How to Eat Well on a Budget

Aug 31, 2016

2 min read

Eating healthy does not have to be a bank breaker. Here are 3 things that I do to successfully eat well on a budget. It really is this simple.

1. Meal Plan

If prepping meals for a few days or a week in advance is your thing than by all means, do what works! But when I suggest meal planning, I mean: know what you are going to eat for the week. Get a few recipes in mind and when you shop for the items needed on our list, stick to it. I'm all about sales! If fresh produce is on sale, I'm all over it. Freeze, Freeze, Freeze your fruits! Also, keep an eye out for frozen veggies, sometimes I can get them 10 for $10 so I stick up on asparagus, cauliflower etc.

2. Beans and whole grains go a long way

As a vegetarian beans and lentils are my go to source for protein. Even if you not a vegetarian I encourage you to look to beans, lentils and whole grains as alternate sources of protein as well. Burritos, black-bean burgers, chili are all great go-to budget friendly meals. Crystal even makes a mean black bean brownie. Yes! you read that right, black bean brownies are amazing.

Costco is my go to place to for large bags of whole grains like quinoa, brown rice and couscous, which last weeks. It's easy to cook a large batch, freeze servings in freezer bags and later toss the in salads, soups or bowls.

3. Get creative with leftovers

Good dinners can easily be converted to next-day lunches. For instance, your main dinner dish can easily be used as next day pasta salads, salads or casseroles. If you are not familiar with seitan its a great source of protein for vegetarians so I will use seitan as an example but you can think in terms of whatever your main dish may be (chicken, roast, turkey etc. ). If I make a dish with seitan on Sunday, then I'll purposely make more than what my kids and I will eat. It takes a few minutes to boil new potatoes and/or quinoa, add veggies and slow bake them for 30 to and hour and I have a delicious casserole for lunch tomorrow. Another example could be cubing left over chicken and adding it to rice and veggies for a nice stir fry or tacos.

Vegan Thai roasted chickpea pita with hummus dill sauce, cilantro and spinach