Author: Philip

Lunch

We finished some par-baked Panini Rolls, warming the Lamb at the same time. We stuffed the Lamb in the Roll along with Hummus.

• The Panini Roll is 63c per serve
• The Lamb Loin Roast was $3.69 per serve, halved to $1.85 per serve
• Hummus adds 35c per serve
• Garlic Spread adds 30c per serve.

This turned out really well for $3.15 per serve.

Dinner

A return to a classic that we can’t call it Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Stew with Red Wine, Mushrooms and Bacon), but it is a French recipe that we served with Farro. We will get three serves from this meal.

It’s also the first time testing Stew Beef from Aldi, rather than our Keller Crafter Meat Box, which we have temporarily suspended, and will probably not renew.

• The Beef was $8.95 or $2.98 per serve
• Carrots were $1.00 or 33c per serve
• A onion was 50c or 17c per serve
• The wine is $1.50 for 1.5 cups or 50c per serve
• Add 50c per serve for seasoning, gelatin, garlic and oils
• The farro was $1.79 for the pack, but we shared ⅓ or 10c per serve.

We didn’t notice any lack from the change in Beef supplier. In fact, the Mushrooms and Broth are the star in this dish, and we’re contemplating doin a meatless version. Very tasty for $4.58 per serve.

Lunch

Sunday lunches we often do something with Eggs and today we fried off some canned Corn Beef Hash, and served it on Toast and topped with a Fried Egg.

• The Aldi Bread is 53c per serve
• The Corned Beef Hash was $1.89 or 95c per serve
• Two Pastured Eggs add 96c per serve.

The Corned Beef Hash wasn’t terrible and the Egg bought it all together for $2.44 per serve.

Dinner

We had a rolled Lamb Loin Roast we purchased from one of Aldi’s Special Buys and were keen to try it. We sous vide it and seared, like we do with the Rack of Lamb.

• The Lamb Loin Roast was $11.87 and we will get three serves, or $3.96 per serve
• Raspberries were $1.50 and we used ½ of the punnet, or 37c per serve
• The Mixed Greens were $1.49 and we used half, or 38c each
• Mint was from our garden
• The French (Valbreso) Feta was $10.99 but we used 1/6 or 92c per serve
• Add 15c for Dressing ingredients
• Dolmas from Whole Foods were $3.41 (on special) or $1.70 per serve
• Add 30c for Hummus.

The Lamb Loin Roast wasn’t as successful as we hoped. It was hard to render the fat without over cooking the meat. For us, the slightly more expensive Rack of Lamb is a better choice. Still, a very good meal for $7.78 per serve.

Lunch

For lunch we finished cooking the par-baked Roll while heating some of our sous Vide Ham, and finishing by adding some Coleslaw.

• The Panini Roll is 63c per serve
• The Coleslaw is 56c per serve
• The Ham is about 20c per serve.

A pretty decent sandwich for $1.39 per serve.

Dinner

After the excesses of the last few days, a simple meal of Bacon Wrapped Scallops on Japanese Fried Rice, as an homage to a meal we had in Scamander (Tasmania) in December of 2018.

• Japanese Style Fried rice comes from Trader Joe’s and is $3.29 or $1.65 per very generous serve
• The Bacon Wrapped Scallop is $6.99 or $3.50 per serve.

An easy-to-prepare meal that tastes pretty good for $5.15 per serve.

Pandemic isolation continues, and has significantly changed our shopping pattens. Foodie Greg used to shop Ralph’s a couple of days a week, Trader Joe’s once a week or more, and an occasional trip to Whole Foods. Our primary weekly shop is now at Aldi, where we have (mostly) had great value proteins, particularly their special buys and “Specially Selected” brand. That primary shopping trip is supplemented with a trip to either Trader Joes or Whole Foods. Trips to Ralphs are rare, in part because there is not good adherence to mask or distancing rules in that store. Aldi is in Simi Valley with a lower incidence of Covid19 infection.

The other change in our purchase habits, is that we likely dropping our Keller Crafted mostly meat box and supplementing with Whole Foods and Aldi special buys. We will miss the Heritage Pork.

This month we did two take-out evening meals. Early in the month we had a Chapli Kebab meal from Skewers Halaal and in the middle of the month our ‘hack’ of The Country Deli’s Steak Dinner.

The averages for this month:

• Lunch prepared at home $2.95 ($3.06 in November)
• Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $9.48 ($9.49)
• Dinner eaten at home: $5.81 ($5.40)
• Dinner prepared in a restaurant $15.44 ($19.67)

The variations month by month are quite small.

We ate six lunches and two dinners, of 62 meals in the month, that were prepared outside the home. 

Our most expensive meal of the month was the Steak Dinner for $16.65 per serve, sharing a meal for one augmented with some Eggs.

This month, lunches at home cost 31% of the cost of eating lunches prepared outside the home. Our evening meals prepared in the home are 38% of the cost take-out meals.

Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $293.88 per person in December. We actually spent $73.69 for lunches at home plus $56.86 for lunches purchased or eaten out:  $208.17 in total.

If every evening meal cost us the same as our one this month, it would be $478.64 We actually spent $162.76 for dinners at home and $30.87 for dinners out, or $193.63 in total.

We saved about $371 by mostly eating at home, and we have a lot more control over what we eat.

Over the month we prepared 19 different recipes for evening meals.

Lunch

A turn for the cool had us turning to a Shin Noodle Bowl. A pack of four was $3.69 or 93c per serve ($1.23 with vegetable), which proved to be quite generous and a satisfying – if spicy hot – meal. We do, however, only use one of the two flavor pouches.

Dinner

Foodie Greg planned a special meal for New Year’s Eve: a Tomahawk Steak sous video to perfect done-ness and hard seared for a crust, served with a Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Baked Potato and stir-fried Green Beans and Mushrooms.

We sous vide the Steak to a perfect 129ºF and then seared it in a very hot pan.

• The Tomahawk Steak was $15.06 after discounts, or $7.53 per serve
• The Stuffed Potatoes came from Aldi for $2.99 or $1.50 per serve
• The Mushroom and Green Bean Medley was $3.79 or $1.90 per serve
• Add 50c per serve for Demi-glace.

An abundant and excellent meal for $11.43 per serve.

Lunch

Our “once every three weeks” expedition to Simi Valley finishes with Fried Scallops from Mr Fish & Chips. This is a meal for one that we shared -adding extra Coleslaw – making it $5.19 with tax and tip.

Dinner

A return to our proven Red Curry Mussels after exploring a Mustard and Cream version we didn’t like as much.

• The pre-cooked Mussels were $2.29 or $1.15 per serve
• Coconut Milk was $1.89 or 95c per serve
• We used three baby Bell Pepper for 16c each, or 24c per serve
• Ginger was 24c, or 12c per serve
• Add 75c per serve for the other ingredients
• The Garlic Naan is $3.99 for four, or $1.00 per serve.

A very enjoyable dish for $4.21 per serve.

Lunch

A cold day is a soup day and today’s was a Harvest Potato Soup from Aldi for $1.00 per serve.

Dinner

Our Meatless Monday was an attempt at Paneer in a Butter Marsala Sauce.

• The Garlic Naan is $3.99 for four, or $1.00 per serve
• The Paneer was $6.49 and we foolishly included it all for $3.25 per serve
• The Butter Marsala Sauce was $4.00 on special, or $2.00 per serve.

This was not our favorite meal. We put in way too much Paneer, which took the whole dish out of balance. Even so, the Butter Marsala Sauce felt like it was trying too hard to have flavor, that it went into unpleasant territory. A pity since it was quite expensive at $6.25 per serve.