Times are tough, life is hard. I know. It is hard to not only manage the budget for food expenditures, but also to manage it in such a way that allows you to eat excellent, healthy food. Especially, since, well… for those of you who know me… well… you know me.

Ok ok, I am focusing now, stay with me. Let’s get this over with quick. In order to eat well on a budget you need to:

A) Be a very content person, and
B) Keep it simple.

Center your nutritious, cheap meals on whole, organic dried beans, legumes, brown rice, and quinoa. Sure, there are others, but I purposefully did not mention the others. Mmhmm.

When you are desperate for variation, and you are craving some meat to add to your base routine, scour the neighborhood. Many times you can find a stray that no one will miss. One quick blow to the head or slitting of the throat and in no time you will be roasting fresh meat over an open fire. Meat which you can add to a stir fry with your brown rice.

Also, you can haunt the local forests looking for mushrooms and berries. Yes, you can eat the berries right off the bushes. Well… not those berries… those are poisonous… but the other ones.

Every now and then you may just strike pure gold… as you may find a deer that has been freshly road killed! Venison! Yaaaaaaaah! If you happen on such a find you may be able to store enough meat to last you through the year… or you could invite all of your friends over to have a big party and roast the deer on a spit.

What about vegetables? I hear you, I hear you. I am a vegetable lover myself.

Find some farms that are near you that have lots of vegetables and plainly talk to them about your sicheeation. Oh yeah, while you are inquiring about vegetables make a quick scan for hens… egg laying hens.

Anyway, perhaps the farmer will give you vegetables in exchange for some chores, or give you a reediculous discount, or give them to you outright, OR, or, or, maybe they will let you glean their fields, just like the farmers in the Old Testament would let the poor glean in their fields. Hmmm.

Whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT resort to:
A) Peanut butter and crackers
B) Ramen noodles
C) Bean burritos
D) Spaghetti-O’s
E) Bowls of cereal