Acorn Squash & Lentil Egg Bake

This month the members of The Recipe Redux are working on creating delicious, Budget-Friendly Eats!

How low can you go? Can you make a meal for less than $3 per serving? Whatever your budget, show us your healthy entree recipe to help keep food spending in check in 2017.

A Special Announcement!

As we focus on keeping spending in check for 2017, it is a perfect time to highlight how much money you can save on your grocery budget when you grow your own food. Back in December I conducted my first annual reader survey and I was so excited to see that 57% of you said that you were interested in learning more about how to start a backyard garden in order to grow your own food to feed your family.

Well I listened!! 

It is the perfect time to announce that coming this spring I will be adding a Gardening section to my website in order to help you to teach you how to grow your own food too! Complete with guides and videos – I am so excited to start this new journey and hope you are too!! 

I am also super, super excited to announce that we will be adding six new babies to the family this coming March – baby chicks as we learn to raise our own egg laying hens :):)

The Cost Breakdown

Lets just break down the cost real quick. I grew A LOT of squash last year.

All 40 of these beautiful acorn squash were grown from a single seed packet that cost me $3.95 for 25 seeds.

I failed algebra 4 times in college (#truth) BUT according to my calculations $3.95/40 = $0.09875 which equals $0.10 per squash. TEN CENTS PER SQUASH MY  FRIENDS.

Sure, a lot of time and energy and love was spent in growing these beauties, but to me, the effort is well worth it. And, because I am now able to preserve my own seeds from the mature fruit to start my plants over again next season, I don’t have to buy another seed packet again.

As I always say, a garden is the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving ♥♥

Acorn squash is still budget friendly even if you don’t grow it yourself. It will be the cheapest in the Fall during harvest time, especially when purchased at a farmers market from a local farmer.

But, if your simply shopping around your local grocery store, you can pick up these babies for $0.99 a pound. This recipe calls for three small acorn squash which are approximately 4-5 pounds which will run you about $3.96-$4.95.

Acorn Squash & Lentil Egg Bake

These tasty acorn squashes are stuffed with lentils, a delicious and nutritious plant-based legume which are easy on the wallet as well. A single bag of Goya Lentils from the grocery store cost approximate $1.69, depending on the variety you purchase. The can be boiled like rice and have a hearty, filling texture.

Not only are lentils cheap and non-perishable but they are also a great source of nutrients as well. They are high in both protein and dietary fiber which means that they will keep you full and satisfied, a suitable vegetarian meal for any meat loving carnivore 😉 In addition to the protein and fiber, lentils also offer many vitamins and minerals such as b vitamins, folate, copper, phosphorus and iron.

To round out this tasty meal I have topped this lentil stuffed squash with a tasty, farm fresh egg. Of course, it’s okay if you don’t have access to farm fresh eggs, you can purchase yours right from the grocery store for as little as $1.19 a dozen. If you live in a rural area like me, you can also likely get farm fresh eggs from small road side stands for $3-4 a dozen. These are likely to be as close to organic and free range as you’re going to get, plus you are supporting a local farmer!

I did not include the olive oil and spices in the cost breakdown for this recipe, because it is likely that you already have on hand at home.

TOTAL RECIPE COST:

Acorn Squash = $4.95/6 = $0.83 cents per serving
Lentils = $1.69/6 = $0.28 cents per serving
Eggs = $1.19/12 = $0.10 per egg x 6 = $0.59 cents per serving.
           Total: $1.71 per serving 🙂