Can you have a healthy vegetarian diet on a low budget?

Tips for low-budget healthy eating on a vegetarian (or vegan) diet

I know from experience, it’s possible to have an excellent vegetarian diet on a low budget. You’ll also eat much healthier. It’s a lot more work, though - you have to think and plan more, and be a creative opportunist.

That’s the catch. All of the above takes time, which you may not have much of, if you’re like most people.

Here are 6 time saving tips for a healthy vegetarian diet on a budget:

1. A pressure cooker to cook beans, soups and other foods - one of the best vegetarian investments you’ll ever make, and will save you TONS of Time. A good one costs about $120, and will last 20 years or more. We recommend the Fagor brand. Are you due for a gift from someone who can afford it?

2. Crockpots or slowcookers are also great time savers, and inexpensive. Put supper on to cook, leave the house for the day, and come home to a cooked meal. What a brilliant invention! It’s handy to have both 4 - 6 qt, and 8 - 10 qt. sizes.

3. Get a good chef’s knife with a sharpener, to chop veggies, and learn how to use it. Otherwise prepping veggies is time consuming and difficult, the main reason most people can’t be bothered. But being a healthy vegetarian means eating vegetables! A good chef’s knife will last your lifetime, and you can get a 1st class knife for around $30. My favorite is Victorinox - it’s one of the best & cheapest, recommended by Cook’s Illustrated.

4. Have at least one excellent all purpose vegetarian cookbook, with a large, informative ingredient section, nutrition information, cooking methods, and a vast array of delicious recipes for a varied vegetarian diet. Find used books in excellent condition online for half the price. See SV cookbook reviews.

5. Make extra, and freeze for later: beans, grains, soups, stews, breads, etc,. Not quite as nutritious or tasty as freshly made, although far better than most of the alternatives. Most of us can’t tell the difference, and don’t have time to cook three meals a day from scratch!

6. If your budget allows, buy some bread, yogurt, sprouts, and other basics, such as canned beans, tomatoes, and the frozen veggie like peas, corn, or spinach, to supplement what you make yourself. You’ll pay more, but the time saved for other activities, such as earning money, may be worth it to you. Getting these things through a food co-op will save quite a bit, but the trade off again, is your time.

Tags: Cooking, healthy eating, home cooking, Lifestyle Choices, low budget tips, scratch cooking, vegan diet, vegetarian, vegetarian cooking, vegetarian diet

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