Month: March 2019

Lunch

As part of a shopping trip to Whole Foods, we picked up a cucumber and avocado roll and Albacore tuna sashimi for $10.49 per serve.

Dinner

While we have a couple of chili recipes we keep returning to, this one for Soy Chorizo Chili caught Foodie Greg’s eye. We will get six serves from this.

• The soy chorizo is $2.29 at Trader Joe’s or 38c per serve
• Diced tomatoes were $1.99 or 33c per serve
• Two cans of black beans were $1.58 or 26c per serve
• The bell pepper was $1.19 or 20c per serve
• A cup of frozen corn is 50c or 8c per serve
• The avocado was $1.39 or 70c per serve
• Add 30c per serve for onion, labné and oil.

The chorizo spice blended right through the chili, giving it a rich flavor and a mild heat for $2.29 per serve. That’s a lot of flavor for not much money.

Lunch

Toasted avocado and sardine sandwiches were on the agenda today.

• Sprouted rye bread is 32c per serve
• The avocado was $1.39 or 70c per serve
• Sardines are $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Add 30c for garlic spread and butter.

A nice light sandwich for $2.32 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight’s “fishy Friday” saw a return to the salmon pouch thawed frozen wild caught salmon in a parchment paper pouch with a generous serve of green beens (haricot verts) and a creamy mustard sauce. We served it with farrow.

• The salmon fillets were $8.99 for two or $4.50 per serve
• The green beans $2.99 for the pack and we shared half, or 50c per serve
• The farro was $1.79 for the pack, but we shared ½ or 45c per serve
• Add 50c per serve for the labné, mustard and other ingredients.

We decided we like the farro better than either brown or black rice. It really added A great way to cook salmon for $5.95 per serve

Lunch

A return to a favorite – a pork Bahn Mi from Pho Saigon 1 in Chatsworth. A really great sandwich for $8.27 per serve with tax.

Dinner

Another Thursday night, another dry aged rib eye steak, served with Vincent Price’s Endive and Beet Salad. Yes, Vincent Price the actor, who also (apparently) like to cook.

• At 10 oz the rib eye is $8.10 per serve
• The endive was $1.56 or 78c per serve
• Pickled beets in vinaigrette are $1.69, of which we used about ⅓ or 28c per serve
• The parsley was $1.49, of which we used ¼ or 19c per serve
• Add 15c for dressing ingredients.

The steak was a perfect for us, but we feel the salad really needed another ingredient, perhaps walnuts, as it was a little unexciting. Still a good meal for $9.41 per serve.

Lunch

Today it was back to toasted sandwiches. We shared a Lemon Pepper Tuna and Swiss, and a Turkey and Swiss.

• The tuna pouch was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Sprouted rye bread is 32c per serve
• The turkey is $3.49 and we shared ⅓ or 58c per serve
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve
• Add 30c for butter and garlic spread.

While not particularly exciting they are decent sandwiches for $2.86 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight we sous vidé two pork chops from our Keller Crafted meat box and seared them before serving with stir fried green beans and brown rice.

• The pork chop was $12.20 per serve
• Add 20c for avocado oil
• The green beans $2.99 for the pack and we shared half, or 50c per serve
• Brown rice adds 33c per serve.

We have definitely hit the magic combination of temperature and sear for the pork chops to turn our consistently perfect. The high temperature stir fry on the beans definitely enhanced their flavor, and a little soy in the rice added some salt to the dish. A really good meal for $13.23 per serve.

Lunch

A little tired of toasted sandwiches, we each had a pack of Chicken and Wild Rice soup.

• The soup is $2.49 per serve

It’s a very hearty soup for $2.49 per serve.

Dinner

For today’s Meatless Monday we picked up a Trader Joe’s Stir Fry kit: Sesame Soba Noodles with Asian Vegetables.

• The kit was $4.99 or $2.50 per serve.

We’re not sure all the included vegetables were authentically Asian, but the combination had plenty of flavor thanks to the included sauce. A decent meatless meal for $2.50 per serve, but it would be better with a pork chop on top!

Lunch

Back to toasted sandwiches: Smoked Tuna and Swiss, Baked Beans and Swiss.

• The tuna pouch was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Sprouted rye bread is 32c per serve
• The Giant Baked Beans are $1.99 per can and we shared ⅓ or 33c per serve
• Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve
• Add 30c for butter and garlic spread.

Decent sandwiches for $2.19 per serve.

Dinner

It’s been a long time since we’ve had Jambalaya – either at home or out – and this recipe avoids the “stuck to the bottom” problem a lot of jambalaya suffers from, by cooking in the oven.

We dropped the chicken and we made a half batch, which makes four serves. We put the shrimp in only for the final 15 minute rest and they were perfectly cooked.

• 1 lb of shrimp is $6.99,  or $1.75 per serve
• We can now get real pork andouille sausage from our local Ralph’s supermarket for $6.99 or $1.75 per serve
• Canned fire roasted tomatoes cost $1.69 or 43c per serve
• Bell pepper was $1.00 or 25c per serve
• Scallions, onion, garlic  and herbs adds 35c per serve
• Tomato paste adds 12c per serve
• Rice adds 33c per serve.

A satisfying, meal with perfectly cooked shrimp for $4.98 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch we stuffed a heated panini roll with egg salad and watercress.

• 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 1/8 or 13c per serve.

We enjoyed this roll a lot for $1.68 per serve.

Dinner

For “Fishy Friday” this week we seared and baked skin on salmon and served with a piccata sauce, steamed asparagus and a little black rice.

• The salmon fillets were $10.31 or $5.16 per serve
• Asparagus was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• Black rice is normally 44c but we were almost out, so 14c per serve
• Add 40c for Rose, lemon and capers.

We thought we had over-cooked the asparagus until we tasted it and realized that extra little cook time had really enhanced the asparagus flavor. The salmon skin didn’t crisp as much as we would have liked because of the non-stick pan, but was perfectly cooked and the piccata sauce worked well with both salmon and asparagus. A very tasty and enjoyable meal for $6.70 per serve.

A full month at home and only one evening meal eaten outside the home. Because it is Winter, we cooked a lot of stews and soups.

The averages for this month:

• Lunch prepared at home $2.17 ($2.24 in January)
• Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $3.87 ($9.24)
• Dinner eaten at home: $5.95 ($5.29)
• Dinner eaten out: $10.10 ($21.00).

Our lunches at home average in a fairly narrow band and this month is only a few cents per serve up from last month. Lunches prepared outside the home are down quite significantly because we didn’t eat in anywhere for lunch.

Our only meal out this month was our user group pizza where we all contribute $10.00 each.

Our most expensive at home meal was a bone in heritage breed pork chop at $18.10

This month, lunches at home cost 56% of the cost of eating food prepared outside the home, while dinners at home also cost 56% the average of dinner out this month.

Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $108.36 per person in January. We actually spent $52.16 for lunches at home plus $11.60 for lunches purchased or eaten out:  $63.76 in total.

Had we purchased every evening meal out and prepared none at home, it would have cost us $280.00 per person. We actually spent $154.75 for dinners at home and $10.00 for dinners out: $164.75  in total.

This month’s savings from preparing most of our food at home is a low $159.85 although we still had a lot more control over what we eat.

Over the month we prepared 20 different recipes for evening meals.