Reddit reviews Spicy World Masoor Dal (Indian Red Lentils) (4 LB)

I've had great experiences with these green lentils, which have an awesome almost-peppery flavor just on their own. If you're looking for a creamier curry (lentil mush vs. recognizable individual lentils), these are pretty good red lentils. I also grabed these brown lentils, but haven't tried them in a curry yet.

Just a head's up: if you don't eat a lot of legumes, you might find that lentils give you some... flatulence. This is best avoided by rinsing the lentils very well, or by just eating more lentils -- the body adjusts pretty quickly in my experience.

Truly an incredible, delicious food!

McDonalds is NOT a good way to cut your food budget. I can't imagine what you would eat there to get breakfast/lunch/dinner under $5 total.

Yes, definitely start cooking. Here's a very quick, easy, cheap, and tasty vegetarian (high protein!) dinner:

Pick up a bag of Bob's Red Mill TVP for $2.79 at the grocery store, and follow this recipe minus the fresh red pepper (I'm lazy), grab a pack of tortillas and some sour cream. One batch will give you tacos for dinner for about 4-5 days, and that won't even use up the whole package of TVP. That's like $3 for 4 days of dinner! (Since discovering this, I bought 15lb of TVP in bulk from nuts.com which is like 60% the price of individual store packs but does require I have somewhere to store it)

And here's a delicious lentil dish I've taken to making. I usually double it because leftovers make the next day easier or provide lunch:

• ½ c masoor dal (red lentils)
  
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil
  
• ½ bunch scallions (green onions), chopped
  
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger (I get this at the Korean market and pay 18¢ for a 6" long piece, using 1" per batch)
  
• ½ tsp chili powder
  
• ½ tsp turmeric
  
• 1¼ c water
  
• ½ tsp salt
  
  Heat the oil, then add the scallions (note: if you don't chop up the white part, you can put it in water or a pot on the window sill and grow more) and stir them around until they are lightly browned. Add the spices and stir over heat for a minute so it smells all nice. Stir the lentils in. Add the water, reduce heat to low, and let it cook for 20-25 minutes. Add the salt at the end.
  
  Here's another taco recipe using black beans and sweet potatoes.
  
  Risotto's a good easy dinner that you can make in large batches to last a few days and just toss in whatever frozen veggies your grocery store has on sale.
  
  Eggs are a good cheap breakfast.
  
  And think really hard about whether that $720/yr in weed is really worth it. Heck, the weed munchies probably aren't helping the food budget.