Zero Waste/Plant Based/Budget Shopping ideas and Meal Ideas
Example Shopping list and rough cost estimate:
Total based on *estimated pricing = $16.50
*I work at a grocery store here in Northern Nevada (USA) and see pricing for these items every day, although the prices for produce change depending on the season. Always look for seasonal produce to make your money stretch further. Also these are reasonable and common prices for the town I live in. I realize some regions are much more expensive.
This list was created assuming that you don’t have a completely bare pantry. I would assume that you already have a few staples like seasonings, Soy sauce (or tamari), sweetener, nut butter and other condiments. Try to buy things like rice in bulk on weeks you have a few extra bucks to spend! It’ll save you money and save on packaging over time!
Cabbage steaks w/potato wedges
Baked sweet potato topped w/ beans
Salad w/ beans, carrots, onion
These can be made in place of eating oatmeal every day. You just mash some banana and mix in some applesauce. (If you don’t already have applesauce you can cook down some apples until they are super soft and then mash them up.) Add some cinnamon and sweetener to your taste. Also feel free to add nut butter at this point. Stir in the oats a little bit at a time. Make sure the mixture is still pretty wet because the oats will absorb all the moisture. Bake at 350 F. Check after 20 minutes. Keep baking at 5 min increments until done.
Everyone knows how to make this. Oats + water (or Alt milk) and add everything you like. Cinnamon, sweetener, chopped apples, banana, or nut butter.
These basically involve smashing together banana and oats and pressing them into cookie form and baking them at 350 degrees. I’d probably add a bit of cinnamon and nut butter to these too. I haven’t actually made these yet, but I keep seeing recipes for them!
Salad, Baked potatoes, and pastas are foods we all know how to make! However cabbage is so cheap and so versatile so here are a few examples of meals:
Dice ½ onion. Add to pan and sauté for 1 minute. Chop up the cabbage and add to pan. Stir fry until beginning to wilt a bit. Add in grated or chopped carrot (depends on how much crunch you want in your dish) and let cook for 10 minutes or so. Drizzle vegetables with soy sauce. If you have dried spices you’re gonna want to add garlic and ginger to this. If you happen to have any other frozen or canned veggies this would be a good time to add them. Also if you have a pretty big appetite or need to feed more than 1 person, you could cook up some rice and make a big meal out of this!
2. Cabbage steaks are my go-to broke meal. I cut up cabbage into steaks and then I just lather them a bit in olive oil and throw some seasoning on them. Sometimes I have breadcrumbs in my pantry and sprinkle those on top. Bake at 350 and just keep an eye on them. The edges will start to get toasty and then they’re done. Cut up some potatoes in wedges and bake them up to add some bulk to this meal!
And for those of you with a sweet tooth you should always have a bunch of ripe bananas in the freezer to make banana nice cream! cheapest and healthiest dessert EVER :D
Hope this is helpful! This is an example of a grocery list I would make for weeks that I needed to spend as little as possible on food (less than $20 for the week.)
