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Lunch

For lunch we decided to reheat the leftover curry from last night, which we did and enjoyed it again. Instead of rice we served it on some tostadas.

• The curry was $3.91 per serve
• The tostadas are 22 for $2.29 or 42c per serve.

A good lunch for $4.33 per serve, although the tostadas got soggy with the liquid from the curry. Still tasty.

Dinner

A change to the vegetarian. We enjoyed the Japanese Ratatouille Recipe last time we cooked it and did again.

The dry baking of the vegetables is extra work, but it intensified the flavor, while the dressing added another layer of flavor. With the recipe making so much we served without rice, and will still get six meals.

• The Kaboc squash was $2.21 but we only used half for the six serves, or 18c per serve
• Two Chinese eggplants went into the dish costing $1.18 or 20c per serve
• The bell pepper was $1.49 or 25c per serve
• Grape tomatoes were $2.99 or 50c per serve
• An onion adds 5c per serve
• Miso Easy is $5.99 for the bottle that we used about 1/8 of in this dish, or 13c per serve.
• Add 30c for ginger and oil
• Add 20c per serve for the remaining ingredients.

A very tasty dish for $2.01 per serve.

Lunch

We had some pastrami that needed to be used, so we made two identical Pastrami, Tabouli and Swiss toasted sandwiches.

• Two slices of bread are 32c per serve
• Add 25c for butter
• The 1.25 lb of beef pastrami was $7.69 (32c an ounce), and we used two on the sandwich, or 64c per serve
• We served 1/2 of the tabouli salad or 67c per serve
• Gouda slices are 12 for $3.99 or 17c per serve.

Lunch today was decent for $2.05 per serve.

Dinner

It’s “Thursday night steak night” and tonight we picked a rib eye from our Prather Ranch meat delivery and grilled it, as there was a break in the cold weather.

We paired it with roast kabocha squash – rapidly becoming a favorite – and an impressive Buttered Balsamic Mushrooms. We skipped the sugar but added a reduced balsamic glaze

• The rib eye was $19.97 or $9.99 per serve
•  The mushrooms were $2.49 or $1.25 per serve
• The kabocha squash was $1.98 and we used half, or 50c per serve
• The balsamic glaze adds 35c per serve
• Rosemary came from our garde
• Add 35c per serve for seasonings, oil and shallots
• The butter is $3.99 per block, and we used about 1/5 for two serves, or 40c per serve.

Dinner tonight was better than most steak house meals we’ve had. The buttered balsamic mushrooms were intensely flavored, and almost too much, but paired with the steak or squash, it was perfect. A great meal for $12.84 per serve.

Lunch

Foodie Philip was back in the Burbank Monday routine with the normal In and Out Double Double Animal Style for $4.27.

Dinner

An easy meal: prepared ginger miso broth and chicken gyoza, both from Trader Joe’s. Unfortunately they did not have any of the vegetable gyoza, which we found to be the tastiest of the whole selection.

• Bok Choy was $2.77 and we used ⅓ or 46c per serve
• The Miso Ginger broth was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• The gyoza were $2.99 and, or $1.50 per serve
• Shelled edamame was $1.29 or 33c per serve
• Add 20c for seasonings.

An easy “cheat” meal assembled from prepared ingredients that still manages to be greater than it’s parts. The vegetable gyoza definitely have the most flavor, while the chicken is the least interesting. A good meal for $3.49 per serve.

January was largely free of major events, and we spent the month at home.

The averages for this month:

• Lunch prepared at home $2.40 ($2.33 in December)
• Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $6.77 ($9.75)
• Dinner eaten at home: $5.81 ($7.29)
• Dinner eaten out: $15.20 ($14.00)

The averages are fairly consistent with previous months, with some averages slightly higher, some lower. There has been a slow trend for our evening meals to be a little more expensive on average, partly because we use mostly Prather Ranch dry aged meat, which is definitely more expensive than supermarket, although comparable to dry aged meat at Whole Foods.

Our most expensive meal was the night at Little Dom’s at around $28.00 per serve. Our most expensive at home meal was the NY Strip Steak with Halloumi and Beet salad at $14.26.

Lunches at home cost just 35% of the cost of eating food prepared outside the home, while dinners average about the same this month.

Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $209.87 per person in January. We actually spent $50.50 for lunches at home plus $67.85 for lunches purchased or eaten out:  $118.15 in total.

Had we purchased every evening meal out and prepared none at home, it would have cost us $471.20. We actually spent $150.99 for dinners at home and $60.79 for dinners out: $211.78 in total.

We saved $351.14 by preparing and eating most meals at home, plus we have better control over what we eat.

Over the month we prepared 22 (again) different recipes for evening meals.

