May 8: BBQ Chicken Breast with Kumato & Garlic Spread Sandwich; Argentinean Shrimp on Japanese Fried Rice

Lunch

We repeated the Chicken Roll as a sandwich.

  • Dave’s Killer Bread is 67c per serve
  • The Chicken is $6.99 and we shared ¼ or 88c per serve
  • Five Kumato were $3.49 and we had one each, or 70c per serve
  • Add 50c for Garlic Spread.

While the fresh Baguette is better, it still makes a decent sandwich for $2.75 per serve.

Dinner

For tonight’s Fishy Friday, we souse vidé some Argentinean Shrimp and put them on top of some prepared Japanese Fried Rice.

  • Japanese Style Fried rice comes from Trader Joe’s and is $3.29 or $1.65 per very generous serve
  • 1 lb of shrimp is $10.99,  or $2.75 per serve.

The combination worked particularly well, and it was a very simple meal to prepare for $4.40 per serve.

May 7: Rissole Roll; Lamb Loin Chops with Farro Picked Beets and Feta Salad

Lunch

For lunch we reheated the remaining serve of Rissoles and served in a hot Panini Roll with Swiss and Carolina BBQ Sauce.

  • The Roll is 63c
  • The Rissoles were $3.57 per serve, or $1.79 per roll
  • Swiss is 34c per serve
  • Add 10c for Carolina BBQ Sauce.

A very successful roll for $2.86 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight we grilled Lamb Loin Chops and served with a salad of Farro, Pickled Beats and Feta. We have come to the conclusion that there is no good domestic (USA) Feta!

  • Lamb Loin Chops were $13.10 or $6.55 per serve
  • The French (Valbreso) Feta was $10.99 but we used 1/6 or 92c per serve
  • Pickled beets in vinaigrette are $1.69, of which we used about ⅓ or 28c per serve
  • The farro was $1.79 for the pack, but we shared ⅓ or 10c per serve
  • Add 10c for Apple Cider Vinegar on the salad.

An excellent meal for $7.95 per serve.

May 6: Roast Chicken & Tomato Baguette; Rissoles with Beets, Tomatoes and Caramelized Onion Cheddar

Lunch

An essential shopping trip took us to Jon’s market where we always pick up a Baguette and Roast Chicken. Fortunately both were available this trip. Along with a Kumato and some Garlic Spread this is a great sandwich.

  • The Baguette is $2.99 and we shared half for lunch, or 75c per serve
  • The Chicken is $6.99 and we shared ¼ or 88c per serve
  • Five Kumato were $3.49 and we had one each, or 70c per serve
  • Add 50c for Garlic Spread.

As always, simple, but great ingredients make a great sandwich for $2.83 per serve.

Dinner

Since we have good grilling weather, and the Rissoles on the grill last time were the “best ever” we went for it again. We got three serves of rissoles.

The salad is “inspired” by the salads the Foodies grew up with: iceberg lettuce, quartered tomato, Kraft (processed) Cheddar and slices of pickled beetroot. We used spinach as the green and Caramelized Onion Cheddar, but we kept to the spirit of the salad with Pickled Beets.

  • Dry aged 85/15 ground beef $8.57 or $2.86 per serve
  • 8 oz Panko breadcrumbs are $2.99 and we used half, or 50c per serve
  • A pastured egg is 51c or 17c per serve
  • The onion is 4c per serve
  • Spinach was $1.49 or 38c per serve
  • The cherry tomatoes were $2.99 and we used half or 75c per serve
  • Pickled beets in vinaigrette are $1.69, of which we used about ⅓ or 28c per serve
  • We used about ⅓ of the $5.75 Caramelized Onion Cheddar, or 96c per serve
  • Add 10c for Carolina BBQ sauce.

We agreed that tonight’s Rissoles where the “best ever,” largely attributed to cooking on a griddle over a grill outdoors. A really enjoyable meal for $6.04 per serve.

May 5: Avocado & Tuna Sandwiches; ‘Vietnamese Style’ Caramelized Lamb Bowls

Lunch

Since we had another Avocado ready to go, today we paired it with a Tuna Pouch each. Foodie Philip had the Sweet & Spicy Tuna; Foodie Greg the Lemon Pepper.

  • Dave’s Killer Bread is 67c per serve
  • The Tuna Pouch is 99c per serve
  • The 31c Avocado is 16c per serve
  • Add 50c for Garlic Spread.

Another successful sandwich for $2.32 per serve.

Dinner

Foodie Greg decided to modify the Vietnamese Pork Bowl recipe to work with Ground Lamb as an experiment, which turned out very successfully.

  • The Ground Lamb was $9.99 but we’ll get four serves, or $2.50 per serve
  • The Cabbage Base adds 30c per serve
  • Add 30c for Bell Pepper
  • Cucumber adds 42c per serve
  • Add 55c for Meat Seasoning and Dressing ingredients.

A great variation on the recipe that would never be seen anywhere near Vietnam, for $3.96 per serve.

