I spent my uni years as a food-obsessed nutrition student. Needless to say, I’ve got a few budget healthy eating tricks up my sleeve!
So, when the I Quit Sugar editorial team asked if I could eat for less than $40 a week, vegetarian style, I took up the challenge. I snapped some pics (eek, sorry for the poor quality!) so you can play along at home if you like.
Editor’s note: Meg’s challenge involved creating lunches and dinners for the working week (five days) for $40 or less. We didn’t include breakfasts or weekend meals.
Most kitchens are stocked with the basics: plain flour, salt, pepper, milk, olive oil and a few random spices. So with that in mind, I purchased the following for $40:
Shopping List
- ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 ½ cups uncooked chickpeas
- 4 x wholemeal wraps
- 6 eggs
- 2 carrots
- 2 brown onions
- Cheddar cheese
- 800g sweet potato
- 2 large (or 4 small) zucchini
- 1 bunch kale
- 2 x heads broccoli
- 4 cups mixed salad leaves
In I Quit Sugar tradition (and also what I do every weekend), I made up the following during my Sunday Cook-Up and stored them in containers for the week.
- Cooked the chickpeas (or you can buy canned if you prefer).
- Cooked the quinoa.
- Roasted my veg. I used sweet potato, zucchini and broccoli.
With all that fluff done, let’s get down to the stuff you guys care about: the recipes! Each of these made two servings – one for dinner and one for lunch the following day.
Meal 1
Chickpea + Quinoa Abundance Salad: I roasted my cooked chickpeas in a pinch of turmeric and paprika for 15 minutes, then served them in a bowl with some massaged kale, reheated quinoa, zucchini, broccoli and sweet potato.
Meal 2
Golden Frittata: For this one I used four eggs, a pinch of turmeric and curry powder, roasted sweet potato cubes, zucchini, grated cheese, shredded kale and some flour to bind. And served it with some mixed salad leaves. Very similar recipe to our Fridgalicious Frittata.
Meal 3
Firey Chickpea Quesadilla: These we’re a fun one that I shared with my sister. I mashed sweet potato, chickpeas, kale, onion and some cumin and chilli flakes together. I simply added a generous amount of butter to a pan, placed in a wholemeal wrap and spread over the mixture, sprinkled with a bit of cheese, placed another wrap on top and pushed down. Once the bottom was fried off, I flipped over the quesadilla carefully and cooked the other side.
Meal 4
Cheesy Broccoli Gratin: This is a quick mid-weeker, which I made on a Wednesday night when I got home late. I followed this Cauliflower Cheese recipe and just subbed in some pre-roasted broccoli and zucchini, and a little shredded kale.
Meal 5
Curried Chickpea + Carrot Fritters: I made these in my lunchbreak at work. I mashed chickpeas and combined them with two eggs, two grated carrots, some curry powder, diced onion, and flour to combine. I then just served with some mixed salad leaves dressed with a little olive oil. Check out a similar recipe for Corn Fritters with Bacon and Avocado Salsa.
That’s it! Easy! Now it’s your turn! These dishes can easily be bulked out for a couple or even a family for a still relatively cheap shopping bill. Let us know how you go.
We originally published this post in March 2016. We updated it in October 2016.
Do you have another foodie challenge for me to complete. $40 on an omnivore diet? Host a dinner party for six for under $50? Bring it on!
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