Nov 23: Chicken Breast & Swiss; Lamb Meatloaf; Snap Pea Salad with Burrata

Lunch

Again some simple toasted sandwiches for lunch: sliced chicken breast with Swiss on the sprouted sourdough bread.

  • Sprouted sourdough bread cost $3.99 for 32 slices, or 25c per serve
  • Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve
  • Sliced chicken breast is $7.99 for 8 oz and we each had 1 oz or $1.00 per serve
  • Add 35c for garlic spread and butter.

Another decent but uninspiring sandwich for  $2.94 per serve.

Dinner

Although it’s supposed to be “fishy Friday” we’re postponing that until tomorrow. Tonight it’s Lamb meatloaf using the same recipe as for the  Soutzoukakia but without the sauce.

Served with a salad made of sugar snap peas and fresh burrata it made a great meal.

  • The ground lamb was on special for $4.99 or $2.50 per serve
  • An egg is 50c or 25c per serve
  • 16 oz Panko breadcrumbs are $2.99 and we used 8oz or 75c per serve
  • Add 35c for onion, garlic and seasonings
  • We opted for all mint, no parsley, which came from our garden
  • Parmesan cost $5.75 but we used about 1/8 for this dish, or 35c per serve.
  • Red wine adds 25c per serve
  • The burrata was $8.99 or $4.50 per serve
  • Sugar snap peas were $2.49 and we used about half or 63c per serve
  • Mint for the salad came from the garden
  • Add 30c for other ingredients.

The burrata and sugar snap pea salad was good, but the burrata wasn’t as good as the price would have suggested.  Still, it worked well with the meatloaf, which we finished completely! A good meal for $9.88 per serve.

Nov 22: Sardine & Avocado; Thanksgiving Feast

Lunch

Toasted avocado and sardine sandwiches were an early, light meal ahead of Thanksgiving dinner!

  • Sprouted sourdough bread cost $3.99 for 32 slices, or 25c per serve
  • The avocado was 35c per serve
  • Sardines are $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
  • Add 30c for garlic spread and butter.

A nice light sandwich ahead of the feast for $1.90 per serve.

Dinner

We were hosted by friends who had a large Thanksgiving gathering and ate a lot of very good food surrounding a perfectly cooked turkey. Foodie Philip got tasked with making gravy, and did a decent job, although lacking some of the preferred ingredients.

The recipe would be pan drippings, retaining enough fat for six tablespoons of flour (targeting six cups). Make the roux and scrape all the fond from the pan for maximum flavor. Add two cups of red wine, a little soy for umami and some Worcestershire for a little acid and spice. Top up to desired thickness with about three cups of chicken stock.

It needs to simmer for 10 minutes or so to cook out the wine a little.

Nov 20: Egg Salad win Panini Rustic Roll; Creamy Pork Chili

Lunch

With egg salad purchased before our trip in the refrigerator, we decided to  – once again – do egg salad in a par baked panini rustic roll, with spicy 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 nanoshoots cost $2.50 and we shared about ¼ or 31c per serve.

We enjoyed this roll a lot for $1.86 per serve.

Dinner

After the travel and convenience meal, it was time to try something new, which turned out to be an adaption of a Creamy Chicken Chili to a Creamy Ground Pork Chili.

The recipe makes six serves.

  • The pork came from our Keller Crafted Ranch meat delivery – 1 lb of ground pork cost $8.31 or $1.39 per serve
  • The chicken broth was $1.99, or 33c per serve
  • For the corn we used Trader Joes Fire Roasted frozen corn to get grill flavor, which cost $2.49 for a pound, and we used half a packet,  21c per serve
  • A can of “store beans” was $1.00, and we used two, or 33c per serve
  • Butter is $2.99 for 8 ounces, and we used 6 or 19c per serve
  • Add 25c for onion, garlic, celery and bell pepper
  • Add 40c per serve for seasonings and flour.

While a strange Chili it was pretty darn good for $3.10 per serve.

