Eating healthy and on a budget

Is it possible to eat healthy and still stay on your budget?  I’ve always heard “But eating healthy always costs so much more.”  I guess it depends on what your definition of eating healthy is but really it doesn’t have to cost any more than eating “regularly or non-healthy”.  Eating healthy really has to do with portion control and watching what enters your body.  Below are some “cheap and healthy” foods.

• Bag of brown rice costs around $2.00 {which is even cheaper when you think of all the servings}
• Whole wheat pasta and bread costs around $2.00 {again, many servings}
• Yogurt costs around $0.50-$1.00
• Old-fashioned oats costs around $4.00 {Totals around $0.17 per servings}
• Frozen vegetables costs around $2.00. –  I think people forget about frozen being a healthy option, but this is a great way to go so you can just cook how much you need and put the rest up and they won’t go bad like fresh vegetables will.
• Bag of potatoes costs around $4 for 5 pounds!
• Canned tuna costs around $1.00-$2.00.  Tuna is great to use in a main dish (combine with whole wheat pasta mentioned above), or in a sandwich (whole wheat bread also mentioned), or add on a salad.
• Bagged Spinach costs around $2.00

With buying these simple cheap items you are on your way to a healthy life style.  These food items also are easy to make with very little prep time in the kitchen which makes them family friendly.

Do you have any suggestions for healthy cheap food items or recipes?  Contact me at mandy.smith@rcilinc.org.