Eating Vegetarian on a Budget

Many would-be vegetarians are not vegetarians because they are frightened of their vegetarian friends' enormous food budget. Their friends have refrigerators stocked with wonderful treats from the organic food store to be sure, but the would-be vegetarians know they cannot possibly afford all the specialty foods and luscious mixes that their friends feed to them during parties.

The good news is, they don't have to.

When it comes to eating good vegetarian meals on a budget, there are only two things to remember. The first is easy: Avoid pre-packaged food. What you are buying when you put pre-packaged foods like falafel mix into your buggy is convenience. Therefore, you will be charged an arm and a leg. For the second thing you need to keep in mind, you may need to sit down if you aren't already. It may come as a shock. It may frighten you. It is, however, necessary.

Learn to cook.

Many vegetarians have a high bill because they are eating specialty foods, and they are eating specialty foods because they don't cook. All you have to do in order to be a vegetarian is avoid meat. Therefore, if you learn to prepare vegetables in an appetizing way, you will have plenty of good, satisfying food to eat.

One healthy (and surprisingly easy) set of dishes to learn to prepare is beans and rice. This is not as boring as it sounds. You can make Hoppin' John, which is stewed tomatoes over red beans and white rice. You can make Indian dal dishes by preparing split peas and spices over Basmati rice. You can make split pea soup or black-eyed peas and rice. The possibilities are endless and not as similar as you may think if you aren't accustomed to cooking. In addition, beans and rice may be kept on hand as a handy, quick meal for when you are on the go.

Other possibilities are vegetable casseroles. If you aren't a vegan, then milk and cheeses are fair game. All you need to make a casserole is the main ingredient - squash, broccoli, green beans, whatever; something to hold it all together such as a cream soup or cheese and eggs; and some sort of breading like crumbled Ritz crackers. Mix and bake. Actually, there are tons and tons of casserole recipes online. These are great because you can make more than you need and freeze the rest. Or use it to feed the whole family or all the roommates.

Soy meat substitutes. You will pay about $3.50 for a box of four burgers or chicken patties, which is less than four servings of steak or four chicken breasts, which make these things a bargain. They are also a good source of protein.

If you simply must have dishes like falafel, you can make them yourself. You can also make your own bean burgers and veggie burgers. There are recipes out there. Just keep in mind that, whatever you can find in a packaged mix, you can learn to make yourself from scratch for a lot less money. Then you will be the one having your vegetarian friends over and impressing them, because what you make with your own hands will taste a lot better than the mixes.

Learning to cook vegetarian dishes will expand your diet like you wouldn't believe. And if you don't already have a love of cooking, you will probably develop one as you discover the immense freedom in food choice it brings to you and your friends.