Author: Philip

Lunch

Ahead of lunch, we were invited to breakfast at the Country Deli in order to do some business. Our host paid for our breakfasts, which was  big enough that neither wanted lunch.

Dinner

Since we had some ground pork left in the Prather Ranch delivery we decided retrun Stir Fried Shanghai Noodles with Ground Pork and Cabbage, which makes four generous serves.

Sadly we forgot the mung bean sprouts which is a pity as they add a nice crunch and a refreshing wetness. We used regular cabbage instead of napa as we had it available.

• The pork came from our Prather Ranch meat delivery – 1.04 lb of ground pork cost $8.31  or $2.08 per serve
• The pre-cooked organic noodles retail for $3.19 or 80c per serve
• The various seasonings add around 30c per serve
• The shredded cabbage cost $1.29 or 33c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $3.51 per serve for a filling and very tasty dish.

Lunch

Due to some minor repairs to our kitchen floor, we couldn’t walk in that area to prepare lunch, so we went down the road for a burrito.

A burrito is $5.50 per serve.

Dinner

Any combination of sausage and mashed potato could be described as “bangers and mash,” including tonight’s combination of Trader Joe’s Bavarian Bratwurst and Kale Mashed Potato with home-made onion gravy. A simple meal but a good one.

The onion gravy was probably the best thing on the plate.

• The bratwurst are $3.49 for the pack, or $1.75 per serve
• Potatoes were $3.21 or 54c per serve
• Baby kale was $1.69 for the pack, or 28c per serve
• Onion, stock and flour for the gravy adds about 30c.

Tonight’s dinner cost $2.87 per serve.

Lunch

We decided on our take on a quesadilla for lunch.

• One flatbread (half of two) costs 50c a serve
• Half a can of refried beans, shared across two halves: 26c
• A very generous serve of salsa is 20c per serve
• 2 oz of cheddar split between two is 50c per serve

Lunch today cost $1.46 per serve.

Dinner

Since we had dry aged ground beef we pulled two packs out of the freezer for meatloaf. This is the same recipe we cooked in a video a few months back.

The mushroom gravy is pre-prepared, but we sautéed some porcini mushrooms and added them to the gravy to amp the flavor up.

• 2 lbs of dry aged ground beef were $17.55 or $4.39 per serve.
• Onion and seasonings add 25c per serve
• Potatoes were $3.21 or 54c per serve
• Baby kale was $1.69 for the pack, or 28c per serve
• The mushrooms were $2.79 or 70c per serve
• The gravy was $1.69 or 43c per serve.

Dinner tonight was definitely a better meatloaf than we’ve had in diners, and only $6.59 for a bigger-than-normal serve.

Lunch

A repeat of yeros wraps.

• 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
• We served 1/4 of the tabouli salad or 67c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.50.

Dinner

The remainder of the pulled pork beckoned. We chose to go Cuban with black beans, rice and ceviche onion. The onion is a perfect foil for the pulled pork, bringing a fresh, crunchy crispness to the meal the other ingredients don’t have.

• The pork but was $20.77 or $3.46 per serve
• A can of black beans costs 99c or 50c per serve
• The onion cost $1.29 and the grapefruit $2.50 for 8 serves, or 48c per serve
• The rice adds 33c per serve.

Dinner tonight was very tasty and cost $4.77 a serve. Our home made pulled pork is definitely among the best we’ve tasted, particularly since it doesn’t get lost in a sweet, smokey BBQ sauce as we serve it only with the cooking liquid.

Lunch

A return to an old favorite from when we first started paying attention to the quality of our food, and wanted to drop some fat. This is an Alton Brown favorite.

• Onion bagel is 50c
• The sardines in olive oil were $3.29 for the can or $1.65 per serve
• The avocado was 84c or 42c per serve

Lunch today cost $2.57 per serve.

Dinner

A classic steak dinner: rib eye from our Prather Ranch delivery, crash hot potatoes and creamed spinach.

• 12oz of Rib Eye cost $20.22 or $10.11 per serve
• The pack of baby spinach was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• The whipping cream was $1.79 or 90c per serve
• Shallots were 99c for a pack of four and we used two, or 25c per serve
• The pack of potatoes was $3.99 but we used about 1/8 of the pack or 25c per serve.

Tonight’s steakhouse worthy dinner cost $12.51 per serve, which is a fraction of what you’d pay for the same meal in a steakhouse.

 

 

Lunch

For lunch today we had supermarket sushi from Whole Foods, which was pretty good. The Firecracker Roll is a favorite.

Lunch today cost $8.84 per serve.

Dinner

There was another pork shoulder (aka Boston butt) in our Prather Ranch meat delivery, so why not makes some pulled pork? We paired it with some apple slaw – basically a broccoli slaw with Granny Smith apple added.

The pork looks like it will make five or six meal portions, perhaps more as lunch wrap portions. The apple and broccoli slaw made four portions.

• The pork but was $20.77 or $3.46 per serve
• Chicken stock adds about 14c per serve
• Onion and garlic adds about 15c per serve
• The broccoli slaw was $1.69 or 12 oz, but we used only half or 21c per serve
• The Granny Smith apple was 82c or 17c per serve
• The onion cost $1.29 and the grapefruit $2.50 for 8 serves, or 48c per serve.

Dinner tonight was very tasty and cost $4.46 per serve. The apple slaw perfectly offsets the slight fattiness of the pork.

Lunch

Wild caught smoked salmon, with cream cheese, tomato, spring onion on an onion bagel. What’s not to like.

• Smoked salmon $5.99 for the 4oz pack or $3.00 a serve
• The pack of six onion bagels is $1.99 or 33c per serve
• Cream cheese is about 60c a serve
• 3 cherry tomatoes are less than 10c, or 5c per serve.

Lunch today cost $3.98 a serve.

Dinner

Gnocchi with Tomato-Blue Cheese Sauce makes a welcome return after being absent from the roster all year. A great meatless Monday dish.

• The half pint of cream is $1.99 or 67c per serve
• The crumbled blue was $3.49 for the container. We used half or 58c per serve
• The gnocchi was $2.79 or $1.40 per serve
• Fire Roasted canned tomatoes were $2.39 or $$1.20 per serve
• The wild arugula was $1.99 but we use about 1/3 or 33c per serve.

Dinner tonight cost $4.18.

Lunch

As part of a shopping trip, we picked up one Asada and one El Pastor burritos from our favorite place.

A burrito is $5.50 per serve.

Dinner

Time to revisit an old favorite: Alton Browns deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie, with a little curry flavor. It also used up the last of the chicken from last week’s roast chicken. The recipe makes four serves.

• The roast chicken is $9.99 for the bird, but we used  a breast, or 63c per serve
• The two packs of frozen vegetables were on a 10 for $10 special, or 50c per serve
• Chicken broth $2.29 or 38c a serve
• A pack of 12 sheets of puff pastry is $3.99 or 33c per serve
• Celery and onion add 35c per serve
• Add 30c per serve for the other ingredients.

We thought the recipe needed more curry as it wasn’t particularly noticeable. Otherwise this is a easy dish, easy to prepare (although over a longish period) and tasty enough for $2.49 per serve.