Author: Philip

Lunch

A trip to Jon’s always results in a BBQ Chicken, Heirloom Tomato and fresh Baguette. Add some garlic spread and it’s a great meal.

• The Chicken is $6.99 and we shared a breast, or 88c per serve
• The Baguette is $2.79 and we shared half, or 70c per serve
• The Heirloom Tomato was $1.56 or 78c per serve
• Add 20c per serve for garlic spread.

As always great ingredients make for a great sandwich and this is a good one for $2.56 per serve.

Dinner

A new recipe for us – Greek Drunken Pork Stew -definitely feels like a cultural mashup.

• The pork was $8.99 or $4.50 per serve
• Red wine adds 50c or 25c per serve
• Tomato juice add 33c per serve
• Add 60c for the other ingredients.

We decided to serve this with the balance of the baguette, which soaked up the limited liquid quite well. The pork was $5.68 and the Baguette adds 70c for a total of $6.38 per serve.

Lunch

Once again we finished some par-baked Panini Rolls and stuffed them with Egg Salad and Sprouts.

• 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 sprouts cost $1.99 and we shared about 1/8 or 12c per serve.

We still enjoyed this roll a lot for $1.67 per serve.

Dinner

We still had half the Caramelized Beef, so we heated it and served on a Vietnamese inspired salad.

• The Beef is $2.41 per serve
• Savoy Cabbage was $1.63 and we used about half, or 41c per serve
• Carrots were $1.50 and we used half, or 36c per serve
• Add 15c for seasoning.

The beef complemented the salad well and made a good meal for $3.33 per serve.

Lunch

A return to the simplicity of a Tomato and Cheese sandwich, with flavorful Kumato and great Cheddar.

• Dave’s Killer Bread is 66c per serve
• The Old Crock cheddar was $5.45 or 90c per serve
  
• Five Kumato were $3.49 and we each had one, or 70c per serve
• Add 20c for garlic spread.

Excellent bread, great tomato and cheddar make for a really good sandwich for $2.46 per serve.

Dinner

One of the more successful meat substitutes we’ve tried has been the Soy Chorizo, so we though these Soy Chorizo Enchilada Bowls were worth a try. We will get at least four serves from this recipe.

• The Soy Chorizo is $2.29 or 57c per serve
• Black beans are 99c or 25c per serve
• The Enchilada Sauce was $1.28 and we used less than ¼, or 16c per serve
• Add 30c for peppers, onion and chili
• Add 20c for other ingredients
• Add 33c for white rice.

This isn’t a bad recipe, but it did not sit well with Foodie Philip who substituted a turkey sandwich. It was quite filling and we’ll likely get more than four serves at $1.81 per serve.

June was such a fairly “normal” month, although a couple of product demonstrations took us out of home at night more than we normally would. In each of those cases someone else paid for our meal.

The averages for this month:

• Lunch prepared at home $2.73 ($2.30 in May)
• Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $10.10 ($13.6)
• Dinner eaten at home: $4.77 ($6.52)
• Dinner eaten out: $10.42 (NA).

Our lunches at home average in a fairly narrow band and this month is only a few cents per serve up from last month. We had a couple of lunches out of home because of visitors and traveling, but the average was down a little.

We ate only eight meals prepared outside the home (either mostly take out for lunch). Our most expensive meal for the month was brunch in San Diego at $21.55 per serve.

Our most expensive at home meal was the NY Strip Steak and Salad at $11.16 per serve.

This month, lunches at home cost 27% of the cost of eating food prepared outside the home.

Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $303.00 per person in May. We actually spent $62.72 for lunches at home plus $60.61 for lunches purchased or eaten out:  $123.33 in total.

Had we purchased every evening meal out and prepared none at home, it would have cost us $312.6 per person. We actually spent $119.21 for dinners at home and $31.25 for dinners out, or $150.46 in total.

This month’s savings from preparing most of our food at home is $341.81 and we had a lot more control over what we eat.

Over the month we prepared 21 different recipes for evening meals.

Lunch

We each had a sandwich of Roast Turkey Breast, Tabouleh and Béarnaise Sauce on Dave’s PowerSeed bread.