Lunch

A convoluted Burbank Monday saw Foodie Philip eating at In and Out later than usual, but still with the regular Double Double Animal Style for $4.27.

Dinner

A return to a favorite: Hebrew Temptation, otherwise known as Smokey Cheese and Pumpkin Slice. I told the story of how it became known as Hebrew Temptation earlier and the recipe is there too.

The recipe makes four quite generous serves. We served the same baby kale salad kit, augmented with a second bag as we had three for dinner.

• The bacon was $6.99 for 12 slices, and we used five, or 73c per serve
• Five pastured eggs at 55c each is $2.70 or 68c per serve
• A small bag of organic flour is $2.69 and we used about 1/3 or 23c per serve
• Buying the butternut squash diced saves a lot of angst trying to peel and deseed the squash. The whole $5.99 pack went into the dish, or $1.50 per serve
• Normally we’d used smoked gouda but today we used a smoked mozzarella that was $5.99 or $1.50 per serve.
• An onion adds 8c per serve
• The salad kit came from Ralph’s (Kroger) was $2.99 and we will get three serves from it, or $1.00 per serve.

This savory cake has amazing flavor as the bacon permeates the entire dish. It’s a great meal for $5.72 per serve with the salad.

Lunch

Returning to a couple of good sandwiches, we used more of the (less flavorsome) heirloom tomato from Trader Joe’s.

• Two slices of bread are 32c per serve
• The ham was $3.69 for and we used about 1/4 in this sandwich, or 49c per serve
• The cheese is 40c per slice or 20c per serve
• Add 25c for spicy mustard
• The heirloom tomato was $1.30 and we use half, or 33c per serve
• Add 20c for mayo.

Lunch today was ok for $1.79 per serve, but would be better if the tomato had more flavor.

Dinner

A new recipe for us, Sauerkraut Sausage Paprikash, is both reminiscent of a choucroute garnie because of the sauerkraut and pork sausage aspect, and completely different because of the paprika and cream.

The recipe makes four serves.

• The bratwurst are $3.49 for the pack, or 88c per serve
• The Bubbies (natural) Sauerkraut is expensive at $6.99 or $1.75 per serve, but it is a very superior sauerkraut without the bad odor of most sauerkraut
• Sour cream cost $3.99 but we used 1/4, or 25c per serve
• The butter is $3.99 per block, and we used about 1/41/4, or 25c per serve
• Add 50c per serve for seasoning, although we added 3 times the paprika than the recipe called for.

The sauerkraut still had some crunch, which gave good textural variation, and the flavor combinations worked really well with the bratwurst. All in all a satisfying meal for $3.63 per serve.

Lunch

Before heading to the aircraft for our trip home from Amsterdam, we stopped for a ham and cheese croissant. Approximately $7.15 per serve! Well, it was an airport.

We had two “other lunches” on board the flight home. Some decent chicken stew with rice, coleslaw and the world’s sweetest profiteroles, and our other meal was the most boring piece of “pizza” ever served. Fortunately we didn’t pay directly for these meals.

Dinner

We were back home for dinner and not wanting anything too heavy, so Foodie Greg picked up some Thai Shrimp Gyoza and organic chicken broth from Trader Joe’s.

Heat the gyoza in the chicken broth with some bok choy and a nutritious and tasty meal was on the table quite quickly. The gyoza were quite lightly flavored but tasty and with good texture.

• The gyoza were $4.99 and we will get three meals, or $1.67 per serve
• The chicken broth was $1.99 but we used half, or 33c per serve
• The bok choy was $1.99 or 33c per serve.

Dinner tonight was quick, tasty and nutritious for $2.33 per serve.

Breakfast

Still on the aircraft we were served an omelette and single sausage!

Dinner

Our first night in Amsterdam and we had dinner with friends. Foodie Greg – and most of the table – had a combination pasta while Foodie Philip had a Gorgonzola steak.  The Capri is a regular hang out for us during IBC and the food is always good.

Our meal was payed for.

Lunch

We once again enjoyed some Afghan pita pockets from Skewers Halal, who’s servings are huge for $9.80 per serve, including tax.

Dinner

Tonight we returned to the Greek style tuna salad.

• A can of yellowfin tuna costs $3.49, or $2.33 per serve
• Persian cucumber cost 40c or 13c per serve
• A bell pepper is 99c or 33c per serve
• Tomatoes were $2.99 and we used about half, or 50c per serve
• Pitted olives come in $2.99 jars and one quarter was used, or 25c per serve
• 1 lb of limes we $1.29 and we used 1/4 or 11c per serve
• Add 25c for the seasonings.

This salad exceeded our expectations. It was much more tasty than the simple ingredients would suggest and it comes in at $3.90 per serve.