If you’re looking for a budget meal plan for healthy eating, the best place to start is by learning how to cook with healthy ingredients. Those that build health and heal or alleviate symptoms of allergies or disease.
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How to eat healthy even while you’re on a budget?
- Vary your breakfasts, so you don’t get bored. Get a portion of fibre, protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats.
- Complex carbs keep you fuller for longer, so it’s a slow release of energy during the morning.
- High fibre is great for appetite control and digestion. They are low GI so they keep you full for longer, regulate blood sugar, and assist in weight loss.
- Contrary to the common association with weight gain, it is essential to consume the right amount of ‘good’ fats (macronutrients) every day.
- You can get them from healthy oils such as olive, avocado, coconut oil, ghee, oily fish (salmon), and some nuts and seeds (flaxseeds). These fats are important for heart health as they play a role in fighting inflammation and they assist with the absorption of vitamins and minerals.
- Try to add other superfoods as well as adaptogens as an extra topping or top-up as they alleviate stress and fatigue.
- If you can’t afford Salmon or Walnuts, eat Flaxseeds every day. It’s cheap and you can grind them at home in a food processor. They last in the fridge for a month, if not longer. You can add it in teaspoon portions to make it stretch. They contain many other nutritional benefits too, so you really are saving.
- If you can’t afford Spinach, invest in Lentils and buy it in bulk as grains can last up to two years in cool, dry, airtight conditions. Plus, they are so versatile to use in a multitude of recipes, you can double down here.
- Cruciferous vegetables are cheap and there are many meal prep and storing hacks for vegetables to prevent spoilage. Preventing food wastage can really impact your grocery budget in a positive way – you’ll no longer need to buy twice when food spoils.
Nutritional benefits of a budget meal plan
Cruciferous vegetables are loaded with Antioxidants which are anti-inflammatory, so fill up your grocery list with these!
You can save on the high cost of pharmaceutical drugs – always consult your doctor first – by eating the right vegetables to alleviate symptoms of allergies or chronic conditions.
When you’re learning nutritional cooking, you cook from scratch most of the time. That way you get to know your foods and ingredients, and what exactly is in it.
Follow this easy and budget friendly meal plan that’s healthy and makes use of nutritional ingredients. These delicious and uncomplicated meals use ingredients that promote optimal health for every day of the week.
Budget Meal Plan
Breakfast rotation
- Day 1 – Overnight oats – last in the fridge for up to 5 days
- Day 2 – Granola – lasts up to 1 week in an airtight container
- Day 3 – Baked oat bars – lasts up 1 week in an airtight container
- Day 4 – Oat & Banana pancakes – freezer-friendly in batches
- Day 5 – Oat smoothie/smoothie bowl – freezer-friendly in batches
- Day 6 – Omelette (Protein)
- Day 7 – Omelette (Protein)
AM Snack rotation
- Day 1 – Apple slices with peanut butter + ground cinnamon
- Day 2 – Trail mix or Granola with yogurt – snack portion size (teacup)
- Day 3 – Popcorn with cinnamon powder seasoning/honey/mustard dry seasoning
- Day 4 – Sugar-free Protein Balls – make ahead and store in an airtight container in the fridge
- Day 5 – Carrot sticks with beetroot hummus – split over 3 days to save costs by preventing food spoilage (zero waste)
- Day 6 – Celery sticks with beetroot hummus
- Day 7 – Seed Toast with beetroot hummus
Lunch rotation
- Day 1 – Shredded chicken breast leftover + mayo + seed toast
- Day 2 – Fish (Leftover), shredded and mixed with mayo on toast
- Day 3 – Lentil Bolognaise leftover
- Day 4 – Shredded chicken breast leftover + mayo + seed toast
- Day 5 – Red Lentil Soup (Portion 2) & seed toast
- Day 6 – Stir-fry leftover
- Day 7 – Chicken Breast (Portion 3) + Pesto Veggies
PM Snack rotation
- Day 1 – Sugar-free Protein Balls – make ahead and store in the fridge in an airtight container
- Day 2 – Trail mix or Toasted seeds with yogurt – snack portion size (teacup); you can toast seeds ahead and store them in an airtight container for the week
- Day 3 – Boiled egg or Kale Chips / Beetroot chips / Butternut chips
- Day 4 – Protein Balls – make ahead and store in an airtight container in the fridge
- Day 5 – Trail mix or Toasted seeds with yogurt
- Day 6 – Kale Chips / Beetroot chips / Butternut chips – prep one batch ahead for the week/month
- Day 7 – Sugar-free Protein Balls – make ahead and store in an airtight container in the fridge
Dinner rotation
- Day 1 – Ginger Poached Salmon & Pesto Veggies – Or swap with budget friendly fish such as cod, mackerel, sardines, cod, tuna.
