Bean economics: $9 worth, divvied up into 6 baggies, and each bag makes 2 meals of 3 cups cooked, or some 24 grams of protein and (ahem) 150%DV fiber at a sitting. And frankly, even 3 cups is not a much of a meal, so count in another half-cup each of broccoli and spinach, PLUS another 2-3 cups of brown rice.

Factor in that the last baggie is closer to a double recipe, and I overdid the lentil part - so let's say $7.50 or $8, divide by 6 then again by 2, and now we're talking ~50-60 cents of mixed beans per meal, plus frozen spinach and broccoli, which maybe doubles the price, and rice, which is maybe another 75 cents per meal. So we're still talking only about $2, for a huge portion vegan meal that exceeds the protein value of a can of tuna, and adds a lot of vitamin, fiber and complex carb value. By the time you add in the rice, and jack up the satiety factor with a bt of olive oil and spicing, it's easily 2 modest meals for someone who eats several smaller meals per day instead of my habit of eating a couple snack-class meals and one pig-out.

At $6 / 12oz dry, quinoa is as expensive a protein source as meat. If it was a staple, I'd easily go through upward of $12 of quinoa per week, and other than protein, it doesn't have much going for it nutrition-wise. I like it, I'm glad I tried it, it's interesting for an occasional variation, but not economical.