I'm a ravenous carnivore, but to save money and be healthier I need to eat less meat. I love fruit and grains but only like raw vegetables. What are some recipes that will help me make the transition from eating meat every meal to eating a lot more vegetables?

Hi! It definitely is way cheaper and in a lot of cases it is easier to be healthier when you eat less meat, but if you really like it and eat everything in balance, I believe you can be a pretty healthy carnivore!

I'll tell you some ways I personally save money on meat. First, see if your local grocery stores have a section that has "manager specials" or "butchers specials." That's all stuff that is going to expire soon so they sell it way cheaper, and a lot of times they have premarinated/ seasoned stuff there too. Another thing is, if you have an ALDI nearby you, try buying meat there, it is sooo cheap, from my experience at least. And where I'm from, frozen meat tends to be cheaper too, so that's something you can check out.

So, personally, I eat meat with almost every meal, but my trick is I don't make it the focus. I'll tell you some example things of what I eat that still have some kind of meat in them. I buy a rotisserie chicken ($5) once a week and make chicken salad with half of eat, and eat that a lot for lunch. I eat a side of fruit and eat the chicken salad in lettuce (like a wrap) or on toast/bread. Then with the rest of the chicken, you can make chicken noodle soup, get some cheap taco seasoning and make chicken tacos, or even just eat it plain with a side of whatever you'd like! $5 and you have at least 7 meals containing meat.

Another thing, all my meat, when I cook it I pound it out preeetty thin. It looks like soo much more, and I think it tricks me into thinking I've eaten more than I had. I bought a steak for $8 the other day, and pounded it out to enough to feed me, my brother and my dad (and we all three eat A LOT).

But, if you are trying to avoid meat all together, just make sure you are getting enough protein, or else you'll get hungry faster I think. Where I live, you can look on Craigslist or random bulletin boards in your area and pick up eggs from a farm pretty cheap, that's my favorite protein source. Try making chili without any hamburger, or even normal recipes you already eat that have a lot going on, just try omitting the meat and you'll be surprised how normal it tastes even though its vegetarian, haha. Lasagna and Noodles are some of my favorite meat free meals. Hope this all helped :)

/r/EatCheapAndHealthy Thread