May 4: Avocado & Smoked Trout Sandwiches; Spinach, Mushroom and Blue Cheese Frittata

Lunch

Both of today’s sandwiches were Avocado & Smoked Trout, because that can does two sandwiches!

  • Dave’s Killer Bread is 67c per serve
  • We shared a $3.49 can of Smoked Trout, or $1.75 per serve
  • Add 50c for Garlic Spread
  • We shared a 31c Avocado, or 16c per serve.

A pretty decent sandwich, held together by the slightly lemony Garlic Spread, for $3.12 per serve.

Dinner

We chopped and caramelized some Mushrooms, Onion and Spinach and topped with beaten Eggs and Crumbled Blue Cheese.

  • The Baby Bella Mushrooms were $2.02 or $1.01 per serve
  • Spinach adds 30c per serve
  • Two Large Eggs are 27c per serve
  • Blue cheese crumbles were $3.49 and we used about 1/4 or 41c per serve
  • Add 20c for Onion and Seasoning.

A pretty good meatless meal for $2.19 per serve.

May 2: Shin Bowl; Cuban Style Roast Pork, Black Beans and Plantain Chips

Lunch

We returned to the Shin Noodle Bowls from Aldi for lunch. A pack of four was $3.69 or 93c per serve, which proved to be quite generous and a satisfying – if spicy hot – meal.

Dinner

Since we received another Pork Shoulder we revisited the Cuban-Style Roast Pork with Mojo Sauce. The Black Beans made four serves.

  • The Pork Butt was around $18.50 or $4.62 per serve
  • Navel Oranges were $3.83 or 96c per serve
  • Limes were $2.45 or 62c per serve
  • Black Beans were $2.45 and we shared ¼, or 15c per serve
  • Add 40c for other ingredients for the Beans
  • Plantain Chips add 30c per serve.

This is now officially our favorite way to use our Pork Butt. Our home-made Cuban Black Beans tasted way better than canned. A really good meal for $7.05 per serve.

May 1: Bahn Mi; Hot Smoked Salmon

As much as we don’t want to be out of the house, we also want to support local restaurants so they stay in business. Today we picked up a Bahn Mi from Pho Saigon 1, for $10.00 with tax and tip.

Dinner

Tonight we hot smoked some Salmon and served it with a Tomato, Cucumber and Pumpernickel Crouton Salad, to create a deconstructed Smoked Salmon Bagel.

  • The Sockey Salman came from Aldi, and while cheap at $10.99, or $$5.50 per serve, it wasn’t very good
  • Add 40c for Pumpernickel Bread
  • Add 90c for Salad ingredients
  • Add 30c for Dressing.

Apart from the disappointing Salmon this was a pretty good meal for $7.10.

April 2020 Summary and Review

During April we continue in isolation due to the epidemic.

Instead of dining in at our favorite local restaurants, we got to experience them as take away. It’s also pretty clear that there are some meals that are best eaten quickly after being prepared.

The averages for this month:

  • Lunch prepared at home $2.69 ($2.45 in March)
  • Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $8.11 ($9.13)
  • Dinner eaten at home: $6.21 ($5.83)
  • Dinner eaten out: none, but for comparison $10.00, which would otherwise be our minimum “meal out” spend.

Our lunches at home average in a fairly narrow band and this month’s average is almost exactly the same as last month.

We ate 10 of the 64 meals in the month that were prepared outside the home, all lunch.

Our most expensive meal for the month was our Bone In Pork Chops at $12.58 per serve.

This month, lunches at home cost 33% of the cost of eating lunches prepared outside the home. Dinners at home nominally cost 62% of those prepared outside the home.

Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $243.30 per person in January. We actually spent $59.17 for lunches at home plus $81.07 for lunches purchased or eaten out:  $156.12 in total.

Had we purchased every evening meal out and prepared none at home, it would have cost us $300 per person. We actually spent $192.37 for dinners at home and $0 for dinners out, or $192.37 in total.

This month’s savings from preparing most of our food at home is $194.51 and we had a lot more control over what we eat.

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

Apr 30: Kumato & Swiss; Sweet & Spicy Tuna; Bavarian Bratwurst with Apple Bacon Slaw

Lunch

A return to regular sandwiches. Today a Kumato & Swiss, & Sweet & Spicy Tuna.

  • Dave’s Killer Bread is 67c per serve
  • The Tuna is 99c or 50c per serve
  • Kumato adds 35c per serve
  • Swiss is 34c per serve
  • Add 50c for Garlic Spread.

Two good half sandwiches for $2.36 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight’s dinner was a simple one with Bavarian Bratwurst and an Apple Bacon Slaw.

  • The bratwurst are $3.49 for the pack, or $1.75 per serve
  • Bacon was $4.99 and we used four of 10 slices, or 50c per serve
  • The Nappa Cabbage was $3.57, but we used about ⅛ or 22c per serve
  • The Envy apple was $1.38 or 35c per serve
  • Add 20c for apple cider vinegar and seasoning.

As always a good meal for $3.02 per serve.