Are you trying to eat healthier food on an unhealthy budget? Fortunately, some of the cheapest foods are good for you.

The real trick to minimizing your grocery bill is finding the right recipes for healthy foods. That's why we're providing a list of inexpensive and nutritious foods. Bon appétit!

•

Apples: A great mid-afternoon snack when raw or a dessert when cooked.•

Bananas: A portable source of potassium and a good basis for smoothies.•

Baby Carrots: Keep a bag at work for a cheap and healthy snack.•

Barley: Nutty flavored and makes a nice change from potatoes, rice and pasta.•

Beans: Good as a base for soup or a thickener.•

Beets: Turned your nose up at beets as a kid? Give them another try.•

Black Beans: Hands down, the most antioxidants of any bean.•

Black-eyed Peas: Also known as the cowpea.•

Bok Choy: Light and sweetly flavored, a great way to stretch a wok meal.•

Broccoli: Provides calcium, potassium, fiber.•

Bulgar Wheat: A quick-cooking type of whole wheat you can use as a substitute.•

Butternut Squash: Less than a buck in season and makes a delicious soup.•

Cabbage: Try all three flavors: Green, red and Napa.•

Canned Tomatoes: Easier to cook with, but make sure you buy low-sodium.•

Carrots: The beta-carotene is good for your eyes, but there's so much more.•

Celery: Not bad raw, but a great energy boost when stuffed with peanut butter.•

Celery Root: Grate with carrots and mix with low-fat milk and mayo for a version of coleslaw.•

Chicken Gizzards: Properly cooked, they're delicious and a great source of protein.•

Coffee: Skip superexpensive and bring a thermos of home brew to work.•

Cornmeal: All types are roughly ground and make a change from wheat.•

Cucumbers: Cut thinly and combine with onions in a vinegar sauce.•

Daikon Radish: Also known as the Chinese radish, it looks like a carrot.•

Dried Plums: Prunes with an image makeover and the same benefits.•

Eggs: A cheap source of protein.•

Garbanzo Beans: They are cheapest raw, but even canned ones are a great protein. Also known as chickpeas.•

Green Beans: Frozen retain nutritive value. Stay away from high-sodium canned.•

Greens: Nutritionally rich, tons of fiber and available year round.•

Grapes: I like to peel them to make for a long-lasting snack. It's addictive.•

Grapefruit: Two servings each packed with vitamin C, pectin fiber and antioxidants. Sweeten by cooking.•

Kale: A nutritious vegetable with antioxidant properties.•

Kiwis: They're packed with vitamin C.•

Lentils: The versatile legume makes great soups.•

Mangoes: Packed with vitamins A, B6, and C, and fiber.•

Milk•

Nuts: Pay less for peanuts, almonds and walnuts in the shell.•

Oats: Mix with yogurt for breakfast.•

Olive Oil•

Onions: Bake whole or chop in just about any recipe.•

Oranges•

Pasta: Whole-grain pasta has great nutritional value.•

Pearl Barley: Great in soups, stews and casseroles.•

Pears•

Popcorn•

Potatoes: Eat with the skins for potassium and vitamin C.•

Pumpkin: Scrape flesh before carving. Bake or purée.•

Pumpkin Seeds•

Rice•

Rutabagas: A cross between the cabbage and turnip.•

Sardines: Rich in omega-3 fatty acids.•

Spinach•

Split Peas: Inexpensive source of protein.•

Squash: Acorn, spaghetti, zucchini, butternut, pumpkin, etc.•

Sweet Corn: Promotes healthy vision and a strong cardiovascular system.•

Sweet Potatoes: Packs fiber and vitamins A and C.•

Tofu: Inexpensive, healthy protein source.•

Tuna: Cans packed in water are cheap and almost 100-percent protein.•

Turkey: A popular bargain-priced loss-leader around the holidays.•

Turnips: The root is high in vitamin C, and the greens are a good source of Vitamin A, C, K and calcium.•

Water: Yes, water is food, and it's relatively free. Replace pop and coffee with water to reduce hunger cravings.•

Yogurt: The best quick lunch and good for your digestive system. Cheaper if you buy in bulk, rather than individual servings.Coupon Sherpa is the penny pinching, coupon clipping, deal digging, Himalayan haggling, he-man of bargains. Visit www.couponsherpa.com/ for more shopping advice, insider tips and coupons.