Guide to Eating Healthy and Delicious for Under $40

Have you ever set a goal to eat healthier, only to give up the moment you see the prices of healthy food? It has happened to all of us. Food that is considered good for health often has slightly higher prices, which is why we often end up choosing more accessible or economical options (probably not so healthy). At Kiwilimón, we set out to create a weekly menu to show you that it is possible to eat healthily and make it to payday without any problems. For this, we researched practical and simple recipes (because who has time to spend three hours a day in the kitchen? Nobody!), but above all very tasty and with natural ingredients that are great for your health. Would you like to eat healthy and delicious for less than $40? We invite you to follow our menu. To start, we looked for recipes made with economical ingredients It is important to know that some dishes are repeated during the week, so you need to double those ingredients. While the list includes all the necessary ingredients, we did not consider them when shopping because they are ingredients we already have at home (olive oil, garlic, sugar, cinnamon, etc.). In fact, we suggest that before you go shopping, check your pantry, because you probably already have several of the ingredients. Excluding oil, sugar, and those things, we totaled $754.45, which gives us approximately $37 per dish. If you can shop directly at a market, it is very likely that you will get the freshest ingredients at a lower price. Day 1 Breakfast Special Oatmeal Nothing better to start the day than a super energetic dish. To accompany it, we added slices of banana to the oatmeal plate. Calories 441kcal 22% Carbohydrates 81.7g 27% Proteins 15.0g 30% Fats 8.8g 14% Dietary Fiber 7.3g 15% Sugars 39.0g 43% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0% Snack Crudites To add a bit more flavor to your snack of the day, we recommend adding a few drops of lemon and chili powder. (Don't worry, this won't add calories to the snack). Lunch Spring Pasta This recipe is delicious, and we can assure you that you won't go hungry. You can save some money by replacing the yellow bell pepper with a green one. Calories 254 kcal 13% Carbohydrates 53.1g 18% Proteins 14.1g 28% Fats 1.7g 2.5% Dietary Fiber 10.9g 22% Sugars 5.2g 5.8% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0% Dinner Tomato and Chickpea Salad Instead of using cherry tomatoes, canned chickpeas, and red bell pepper, cook with saladette tomatoes, cooked chickpeas, and green pepper. You'll see how it tastes just as good for less money. Calories 265 kcal 13% Carbohydrates 43.4g 14% Proteins 14.4g 29% Fats 5.3g 8.2% Dietary Fiber 13.9g 28% Sugars 6.5g 7.2% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0%   Day 2 Breakfast Sunny-Side Up Egg Nothing tastier than a bit of bread with egg and avocado for breakfast. This recipe has the ideal amount of carbohydrates to start the morning. Calories 429 kcal 21% Carbohydrates 20.4g 6.8% Proteins 11.3g 23% Fats 35.6g 55% Dietary Fiber 6.7g 13% Sugars 2.3g 2.5% Cholesterol 226mg 75% Snack Apple Chips Whether you're craving them in the morning or in the afternoon, these chips are great for curbing anxiety and avoiding junk food. The weekly menu suggests these chips twice, so we recommend preparing the portions for both days at the same time to avoid turning on the oven twice. Calories 25.0 kcal 1.2% Carbohydrates 7.5g 2.5% Proteins 0.0g 0.0% Fats 0.0g 0.0% Dietary Fiber 0.0g 0.0% Sugars 7.5g 8.3% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0% Lunch Lentil Salad Enjoy the benefits of lentils with a delicious salad. Do you have issues with intestinal transit or blood glucose? More reason to try it! Calories 431 kcal 22% Carbohydrates 12.3g 4.1% Proteins 22.5g 45% Fats 32.4g 50% Dietary Fiber 1.8g 3.6% Sugars 3.7g 4.1% Cholesterol 89.3mg 30% Dinner Light Vegetable Tacos With this recipe, you won't feel lazy to prepare dinner. To add more flavor to your tacos, you can add salsa, pico de gallo, or even some cubes of panela cheese. Day 3 Breakfast Oat Pancakes Save yourself the calories (and a few pesos) by