Health and Fitness are on the tops of people’s minds at the start of the New year. With that is opting to start a Vegetarian Lifestyle – as it is known to lower cholesterol, lower high blood pressure, lower triglycerides, lower our cancer risk, etc… [read 57 more reasons here]. All that equates to feeling great!

Starting a vegetarian lifestyle can be done with a frugal budget with these simple tips:

–Buy and plan menu items around your grocer’s produce sales ad
–Make larger quantities of your staple items (rice, beans, baked goods) and freeze in single servings portions
–Plan for your meals each week
–Shop at Trader Joe’s for great prices on nuts, trail mix, dried fruits and any specialty vegetarian convenience items
–Learn to cook Indian Food [www.Sulekha.com] – it is a very tasty and frugal way to eat great food
–Grow an herb garden – learning to cook with herbs is a great way to enhance flavors! Oregano, basil, cilantro, rosemary are a few of my favorite herbs. I like to dry and chop them to refill my spice jars.
– Substitute a menu’s item for what you have on hand. If a recipe calls for tofu in the stir fry, but have a zucchini that needs to be used up – then go for it! Cubed zucchini works great for dishes requesting marinaded tofu.

These are only a few ways to living a vegetarian lifestyle on a frugal budget. Do you have a great tip to add to this list?

This week’s menu is a frugal vegetarian meal plan:

• Monday: Zucchini Fritters, Apple Slices, and Mixed Green Salad
• Tuesday: Broiled Polenta with Mushroom Ragout (Buy cremeni mushrooms, if on sale. If not, regular button mushrooms will work great. And to frugally substitute for the goat cheese: Kraft’s parmesan-romano grated cheese sprinkled on top works great!)
• Wednesday: Tofu & Bok Choy stir fry served over white rice
• Thursday: Tomato & Garlic Pasta, garlic bread,and a mixed green salad
• Friday: Veggie Pizza (ordered) with tomatoes, garlic, onion, and black olives.
• Saturday: Baked potato topped with chili & sourcream, sliced tomatoes with olive oil and cracked black pepper, and mixed greens salad.

Made myself hungry with this post. Remember, even if a vegetarian meal calls for expensive ingredients there is always a frugal alternative. Have fun when making your meals. Be sure your plate has lots of colors (green spinach, red bell pepper, purple eggplant) and you’ll be sure that you are getting your much needed nutrients.

To find more great menu plans, visit Orgjunkie.com

To help you create your vegetarian meal plans, check out the International Vegetarian Union for many great recipes!