Easy yummy meal less than $5 per person !

These days you just can't spent fancy $ to buy food nor spend $ in the restaurant, but you don't want to buy dinner from fast food restaurant to fill our stomach. No worries. Here are the few recipes that I love. I can run to Trader Joe's and spend less than $5 per serving to cook nice meal. It's so easy and so yummy. AND it's quite filling as well

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WILD ALASKAN SALMON WITH KALE
(serving : 2, Cooking time: less than 30 min)


Ingredient:

1. Wild Alaskan salmon (frozen) 1 pack of 2 fillet
2. 4 cups chopped Kale
   
3. 3 tablespoons butter
4. Sea salt / freshly grounded pepper

Direction:

1. Pre heat oven 325 degree
2. Saute chopped kale with 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan for 2 min till kale's volume get smaller and softer. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
3. Season thawed salmon fillet with pinch of sea salt and pepper both side
4. Slice 1 tablespoon butter into 4 and place in the bottom of roasting pan
5. Place 1 fillet of salmon (skin bottom) in the roasting pan.
6. Place sauteed kale on top of the salmon and place other fillet of salmon (skin top).
7. Place remaining 1 tablespoon butter on top of 'salmon sandwich'
   
8. Cover with foil and bake in the pre- heated oven for 15 min till salmon' s inside color just get changed from dark coral color to lighter. Don't over cook. Salmon will get dry and harder.
   
9. Take out from oven, sit for 3 min. with cover before serve.

Eat with brown rice or your favorite pasta.
You can substitute kale with baby spinach if you can't get kale.
Shopping List: Frozen Alaskan salmon ($7-8 for 2 in 1 package), Kale ($1.29) or Baby spinach bag ($1.99)
Where: Trader Joe's / Whole foods for kale

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CHICKEN SHNITZEL
(serving 2 -4, Prep time: 20 min , Cooking time: less than 10 min)


Ingredients:

1. 4 chicken breast
2. 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
3. 1 egg beaten
4. 3 tablespoons whole wheat  flour
5. 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6. 1/8 teaspoon sea salt / pepper
7. Slice of lemon and basil leaves
   

Directions:

1. Dry chicken with paper towel. Place chicken breast between cooking sheet. Pound chicken with heavy rolling pin to flatten evenly to 1/4" thickness
2. Mix Flour, salt and pepper and coat chicken
3. Dip in beaten egg to coat, allow the excess to drip off and roll in the panko bread crumbs.
   
4. Heat olive oil in the pan with medium heat. Wait till heated (drop few panko into oil. If panko start to fry immediately, it's ready to cook) about 30 sec.
   
5. Place chicken and cook 2 1/2 min. each side.
6. Take out of pan and garnish with sliced lemon and fried basil leave

Best way to eat this is just to eat as is with little bit of squeezed lemon and basil for flavor if you like. No additional sauce to dip please. We really don't need to add lots of things (usually high calorie, fat and sodium or sugar) to basically kill the taste of food itself. I use just 1 tablespoon of olive oil per chicken to cook instead of the traditional way of deep frying. It tastes as good as "deep-frying". This way, you don't need to waste a bottle of good oil and chicken doesn't get too greasy and fatty.

ShoppingList: Frozen Boneless Chicken Breast Meat with Rib Meat ( 40 oz pack ) $6. --
Where: Trader Joe's