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Lunch

For lunch we shared two sandwiches. One with turkey breast, Swiss and sun dried tomato paste and the other with Sweet & Spicy Tuna 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 decided to pull our stove top smoker out of semi-retirement to smoke some wild caught salmon that we got (frozen) from Trader Joe’s. We paired it with some Pepper Roasted Cauliflower.

We got much better results this time because we moved the smoker from the induction cooktop to our regular range.

• The salmon fillets were $10.31 or $5.16 per serve
• The green cauliflower was $3.22 or $1.71 per serve
• Add 20c for pepper and soy sauce.

The salmon turned out perfectly, with great smoke taste. The cauliflower was a little undercooked at the recommended time, but still tasty. A good “fishy Friday” for $7.07 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch we finished baking two panini roll, stuffed in some Swiss cheese and filled with hot Bacon and Black Bean Chili, finally finishing the chili!

• The roll is 63c
• The chili has been accounted for in other meals
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve.

While a little messy, this was really tasty for 97c per serve.

Dinner

One of our favorite items in the Keller Crafted meat box are the dry aged, bone in pork chops. Tonight we souse vidé them to 135 degrees and then pan seared them for color. That’s a little lower than normally recommended for medium, but with the pan sear, it turned out perfectly.

The Apple stew was left over from two nights ago.

• The apple stew was $5.70 per serve
• The pork chop was $12.20 per serve
• Add 20c for butter.

The pork chop was perfect. Juicy, but cooked to a perfect medium rare, we both thought it was the best pork chop we’ve ever had. The Apple stew, with some remaining pork flavor, was a perfect side. An expensive home cooked meal, but one worth every penny at $18.10 per serve.

Lunch

February is soup and stew weather, as you can probably tell. As it was particularly cold today (for Souther California) we heated some of the remaining split pea soup, and served with a baked rustic panini roll.

The soup cost 43c per serve, and with the roll, $1.06 per serve.

Dinner

A Cottage Pie – the beef version of a Shepherd’s Pie – is a warm, filling dish, but it sure makes a lot of dirty dishes! We get four serves from the ‘pie.’

• The ground beef is $10.16 or $2.54 per serve
• The potatoes were $2.20 or 55c per serve
• Add 35c for carrot, onion and celery
• Beef stock is $1.99 but we used ¼ or 13c per serve
• Add 20c per serve for butter
• Add 30c per serve for flour and seasonings.

It was definitely warming and filling for $4.07 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch we finished baking two panini roll, stuffed in some Swiss cheese and filled with hot Bacon and Black Bean Chili.

• The roll is 63c
• The chili has been accounted for in other meals
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve.

While a little messy, this was really tasty for 97c per serve.

Dinner

We often get cubed pork in our Keller Crafted meat box, and it’s a challenge to find something interesting to do with it, so tonight we tried a new recipe: Chunky Pork and Apple Stew. There will be four serves.

• The pork was $8.99 or $2.25 per serve
• A can of coconut milk was $1.69 or 43c per serve
• Bacon is $4.99 for the pack and we used 40%, or 50c per serve
• The sweet potato was $1.97 or 49c per serve
• The Apples were $5.31 or $1.33 per serve
• Chicken Broth is $1.99 or 50c per serve
• We substituted hard cider with sherry and apple cider vinegar for 20c per serve
• Add 50c per serve for seasoning, onion and mustard.

We chose to serve without any filler. This was pretty good for $5.70 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch we had a toasted Lemon Pepper Tuna with Swiss sandwich.

• Sprouted rye bread is 32c per serve
• The tuna was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve
• Add 50c for butter, garlic spread and capers.

A serviceable lunch for $2.16 per serve.

Dinner

Split pea soup based on a home made ham stock isn’t totally meatless, but there’s no meat left in the final result, so we though it would count as “meatless Monday.”

The recipe makes eight serves.

• The stock has no real cost
• The pack of split peas was $1.59 or 27c per serve
• The frozen peas is 99c a pack, or 16c per serve
• A bread roll is 63c.

For dinner tonight the soup cost 43c per serve, and with the roll, $1.06 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch we each had a Smoked Trout and Avocado toasted sandwich.

• 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

Since it’s “Fishy Friday” we had Mussels in a Coconut Red Curry. We bought a packet of pre-cooked mussels from our local Ralph’s (Kroger). These are obviously a “packaged for retail” version of a food service product. We made half the recipe.

• The mussels were $2.99 or $1.50 per serve
• The bell pepper was $1.02 or 51c per serve
• Coconut milk was $1.29 or 65c per serve
• Three shallots were 99c and we shared one, or 17c per serve
• Add 55c per serve for fish sauce, garlic, ginger and seasoning
• A rustic panini roll was 63c.

We both enjoyed this meal a lot. Quite simple with a lot of warming spices that didn’t dominate the mussels. A tasty and enjoyable meal for $4.01 per serve.

For just under half the month we were in Australia where we had some excellent food, particularly while in Tasmania, and especially at The Taste of Tassie. Back in Newcastle Foodie Greg cooked dinner for his parents for the first time!

The averages for this month:

• Lunch prepared at home $2.24 ($2.77 in December)
  Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $9.24 ($8.13)
  Dinner eaten at home: $5.29 ($5.13)
  Dinner eaten out: $21.00 ($22.39).

Our lunches at home average in a fairly narrow band and this month is only a few cents per serve down from last month. Lunches prepared outside the home are up a little because of the travel.

Our most expensive meal for the month was in a high end steak house in Hobart at $44.80 per person.

Our most expensive at home meal was our Dry Aged Rib Eye with Spinach, Pear, Pomegranate and Blue Cheese meal on January 24th for $10.85 per serve. This month’s meals at home are slightly under our long term averages.

Lunches at home cost 24% of the cost of eating food prepared outside the home, while dinners at home cost 25% the average of dinner out this month.

Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $286.44 per person in January. We actually spent $40.26 for lunches at home plus $83.12 for lunches purchased or eaten out:  $123.38 in total.

Had we purchased every evening meal out and prepared none at home, it would have cost us $651.00 per person. We actually spent $105.78 for dinners at home and $167.98 for dinners out: $273.76  in total.

We saved $540.30 by preparing and eating most meals at home, plus we have better control over what we eat.

Over the month we prepared 18 different recipes for evening meals.

Lunch

We needed to use the watercress before it ran out, and a cold day made putting on the oven quite attractive.

• The panini roll is 63c per serve
• The egg salad is $3.69 for 10 oz and we used 2 oz per serve, or 92c per serve
• The watercress cost $1.96 and we shared about ¼ or 25c per serve.

We enjoyed this roll a lot for $1.80 per serve.

Dinner

This “Thursday Night Steak Night” was a grilled rib eye with a farro, pickled beets and Feta salad inspired by a salad we had at Taste of Tassie.

• At 10 oz the rib eye is $8.10 per serve
• The farro was $1.79 for the pack, but we shared ⅓ or 30c per serve
• The feta was $6.49 and we used half or $1.63 per serve
• Beets in vinaigrette were $1.69 and we used 1/3, or 28c per serve.

We really liked this salad because the farro is a toothsome base for the tart pickled beets and the creamy feta. It paired well with the perfectly cooked (for us) dry aged rib eye for $10.31 per serve.