Eating healthy on a budget in Guatemala, Central America.
If you go to the local markets in Guatemala you will often find the locals eating tostada and a homemade drink called “trigo con leche or arroz chocolate" for breakfast.
The tostada has refried beans, cabbage, noodles, onion, salsa, eggs, cheese and avocado. Not exactly sure what is in the Trigo, but it has the consistency of porridge and it served hot. I have always been scared to drink the hot drinks, but the Korean guy staying at the hotel told me it is the best. Since the drink is rice and milk based it is safer to drink than anything water based.
So here is a breakdown on how to eat cheap:
- Breakfast (trigo and tostada) for 50 cents to 75 cents
- Lunch at restaurant (chicken, rice and tortilla) $1.50
- Dinner (potato, peas, carrots, onion and garlic) or (tostada and guacamole) for 75 cents to $1.50
- Throw in a desert of (banana bread) for 50 cents
So you can eat for $5.00 dollars pretty easily in Guatemala.
I usually keep a bag of granola around or some spaghetti to ward off the late night munchies or when I want a quick meal. You can buy little pouches of spaghetti sauce for 50 cents, so that is another cheap meal.
Basically if you eat what the locals eat you can survive on a cheap budget. Now if you eat in the tourist restaurants, then expect to spend about 12 dollars per day on food at the minimum. Now there are some very nice restaurants in town and it’s nice to have a nice meal sometimes. If I could afford it, I would have lots of nice meals out in town. But unfortunately I’m on the poor mans budget.
When I travel back through Antigua, Guatemala. I’m definitely hitting McDonalds up for a good ole “big Mac” as a treat. I’m an American, and some things you just have to have!
