Can you really eat cheap but healthy?

I have been battling this idea for the last few weeks. As my budget gets tighter, my meals seem to get less healthy. I know there have been studies that eating well will lead to savings down the road with less medical bills and medications, but what about the right now? How am I supposed to eat this week until I make it to the next paycheck? I found this article of a photographer comparing prices of food. Each picture is of $1 of a certain food. From 7 Ramon noodle meals to 10 organic blueberries. When it's time for dinner, which would you choose?

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/food-for-a-dollar/

I am finding more and more the missing factor here is time. You can eat well and pay more but do so for less time. This may be grabbing the freshest thing at the grocery store close to you, or going straight to the the gourmet store, or buying organic prepared food. It is when you really start to spend some time that you realize it is possible, but how much time are you willing to spend. I love to make my own spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes, or even the tomatoes that are slightly bruised and on sale, but the time it takes to prepare that sauce is exponential to the time it takes to grab a jar of the discounted store brand full of preservatives. To buy discounted produce you also have to eat it within a day or two. Who has time to go to the store every other day.

So my new challenge to myself is to not only save money at the store but to create healthy meals for myself that don't take too much time. tonight I'm making a quiche that should last me the rest of the week, but I was in hurry at the store last night and carefully watching my budget, so I bought a premade crust and frozen broccoli. All of which were cheaper than buying the ingredients or the fresh version.

And lets face it...it is impossible to make a hamburger, fries and a drink for what a happy meal costs at the drive through. Especially if you are trying to do so with quality ingredients.