Breakfast, Lunch, And Dinner For Under $6 (And It’s Healthy, Too!)

Eating healthy is supposedly an expensive undertaking.  It’s something I hear often and most people take for granted that it’s true.  Personally, I have no idea what those people are talking about.  In general, I eat relatively healthy and I’ve never been a big spender.  In fact, I practically never spend more than $10 on food on any given day (unless I eat out, of course), and I don’t starve myself.

Here’s an example of what I ate earlier this week, including snacks.  This meal plan is inexpensive, extremely easy to prepare, provides a balanced diet of carbs, fats, and proteins, and is chock full of practically every vitamin and mineral you could possibly want.  All told, I spent just under $6 on food that day.

Breakfast

• Low-Fat Yogurt With Fruit – This one is easy, since practically every grocery store carries them.  Stick to the store brand.  I like to add in stone-ground flax seeds for fiber and sprinkle raisins on top for extra flavor.  All told, this breakfast will cost you about $1.

Mid-Morning Snack

• Anjou or Bartlett Pear – Pears are nutrient-dense, packed with fiber, and will generally cost you no more than $0.20 a pop.  Since pear skins are relatively thin, you may want to go organic on this one.  If so, double the price.  At less than $0.50, a pear is one of the cheapest and healthiest snacks in existence.

Lunch

• Two Peanut Butter And Banana Sandwiches – Four slices of whole-wheat bread, a banana, and some peanut butter is all you need for lunch.  Wheat is rich in fiber and has a surprisingly-high protein content while the peanut butter will give you plenty of cholesterol-reducing unsaturated fats.  As for the banana, the extremely thick peal does a great job of naturally keeping harmful chemicals away from the fruit itself.  Some will disagree with me, but I think buying organic bananas is an absolute waste of money.  Altogether, lunch will run you about $1.50.

Mid-Afternoon Snack

• Mixed Nuts – Peanuts, almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, and walnuts are rich in all kinds of vitamins, minerals, and healthy fatty acids, not the mention protein.  A handful of nuts can keep you going for hours.  Don’t be afraid of the relatively-high fat content: it’s unsaturated.  Remember, fat doesn’t make you fat:  excess calories do.  This will cost you $0.25-0.35.  Nuts are cheap.

Dinner

• Black Bean, Rice, And Vegetable Stir Fry – This is my absolute favorite meal to cook at home.  All you need is black beans, brown rice (you can use mexican seasoning if you’d like but watch out for the sodium!), and whatever vegetables you like.  I personally use onions, green peppers, mushrooms, a touch of spinach, and usually some basil and garlic thrown in for taste.  I tend to use most of these ingredients in moderation, adding just enough to spice up the taste.  It takes about 30 minutes to prepare (assuming you’ve already soaked the beans overnight) and is chock full of protein and fiber.

Late-Night Snack

• One Slice Of Cheese – A slice of non-processed white cheese (swiss, cottage, brie, etc) is great just before bed, since it will ensure you don’t feel hungry first thing in the morning (and thus over-eat) and won’t interfere with falling asleep.  It will also help round out your daily calcium intake.