’s fried chicken from Saturday. This time Greg cooked up a batch of home-made red beans and rice to go with it.

  • Chicken is $2.50 a serve
  • Onion, oil and garlic and seasonings about 15c per serve
  • Each can of organic beans was 99c and we used three, or 50c per serve
  • Instead of andouille sausage, we used a Kroger Simple Truth Lightly Smoked Sausage for $2.99 or 50c a serve
  • Chicken broth $2.29 or 38c a serve
  • And the rice: 33c a serve

Dinner tonight cost us $3.98 per serve. The best part of the meal was definitely the red beans!

Tip: When reheating fried foods, use a hot and dry oven. When reheating pastry product like a meat pie, place a bowl of boiling water in the over during reheating to avoid the pastry drying out.

Feb 8: Avocado and sardines; Dinner out

Lunch

We returned to a lunch that we had a lot when Philip was trying to lose weight. Alton Brown claims it was instrumental in him losing weight (intentionally).

Our iteration featured Trader Joe’s Lightly Smoked Sardines, on an English Muffin with hass avocado. The slight smokiness makes the sardines a little more interesting.

  • The sardines cost $1.69 or 85c per serve
  • An English Muffin is 50c per serve
  • The avocado was 48c or 24c a serve.

Lunch today cost $1.59 per serve.

Dinner

It was our night for our monthly get together with a friend, so we ate at Gordon Birsch again. Because we weren’t on camera, we ordered a burger again. The Gastro Pub burger is a great burger so we had it again this time.

The burger is $12.25 but with tax and tip about $15.80.

Feb 7: It’s a big game party

Lunch

Pacing ourselves as we were heading out for a ‘big game’ party we had half a muffin with a fried egg on top ahead of the party.

  • One half of an English Muffin – 25c
  • Organic egg – 50c

Lunch today cost 75c per serve, but it was more of a snack than lunch.

Dinner

It was a party. Lots of delicious party foods, catered by our excellent hosts. We contributed wine, so let’s say $4 a head today.

Feb 6: Take out fried chicken; Sous Vide pork chop and waldorf salad

Lunch

An occasional treat is Popeyes fried chicken (dark and spicy please). Red Beans and rice on the side, although Greg’s home made is better.

Fried chicken is the only ‘fast food’ we indulge in. It’s not something we would make at home, because of the deep frying required.

Eight pieces of chicken were $9.99 but that makes four serves in all, making each serve $2.50. The large Red beans and rice was $3.99 and we shared that for $2 a serve. In total, lunch was $4.50 a serve.

Dinner

Our 25th Anniversary dinner is a repeat of January 16th’s evening meal: Sous vide heritage pork chop with waldorf salad.

Pricing is pretty much the same as on January 16:

  • $9.50 for a generous 10oz (after bone taken out) of heritage pork chop
  • $2.55 for the salad.

That makes tonight’s anniversary dinner, a very reasonable $12.05 each. As we noted in January, this is the best pork chop we’ve ever had. It is significantly better than any we’ve had in a restaurant, and a whole lot cheaper!

Feb 5: Sushi; Beef and broccoli stir fry

Lunch

Since it there was a supermarket trip anyway, we choose Sushi again. $12.78 or $6.39 a serve.

Dinner

The Stir Fried Beef and Broccoli we were going to have last night got moved to tonight. Good thing it’s quick because we were back late from having the flooring finished at our new house. The slowest part was cooking the sprouted brown rice. On the table 35 minutes after arriving home.

We used slightly less meat than the recipe calls for and added mushroom to recipe to compensate.

  • Stir fry beef $10.49 or $5.25 per serve
  • The broccoli was $3.79 or $1.90 per serve
  • Ginger 28c or 14c per serve
  • Sprouted rice is 92c per serve
  • Other ingredients add up to around 20c per serve.

Tonights meal cost $8.41 per serve. It could be less with more conventionally grown protein, but we are happy to pay a little more for the quality of life of the animal.

Feb 4: Lunch out; Quick Snack!

Lunch

We were recording another Lunch with Philip and Greg so we ate out for the second day running. Today we recorded in Gordon Biesch and we both had the Beer Battered Fish and Chips. That’s their picture featured above.

Atlantic cod dipped in märzen batter and fried, with tartar sauce, apple cider slaw and salt & pepper fries

The batter was appropriately crispy, the fries (regular) are always good, and our coleslaw was served in another small bowl, preventing fries or batter from becoming soggy.

On the menu for $16.75 the reality is much closer to $22 with tax and tip. It’s a huge serve and, although we didn’t finish everything on the plate, we both felt over filled afterward.

One reason we chose the dish was because it’s not something we’d ever cook at home. Maintaining oil for frying, and safe conditions to fry in, is more effort than most fried food is worth. So, it’s an eat out/take out treat for us.

Dinner

That stuffed-full-of-food feeling didn’t go away, despite burning up some energy at our new home. So we postponed the planned dinner until tomorrow night.

We ultimately had a ‘Quesadilla’ of flatbread, refried beans, salsa and cheddar. We last did this for lunch on Jan 20th where it cost $1.49 per serve.

Feb 3: Chicken Pot Pie; Quinoa Chowder (repeat)

Lunch

We were recording an episode of Lunch with Philip and Greg today, so we ate out. Two of three had the chicken pot pie at $6 each, or close to $8 with tax and tip.

Dinner

Because we were uncertain what time we’d be back today after lunch and some meetings, so we planned on leftovers: Quinoa Chowder from two nights ago.

As it did on Feb 1, tonight’s soup cost us $2.72 a serve plus 20c for a slice of toast to dip in the egg yolk.