Jan 6: Popeye’s Chicken with BBQ Ranch Salad; Deconstructed Pizza Casserole

Lunch

We reheated the remaining Popeye’s Fried Chicken and served with a Dole BBQ Ranch Salad. The chicken reheated well and the salad has a little sharp edge to it that we enjoyed.

  • Chicken is $2.98 for two pieces
  • The salad kit was $1.79 and we use 2/3 or 60c per serve.

Lunch today was filling, tasty and cost $3.58 per serve.

Dinner

While we’re not fanatics we’ve been advised to shy away from too much carb at an evening meal, so why not a deconstructed pizza: all the flavor with none of the bready crust.

We used ground beef and flavored it with Trader Joe’s 21 Spice mix, plus a little more mushroom than the recipe called for, and used fresh tomatoes. All up we made four serves.

  • The dry aged ground beef cost $9.17 or $2.30 per serve
  • Five kumato were $3.49 and we used four, or 70c per serve
  • Mushrooms were $4.38 or $1.10 per serve
  • The mozzarella was $5.99 or $1.25 per serve
  • The sliced pepperoni was $2.99 and we used about half, or 38c per serve
  • Add 45c for oregano, oil, spices.
Straight out of the oven, it almost looks like pizza.

The best part of a pizza is the topping and this is all topping! It carries the flavor of a meaty pizza, although the fresh tomatoes dropped a little too much liquid and lacked the flavor punch expected from a pizza. We’ll definitely repeat with some tweaking for $6.18 per serve.

Jan 5: Green Pork Chili Quesadilla; Turmeric Coconut Curry with Pork and Brown Rice

Lunch

We have done our own version of a quesadilla with flat bread and a fry pan, but today we created one with flour tortillas and the remainder of the Green Pork Chili.

  • The tortilla’s are $2.49 a pack, or 25c each/per serve
  • The green chili was about 98c per serve
  • Add 40c for a light sprinkling of grated cheddar.

The panini press did a good job of the quesadilla, without having to flip it! Not bad for $1.63 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight we revisited the Turmeric Coconut Curry with Pork and Brown rice from a few nights ago. Instead of the bok choy we added some prepared edamame. Yes, that technically makes it pork and beans (and beans and rice)!

  • The pork came from our Prather Ranch meat delivery – 1 lb of ground pork cost $8.31 or $$2.08 per serve
  • Add 45c for onion, ginger and turmeric’
  • Coconut milk was $1.89 or 48c per serve
  • Cooked, shelled edamame is $2.49 per pack and we used 1/3 or 42c per serve
  • Almond flakes were $2.49 but we used only 1/5 or 25c per serve
  • Brown rice is 33c per serve.

Dinner tonight was as good as the first time for $4.01 per serve.

Jan 4: Popeyes Fried Chicken; NY Strip Steak, Crash Hot Potatoes and Asparagus

Lunch

A trip “into town” lead to a stop at Popeye’s on the way back.

  • Chicken is $2.98 for two pieces
  • The red beans and rice is $2.19 per serve.

Lunch today was one of the best examples of Popeye’s we’ve had for $5.17 per serve.

Dinner

Thursday night steak night meant a NY Strip Steak grilled on the outdoor grill and served with purple crash hot potatoes, and asparagus.

The asparagus was ‘grilled’ in the panini press, which worked really well. The purple potatoes make the perfect crash hot potato. Their small size ensures they crisp up on the outside, but the texture inside remains buttery smooth.

  • The NY Strip from our Prather Ranch meat delivery was $22.13 or $11.07 per serve
  • Potato adds 25c per serve
  • The pack of asparagus was $3.99 but we only used half for tonight’s meal or $1.00 per serve.

Dinner tonight was a good example of a simple “meat and two veg” meal, but with dry aged beef with a good “beefy” flavor, perfectly grilled asparagus and crash hot potatoes that were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside without a hint of mealiness. Not bad for $12.32 per serve.

 

Jan 3: Prime Rib, Tabouli and Mustard, Cauliflower Curry & Cheese; Shrimp Gyoza Potstickers in Ginger Miso Broth with Bok Choy

Lunch

Both sandwiches are repeated because they were good!

