Healthy Foods On a Budget

peanut butter and jelly on wheat bread.

Are you looking for something that travels well? Dried fruit--raisins are super cheap, and cranberries are cheap in the bulk bins if you have a grocery store like that. If it's just something to have in your fridge, I like hummus and whole wheat tortillas. Of course I still have to get to where you are, so what do I know?

Oatmeal, dried grains (brown rice, quiona, amaranth, millet ect), dried or canned beans, fresh seasonal vegetables (or frozen). Nuts or unsweetened nut butters.

I purchase a whole chicken, split it into pieces and grill it. I always have chopped carrots and a bag of apples close by. Walmart has a relatively cheap fish called "swai" that I also have on hand. The pieces are pretty large and filling but low cal. Not too pricey. For dessert, I like to eat the 3,2,1 cake. Mix a box of angel food cake mid with a box of chocolate cake mix ( I use a Tupperware container to keep it airtight.) Using a coffee mug, get three tablespoons of the combined dry cake mix, add two tablesppons of water and microwave for one minute. Pretty yummy for not too many calories...definitely satisfies your chocolate craving! Hope this info helps.

Frozen fruits (great in smoothies) and veggies. You can get huge bags of frozen fish filets at Walmart for relatively inexpensive considering how much food you are getting from it. Go through your produce section and find fresh fruits and veggies that are on sale! Buy things that stay good for longer but you only use a little at a time. I can buy a container of almond butter and have it last for several weeks because I use only a few tablespoons at a time. Rotisserie chickens are often pretty inexpensive and a lot of the stores mark them down at the end of the day because they have to throw them out at closing. And get the store brand as much as possible, as long as they are healthy.

Meal planning is also really helpful for saving money. Set aside a day of the week to do your grocery shopping (like Sunday) and plan out what you will be eating every day. For example, you could decide that week you will be eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning, so you'll buy one container of oatmeal but won't have to get cereal. When you plan lunch and dinner, use recipes that share ingredients! Don't buy desserts or processed snacks, unless it's seriously a special treat. You'll have more budget to spend on foods that might be more expensive but also more healthy!