Supper Tonight... and a New Series

Is anybody else out there feeling major sticker shock at the grocery store (especially Mamas trying to feed a family)?  Food prices seem to be going up and up endlessly.  I'll go into the store for "a few things" and end up spending $60.

Especially this month, where we've squeezed every extra drop out of the budget to pay for the work on our playroom and dishwasher, I've been consulting my arsenal of super super cheap meals that will feed our family generously.  And thus begins a new sub-category of "supper tonight" posts here on the blog... Meals Under $3.

(I'm also putting together a recipe index-- as you'll see by checking out the tab above.  This will probably be a slow process and under construction for a while.  Since I found myself searching through my own blog for recipes quite often, I thought I would benefit from having the links all in one place.  If any of you can make use of it too, then great!)

Here it is, the first meal in the Under $3 series...

Honey Baked Lentils

(from The More With Less Cookbook... my go-to reference for super cheap meals)

Combine in a dutch oven or saucepan:

1 lb. (2 1/3 cup) dry lentils

1 small bay leaf

5 cups water

2 t. salt (I use less-- about 1 t.)

Bring to a boil.  Cover tightly and reduce heat.  Simmer 30 minutes.  Do not drain.  Discard bay leaf.  Preheat oven to 350.  Combine separately and add to lentils:

1 t. dry mustard

1/4 t. powdered ginger

1 T soy sauce

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 cup water

4 slices raw bacon, cut in bite-size pieces (I use more... 6-8 slices)

Stir most of the bacon in with the lentils, and sprinkle the remainder over the top.  Pour over all:

1/3 cup honey

Cover tightly.  Bake 1 hour.  Uncover last 10 minutes to brown the bacon.  Serve over rice or with another grain (corn bread is great) to complete the protein!

**********

Total cost of this recipe... approximately $2.99 (probably less if you cut back on the bacon or used a vegetarian substitute)

According to the cookbook, this recipe serves 8 people... but those are adult-sized servings.  There are anywhere from 10-16 kid-sized servings yielded by this recipe.  Do the math... roughly 18 to 39 cents per serving.  Cheaper and better for you than anything on the dollar menu at McDonalds!

We've tried lots of different lentil recipes (as we all know, lentils are a cheap nutritional powerhouse), and this is one of the more kid-friendly that I've found.  My girls won't go back for seconds, but the more often I serve it the better they do.  The touch of sweetness added by the honey helps a lot.