Clam & Salmon Chowder

The other week I was lamenting on Facebook how difficult it is to live on a $50/week food budget, and one of my friends told me about two blogs she regularly uses that are focused on creating cheaper dishes for those on tight budgets.  I could live on $50/week if I wasn't buying baking ingredients all the time, though, but that's besides the point.  I'm not going without baking ingredients.  I am realizing how lucky I was in Rossland that my dad regularly contributed baking ingredients to my pantry since I baked things for him, too.  Ah well.  I do my best, and usually I succeed.

Anyway!  The two blogs I mentioned are Budget Bytes and Poor Girl Eats Well.  Budget Bytes is particularly interesting because the author does a comprehensive breakdown of her ingredient prices to get an accurate price per serving amount.  This inspired me to do some of my own calculating, just for interest's sake.

The other night I made a salmon and clam chowder for dinner.  The story behind the salmon is that I saw a package of ground salmon in the grocery store that looked perfect for a salmon burger.  But when I got it home to make the burger, I saw that the meat had not been ground properly and that is was in long thin shreds.  So froze it for a later use and decided to stick it into some clam chowder.

So here is what I used, the prices, and then the price per serving.  I got 8 servings out of this recipe and put half of it into containers for freezing.

2 cans clams @ $1.67 each = $3.34
half of one container of 10% cream = $0.86
carrots = $0.37
potatoes = $0.76
6 slices bacon (17 slices/package at $4.97/package = $0.29/slice) = $1.74
1 cup of whipping cream left over from another recipe = $1.39
fresh thyme left over from another recipe = $2 (approx.)
salmon = $2.79 (approx. - I didn't keep the receipt for this as I bought it a few weeks before I started keeping track, but this is what I remember it to be approximately)

total cost of chowder = $13.25
8 servings = $1.65/serving

Not bad, eh?  There is room for improvement, though.  But not bad at all.  And the chowder was good!

Amtrak Snack

So, it's been a while. It wasn't my intention to let the blog go for this long again, but stuff happens. I've been unwell, I went away for a few days, blahx3. But I'm back, and I have new content plans for the days to come. I spent 3 days in Seattle with Jodi, which of course meant a lot of great food, so you'll be hearing all about that.

In the meantime, while I get my act together, here are some visuals of what Amtrak has to offer in terms of food on their Cascades trip between Seattle and Vancouver. Last weekend was the third time I've taken this trip, but the first in which I've taken advantage of the dining car. Surprisingly, the menu was quite varied (chicken teriyaki bowl, enchilada bowl, lasagna with meat sauce, mac & cheese) and not outrageously expensive the way airplane food is. However, I kept it simple. I had chowder, a sandwich, and a drink, which came to $13.75.

The chowder was piping hot and very good! For a commercially made chowder, I was quite impressed! Very creamy, lots of clams, decent potato amount, and not overly salty like other commercially made chowders I could mention. The sandwich was a bust though; soggy as hell and not very fresh. The lettuce was toast as was the tomato. I wound up eating mostly the meat and cheese. Next time, I'll order something else to go along with my chowder.

In the end, I learned that the dining car is a good option if I can't pack my own lunch. I had been avoiding it, assuming the prices were outrageous. And while not super cheap, it wasn't like some of the overpriced slop I've been served on airplanes.

Clam Chowder for a Crowd

Here is another work recipe that I have made a few times now. When I first looked at the recipe, I nearly had a heart attack! Bacon! Butter! Whipping cream! I thought, You want me to feed this to seniors? Seriously? I was a little shocked. But apparently, this is one of the most popular soups on the menu. And after I made it, I had a bowl myself, and it was sooooo gooooood. Sinfully good. No wonder it's popular!

Clam Chowder

8 slices of bacon, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 onions, diced
4 potatoes, diced
3 cans baby clams, with nectar
1 lb butter
2 cups flour
1 liter water
2 tsp chicken base
2 liters whipping cream
2 tsp each basil, parsley, and ground pepper

Cook the first five ingredients in a large pot until veggies are just tender. In a separate, smaller pot, melt the butter. Add flour and make a smooth paste. Add this to the veggies and combine. Add liquids, and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a simmer to thicken. Serve.

OK, we don't use whipping cream where I work, but rather a mixture of 10% and milk. It works just fine and tastes great!