What/How To Eat

A meal for $10 for 2!

How to make the most of a tight budget without sacrificing flavour or variety. With a few calculated indulgences, you can make a stunner of a meal. 

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 The budget I have is $10 for two people.

Many factors occur to me, whether if it will be filling and putting the healthy plate scheme into consideration. After much consideration and roaming around the supermarket, I have decided on cooking salmon spaghetti with peas and Cambell chicken soup.

I got a salmon fillet for $5.05 and spaghetti for $1.95. For the peas, it was $1. Lastly, the Campbell soup was $1.65. The total cost of it was $9.65.
In The Kitchen 

I started preparing dinner at 6pm, by cutting the salmon into half and marinating the salmon with salt and pepper. I placed the marinated salmon in the fridge for it to absorb the flavours in. Followed by boiling the spaghetti with a pinch of salt and the chicken soup for a good seven minutes with constant stirring. Lastly, I fried the salmon three minutes each side and the peas for roughly seven minutes with olive oil for a healthier option. After the spaghetti is cooked, I stir fried them for five minutes and add a little chicken soup to make it creamy so that it will not be very dry.

Why did I choose this dish
 I wanted to fulfil the healthy plate scheme into this meal. Spaghetti is made out of starch and what I was lacking was protein and vegetables thus, I choose salmon and peas. Additionally, a side dish of chicken soup is served to sooth the dryness of the salmon.

Served

Salmon Spaghetti with Peas and Chicken Soup

Here is the feedback I got from my diner who is my Mom.

" The salmon taste good and the vivid peas makes me feel healthy. It was as appetizing as it looks. The portion was just nice to go with the chicken soup. I think its value for money for a meal that is under $10. I had an enjoyable meal with Mitch."

Through this project, it teaches me about financial planning as my budget was only $10. I had to consider many factors when getting the ingredients such as the healthy plate scheme and the portion for two people. Cooking it was not really a big deal to me, as it is not my first time cooking. And for the first time, I am really thankful to my parents that taught me to cook at the age of  14. To my astonishment, it was not as challenging as I thought it might be as the budget did really worry me at first. I did replace quite a number of ingredients when I was shopping. Initially, I wanted to get a packet of mushrooms however I had to give up on that as my budget exceeded. After all the detailed thinking, I came up with my current dish.

Worth it?
After preparing this dish, I realised this per serving costs only $4.825 round up to $4.80. In a restaurant, it would roughly cost about $15. For example, Swensen sells their Salmon pasta with mushrooms for $14.90 without the soup. 

Objective

This makes me feel that eating at home is much better than eating out as it is cheaper and healthier. And I get to save a sum of money. Cooking at home allows me to bond more with my family as I get to chat with them while we are eating. Secondly, I find that cooking is an essential/survival skill as well. As eating is a daily part of our life in any case, if we are do not have money to buy food, we can always cook what is there in the fridge. 

References

• URLhttp://www.streetdirectory.com/businessfinder/menu/119970/30314/Pasta/486/
• Website TitleDifferent Types Of Cheesecakes
• Article TitleSwensen's Singapore | Product & Services Online Catalogue
• Date AccessedJuly 14, 2018