3 Dishes Worth $2.10: Fish, Shrimps, and Vegetables ☺️

Hello everyone!

Hope all are safe and well! ☺️❤️🙏

Last night, I went to the market with just 120 pesos budget, thinking carefully how I can stretch this budget to prepare something good for me and my sister. With that money, I was able to buy fish worth 50 pesos, shrimps worth 50 pesos, and vegetables pinakbet worth 20 pesos. That’s a total of 120 pesos or around $2.10 as of today’s exchange rate. Not bad, right? ☺️

When I got home, I started preparing right away. The first dish I cooked was the pinakbet. I washed the vegetables, chopped onion and garlic, then sauteed them in a little oil. I added soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, ground pepper, and a little water, then let it cook until it was ready. Simple but delicious. ☺️

While waiting for the pinakbet to cook, I prepared the 32 pieces shrimps. I counted it. ☺️ I cleaned them properly, then chopped more onion, garlic, and ginger. I doubled the amount of spices because I would also use the same mix for the paksiw later.

When the pinakbet was done, I transferred it to a bowl and set it aside.

Next, I cooked the shrimps in the same pan. I just washed it quickly, then sauteed onion, garlic, ginger, and added the shrimps. For flavor, I put soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, ground pepper, and sugar. No salt needed because the soy sauce was enough.

Finally, while waiting for the shrimps to cook, I cleaned the 12 pieces fish. I also counted the fish. 🤭

After a few minutes, the shrimps was cooked. I set it aside too.

I wash quickly the pan and prepared the paksiw. In the pan, I combined the fish, vinegar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, onion, garlic, ginger, ground pepper, and salt. I mixed everything together with my clean bare hands. ☺️ Then cooked it slowly until the fish absorbed the flavors.

That night, we had rice paired with pinakbet and shrimp. 😋❤️

The paksiw, I kept for the next day that is perfect for breakfast and lunch.

Imagine, with just 120 pesos, I was able to prepare three dishes good for three meals, enough for two people. ❤️

If I add the cost of the condiments and spices, maybe it would be around 150 pesos more or less. But since they were already available in the kitchen, I only counted what I bought. It’s amazing how far 120 pesos can go if you plan well and keep things simple. ☺️❤️

No magic sarap ingredients, nothing fancy, just basic dishes cooked with love and care. And that’s enough to satisfy both the stomach and the heart. ☺️❤️

Sometimes, meals like these remind me to be grateful. Back then, when I was younger, even a simple dish was hard to come by. But now, even with just a small budget, I can provide for us and share good food with my sister. It’s not about how grand the meal is, but about the love, gratitude, and togetherness that comes with it. Truly, the simplest things are the biggest blessings. ☺️❤️

Have a Blessed Friday everyone! 😀😀😀💖💖💖

Thank You Lord for the blessings and love!

Be grateful in every little/simple things and you’ll find happiness you ever wanted! 😀😀😀

Everyday is worth to be grateful of!

Praying for the safety and wellness of all.

Heal Our Land Oh God!

Lovelots,
@shikika