Vegetarian Meal Plan: Week 1

I’m newly vegetarian. I’ve never eaten much meat besides chicken and just decided in the past couple of months to go full vegetarian.

One of my goals for the month of October was to blog my vegetarian meal plan on a weekly basis. This means by the end of the month I should have four meal plans. I can’t promise they will all be vastly different, but I can promise there will be some variety. I do tend to eat the same foods because it saves our family money.

A few things to note:

• I’m not a dietitian or professional of any kind
• I don’t count calories
• I don’t eat 100% clean; I strive for around 80%
• I try to mix each of the food groups with every meal
• My meal plans aren’t perfect!
• My meal plans are simple.

Vegetarian Meal Plan: Week 1

My daily menu (typically the same for the week)

Breakfast: Lower Sugar Market Pantry Oatmeal + Greek yogurt

Snack: Crackers + hummus + applesauce

Lunch: Soup and sandwich (or dinner leftovers)

Snack: Protein smoothie + apple or Crunchy Raisin Bran

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{DINNERS}

Monday: Cheesy spinach ravioli w/pasta sauce

Tuesday: Bean and cheese burrito + rice + homemade salsa

Wednesday: Boca burger + carrots/hummus

Thursday: “Chicken” patty + mixed veggies

Friday: Scrambled egg burrito + black beans + salsa + cheese

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Pizza

*****

So as you can see, my vegetarian meal plan for this week is super simple. For each of the next three weeks I plan to try at least one new recipe and will feature them in future meal plan posts this month!

Tips for saving money on food/groceries

1. Meal plan (my printable template)
2. Buy seasonal produce (check local grocery store ads)
3. Shop as least often as possible (besides produce)
4. Drink more water (buy less pop, juice, coffee, tea)
5. Eat similar meals and snacks (enjoy more variety at dinner time!)

*For example, you could buy one or two pounds of grapes and eat a serving each day. This would be cheaper than buying grapes, oranges and apples for the week.

*Another example, you could purchase one dozen eggs and have an egg burrito several times per week. Or you could prepare eggs several different ways if you get bored easily!

I’ve also written a post about eating healthy on a small budget that be of interest to you.

Happy meal planning!

from Lifting Makes Me Happy http://www.buildyourdreambody.com/vegetarian-meal-plan-week-1.html
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