Hello my friends! We here at GreatFoods4U are all about healthy eating on shoestring, or as economical as possible. Currently, it's Lent in the Catholic church and we are focusing on budget-friendly meatless, vegetarian high protein food swaps to follow our Lenten fast. And value added, these cheap diet foods are great for weight loss. Eating them was part of how I lost 100 pounds without weight loss drugs or gastric bypass surgery. And one of the complaints I hear, ironically, is how expensive weight loss is. Well, the good news is that weight loss doesn't have to break the bank if you use these cheap diet food swaps.
Split peas or canned peas. You don't have to buy the costly pea protein powder. Just use these cheap diet food swaps. Just blend a cheap bag of split peas in a food processor and swap these for pea protein powder. Or make meatless, vegetarian split pea soup with carrots, onions, celery, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Or, drain, rinse and eat canned peas. You get up to 15 grams per serving in split pea soup.
Dried beans. Soybeans or edamame are the highest protein beans with 30 grams per serving. Other beans for high protein diet food swaps are lentils, cannellini, black beans, garbanzo or chickpeas. You can grind these and use for gluten-free breadless flour food swaps. You can mash and fry canned beans as pancakes. Or make homemade gluten-free falafel with besan (chickpea flour). All of these diet food swaps are super cheap. Eating this way is how I lost 100 pounds.
Pumpkin seeds or pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds). 1/4 cup serving give 7-9 grams of protein. You can find cheap pepitas for under $2 at Aldi. So that's about $.30 a serving for these cheap meatless, high protein food swaps. You can make these into any of your favorite vegetarian dishes such.
Nut Roast. (or Nut Loaf). Mill gluten-free dried beans or peas. Grind up leftover nuts, any kind. Then sauté leftover bits of onions, celery, garlic, peppers and mushrooms, seasoned with sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Blend in nuts and milled beans. Add eggs if desired, oil loaf pan and bake as you would meatloaf. These vegetarian food swaps substitute for pot roast or meatloaf and can have up to 30 grams of protein for 500 calories. The beauty of this economical diet food swap is that it's also a leftover use-up recipe.
Parmesan Reggiano cheese. This superfood is lactose free, high protein, filling, curbs cravings and good for weight loss if eaten in moderation. One ounce gives 10 grams of protein. This isn't as cheap a diet food swap but if you buy on sale, a one ounce serving is about $.75. I eat parmesan cheese wedges as a snack and it fills me up. Swapping Parmesan Reggiano cheese for other cheeses is part of how I lost 100 pounds.
Barilla Protein+ Pasta. So you pay a little more than regular pasta but if you buy on sale, it's under $.30 a serving. You get 10 grams of protein for 190 which is fewer calories and more protein than regular pasta. Plus this cheap meatless diet food swap fills me up and curbs cravings.
Mushrooms. Believe it or not, these meatless food swaps can have as much protein as meat per calorie. Mushrooms make great vegetarian high protein food swaps in all recipes. I love veggie mushroom burgers with white or baby bella mushrooms, garlic, onions, oatmeal, eggs and Parmesan Reggiano cheese.
