When you’re on a tight budget, buying nutritional food isn’t much of a problem. There are many cheap and nutritious foods out there such as brown rice.
1 pound bag of brown rice costs about $1.75 and contains 10 servings. Brown rice only equals up to 170 calories with 2 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein. This food is great for making side dishes, rice salads, fried rice, casseroles and soup.
Another nutritional and cheap food is whole-wheat or multigrain pasta. You can get a 13 to 16 ounce box or bag of store-brand dried pasta for about $1.69. This amounts to about 200 calories, 7 grams of protein, and 6 grams of fiber.
A hundred percent whole wheat bread is ideal for hot and cold sandwiches, bread stuffing, and even bread pudding. A 22-ounce loaf of store-brand whole-wheat bread is only about $1.99 (on sale). Each loaf has about 22 slices, or 11 servings of 2 slices each. This is about 120 calories, 6 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber.
Nonfat Greek Yogurt is great for a quick snack, parfaits made with fruit and granola, and smoothies. Individual servings (6 to 8 ounce containers) cost about 89 cents each and sometimes less when found on sale. Calories are usually 100 but can be less depending on the company made with 14 grams of protein.
Old-fashioned oats are great for hot or cold cereal, granola, and crumb toppings for desserts. A 42 ounce container of store brand oats costs around $3.99, and each container have about 30 servings, based on a serving of 1/2 cup of dry oats. Oats are 150 calories with 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein.
Frozen vegetables are around 25 cents and come in 2 ounce to 24 ounce bags that cost anywhere from $1.75 to $2.25 and contain 6-8 cups, depending on the vegetable and the size of the bag. A bag of petite peas will cost you $1.19, and a 10 ounce box of frozen chopped spinach costs $1.19.
Russet potatoes are great for making baked potatoes, breakfast potatoes, and salads. One potato is around 33 cents and you can buy a 5 pound bag of Russet potatoes for about $3.99, and a bag contains 11-13 potatoes.
Canned re fried beans are great for burritos, nachos, dips, and enchiladas. You can buy a 15 ounce can of store bread vegetarian re fried beans for about $1.20. For the vegetarian type, it amounts to 140 calories with 7 grams of protein, 6 grams fiber, 4% of the Daily Value for calcium and 10% of the Daily Value for iron.
Canned tuna can be used for sandwiches, salads, and served with crackers. One equals to about 70 cents for chunk white albacore in water. You can buy a 6 ounce can of solid white albacore in water for $1.99, or a 6 ounce can of chunk white albacore in water for about $1.39. The best deal is usually with chunk light in water for 85 cents per 6 ounce can. It’s about 500 milligrams of omega 3 fatty acids (0.5 gram), 60 calories, and 13 grams of protein.
There are many more nutritional foods that are less than 2 dollars. So for anyone on a budget, you don’t have to go to Mcdonald’s or Burger Kind for a 1 dollar meal and become obese soon after. You can buy healthy food that costs barely 2 dollars and keep you energized for a very long time.
Many of the facts and figures for this article were gathered from webmd.com
