I just moved to Ottawa for university and I'm living in a house with a couple other people. I try to eat healthily and I think I do a fairly good job. I spend about $7-$8 a day on food. I do eat a lot of pasta, but it's always whole grain. When buying vegetables I look for things that are under $2 for a pound. Things like onions and tomatoes are relatively cheap. I always buy a bag of apples and eat two or so a day. For canned vegetables I tend to focus on beans, lentils, and chickpeas. They are pretty inexpensive, taste good, and are high in calories, protein, iron, and fibre. When it comes to pasta sauces, I usually find it cheaper (and a bit healthier) to buy canned tomato paste and then just buy a small bottle of Thai sauce or whatever sauce pleases your taste buds.One large can of tomato paste lasts me about four meals. I buy pita and whole grain bread as needed and I usually put peanut butter or fried onions on it. I'm working on getting more variety in my diet, but I mean really... cooking is not very difficult and doesn't take very long. Sure, you're looking at 20mins vs 2mins microwaving something, but it's not like you're going to watch the water boil. Read a book or something while you're at it.
Oh, I also found these very cheap blocks of frozen spinach in the frozen vegetable section. They are about $1.67 iirc and it's about two cups of precut spinach. I throw them into the boiling water before I strain my pasta/rice/whatever.
The most expensive things I buy are probably almond milk, canola oil, and sometimes I'll grab a three cheese pizza pocket if I'm really lazy.
When I run the numbers I net about ~2000 calories a day and meet all my nutrition requirements (this obviously varies depending on what I eat, but in general everything is pretty close to, or exceeds, it.).
HOPE THIS GIVES YOU SOME IDEAS
Oh, I also found these very cheap blocks of frozen spinach in the frozen vegetable section. They are about $1.67 iirc and it's about two cups of precut spinach. I throw them into the boiling water before I strain my pasta/rice/whatever.
The most expensive things I buy are probably almond milk, canola oil, and sometimes I'll grab a three cheese pizza pocket if I'm really lazy.
When I run the numbers I net about ~2000 calories a day and meet all my nutrition requirements (this obviously varies depending on what I eat, but in general everything is pretty close to, or exceeds, it.).
HOPE THIS GIVES YOU SOME IDEAS
