$5 LUNCH FOR 3–4 PEOPLE — THE “WE MADE IT WORK” MONDAY MEAL

Welcome to post one in our THE BIG FAMILY COOKING SERIES part 1 🥪 $5 LUNCH FOR 3–4 PEOPLE — THE “WE MADE IT WORK” MONDAY MEAL. Let me know what you think of the post and the series in the comments below and what you would like to see here and why.

Because sometimes lunch is less about ingredients and more about survival.

Let me tell you how today’s lunch came to be, because if you’re a mom, you already know this story before I even start it.

It was one of those Mondays where the morning ran me over before I even found my shoes. My shoulder still hurt from falling over Charlie’s weights yesterday, my neck was stiff, the dogs were needy, David was already at work, C was gaming, Gerald was waiting on Debbie, and the house was moving whether I was ready or not.

And when I finally looked up, it was lunchtime.

Except we didn’t have “lunch.” We had a fridge full of maybes, a pantry full of “not today,” and a budget that said, “Make it work.”

So I did what moms do — I pulled together a $5 meal that fed 3–4 people and tasted like we planned it that way.

Because that’s the truth of this series: Lunch doesn’t have to be fancy. Lunch doesn’t have to be expensive. Lunch doesn’t have to be perfect. Lunch just has to show up. It can be leftovers from the night before Granny Sherry send us or Frozen Pizza or dinner David cooked the night before.

Today’s lunch was born out of what we had — a little cheese, a weenie or two, some crackers, a splash of BBQ sauce, and the determination of a woman who refuses to let her family go hungry.

I sliced the Bar S Weenies from Winco for 98 cents a pack I sliced so thin they’d stretch. I warmed them in the skillet with a little Kraft BBQ Sauce, so they’d taste like more than they were. I laid out the Club Crackers and Cheddar Cheese like a picnic we didn’t plan. And just like that, lunch was served.

Three people ate. Four could’ve. And it cost less than $5.

That’s the heart of our $5 Lunch Series — not perfection, not Pinterest, not “look what I made,” but “look how we made it work.”

Some days it’ll be sandwiches. Some days it’ll be skillet meals. Some days it’ll be leftovers turned into something new. Some days it’ll be pantry miracles. Some days it’ll be gluten‑free for my sister. Some days it’ll be homeschool cooking with C. Some days it’ll be whatever the budget allows.

But every day, it’ll be real. Every day, it’ll be doable. Every day, it’ll feed somebody.

Because feeding a family isn’t about the ingredients — it’s about the love, the effort, the stretching, the praying, the trying, the showing up.

And today? We showed up with $5 and made lunch happen.

Welcome to the $5 Lunch Series. This is where real families eat.

This is how we keep the circle unbroken and the Monkes feed.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates