This is Monica Reinagle.

Welcome to episode 331 of the Nutrition Diva

podcast.

If you're trying to eat a healthy diet on a limited budget, you're quickly going to run into a dilemma.

You'll find that the cheapest sources of calories, dollar menu, anyone, are not terribly good for you. At the same time some of the most

nutrient-dense foods such as vegetables are very low in calories. So for those with

a limited food budget it often feels like you have to choose

between getting enough nutrients and getting enough calories, but you don't.

As I will demonstrate today, it is possible to put together a nutritionally complete and balanced diet for less than $5 a day.

There's no one food that's going to cover all your nutrition needs no matter what you pay for it.

But here are 10 inexpensive foods that could be mixed and matched to put together a complete healthy

diet. The prices that I'm going to quote are from my local

grocery store. Now you can save a lot of money by buying things in large volumes,

but these prices are for regular sizes, although I did take advantage of the savings on generic brands.

The first food on my list, peanut butter.

A good source of protein and vitamin E, and at about 12 cents a serving serving peanut butter is also a real bargain.

You can spread it on toast for breakfast, you can dip carrots or apples into it for a snack,

and if you're a bit more savvy in the kitchen, you can use it to create an Asian style sauce for vegetables and noodles.

Second thing on my list, whole wheat bread.

Although you may think of bread as a carb, two slices of whole wheat bread have as much protein as a

serving of peanut butter, making that PB&J a real protein powerhouse.

And at about 11 cents a slice it's also a bargain.

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