• The bread is 66c per serve
• The turkey is $3.49 and we shared ⅓ or 58c per serve
• Tabouli was $2.69 and we used about ½ or 67c per serve
  
• The Béarnaise sauce was $3.29 and we used about ⅓, or 55c per serve.

A decent sandwich for $2.46 per serve.

Dinner

Dinner tonight was an experiment with a Taco Salad – essentially a taco without the shell. We substituted Cotija cheese for Cheddar because it tastes better and doesn’t get gloopy in a salad.

• The ground beef was $8.45 and we’ll got four serves from that, or $2.11 per serve
• Power Greens were $3.29 and we used half, or 83c per serve
• A bag of four avocados was $6.99 and we shared one, or 88c per serve
• Grape tomatoes cost $2.49 or $1.25 per serve
• Add 40c for Cotija cheese
• Taco Seasoning was 79c and we used ¼ or 10c per serve.
• Add 30c for other ingredients.

This was much better than we expected. The flavors blended well and we didn’t miss the Taco shell at all. A good meal for $5.47 per serve.

Lunch

Our last meal from Thursday night’s Chinese BBQ left overs! We took the remaining Rice and Char Siu Pork, to which we added onion, carrot, egg and peas.

• The rice and pork are $5.61 per serve
• A Pastured Egg is 51c or 26c per serve
• Add 60c for the other vegetables and butter.

A very generous serving of a great Fried Rice for $6.47 per serve.

Dinner

A nice night for a grill or salad. Why not combine them into a Thai Steak Salad with Peanut Satay Sauce.

• The top sirloin from the Prather Ranch delivery was $12.36 or $6.18 per serve
• The red pepper was $1.49 but we shared half, or 38c per serve
• Power Greens were $3.29 and we used half, or 83c per serve
• Limes were 33c or 16c per serve
• We used about 1/4 of the $6.99 pack of Chili Lime Cashews, or $1.17 per serve
• The cucumber was 36c or 18c per serve
• Mint came from our garden
• Add 70c for dressing and marinade ingredients.

While the concept sounded good, the Peanut Sauce made the greens “gloopy.” We think it would have been more successful in a traditional Salad with Steak and Peanut Sauce. Still it tasted great for $9.60 per serve.

Lunch

Before our first trip to Amsterdam, a friend suggested that we’d like Filet American, which is a creamy variation on a Steak Tartar: raw beef with spices.

Since that friend was staying today, we prepared enough Filet American for six serves.

• 2.25 lb of Top Sirloin was $22.58, or $3.76 per serve
• Mayonnaise was $3.29 and we used about half, or 28c per serve
• Add 30c for shallot, capers and seasonings
• We shared a $3.99 baguette over lunch, or $1.34 per serve.

Our friend was correct. We love Filet American and this was a very good version of it for $5.68 per serve. (Pictured)

Dinner

After dropping our friend at the airport we headed for Sam Woo BBQ for some BBQ Duck and Char Su Pork. We will get four meals from this purchase at around $11.25 per serve.

Lunch

We’re still enjoying the Kumato and Cheddar sandwich and today paired it with a Corned Beef, Tabouleh and Béarnaise Sauce (because we had the sauce from steak night).

• Dave’s Killer Bread is 66c per serve
• The Old Crock cheddar was $5.45 or 68c per serve
  
• Five Kumato were $3.49 and we shared one, or 35c per serve
• Pastrami was $4.99 for 6 oz but shared ¼ or 63c per serve
• Tabouli was $2.69 and we used about ½ or 67c per serve
• The Béarnaise sauce was $3.29 and we used about ⅓, or 55c per serve.

Two good sandwiches for $3.51 per serve.

Dinner

Our meat box always contains ground beef and it can be challenging to find interesting ways of using it. Applying the Vietnamese Caramelized Pork recipe to beef, and serving on top of Mung Beens was tonight’s solution to that conundrum.

• 1 lb of Keller Crafted ground beef is $8.25 or $2.06 per serve
• Add 35c for shallot and seasoning for the beef
• Mung Bean Sprouts were $1.49 and we used half or 25c per serve
• Add 15c for carrot and other salad ingredients.

A tasty meal for $2.81 per serve. The freshness of the bean sprouts was a perfect balance for the beef.