A British mother has shared the secrets behind feeding her family of seven nutritious vegan meals on a weekly budget of just £25.
Simone Roberts told the Metro cooking balanced, delicious, and plant-based meals not only saves time, but money too.
Vegan family
The 49-year-old from Birmingham says cooking healthy and nutritious meals for the family means no compromise on price.
It was ‘convenience culture’ that inspired her passion for home-cooking and the basis of her meals are rice, beans, and lentils.
The vegan family eats lots of nuts and seeds, and Simone is always on the hunt for reduced prices.
“Using this type of ingredients is a great way to keep the price of your weekly shop down as you can buy them in bulk”, she said.
Tips for budget meals
Simone’s money-saving tips include buying from international supermarkets and making meals ahead of time.
“I usually soak and boil enough beans and lentils for about four weeks worth of meals. This saves me so much time as I can do it all in one go, and then grab them out the freezer when I need to use them”, she said.
Her Afro-Caribbean background encouraged her to center meals around legumes, which she uses in vegan dishes instead of meat.
Buying in bulk from Asian supermarkets is cheaper, she added.
Her shopping list totaling just shy of £25 includes fresh vegetables, almond milk, dried beans, vegan spread, and avocados.
Minimizing waste
Choosing versatile fruit and vegetables is also key, Simone says – and any leftovers are frozen. This avoids waste.
She added: “One of my most important tips is, don’t cook when you’re hungry. I tend to prepare my meals for the next day after I have eaten to ensure that I don’t sneak any extras and therefore waste any ingredients.”
Discarded fruit can be blitzed into smoothies or made into ice lollies and cubes. In addition, Simone recommends making salads in batches as well.
“I have always loved cooking and preparing, but knowing it is also saving us money is even more satisfying”, the mother added.
Simone’s vegan shopping list
An example of one of Simone’s weekly shopping list totals £24.84, and includes the following vegan ingredients:
- Spice packet 89p
- Dried beans £4.99
- Vegetable oil £1.09
- Almond milk £2 for 2
- Vegan spread £1.20
- Bananas £1.09
- Broccoli 40p
- Cabbage 65p
- Spinach £1.29
- Apples £3.98
- Avocados £4.95
- Butternut Squash £1
- Kale £1.10
- Oranges £1.10
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Sounds like the £25 is on top of the international supermarket bulk buys though to be very honest. Regardless, still cheaper. After reading the book Fibre Fueled by Dr Will Bulsiewicz, aiming for a 90% (or more)WFPB diet is the way to go and beans and lentils eaten throughout the day (as per Dr Gregors suggestion) is definitely a massive benefit to health that cannot be underestimated. So this woman is right on target and showing others it’s not complicated. Thumbs up!
Good stuff! Being on a plant based diet doesn’t always mean you have to spend a lot of money. This instance is quite ascetic however, you can buy extra protein or ingredients or treats on your own accord. But no doubt she and her kids have no issues whatsoever concerning weight, cholesterol etc. You could bang on about missing micronutrients here and there but I can guarantee that any parent with children will struggle to get a perfect athlete’s level diet for their family unless they were wealthy and had lots of time on their hands. Good on them!