Honey Mustard Salmon Cost Breakdown

Well, there will be no pictures this time as my camera batteries went kaput and I just picked some up new batteries last night. However, you don't really need pictures as this meal is super simple and very fast. Actually the ease of cooking of salmon is part of the reason I like it so much. Sure it's tasty and all that, but where else are going to find a meat that cooks in 10 minutes so your whole dinner is ready in 15 minutes?

Cost Breakdown:

• 3 salmon fillets (4oz each) -- $3
• 2 T dijon mustard -- 10 cents
• 2 T honey -- 10 cents
• 1 C brown rice -- 13 cents Purchased a clearance box that was mildly dented; only 79 cents!
• 1 1/2 C mixed vegetables -- 50 cents

Total Cost: $3.83

Made exactly 3 servings as my daughter generally eats an entire fillet on her own. That means each meal was about $1.28.

A lot of people don't eat salmon because of the expense and they're right that it can be a big hindrance. I buy my salmon fillets from Aldi. They are individually packaged, boneless and skinless. A bag of 4 fillets costs $3.99. Each time I open a bag I put 1 fillet aside in my freezer, so every 3 bags I open generates another meal's worth of salmon. Since we eat salmon once a week on average, I spend $12 a month for 4 meals of salmon.

When I lived in Virginia there was no Aldi. Instead I would wait until a sale and then buy 10 packages of fish. The sale price was a bit less than what I pay now, so I can imagine that if Aldi ever has a sale on salmon I'm likely to but at least a 2 month supply in one swoop, if not more. I feel I can justify the cost of using salmon if I keep the sides inexpensive. Brown rice is generally inexpensive and goes nicely with salmon; using frozen veggies is also pretty inexpensive.

How I made it:

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Lightly spray a small pan of your choice.
   
2. In a small bowl mix the dijon mustard and honey.
3. Place fillets in pan and spoon mustard mixture over fillets -- about 1 T per fillet.
4. Place fish in oven and prepare rice and mixed vegetables.
   
5. When everything is done cooking, place rice and vegetables on plate and place a fillet over the rice. It looks fancier this way, but if you don't like your food to touch, just divy your plate into thirds.
   
6. Enjoy!

Notes:

• I will buy those veggies that steam in the bag if there's a good sale. Generally though I just buy the family size bags when they're running about $1 to $1.50, dump what I need into my micro-cooker, add a splash of water, and nuke for 4 minutes. Way cheaper than the steamer bags, but they do require the extra steps of pouring and adding water!
  
• I use instant brown rice that takes 10 minutes, which is about how long it takes my fish to cook -- so convenient!