- Day 2 – Lentil Bolognaise – Liquidise canned tomatoes, add herbs and freeze in portions; Swap white pasta with spaghetti squash/zucchini noodles; soba n
- Day 3 – Chicken breast (Portion 1) & Red Cabbage + Carrot Slaw
- Day 4 – Red Lentil Soup (Portion 1) & seed toast – Make seed loaf ahead, keep in airtight container for the week
- Day 5 – Chicken (Portion 2) & Red Cabbage Stir-fry – Or swap with frozen stir-fry straight from he bag
- Day 6 – Chickpea Burger/Wrap, Sweet Potato, Red Cabbage + Carrot Slaw – Alternatively make chickpea falafel balls; Oven-roasted fries, save on oil;
- Day 7 – Red Lentil Soup (Portion 3) & seed toast
PM Snack rotation – these nutritional ingredients promote deep sleep and relaxation
- Day 1 – Chamomile Tea with 1 cracker + low-fat cottage cheese
- Day 2 – Tart Cherry Juice – 1 part juice:1 part water, to reduce sugar
- Day 3 – Almond milk with 1 cracker + low-fat cottage cheese
- Day 4 – Nut butter (almond or walnut) on banana slice
- Day 5 – Tart Cherry Juice – 1 part juice:1 part water, to reduce sugar
- Day 6 – Warm Almond milk with Turmeric (golden milk)
- Day 7 – Chamomile Tea with 1 cracker + small slice of turkey
Meal prep ahead
- Split up meals – divide and spread out ingredients
- Cut and chop all veggies, including sweet potato wedges, place in water and store in fridge
- Add grains to compliment or bulk up meals – Quinoa and Rice
- Eat as many veggies as you can afford, they’re naturally fat-free
- Sprinkle ground flaxseeds into as many meals as possible – they contain healthy Fats, Omega 3 and Fiber
Conclusion
These meal rotations give you an idea of how you can eat healthily on a budget. It prevents you from dieting (it’s not always a long-term solution) and overspending on pre-packaged health foods and supplements.
Using the right techniques and meal prep tools will save you time, and effort and reduce your grocery budget. So, you’ll want to get comfortable with meal rotation and meal prepping smartly.
You can maintain a budget meal plan and stay inspired by it, even if your budget is limited. Given our current financial climate, this applies to most people now anyway, so don’t be shy about maximizing everything.
Plan your cooking and eating around zero food waste. Meal prepping smartly is the best strategy for putting this into action. A recipe workflow sheet can also help you scale your recipes to get more meals out of your ingredients. It makes it easy to accurately split recipes into the right portions and prevent food waste.
Lastly, learn healthy cooking at home – instead of buying out or ordering catered meals – you’ll be empowered in the kitchen and with your finances too.
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*cravenutritionalcooking.com does not give medical advice. Where there is reference to it, the phrasing is merely used to illustrate a point or give context to food and cooking for nutrition information. It is not related to a specific condition or to any specific individual. Always consult your healthcare professional for medical and dietetic advice before embarking on any type of eating plan or ingesting nutritional supplements.
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