Fresh ingredients, simple techniques and great food.
Lunch
A rearranged schedule from our regular Thursday had both Foodies on the weekly shopping trip to Aldi, with a side pickup of Fried Scallops, Fries & Coleslaw from Mr Fish & Chips for $5.19 per serve with tax and tip.
Dinner
In a rare double-take-out day tonight was our night to collect Kobode Kebab, exceptionally good Rice and Vegetables off a Kebab skewer, from Skewers Halaal for $14.22 per serve, with tax and tip. This is the only take-out meal we don’t modify in some way.
Lunch
On a cold day a warm meat pie fits the bill perfectly, so we heated two Trader Joe’s Steak and Stout Pies for $3.25 per serve.
Dinner
Tonight we finished the Quick Moussaka for $5.67 per serve with Farrow Tabouli.
Lunch
A quick toasted Bagel topped with Neufchatel & Sun-dried Tomato.
A pretty tasty bite for $1.03 per serve.
Dinner
The Foodies were helping a friend with some furniture moving, and she generously provided Bryani and Fried Scallops that was very tasty.
Lunch
For lunch we managed to reheat a “microwave only” Soba Miso Soup for $1.99 per serve.
Dinner
We fried off the remaining Asparagus then added Eggs and Feta for a very enjoyable Frittata.
A very good Meatless Monday for $2.83 per serve.
We continue to see about a 20% saving in overall evening meal costs, since dropping the Keller Crafted meat box, without appreciable drop in quality of meat.
This month we did seven take out lunches and two take out dinners: Japanese Bento Box, and The Country Deli Skirt Steak Dinner, both of which we augmented.
The averages for this month:
The variation is small, but as noted above, about 20% down because we are buying meat primarily at Aldi and Whole Foods instead.
Our most expensive meal of the month was the Bento Box and Ahi Tuna at $20.44 per serve.
This month, lunches at home cost 33% of the cost of eating lunches prepared outside the home. Our evening meals prepared in the home are 26% of the cost take-out meals.
Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $226.80 per person in February. We actually spent $56.20 for lunches at home plus $58.67 for lunches purchased or eaten out: $114.87 in total.
If every evening meal cost us the same as our one this month, it would be $519.40 We actually spent $126.53 for dinners at home and $37.09 for dinners out, or $163.62 in total.
We saved about $465 by mostly eating at home, and we have a lot more control over what we eat.
Lunch
We reheated the remaining Kedgeree and served with a Garlic Naan.
A filling and tasty lunch for $2.25 per serve.
Dinner
It was once again time for sous vide Rack of Lamb, served with what we thought was a Japanese Sweet Potato, but turned out to be something else!
The “Japanese” Sweet Potato was even less sweet than expected, and took the Everything Bagel seasoning well. A good meal for $7.13 per serve.
Lunch
Coincidentally it was again in high winds that we ventured out to pick up an enormous Bahn Mi each from Pho Saigon 1 for $10.76 each with tax and tip. We swear it’s getting bigger every time! We split it into lunch and a mid afternoon snack!
Dinner
A good time to return to the Quick Moussaka. We will get four serves from this recipe.
This time we made the meat mixture a little wet, so it did not photograph well, despite being very tasty for $5.75 per serve.
Lunch
We repeated the Smoked Salmon Bagel again substituting Sprouts for Shallot.
A very enjoyable sandwich for $2.86 per serve.
Dinner
We haven’t had Salad Niçoise for a long time and always with canned Tuna. It was time to reinvent it with Seared Ahi Tuna and Asparagus instead of Green Beans.
The seared Ahi Tuna is definitely a step up from canned, although the cost is around the same! We preferred the Asparagus to Green Beans, so this was an all-round winner for $5.51 per serve.
Lunch
The last in the Charcuterie (again) so we used the Salami with Sun-dried Tomatoes & Neufchatel in a toasted sandwich each.
A great sandwich for $2.04 per serve.
Dinner
Tonight we sous vide Thick Cut Pork Chops from Whole Foods instead of our former meat delivery. We generously coated with a Mojo seasoning and served with Cuban Black Beans and Yellow Rice.
The Foodies didn’t notice significant difference in quality between the two meat supplies, even though Whole Foods was about 25% less expensive. An excellent meal for $8.55 per serve.
Lunch
For lunch we picked up Skewers Naan/Kebab “sandwiches” for lunch. Foodie Greg had Falafel, while Foodie Philip had Kobida. Both were very tasty for an average of $10.30 per serve.
Dinner
We had our second server of the Red Wine and Mushroom Meatloaf tonight, and served with a Cauliflower Gnocchi in Marinara Sauce
We decided that the Gnocchi from Whole Foods was a nicer product than Gnocchi from Trader Joes. A very good meal for $6.26 per serve.