  • Two slices of bread are 32c per serve
  • 12 slices of yoghurt cheese are $4.79 and we shared two or 40c per serve
  • Add 33c for Wildbrine Madras Curry and Cauliflower Sauerkraut salad
  • The beef is $7.95 per 11 oz serve, or 40c per serve
  • Tabouli is $2.69 per tub and we shared 1/3 or 45c per serve
  • Add 10c for mustard.

Today’s sandwiches were repeated because they were good, and cost $2.00 per serve.

Dinner

Because we’re The semiSerious Foodies, a “cheat” meal is on the cards when appropriate. Taking semi-prepared food and combining it can put a tasty meal on the table quickly. Tonight’s example of frozen Shrimp Gyoza and a Ginger Miso Broth (both from Trader Joe’s) with some chopped bok choy was a perfect example.

The gyoza and broth are tasty and work well together. The stem of the full size bok choy is a nice wet crunchy contribution that isn’t a hard as cabbage, while the leaf makes a good garnish.

  • Bok Choy was $1.29 or 65c per serve
  • The Miso Ginger broth was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
  • The gyoza were $4.99 and, or $2.50 per serve
  • Add 20c for seasonings.

Tonight’s meal was on the table quickly and easily and had a lot of flavor. The broth has definite miso flavors with a hint of ginger, while the shrimp gyoza were very tasty. All in all a good meal, quickly prepared for $4.35 per serve.

Jan 2: Tortilla Wraps; Turmeric Coconut Curry with Pork

Lunch

Having discovered that a 10″ tortilla fits in our sandwich press, we decided to experiment a little with wraps. We wrapped some of the prime rib and heated it (toasted) and then toasted a wrap alone. When done we filled with some of the green pork chili remaining.

The beef wrap – with tabouli and mustard added after heating – was pretty good. Unfortunately the green pork chili with cheddar and avocado was kind of messy, if tasty.

  • The tortilla’s are $2.49 a pack, or 25c each/per serve
  • The beef is $7.95 per 11 oz serve, or 40c per serve
  • The green pork chili is 76c per serve, but we used only 1/4 serve, or 10c per serve
  • The avocado  was 4 for $3.49 or 44c per serve
  • Tabouli is $2.69 per tub and we shared 1/3 or 45c per serve
  • Add 30c for a light sprinkling of grated cheddar.

While the green chili wrap was messy, the meal was tasty for $1.94 per serve.

Dinner

We’re always on the lookout for interesting ways to use ground pork as we get one every month. Today we tried a new recipe: Turmeric Coconut Curry with Pork.

We double the recipe because of the amount of beef and coconut curry we had, to four serves. We substituted bok choy for the cabbage because we have it (and it tastes better).

  • The pork came from our Prather Ranch meat delivery – 1 lb of ground pork cost $8.31 or $$2.08 per serve
  • Add 45c for onion, ginger and turmeric’
  • Coconut milk was $1.89 or 48c per serve
  • Bok Choy was $1.29 and we used half, or 65c per serve
  • Almond flakes were $2.49 but we used only 1/5 or 25c per serve
  • Brown rice is 33c per serve.

Dinner tonight could have had a little more heat but the coconut flavor was good. The bok choy provided a nice textural alternative to the pork and rice. A decent meal for $4.24 per serve

Jan 1: Barrata and Smoked Salmon; Gordon Biersch

Lunch

For lunch the Foodies enjoyed the burrata, smoked salmon and watercress outdoors, such is a California Winter! It was our first 2018 meal.

The salty smoked salmon was a perfect balance to the young burrata cheese with the watercress adding – in theory – a spicy edge. In practice our watercress was a little bland, but it was a wet counterpoint.

  • The burrata is $4.99 for two, or $2.50 per serve
  • The smoked salmon was $6.49 or $3.25 each
  • Add 40c for watercress
  • Add 38c for a crisp bread.

Lunch today was spectacularly good for $6.53 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight was our regular monthly meeting with other developers, so we were once again at Gordon Biersch, despite our misgivings after last months’ burger.

After much deliberation the Foodies decided on Smoked Chicken Tostitos and Fish and Chips. We both agreed that the Tostitos were much more flavorsome than the fish and chips, despite being “on the lighter side.”

Dinner tonight cost $19.90 per serve (on average) with tax and tip.

December 2017 Summary and Observations

December was largely free of major events, and we spent the month at home.

