Cheap but healthy.

After watching that video about poverty I figure among the things I can do is provide a menu daily of healthy meals that can be created and eaten without too much money.

Breakfast:
Option 1: Careful with the bread you choose, if you have an oven, get whole wheat flour and sourdough starter or yeast. Bake it in the oven. If you can get einkorn flour. Ensure you DON’T GET enriched flour. A simple bake without starter could be flour + 1 egg + water + blueberries. Don’t add any sugar or butter. It’s reasonably healthy. Take 1 slice only and add avocado to make an avocado toast. An avocado toast + instant coffee is a decent breakfast. Don’t eat any more. Eat a pear if you’re still hungry. Or just a get slice of whole wheat bread, toast it and add avocado with salt. You can add a tomato slice or cucumber slices. Total cost ought to be no more than 3 bucks. Don’t add milk or sugar to coffee. Nutrition rating: Approved.

Option 2: Use this with discretion (only sometimes). Leftover rice only tiny portion + beans chili (vegan and organic). Total cost: 3 bucks. Nutrition: Okay (not the greatest because it’s not homemade and has more carbs).

Lunch:
Option 1: Start growing mung sprouts at home with water in mason jars. They’re very cheap and a superfood. Mix the sprouts with tomato salsa from the store (not salsa as a brand but Pico de Gallo). Pico has fresher tomatoes and onions and some pickled brine that’s great for the gut. Add corn from a can or fresh corn that you can boil from a cob. Add beans if you have them leftover from the chili. Don’t use bread or rice with this meal. Affordable: under 3 bucks. Drink coffee black if you’re still hungry after a bowl. Don’t overeat. Nutrition: Approved.

Option 2: Take spinach leaves, add chopped tomatoes and bell peppers. Add chopped onions and corn. Add pumpkin seeds. Use a little bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar for taste. Lemon juice optional from fresh lemon. Don’t use store brand salad dressing unless it’s very clean (low number of ingredients). Affordability under 5 dollars. Don’t eat any more. Eat an apple with butter if you’re still hungry. Drink black coffee if you’re still hungry after that. Nutrition: approved.

Note: Hunger is often a psycho-somatic phenomenon. Apple with butter satisfies both the fiber and fat requirements of that hunger. It’s a great way to kill hunger that is psychological.

Dinner:
Option 1: Take an extremely clean taco or lavash bread (very low ingredients). Can use one slice of whole wheat bread as a substitute. Always prefer home baked bread (see Breakfast 1). Use the sprouts + salsa from Lunch 1. Heat on stove using coconut oil. Do not use other types of oil or butters. Coconut oil is expensive but worth the cost. One taco is usually enough for dinner. Eat a fruit with coconut oil if still hungry. Drink green tea as appetite suppressant. Drink a lot of water also as appetite suppressant. Don't eat any post dinner dessert or factory made food. Affordability: 4-5 dollars. Nutrition: Approved.

Option 2: Heat quinoa with water. Make a peach + bell pepper + cucumber + tomato salad and add quinoa. Can add beans or peas. Add shelled hemp hearts. Affordability: under 4 dollars. Nutrition: Approved.

If you’re on food stamps, use them wisely to buy food that is cheap and nutritious. Don’t be caught in the factory food cycle. Eat sparingly (and since the food is nutritious you won’t need more). Don't eat meat. Don’t eat sugars. Avoid carbs as much as possible. Avoid dairy. Eat seeds like sunflower and pumpkin seeds as snacks. Drink clean, filtered water. Use clean sea salt. Eat from bowls as much as possible (it helps measure quantity). Throw away junk food from your house.

People in poverty are stuck in vicious cycles of hunger and low nutrition. Eating pizza won’t cure your hunger, it will only inflame your body and cause more hunger issues. The food that is available, some of it is literally addictive and poison for your long term health. The people providing this food ought to be held criminally liable but the laws permit them to sell this food. If you do this right, you won’t have spent more than 15 bucks on meals for 1 person.

There is one other option that is used by some people in the military when in “the field”. Buy one full rotisserie chicken. Consider that to be your quota for the entire week. Eat every part of the chicken. Make soup from the bones. Cut the bones open to extract bone marrow for the soup. The last 3 days will be mainly soup if you do this right. Total cost for the week: under 12 dollars if you buy an organic rotisserie chicken. You will need salt.

The video below is for those of you who are comfortable eating animals. I am not. Still it provides nutrition. And the quality of meat available comes with a lot of guilt. When a person is young, their bodies won't notice because there are other chemicals at work. Older people will have problems with a high meat diet. I provide the video because you could look it up anyway. And each of us has to make up our own minds about the level of guilt we can tolerate. That’s the volition we make.