Organic Eating: How To Eat Healthy and Organic For $7 Per Day

Have you heard a statement such as "eating organically is cheaper in the long term because of the health care costs you'll avoid later on?" While that is indeed true, many become mildly irritated in hearing such because in the real world, only actual currency is accepted at Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's, not Longevity Logic bucks. So what should you do if you want to eat organic food, but are on a modest budget?  Today you will discover some great ideas and find the answers you want.

How does eating healthy and organic on $7 a day sound?  View the story to learn the secrets and get ready to put your meal plans together for less than $50 per week. That's less than $100 for two weeks of organic food - an attractive food budget that is also healthy for your checking account!

A real key to making the most of this budget is finding a base for several meals that appeal to you.  Brown rice and whole-wheat pasta is a great base to many meals, filling and is healthy (includes needed fiber as well). If you are on a macrobiotic diet (or have added elements of a macrobiotic diet to your life), brown rice is already an integral of your day-to-day meals, so that is a good place to start.

Here is a brief overview of the full story and sample meal ideas:

Breakfast
Time to power up for the day. If you are shopping at Whole Foods Market, try this breakfast:
Plain yogurt ($0.60)
Piece of fruit ($0.25)
Slice of whole grain toast ($0.20)

A decent breakfast for $1.05. That’s awesome.

Lunch
Hummus ($0.90)
On Slice of Whole Wheat Bread ($0.20)
Lettuce ($0.30)

Healthy, filling, and $1.04

Dinner
Whole Wheat Pasta ($0.49)
With roasted vegetables on the pasta ($1.00)
Salad ($0.62)
Olive Oil on both pasta and Salad ($1.00)
This is the equivalent of a TGI Friday like dinner for just $3.11!   

Total cost for the day: $5.20 - you are under budget on this day!

Of course, you'll want a snack here and there - a banana ($0.50) or a handful of the nut of your choice (~$0.50) will keep you full through the day.

Variations on the above - let your imagination (or cookbook-inspired recipes) run wild:

Per serving, the following cost:
Tofu ($0.47) - goes with everything, add to pasta for more protein
Brown Rice ($0.20)
Oatmeal ($0.20)
Milk ($0.50)
Egg ($0.40 each)
Peanut Butter ($0.14)
Beans ($0.30)
Roasted Yam ($0.89)
Chicken Stock ($1.00)
Fryer Chicken ($1.00)
Tomato Sauce ($0.16)

In addition, if you save some cash and want to experiment a bit more, try these items from Trader  Joe's: Thai Peanut Satay Sauce - $2.69 for nine ounces. Great with whole-wheat pasta! Add some peanuts too.  Satisfy your sweet tooth with some Gluten Free Ginger Snaps - $1.99 for 8 ounces. How about some delicious Fat Free Pumpkin Butter - $2.29 for 10 ounces? 

If prefer a bit more flavor than drinking plain water, find some flavored teas that you can enjoy, buy boxes of tea bags, and make iced tea to keep in the fridge (pour boiling water over 3-5 bags per gallon of water, steep twice as long as you would for hot tea and put in fridge). That will come to between 5 to 10 cents a serving, and you can have a lot of variety.

When you develop an attitude of nourishing your body, you will feel excited about your options. To break up the monotony get creative, add a food you love as a snack or dessert. It is indeed possible to  eat organically while on a budget. Plan to stick to normal portion sizes and be mindful of how much items cost per portion - and you will have a healthy and varied diet. Try it for yourself - who knows, you might save even more and create some wonderful meals along the way!

Enjoy!

New to Fresh Squeezed Living? Consider subscribing to our RSS feed: Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or receive email updates via the sign up box in the right sidebar.