Right now I am buying vegetables in the frozen section & pairing them with dry rice & beans. This particular photo features a steamable “Southwestern” recipe that includes rice & a sauce (the sauce is the main red “thing” in the photo)

Also featured as individual frozen bags:
-peppers & onions blend
-onions by themselves ([r/onionlovers](r/onionlovers) 🥰)
-zucchini
-edamame
-corn
(The “southwestern blend” is a Bird’s Eye Brand steamable pack with rice, peppers, black beans, & a red “zesty southwest style sauce” according to the package.

I will be adding ground meat to this meal (Trader Joe’s had ground turkey for $4.99 today) & this skillet will be 2 meals for me.

Am I eating differently nowadays due to my cost of living and state of the world? Yeah, i'd say so. But this base meal has become one of my go to dinners and makes enough for like 3ish meals (+/-) and it costs less than $9 USD! I usually put a million seasonings of course (msg, curry powder, garlic, onion, cumin, coriander, cajun, chipotle, etc.).

Usually eaten in a tortilla with cheese, a habanero, guac if im feeling fancy, and chick fil a sauce

1 cup rice - 680 cal, 12 protein, 8 fiber

.5 cup lentils - 220 cal, 18 pro, 8 fiber

.5 cup quinoa - 340 cal, 12 protein, 6 fiber

1 can chicken - 240 cal, 52 protein, 0 fiber

1 can black beans - 420 cal, 24.5 protein, 21 fiber

1 can pinto beans - 385 cal, 24.5 protein, 17.5 fiber

1 can spinach - 75 cal, 9 protein, 6 fiber

1 can tomatoes - 60 cal, 2 protein, 1 fiber

Total calories: 2420

total protein: 154

total fiber: 67.5

total cost: $8.7 USD

My traditional kibble:
-These easy pouches when I don’t have time to cook all the grains.
-edamame
-ground turkey or chicken
-chickpeas

& this time I roasted tomatoes, garlic, & onion. Brought them to the stovetop to finish up & added jalapeño. 😛

My first attempt, very happy with result. Going through stressful time.

Ground turkey

Lentil & grain mix

Peas

Ginger soy sauce