As our nation faces an obesity problem, everyone needs to become aware that eating healthy IS possible on a budget! It is all about making smart choices and knowing what to buy.  For this assignment I was able to purchase breakfast, dinner, a snack, fruit, and dessert for two days.  In order to purchase lunch as well, I could have swapped out the apple sauce for more beans, another type of protein or a salad. 

Canned beans are always a good choice as they are high in protein and easy on the wallet. I sauté my beans with marinara sauce (see recipe in my "anything goes sauté" video on iReport) for a delicious, Italian-inspired dinner. Eating yogurt (or in my case soy yogurt) is a fantastic way to start your day.  You can eat your yogurt with a banana, a handful of walnuts, raisins, or a tiny amount of granola.  Chunky apple sauce is fabulous because those little chunks of apples make you feel like you are eating something more hearty than if you were eating a traditional apple sauce.  Fruit is a fabulous snack, dessert, or breakfast accompaniment.  Oranges are high in vitamin C, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, and bananas are high in potassium.  Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants and a few squares make a wonderful dessert.  In order to make your money stretch further and so you don't have too much sugar (or calories) make sure you are only eating 1-3 squares of that dark chocolate a day.  It should curb your cravings for chocolate cake in no time--I hope : )

For more ideas about healthy eating on a budget, you can check out this appearance I made on an ABC show in San Francisco:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/health_fitness&id=6620329