The semiSerious Foodies

Lunch

Without clear lunch plans and one ‘ready to go’ avocado, we split the avocado across two sandwiches, added a pouch of sweet and spicy tuna and a generous spread of Trader Joe’s garlic spread to create a really good sandwich.

• The rye bread is 32c per serve
• The pouch is $1.00 each, or $1.00 per serve
• A bag of four mini avocados is $3.99 and we shared one or 50c per serve
• Add 35c for garlic spread and butter.

A good sandwich for $2.07 per serve.

Dinner

In the spirit of meatless Monday, we grilled mushrooms to perfection and served with a Onion, Blue Cheese and Cream sauce along side steamed asparagus.

• We prepared a pound of mushrooms for $3.98 or $1.99 per serve (although we have some left over for another night)
• Blue cheese crumbles are $3.49 and we used about ¼ or 44c
•  Add 25c for lemon zest and juice per serve
• Add 10c for onion
• Heavy cream was $1.79 and we used half or 45c per serve
• Asparagus was $3.69 or $1.85 per serve.

Mushrooms make a great meat alternative and complement the sauce beautifully. The asparagus with lemon provides a nice acid counterbalance to the richness of the cream sauce. A great meal for $5.08 per serve.

Lunch

Today we soft scrambled pastured eggs. While that was happening we fried off toast in the panini press and covered with smoked salmonella on. The egg went on top with a generous shrinking of Trader Joe’s ‘Everything but the Bagel’ seasoning.

• Two eggs each is $1.00 per serve
• The bread costs 16c per slice
• The smoked salmon is $6.99 or $3.50 per serve
• Add 25c for butter and seasoning.

Lunch today was a perfect balance of crunch from the toast, salt and smoke from the smoked salmon with the soft scrambled eggs providing an amazing mouth feel, for $4.91 per serve.

Dinner

We decided to make a meatloaf using the same recipe as for the  Soutzoukakia but without the sauce. This is now one of our two favorite meatloaf recipes (the other being Turkey, Bacon Chipotle).

Served with a moderately interesting salad of White Beans, Feta, Mint and a generous amount of lemon, it was a good complement to the meatloaf.

• The ground lamb was $7.99 or $4.00 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
• A can of “store beans” was $1.00 or 50c per serveThe French feta is $9.99 for 10.5 oz and we shared 1/6 or 42c per serve
• Add 30c for lemon juice.

The white bean salad was good, but suffered from being a bean salad! Still, it worked well with the meatloaf, which we finished completely! A great meal for $6.92 per serve.

Lunch

Today we had our favorite sandwich: a pork Bahn Mi for $8.75 per serve.

Dinner

Our plan was Beef Larb Lettuce wraps, and it almost went that way. The Beef Larb is built on a pork recipe but we decided on beef because we had ground beef! The beef version isn’t as good as the Caramelized Pork we had recently. We skipped the rice

The recipe makes four serves. Foodie Philip had seconds with the beef larb directly over the bean sprouts drizzled with the Nam Prik Nam Pla dipping sauce.

• The beef was $9.89 or $2.48 per serve
• Add 50c for seasonings
• Bean sprouts are $2.49 per pack and we used about 1/3 per serve or 42c per serve
• Add 30c for lettuce
• Add 30c for dipping sauce ingredients.

Because the lettuce wasn’t “cupped” it wasn’t as successful as a wrap as we would have liked as the meat tended to fall out during dipping! Still, good flavor and great balance between savory, salty and sour for $4.00 per serve.

Lunch

The Foodies were near The Country Deli around lunch time, so why not drop in! Foodie Philip had his usual marinated skirt steak (rare), with home fries and eggs over easy. Foodie Greg broke with his pastrami tradition to indulge in an enormous rare roast beef sandwich with steak fries.

The Country Deli was $22.35 average per serve with tax and tip.

Dinner

After such a big lunch we went light for the evening meal. We layered up guacamole, capers and black olives on a baked tostada and topped with sous vide shrimp, which were perfect.