replacing the jam with fresh fruit. We tried these pancakes with pieces of banana, and they turned out delicious. Calories 469 kcal 23% Carbohydrates 84.4g 28% Proteins 15.6g 31% Fats 9.4g 14% Dietary Fiber 12.5g 25% Sugars 3.1g 3.5% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0% Snack Banana and Amaranth Shake This version of the traditional banana shake is much more nutritious than you think. Amaranth is an excellent source of energy and also contains lysine, which helps improve memory. Calories 195 kcal 9.8% Carbohydrates 46.6g 16% Proteins 3.3g 6.6% Fats 1.1g 1.6% Dietary Fiber 6.1g 12% Sugars 26.9g 30% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0% Lunch Chicken Sandwich Enjoy a delicious sandwich guilt-free: replace the manchego cheese with slices of panela cheese, and instead of using barbecue sauces, season with olive oil and fine herbs. Save the chicken broth because it will be used for the next day's meal. Calories 248 kcal 12% Carbohydrates 0.0g 0.0% Proteins 46.5g 93% Fats 5.4g 8.2% Dietary Fiber 0.0g 0.0% Sugars 0.0g 0.0% Cholesterol 128mg 43% Dinner Chipotle Chickpea Hummus This dinner is so practical and tasty that it can even be a snack for a gathering. Serve it with some toasted bread, tortilla chips, or pita bread. But be mindful of the quantities. Calories 4.1 kcal 0.2% Carbohydrates 1.0g 0.3% Proteins 0.0g 0.1% Fats 0.0g 0.0% Dietary Fiber 0.4g 0.7% Sugars 0.5g 0.6% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0%   Day 4 Breakfast Egg White Omelet with Spinach Much of the flavor of this omelet comes from the garlic added at the beginning. With this and the spinach, you'll realize that you don't need so many ingredients to cook delicious dishes. Calories 120kcal 6.0% Carbohydrates 9.9g 3.3% Proteins 20.2g 40% Fats 1.1g 1.7% Dietary Fiber 5.5g 11% Sugars 1.8g 2.1% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0% Snack Apple Chips Since this snack was already prepared on Day 2, take advantage of baking all the chips at once and save time. Lunch Tlalpeño Soup Use the chicken broth from the previous day and prepare a delicious Tlalpeño soup. If you're not a big fan of spice, you can omit the serrano chili and just stick with the chipotle. Calories 440 kcal 22% Carbohydrates 50.8g 17% Proteins 36.6g 73% Fats 9.7g 15% Dietary Fiber 8.6g 17% Sugars 10.7g 12% Cholesterol 64.2mg 21% Dinner Grilled Zucchini with Mint This recipe is very fresh and quite light. You can prepare this dish in advance, but we recommend not letting it sit for too many days because the mint can lose its flavor intensity. Calories 491 kcal 25% Carbohydrates 29.2g 9.7% Proteins 6.3g 13% Fats 42.3g 65% Dietary Fiber 14.8g 30% Sugars 0.0g 0.0% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0%   Day 5 Breakfast Oat Pancakes Pancakes again? Of course! They are delicious and very healthy. Snack Hummus with Cucumber This recipe is as easy as putting all the ingredients in the processor and hitting a button. Take this snack to the office and enjoy guilt-free munching between meals. Calories 515 kcal 26% Carbohydrates 78.0g 26% Proteins 25.9g 52% Fats 12.9g 20% Dietary Fiber 22.2g 44% Sugars 13.4g 15% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0% Lunch Enfrijoladas with Nopales This dish was one of our favorites. The flavor of beans with nopales is an excellent combination. If you want to lower the carbohydrates a bit, you can do as we did and replace the double cream with hot sauce. Calories 117 kcal 5.9% Carbohydrates 21.5g 7.2% Proteins 7.7g 15% Fats 0.5g 0.7% Dietary Fiber 7.8g 16% Sugars 0.7g 0.8% Cholesterol 0.0mg 0.0% Dinner Broccoli Cream In this recipe, we omitted butter, but since we used leftover chicken broth, the flavor and texture of the cream turned out excellent. Calories 216 kcal 11% Carbohydrates 28.5g 9.5% Proteins 10.4g 21% Fats 8.6g 13% Dietary Fiber 6.7g 13% Sugars 6.8g 7.5% Cholesterol 19.9mg 6.6% As you can see, we ate all week without a piece of meat, with very tasty dishes, and above all, for less than $40 each. The next time someone tells you that eating healthy is expensive, think twice. All it takes is creativity and the desire to maintain health.