Tilapia and ginger carrots

I know I haven't blogged much but money has been tight-- leading to much pasta and ground beef-- and work has picked up and my hours have increased AND my grandmother-in-law has finally passed away after a long battle with cancer. She died at age 94, with my mother-in-law as her primary caregiver after taking to her bed in mid-July.

So as a family, we are relieved that her suffering has ended. 

Today, my daughter and I participated in the Color Run-Lehigh Valley and somehow I got finagled into letting the child have a friend spend the night.

The friend is a super great kid who always minds her manners and brings something to contribute toward her meals. Her mom is a single parent with two kids and I know that her work schedule and budget concerns mean that our friend doesn't get many real home-cooked family meals.

So, I deposited my last few dollars into the bank to have the funds to take the girls to Target on a grocery run. I asked friend if there was anything she liked that she didn't get often at home and she asked for seafood.

I bought Simply Balanced tilapia filets and fresh carrots. Friend brought Country Time lemonade-iced tea mix, which normally I would veto but I know it's her attempt to contribute.

The menu--

Tilapia in the cast iron skillet in lemon butter sauce with fresh parsley, with sides of ginger carrots and rice 

How do I prepare ginger carrots?

For one pound carrots: 

-  1 tablespoon melted butter

- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1 teaspoon sugar

- 1 tablespoon parsley

The girls loved their dinner and I'm realizing it was a very inexpensive meal. 

Prices: 

- Simply balanced Tilapia 5-6 count (we had 7!!!) on sale for $7.50 plus $2 off coupon so even before my employee discount and my RedCard discount it was less than $1 per serving

- butter. I bought a pound at Target for $2.47 but I only used one stick

- lemon juice. I had a bottle but even if I had to buy a lemon it would have added less than a quarter to each person assuming I paid $1 for the lemon. 

- parsley. In the garden.

- carrots, $1.49 for the pound before discounts 

- ginger. Had a bottle that I got at Aldi really cheap but let's say for argument's sake it was $4 and added $1 per person

- steamed rice. No seasoning since the fish had juice. Rice is cheap. But again, for the sake of argument, let's say $2 per bag. 50 cents per person.

So per person the cost is $1 (fish) + 60 cents (butter) + 25 cents (lemon) + 40 cents (carrots) + $1 (ginger and parsley) + 50 cents (rice)= less than $4 per person and a damn fine meal!!! And that's BEFORE discounts and coupons! It's closer to $3 per person when you consider that!

And before you argue that my portions are small, I fed 4 people equal plates like the one in the photo THREE times. Because they are small girls and

I encourage them to start small and have more rather than waste.