While in some recipes, we found the black olives to not work with the other ingredients, so we removed them. The tostada probably needed a squeeze of lime juice to liven it up, but overall was pretty good (without the olives).

• The tostadas are 22 for $2.29 or 21c per serve
• The shrimp was $7.99 for the pack, and we used half, or $2.00 per serve
• The guacamole was $2.99 and we used about 1/3 or 50c per serve
• Add 20c per serve for oil and seasoning used to sous vide the shrimp.

A surprisingly filling meal – although Foodie Philip did have two – for an average of $2.91 per serve.

Lunch

We had an heirloom tomato remaining, but sadly – as is the way with real food – it was already deteriorating four days after purchase and we only got one sandwich from it. We paired the chicken breast with moon touched tomatoes. Both had roast garlic spread instead of mayo and we feel the garlic and lemon overtone elevated the sandwich.

• The chicken is $6.99 and we shared a breast, or 88c per serve
• The heirloom tomato was $1.33 and we used about ⅓ or 22c per serve
• The moon touched tomatoes add 12c per serve
• Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
• Add 30c for garlic spread.

It was hard to tell the difference in flavor between the fresh heirloom tomato and the enhanced flavor from partially drying tomatoes via the ‘moon touched’ method. Certainly the latter is more available and longer lasting. Two good sandwiches for $1.84 per serve.

Dinner

We used another serve each of the shredded beef and served with cauliflower gnocchi in a blue cheese sauce.

• The beef is $3.79 per serve
• The gnocchi was $2.69 or $1.35 per serve
• Blue cheese crumbles were $3.49 and we used half or 87c per serve
• Heavy cream is $3.29 per pint, but we used only ¼ or 42c per serve
• Organic frozen peas were $1.99 per pack or 50c per serve
• Add 30c for other ingredients.

The juices off the beef were perfect with the gnocchi, creating a sauce that was more than either the beef or the blue cheese. A good meal for $7.23 per serve.

Lunch

With half an heirloom tomato remaining, obviously we had toasted tomato sandwiches. Instead of mayo we used the Trader Joe’s Garlic spread, which added a layer of flavor to the sandwich.

• The heirloom tomato was $1.33 and we used about ⅓ or 22c per serve
• Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
• Add 45c for butter and garlic spread.

A very satisfying sandwich for $1.00 per serve.

Dinner

For a meatless Monday evening meal, we picked Jaipur Vegetables and Punjab Eggplant sauces (in pouches), which we heated and served over brown rice.

• The Trader Joe’s Jaipur Vegetables were $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• The Punjab Eggplant (from Ralphs) was $3.99 or $2.00 per serve
• Brown rice adds 33c per serve.

The Jaipur vegetables – half the price of the Punjab Eggplant – was definitely the better sauce. Overall, a decent meal for $3.33 per serve.

 

Lunch

It was good last Sunday, so why not again today? Jons roast chicken, heirloom tomato and a fresh baguette.

• The chicken is $6.99 and we shared a breast, or 88c per serve
• The heirloom tomato was $1.33 and we used about ⅓ or 22c per serve
• The baguette is $2.79 and we used half at lunch, or 70c per serve
• Add 20c for mayo.

A great roll for $2.00 per serve.

Dinner

We were happy our Keller Crafted meat box included a chuck roast this month as we really enjoyed the shredded beef from last month. So we did it again. The same simple recipe cooking the chuck roast in beef stock and garlic, for about three hours.

We served with the rest of the baguette and a Spinach, Feta and Quinoa salad with a Bacon Vinaigrette, which was okay

• The beef was $20.78 but we’ll get at least six serves, or $3.46 per serve
• The organic artisanal beef broth was $1.99 or 33c per serve
• The baguette adds 70c per serve
• The salad was on special for $1.99 and we used the other half or 50c per serve.

The beef transforms from a second rate cut into something tender that allows the flavor from the working muscle to shine. Served with some of the cooking liquid as a dipping sauce, and a decent prepared salad, it was a satisfying meal for $4.99 per serve.