Nov 19: Red Scooter Deli; Vegetable Gyoza with Ginger Miso Broth

Lunch

The Foodies decided to travel home via 101 instead of the more efficient 5 Freeway, which put lunch at Paso Robles. A quick Yelp search on the trip had us at the Red Scooter Deli, just off the park in downtown Paso Robles.

We’re glad we did, because we just beat the rush, and had two great sandwiches, again with really good bread. Foodie Philip opted for a BBQ Beef and Foodie Greg, the Reuben for $12.39 per serve with tax and tip.

Dinner

After traveling most of the day, a simple and easy to prepare meal was called for, so we returned to our stand-by favorite: Vegetable Gyoza in a Ginger Miso Broth.

  • The Miso Ginger broth was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
  • The gyoza were $3.99, or $2.00 per serve
  • Add 20c for seasonings.
  • A pastured egg is 50c.

A great tasting, simple and quick meal for $3.70 per serve.

Nov 18: Le Boulanger; Sizzling Gourmet

Lunch

For lunch we returned to Le Boulanger Foodie Philip had their Beef Bacon melt while Foodie Greg chose a Pastrami Melt. Again the bread was exceptionally good, toasted perfectly with tasty filling and a nice coleslaw on the side.

Good food for $10.19 with tax.

Dinner

We have a friend who has a talent for finding interesting restaurants and among a sea of chain restaurants Sizzling Gourmet on a side street in Cupertino was a definite find. This is Hunanese cuisine rather than the more common Cantonese version we see in “Chinese” restaurants. There are many regional variations to Chinese meals and this was a delicious one.

The sizzling pot has much less liquid than other variations. Our duck and chicken combination was exceptionally good. A bok choy fried rice was a perfect accompaniment. We had pork belly and pot stickers as appetizers, which were again very good.

No-one left hungry in our group of five. The average cost per serve was $18.55, which was great value.

Nov 17: Le Boulanger; BJ’s Brewery

Lunch

A short, and quite late, lunch break had us eating at an adjacent sandwich restaurant, LeBoulanger, where we had beef and blue sandwiches, which were exceptionally good, mostly because the bread was great.

A good sandwich for $9.80 per serve with tax.

Dinner

A group of us from the conference drove down the road to BJ’s Brewery where we both had the jambalaya.

It was really good. So good that I forgot to take a picture until…

An excellent meal with great company for $26.49 per serve with tax and tip.

Nov 16: Conference Lunch; Tacos

Lunch

A full conference day and lunch of salads and sandwiches was provided by the conference organizers.

Dinner

The conference day quickly transitioned to Expo night where Foodie Philip would be demonstrating solid 7-10pm in a city where food after 10pm is difficult, so he quickly ordered some carnitas tacos from the hotel bar/restaurant. They delivered promptly and no low blood sugar incidents happened for $18.81.

Nov 15: In and Out Burger; Italian

Lunch

The Foodies were off to a conference in Norther California by car, so we stopped at the In and Out Burger at Kettleman City and enjoyed our various burgers. Foodie Philip had his usual Double Double animal style for $4.34 with tax.

Dinner

Arriving the night before the conference started allowed us to revisit Cafe Torre where we enjoyed a meal last year.

This year Foodie Philip opted for one of their daily specials: saffron and shrimp risotto while Foodie Greg had lasagna. We both enjoyed the meal. The risotto was slightly undercooked, but full of shrimp and flavor.

A good meal with great company for $34.34 per serve with tax and tip.

Nov 14: Avocado & Salmon, Avocado & Smoked Turkey with Swiss; Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

Lunch

Since we had an avocado that needed using before we traveled to a weekend conference, we used it on two sandwiches. One paired with a pink salmon pouch, the other with smoked turkey breast and Swiss.

  • The pink salmon pouch was $1.00 per serve
  • Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
  • Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 34c per serve
  • The turkey breast is $2.99 for 8 oz and two went on the sandwich, or 76c per serve
  • Add 50c for butter, garlic spread and capers.

A pretty standard lunch for us for $2.92 per serve.

Dinner

We repeated the Cauliflower Cheddar Soup from two nights ago, again with a finished par-baked panini roll.

A really good soup for $2.27 per serve plus the roll, or $2.90 per serve.