Near Gourmet Meal For Four... The "Under Ten Dollars" Challenge...

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As a contest cook, I have entered many a contest where the budget was limited to $10.00 or less... the first thing that I would advise anyone to do is use a recipe calculator: http://www.cookingbynumbers.com This will assist you with shopping and stocking your pantry plus it will give you recipes for what you already have on hand... The next thing to do, is to locate Dollar Stores in your area, and online (Buy wholesale foods for pennies) as well as fresh fruit and vegetable sellers... some will give you good prices on items that are perishable at he end of the day, or even give them to you outright... if you are "cool"! :) Here's my recipe for a meal that serves four for under $10.00: Shopping: Dollar store items: Frozen chicken thighs 1 lb, $1.19, 1 pk, Frozen seafood medley $1.00. 2 paks of dry Fettucini pasta, $1.00, 3Liters Ginger Ale, $1.25, 1 pkg. frozen strawberries $1.00. Shopping: Fruit And Vegetable Seller: 1 pkg green bell peppers, $1.00, 1 pkg red bell peppers, (1) 2lb bag of onions, $1.00, 1 lb. greenbeans $1.00 Total: $9.44 ( My favorite Porsche's number! LOL) Method and prep: Thaw chicken thighs in salted cold water. Thaw Seafood Medley in it's own package, let it sit in cold water in a bowl. Let frozen strawberries stay frozen in your freezer... they are for dessert. Prepare boiling water for pasta by starting with cold, salted water and slowly bring it up to a rolling boil, open both packages of pasta and place them in the hot water, fanning the strands, so they don't stick together... be sure to keep the water boiling. Chicken: After thawing pat pieces dry with some paper towels... salt and pepper, these and add a little basil and some onion, paprika and garlic powders... prepare a skillet for sauteeing by coating it with some olive oil or shortening... get the pan hot ( you know, a little soft music, some wine...LOL!), but not smoking... place the chicken pieces im the hot oil, but keep them moving... turn after 3 minutes and cook for 3 minutes more... remove and place in warm dish and cover... remove pan from heat... but keep pan oil inside... Prepare veggies: Chop green bell pepper into smallish cubes, slice red bell pepper into long strands, chop onions into small cubes, and slice greenbeans on angle into small pieces... Place chopped onion into sautee pan and coat with the oil... after about one minute over heat... place in the greenbeans (keep everything moving), after about 2 minutes, put the red and green bell pepper into the pan, and stir for another 2 minutes... Seafood Medley ( shrimps, clams, squid, codfish) goes onto this vegetable mix and gets cooked for minute only... Pasta ( Drained) gets dropped into the sauteeing mix by the handful and gets mixed really well... dish is ready to be served... Place Pasta/Seafood/Veggie mix on dinner plates, and place a piece of chicken in the center of the plate and on top of the pasta... make it beautiful by sprinkling with some parsley flakes or even some onion flakes,if you have them... Dessert: Frozen Strawberries go into a blender, add some honey or white table syrup and a little bit of ginger ale... if you've got some cold whipped cream, you can blend it into this for a very refreshing treat! :) Hope this helps you! great wish and good going! :) PS: This recipe could serve eight if you choose to split the chicken pieces in half!