Healthy Foods that Cost $5 or Less

The following article was written by Heinen’s Chief Dietitian, Melanie Jatsek RD, LD.

Taste and cost are two of the most common reasons people give for not adopting and sticking to a healthier eating pattern.

Let’s talk taste.

Your body craves what you feed it most. So, if pizza and burgers are what you eat, fresh vegetables will taste bland because you’ve conditioned your taste buds to prefer salty, fatty foods.

The good news is taste buds are malleable. Just start putting the healthy stuff in, and your palate will slowly shift to prefer more wholesome foods. Trust me, it works every time. A little patience and time are all that’s required.

What about cost?

I won’t argue that some Fx™-approved foods are more expensive; however, there are also plenty of budget-friendly options at Heinen’s! A quick and inexpensive meal doesn’t mean limiting yourself to salty frozen dinners. It can look like fresh baked tilapia over quinoa, butternut squash and tomatoes.

If that sounds appetizing to you, take a look at this list of Fx™-approved meal and snack items under $5. You can even combine a couple of items in each category to create easy, satisfying meals that will fuel your body with life-giving foods.

Breakfast Fare for $5 or Less

• Driscoll’s fresh raspberries or blackberries (for smoothies, oatmeal or yogurt parfaits)
• 1 Over Easy nutrition bar + 1 Anjou pear
• 2 Tbsp. Heinen’s creamy natural peanut butter + 1 small banana
• 1 Purely Elizabeth collagen protein oat cup
• Heinen’s unsweetened almond milk (for smoothies or chia pudding)
• 1 packet Ancient Nutrition vanilla bone broth protein powder (add to shaker cup with 12 oz. Heinen’s unsweetened almond milk)
• 1 packet RXBAR almond butter + 1 Fuji apple
• Cocojune strawberry rhubarb yogurt + 1 single serving bag of Heinen’s raw almonds
• Heinen’s large cage free eggs (for an egg-based breakfast bowl)
• Heinen’s old fashioned oats (for overnight oats)
• Bob’s Red Mill 7 grain hot cereal

Lunch Staples for $5 or Less

• 1 large, pitted avocado + 2 Tbsp. Hope hummus
• Green pepper + mashed avocado and chickpeas
• Buckeye Fresh romaine lettuce or one bunch of organic kale (for lunch salads or smoothies)
• Broccoli sprouts (to sprinkle on salads or blend into smoothies)
• Organic celery sticks + 1 packet of Justin’s maple almond butter
• Health Valley no salt added organic vegetable soup
• 3 oz. pouch Safe Catch wild tuna

Delicious Dinner Ingredients for $5 or Less

Choose an item from each category to create delicious and nutritious meals that won’t break the bank.

Proteins

• Wild Planet mackerel (Make this Mackerel Pesto Pasta)
• Fresh tilapia (Make this Mediterranean Baked Tilapia)
• Heinen’s organic lentils (Discover 15 delicious ways to eat lentils)
• Nasoya organic super firm tofu (Make these Balsamic Roasted Vegetable and Tofu Rice Bowls)
• Gerber’s CARE Certified bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (Make this One Pot Mediterranean Lemon Chicken and Potatoes)
• Seapoint Farms frozen edamame
• Heinen’s organic canned beans (garbanzo beans, black beans, etc.)

Vegetables

• Heinen’s organic frozen broccoli florets, diced butternut squash, cut leaf spinach or stir-fry blend
• Heinen’s frozen riced cauliflower or zucchini spirals
• Fresh sweet potatoes
• Fresh whole carrots
• Onions
• Fresh tomatoes
• Fresh cauliflower
• Fresh zucchini
• Heinen’s canned tomatoes, artichokes or beets

Grains and Pasta

• Heinen’s organic frozen quinoa with zucchini, butternut squash & tomatoes
• Heinen’s organic whole wheat pasta
• Heinen’s organic cooked brown rice
• Heinen’s organic cooked quinoa
• Banza chickpea pasta or rice
• Palmini hearts of palm pasta

Flavor Enhancers

• Fresh herbs: cilantro, parsley, Buckeye Fresh basil, Great Lakes Growers thyme, rosemary and chives
• Fresh spices: turmeric and ginger
• Fresh garlic
• Heinen’s apple cider vinegar
• Heinen’s stone ground or Dijon mustard
• Heinen’s jarred salsa
• Heinen’s organic Italian herb pasta sauce
• Tabasco sauce

Satisfying Snacks and Drinks for $5 or Less

• Nutrition Bars: PEP, Quantum, Thunderbird or Raw Rev Glo
• The New Primal beef stick
• SeaSnax
• LesserEvil popcorn
• Quinn whole grain sea salt pretzel sticks
• Undercover dark chocolate + sea salt quinoa crisps
• Finn Crisp sourdough rye thins
• Mamma Chia chia squeeze
• GT’s kombucha
• Heinen’s raw sunflower seeds (in the Produce Department)
• Heinen’s organic applesauce (mix in raw sunflower seeds for crunch and protein)

Key Takeaway

Put on a new pair of glasses and reframe how you look at your food choices with this question: Will this food just fill me up or will it fuel me with life-giving nutrition? The above cost-friendly, Fx™-approved foods will do both.