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And in this, the month of quarantine 7News has asked some friends to share recipes to help folks prepare meals on a tight budget. It's cooking for hard times like Michael Finnegan did with his Ketchup and Curry Corned Beef, and tonight, the well known Chef Ainsley shows you how to make Ramen miracles and feed a dozen people for twenty dollars.

Cherisse Halsall reporting
Wednesday we took you into the kitchen of the Hon. Micheal Finnegan for a look at his Curry-ketchup corned beef recipe, and today I headed to his namesake market on the hunt for ingredients to make another under $20 meal. My companion in this challenge was local celebrity Chef Ainsley.

He'd promised to show us how to feed 12 people with a cheap but delicious $20 chow mein and I got to find out where to buy chicken cuts for just $2.07 a pound.

But even at that price, we had to be careful with our COVID-time budget. And after some haggling and getting chided for inadequate social distancing. Chef Ainsley decided to go with a pack and a bag.

The Ramen was priced at $3.00 and the change after our first stop didn't leave much for incidentals.

Moving through the market you couldn't miss the officers on patrol. Next stop a bottom dollar ample supply of vegetables

And later Ainsley rounded out the budget with a few spices, but we'll come back to those.

We headed out of the market and back to Chef Ainsley's Naked Chicken. The Chef started with some food prep then jumped right into grilling.

Ainsley Castro, Chef
"When I came up with the recipe I always knew that Ramen noodles because I'm originally from Punta Gorda and it's like nine of us a single parent so I always know about how to stretch cause I was the one in charge when my mom would leave me with a little ten dollars and I'd go to PG market and I always cook with a lot of vegetables cause if you notice my menu every day I have vegetables. I have a chef salad and lettuce is cheap right now well not right now but lettuce is usually cheap the local ones you know."

"So I know about how to create food cheaply so I can go high end and I can go low end due to the experience that I have and I deal with food on a deal basis."

But he got me involved as well for grating and cutting up the chow mein veggies.

Cherisse Halsall:
"But we loved the fact that you used Ramen noodles cause yesterday a whole pile of ramen noodles was delivered to the people that are quarantined in San Pedro, so apart from this what's some more advice you could give them about cooking ramen in different ways?"

Ainsley Castro, Chef
"Yeah you could do ramen's and you don't even need to get chicken cuts you can use leftover chicken and if you have left over chicken or left over rice from yesterday you can turn it into fried rice. Basic ingredients again your celery your onions bell peppers if you have that you know cabbage and you can turn that right into a vegetable fried rice and beef fried rice if you have any of that leftover you can even do a corn beef fried rice."

And coming back to those spices, Chef Ainsley and his sue chef Ainsley Jr wanted to show how their quarantine shake. It's a combination of Okro, Grated nutmeg, Moringa seeds, condensed milk, Peanut butter and Ice. Blend that all together and sip for the ideal quarantine beverage, slimy yet satisfying."

But back to the main meal because the mission was to economize and while creating maximum portions. We manage to dish out 12 plates of a gorgeously colorful veggie chow mein served with grilled chicken and some ketchup on the side.

But we weren't done yet because we needed to serve our plated meals and Chef Ainsley was determined to do some good.

Ainsley Castro, Chef
"Naked chicken decided to go and deliver it to the homeless on Albert street so we just decided to do something different cause we always give back due to our business here."

And it's true you might do a good deed but it doesn't mean you'll get the credit.

You can look forward to more recipes in our cooking for hard times series right here on 7News next week.