The averages for this month:

  • Lunch prepared at home $2.33 ($2.23 in November)
  • Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $9.75 ($7.83)
  • Dinner eaten at home: $7.29 ($7.01)
  • Dinner eaten out: $14.00 ($12.28)

The averages are fairly consistent with previous months, with some averages slightly higher, some lower. There has been a slow trend for our evening meals to be a little more  expensive on average, partly because we use mostly Prather Ranch dry aged meat, which is definitely more expensive than supermarket, although comparable to dry aged meat at Whole Foods.

Our most expensive meal was the Aussie style Cobb Salad at home for $14.72. Our most expensive meal out was $14.00 at Krua Thai.

Lunches out tend were over 4x times more expensive than those prepared at home, while evening meals run about 1.5 x meals at home.

Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $305.25 per person in August. We actually spent $46.88 for lunches at home plus $62.64 for lunches purchased or eaten out:  $109.52

Had we purchased every evening meal out and prepared none at home, it would have cost us $586.8. We actually spent $189.16 for dinners at home and $24.56 for dinners out: $213.72.

We saved $568.81 by preparing and eating most meals at home, plus we have better control over what we eat.

Over the month we prepared 22 (again) different recipes for evening meals.

Dec 31: Soup; Prime Rib with Sweet Potato Horseradish Mash and Green Bean Almandine

Lunch

For lunch we finished the split pea soup we had in the refrigerator, and a serve of chicken and wild rice soup.

Lunch today cost $1.85 per serve.

Dinner

A small New Year’s Eve celebration with the two of us, a prime rib and some sparkling red wine!

We slow cooked the prime rib then gave it a hard reheat just before serving that gave us a nice crust, while inside it was cooked rare. We paired it with mashed sweet potato – the Japanese white variety that isn’t as sweet – with horseradish and sour cream, and green beans with more of the truffled almonds from Christmas night.

  • Over three pounds of prime rib cost $39.69 and we’ll get five very, very generous serves (or they will be subdivided) for $7.94 per 11 oz serve
  • The sweet potato was $2.89 or $1.45 per serve
  • Sour cream is $2.49 and we used 1/4 in the mash, or 63c per serve
  • The green beans were $2.99 or $1.50 per serve
  • A jar of gravy was $1.79 or 90c per serve
  • Add 30c for horseradish
  • Add 55c for the truffled almonds.

Our New Year’s Eve dinner was classic and cost $13.27 per serve, which is cheap compared with a steak house, and we didn’t have to dress up or drive!

Dec 30: Supermarket Sushi; Sous Vide Pork Chops with Roast Cabbage with Lemon

Lunch

Today we got lunch from the sushi bar at Whole Foods for $9.52 with tax per serve.

Dinner

Tonight we use the sous vide machine to cook pork chops from our Prather Ranch meat deliver to a perfect medium rare then fried them off for appearance and some Maillard reaction on the surface.

We served with roast cabbage with lemon and capers, which is a new recipe for us, but turns out to be a good one.

  • The 12oz of pork chops each were an average of $11.17  per serve
  • The cabbage was 36c or 18c per serve
  • Add 50c for butter, capers and sundry ingredients.

The roast cabbage was better than expected, particularly the near-charred outer leaves. As expected the pork was really good. All up a great meal for $11.85 per serve.

Dec 29: The Country Deli; BBQ Chicken Leg with Brown Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms and Thyme

Lunch

A last minute discovery of a complete lack of bread led us to The Country Deli for lunch. Foodie Philip had the usual marinated skirt steak with home fries and over easy eggs, while Greg had a Pastrami on Rye with coleslaw.

Lunch cost $21.62 per server (average) with tax and tip.

Dinner

It was time to use up the remaining BBQ chicken from last week’s supermarket visit, and what better to serve it with than a tasty rice pilaf with mushrooms and thyme.

  • The chicken leg is $1.75 per serve
  • Brown rice adds 33c per serve
  • The organic leek was $1.35 or 68c per serve
  • Mushrooms on “manager’s special” were $1.39 or 70c per serve
  • Add 20c for the seasoning.

Tonight’s meal was perfectly serviceable. The rice pilaf had mushroom forward but the thyme was completely lost. A decent meal for $3.66 per serve.