Month: October 2016

Oct 10: In and Out Burger; Popeye’s Fried Chicken with Home-made Red Beans and Rice

Lunch

Another Burbank Monday, although lunch came late to Foodie Philip.

An In and Out Burger Double Double Animal Style is $4.03 with tax.

Dinner

Time to finish off the Popeye’s Fried Chicken from last Friday, paired with some red beans that had been in the fridge since our pork spare rib!

  • Eight pieces of dark and spicy chicken are $9.99 plus tax, or $2.72 per 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 diced ham for $2.79 or 47c a serve
  • Chicken broth $2.29 or 38c a serve
  • And the rice: 33c a serve.

Dinner tonight was $4.55 and on the table with minimal effort, which was just as well as Foodie Philip was late home!

Oct 9: Burrito; Sous Vide Pork Chop with Waldorf Salad

Lunch

Since we were out doing some quick grocery shopping, we stopped in at our favorite Mexican ‘hole in the wall’ and picked up a burrito on the way home.

  • Today’s lunch was $5.50 with tax.

Dinner

Time to use some thick cut pork chops from our Prather Ranch delivery. As we usually do, we Sous Vide the chops ahead of a quick fry off for color and crust. Tonight’s pork chops were cooked to perfection.

Naturally we paired it with a Waldorf Salad!

  • 12oz (about double a typical restaurant portion) of pork chop cost an average of $9.38
  • A small pack of pecans is $1.59 or 80c per serve
  • The celery was 50c but we used about 1/3 or 10c per serve
  • An Envy apple was $1.40 or 70c per serve
  • Add 15c for mayonnaise and sour cream for the dressing.

Dinner tonight was excellent: every bit as good as a restaurant version at $30-$40 a serve, but cost us only $11.13.

Oct 8: Turkey, Apple & Cheese Baguette; Kale, Sausage and Lentil Skillet

Lunch

We went back to the turkey breast slices, melted cheddar, mustard and apple from two days ago, but today we had it on a fresh baguette.

  • The baguette was $2.69 but we each had 1/4 for lunch, or 68c per serve
  • The turkey breast was $3.50 or 88c per serve
  • The envy apples were $2.79 for two but we used about half of one or 35c per serve
  • The cheddar cheese was 55c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.46 per serve

Dinner

To enhance the Kale, Sausage and Lentil skillet we added butter to the dish, which was definitely an improvement to what was still a fairly average meal.

  • The Oktoberfest bratwurst was $3.49 for 4, or 88c per serve
  • One and a half cups of red wine costs $1.20 or 30c per serve
  • Organic baby Kale was $2.99 or 75c per serve
  • The French lentils are $5.98 for a two pack, or 25c per serve
  • Add 25c for onion, garlic and seasoning.

Dinner tonight was nutritious and cost $2.43 per serve.

Oct 7: Popeye’s Fried Chicken; Kale, Sausage and Lentil Skillet

Lunch

Since Foodie Philip was in Burbank around lunch time, he picked up some Popeye’s Fried Chicken to take home.

  • Eight pieces of dark and spicy chicken are $9.99 plus tax, or $2.72 per serve
  • A large Red Beans and Rice side is $3.99 plus tax or $2.18 per serve.

Lunch today cost $4.90 per serve. It seems a little out of balance that the protein – from a previously living animal – is only slightly more expensive than a bean dish.

Dinner

The advantage of a skillet meal is that there is only one cooking pot to wash up. Or when it does a double meal, none to wash up today!

Even with the good French lentils and Trader Joe’s Octoberfest Bratwurst, the Kale, Sausage and Lentil skillet was an average meal that didn’t live up to the flavor potential.

  • The Oktoberfest bratwurst was $3.49 for 4, or 88c per serve
  • One and a half cups of red wine costs $1.20 or 30c per serve
  • Organic baby Kale was $2.99 or 75c per serve
  • The French lentils are $5.98 for a two pack, or 25c per serve
  • Add 25c for onion, garlic and seasoning.

Dinner tonight was nutritious and cost $2.43 per serve. For the repeat, we’ll be exploring flavor enhancements.

Oct 6: Turkey, Cheese & Apple Bagel; Asian Fusion

Lunch

For something a little different we had an onion bagel with turkey breast slices, melted cheddar, mustard and apple. Delicious.

  • An onion bagel is 50c
  • The turkey breast was $3.50 or 88c per serve
  • The envy apples were $2.79 for two but we used about half of one or 35c per serve
  • The cheddar cheese was 55c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.28 per serve

Dinner

We ate between a planning meeting and a premiere at Wokano in West Hollywood. A decent meal of Asian Fusion: nothing was bad, nothing was outstandingly good either.

Our meal was paid for, so once again the Foodies ate for free.

Oct 5: Yeros Wraps; Deli Sandwich Picnic

Lunch

A repeat of yesterday’s lunch.

  • The fully cooked sliced gyro/yeros meat is $3.99 per 10oz pack. There are really four serves, so each serve is very slightly cheaper than the chicken, at $1.00 per serve.
  • The flatbread is 50c per serve
  • Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/6 or 33c per serve
  • A box of Persian cucumbers was $2.49 for five, and we used half, or 13c per serve
  • We served 1/4 of the tabouli salad or 67c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.43.

Dinner

As we were heading for the Cindi Lauper concert at the Greek Theater, we had a picnic in the park near the venue, featuring deli sandwiches our companions had purchased.

Great sandwiches and free to the Foodies. The concert was a lot of fun as well. Cindi Lauper sure can sing!

Oct 4: Yeros Wraps; Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Lunch

A return to the gyro meat wrap, and again with cucumber because it adds a nice, wet crunch to the wrap.

  • The fully cooked sliced gyro/yeros meat is $3.99 per 10oz pack. There are really four serves, so each serve is very slightly cheaper than the chicken, at $1.00 per serve.
  • The flatbread is 50c per serve
  • Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/6 or 33c per serve
  • A box of Persian cucumbers was $2.49 for five, and we used half, or 13c per serve
  • We served 1/4 of the tabouli salad or 67c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.43.

Dinner

Once again we had Emeril Lagasse’s Stir Fried Beef and Broccoli using our Prather Ranch ‘fajita’ beef. This is a very simple dish, but very tasty. We upped the garlic and ginger in the sauce and replaced the honey with sweet chili sauce. We don’t mind a bit of spicy heat!

  • The broccoli florets where $2.99 or $1.50 a serve.
  • The beef came from our farm-direct meat delivery as ‘fajita steak’  for a fast cook at $9.93 or $4.97 a seve.
  • The ginger and garlic was 28c or 14c per serve
  • Pressure cooked red rice 92c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $7.53 per serve.

Oct 2: Supermarket Sushi; Beef Short Ribs with Goats Cheese Polenta

Lunch

For lunch today we had supermarket sushi from Whole Foods, which was pretty good.

Lunch today cost $9.34 per serve.

Dinner

We had Beef Short Ribs remaining from an earlier Prather Ranch delivery. We’d been postponing cooking them because a braise usually means an oven, and an oven means heat. Finally it was cool enough to give them a try.

We paired them with a goat’s cheese polenta mix and broccolini for some green.

  • Two pounds of Short Ribs cost $17.12 with bones, or $8.56 per serve
  • The broccolini cost $2.50 or $1.25 per serve
  • The 10 grain ‘hot cereal’ is $5.99 for a 25oz pack, but we used about 1/8 or 38c per serve.
  • Two carrots cost 61c or 31c per serve
  • 4oz of goat’s cheese cost $3.99 or $2.00 a serve
  • A cup of red wine costs 80c or 40c per serve
  • Bacon ends cost $4.99 for the container, but this recipe used about 1/2 of that, or 50c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $13.40 for a very generous serve.

Oct 1: The Country Deli; Chicken Leg with Quinoa Pilaf

Lunch

We decided to eat out and The Country Deli was our choice, particularly because Foodie Philip wanted the skirt steak. Again. Foodie Greg had a Reuben.

With tax and tip The Country Deli works out at around $22 a serve.

Dinner

The remaining roast chicken from our supermarket chicken formed the protein component of the meal. We accompanied the meat with a quinoa pilaf, which was okay. The recipe made at least three serves.

  • The BBQ chicken was $6.99 or $1.75 per serve
  • We purchased about half a pound of quinoa for $3.01, but we only used around half or 50c per serve
  • The bell pepper was 99c or 30c per serve.
  • White wine adds 40c per serve
  • The stock adds another 24c per serve
  • The mint came from the garden
  • Of the pack of eight cucumbers costing $2.48, we used one for this meal or 16c per serve
  • The almonds are $6.99 a pack but we used 1/10th or 23c per serve.

Dinner tonight was $3.58 per serve. It had a variety of textures and flavor but the quinoa does not make as good a pilaf as does the classic of white rice.