Feeding a Family of 4 for $5
~Week 1~
All of the recipes I feature will be healthy, one-dish meals with enough food to feed a family of 4. I realize that prices of food will vary depending on your location, where you shop, and whether you purchased the food items on sale. The ingredients necessary to make each meal are minimal and I usually have plenty left over to make other meals with. Of course, the amount your particular family eats will vary. For instance, a family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers may need more food that my recipes provide, though often we have enough leftovers for each of the 2 adults in our family to have another meal.
~A little disclaimer before I start. I cook by smell and rarely measure things so feel free to adjust the amounts to fit your family’s tastes.~
“Lentils and Rice” Tex-Mex Style
- 3/4 cup rice (I like to use calrose, but I’m sure any medium or long grain rice would be fine.)
- 3/4 dry lentils (lentils are awesome! They are high in fiber, protein, and iron.)
- 1 bullion cube–chicken or beef
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1 1/4 tsp. chili powder
- a couple dashes of cayenne (optional, though, this amount is not enough to make it spicy)
Combine these with 2 cups water in a rice cooker (easy, peasy) or pot and just cook it the way you usually cook rice.
While the rice is cooking cut the veggies.
- 1/2 bell pepper–any color will do but red, orange, and yellow are the most flavorful
- 1 tomato
- 1/4 onion
- cilantro
- Cheese–about 1 cup shredded
- Tortilla Chips
Feel free to substitute any of the veggies.
When the lentils and rice finish cooking simply scoop some on top of a plate of chips, throw on some cheese, and top with lots of veggies.
Note: the lentils and rice are pretty dry so make sure you throw on some sour cream, ranch dressing, or your favorite Tex-Mex topper!
Some of factors that made this an inexpensive meal: the cheese and chips were purchased at Costco (large amount for little $), this meal is meatless.
If you have a favorite, inexpensive meal that would feed a family of 4 for $5 and would like to have your recipe featured email me or leave the recipe in a comment below.

Jill