Amid the financial turmoil, many are keeping an eye on their grocery budgets. Even Rachel Ray the queen of 30 minutes meals, stressed the budget friendliness of one of the recipes in her recent episode. I think it certainly reflect the concerns of many audiences these days.I also notice that a few bloggers are talking about budget planning lately, so I decided to try and make a meal under 10 dollars and see what we could get.
Here's the result. For under 10 dollars, this was what we had for dinner last night- Hainanese Chicken rice (rice not shown in picture + chicken), Stirfry Shanghai Bokchoy and a claypot tofu with shiitake mushroom. And it's good for 5 servings. I has a sudden craving for mum's hainanese chicken rice after reading the Wednesday Chef's homemade hainanese chicken rice. So naturally, that was on the menu of the night. Although a side of stirfry shanghai bokchoy would round up the meal nicely, I went on to make a claypot tofu. I just wanted to try out my newly acquired korean soup pot.Lately, We are obsessed with tofu soup, and have been visiting the same tofu house for the past 3 weekends. But more about that in another post. Meanwhile, I know what you are going to ask- How did I do that for under 10 dollars.
Here's the breakdown:
rice- $2.40
Tyson Split chicken breasts with bones - $3.00 (it's going on discount at Kroger this week, with only 0.99/pd)
tomato (0.89/pd)- $0.60
Shanghai Bokchoy- $1.60
Tofu- $1.00/block
dried shiitake mushroom- $0.50
miscellaneous condiments- $0.90 (it is actually lesser than this, but I want to round off the figure to make it 10 dollars. At this point, OCT rolls his eyes)
In case you are wondering how the plate of chicken is going to serve 5, there's one whole breast that was not shown in the picture. After the dinner, OCT packed the leftover for lunches, and he told me that they were enough for next 3 days. May I add that OCT is a big eater, despite his skinny frame?(life is unfair!)So take his words for it- 5 servings it is!
Authentic Southeast Asian meal for only 2 dollars per serving; and the smile on my satiated husband's face- Priceless.
No recipe for today, but we love the hainanese chicken rice so much that I think that I might make it again this weekend, (while the discount of chicken breasts last, of course). I will try to measure all the ingredients use next time.So, what's your meals stategy? Do you adhere to a budget? Let's share!
21 comments:
Nice dishes :) you made me hungry
wow your pics here make me drool :)
What a feast. Everything looks unbelievably tasty - just the kind of thing I'd want to have for dinner. And it only cost $10 for 5? If you opened a restaurant, you'd definitely make a killing :D
Can you share the recipe of tofu claypot with shitake mushroom? It looks yummylicious.
Terrific post! I find myself thinking more and more about how much things cost at the store lately... whereas before I just grabbed whatever.
Rachael Ray has actually started a segment in her magazines where she shows several different meals for under $10. I haven't tried any of them, but they all look good!! I wish I had a great way of saving money, but I know I need to start budgeting!
Very nice! A little imagination sometimes makes more than a lot of money!
I think people don't realize that if you use flavorful ingredients you don't have to spend a lot of money.
Such a delicious meal for under $10, well worth it!
As a newbie-student, cheap food is definitely my calling at the moment! This looks fantastic, I'm in awe.
great finds... and all for $10... amazing!!! :)
Goodness, it doesn't look cheaper than $10 at all... It's quite a feast! Good job Mandy!! :)
Way to go! High fives for a delicious meal at such a budget-friendly price.
All that for under 10? Every time I go grocery shopping lately I want to shoot myself in the foot. I can not believe how much of my budget goes to food. Very very bad.
What a bargain dinner! It looks super tasty and not pricey at all! The best kind of meal!
haha I tried to calculate how much I spent on each meal after seeing your post but it is hard to evaluate exactly per meal how much meat, etc I used =) but the hainanese chix rice looks yummy~~
Mandy,
Could you please elaborate on Bokchoy please? Our store has regular and then baby bokchoi that actually looks like a younger plant, not necessarily another species.
Is any of them preferred upon the other?
thanks!
Gabi @ Mamaliga.com
gabi,
personally i prefer the baby bokchoy, which has much more flavor than the bigger vegetable.
OMG my neighbour is such a great cook!!!!
Sorry for the late comment, but I completely missed this post! What a great dinner you put together for under $10! The chicken looks amazing. Another example how eating well doesn't have to cost a fortune.
Food we serve to our families don't have to be expensive to be healthy and tasty. It has been hard this year and last so meals under 10 dollars are much appreciated. Great blog!
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