Toni Okamoto - Plant-Based on a Budget Quick & Easy

All the nights and weekends you brought me along as you worked overtime are deeply ingrained in my heart, and I have so much gratitude for the sacrifices you made as a young, single father to give me the best life. Thank you for showing me what hard work looks like. This book, and everything I do, is in your honor. CONTENTS L ets be real: Every one of us lives on a budget. That budget is primarily a financial restriction for some, but, even for those who can afford to buy whatever food theyd like, living on a time budget is often a daily reality. These days, who has time to balance the rigors of working, taking care of themselves and their dependents (human and nonhuman), and eating healthfully? Too many of us have a seemingly never-ending list of to-dos begging for our time.

This is a big reason why many of us spend less and less time preparing our own meals, relying instead on Uber Eats, meal kit deliveries, fast-food drive-thrus, and microwavable frozen dinners to quickly satiate our hunger each evening. Not only are these options more expensive than preparing our own food, but such a shift away from home cooking has serious consequences for our health. After all, its no longer a secret that much of the food served in restaurants or pre-packaged and prepared for pickup at the grocery store or delivered to our doorsteps is typically loaded with far too much oil, salt, and sugar, which keeps us coming back for more. Over time, this kind of diet may shrink our wallets while expanding our litany of health problems. Is there a way we can enjoy delicious, nutritious plant-based food thats easy on our financial and time budgets? There is, and Toni Okamoto tells us how in Plant-Based on a Budget Quick & Easy. Gone are the days when making your own meal required an hour of labor with questionable results at the end.

Say goodbye, too, to the idea that only a trained chef can make something worth eating. Toni shows us money- and time-saving tactics that allow us to enjoy delectable dishes while getting back precious time to do more of the things we want to do. So, whether youre on a financial budget, a time budget, or both, sit back and prepare to be wowed by the tips and tricks Tonis about to teach you. Ive been preparing plant-based meals for three decades, yet even I learned new things from reading this book. Im confident you will, too, and that, because of Toni, youll have more money and more time to enjoy both your food and the rest of your life. MICHAEL GREGER, MD, FACLM AUTHOR, HOW NOT TO DIE W hen I began my plant-based journey in 2007, my guiding stars were a heartfelt desire to help animals and a profound wish to live healthier.

Back then, I hadnt yet learned to fully appreciate the value of timethat would come laterbut I definitely knew the value of money. Thats because, in short, I had none. When youre not on solid financial footing, thinking about how youre going to pay for things takes up a lot of brainspace. In those lean early days, as I juggled two jobs and struggled to conquer my debt, I was fortunate to have the wherewithal to get really creative with meal planning and food shopping to make my newfound lifestyle work on a very tight budget. When I went to the supermarket, Id head right for the bulk bins, toting not just my own shopping bags but my own measuring cups, too, to make sure I wasnt wasting precious pennies on more ingredients than a recipe called for. (Im sure this would embarrass some people, but it never bothered me.) I was determined to eat well and find a path to greater economic stability, and food costs werent going to stand in my way! It wasnt always easy, thoughand it was definitely a learning process.

I can still remember scraping my bowl at the end of a meal to ensure I didnt waste even a single grain of rice. It took me a while to learn the ropes, but eventually I got the hang of it, learning to maximize my spending to buy healthy basics so I could prepare meals that were both nourishing and affordable. Looking back, Im proud of my determination to find the most affordable plant-based meals; after all, theyre what led me to launch my blog, Plant-Based on a Budget, and begin to inspire my loved ones to overcome a generational history of lifestyle-related illnesses and find their path toward healthy eating, too. Those ambitions also allowed me to transform my financial circumstances in ways I couldnt have imagined back when I was swimming in debt. It had never even occurred to me that I could build Plant-Based on a Budget into a thriving company, but when I got my first sponsorship offersomeone actually wanted to pay me to put their ad on my site!I wondered what such an opportunity could lead to. To my great surprise, what began as a blog Id write in between the hours I logged nannying, dog-walking, and house-sitting has since blossomed into four cookbooks, a podcast, and a full-time career.

And the best part of it all is that I have found my true purpose in life helping people eat more plants, which in turn also helps create a kinder world for animals and the planet. I feel honored and grateful that through my work, I have been invited to help jumpstart so many plant-based journeys. The success of Plant-Based on a Budget has completely transformed my economic circumstances, and I couldnt be more grateful for this twist of fate. And while I still avoid wasting food, I no longer obsess and get stressed about every penny spent and every grain of rice. Today, Ive shifted my focus to saving time. This creates more space in my life for the things I really love, like hanging out with friends and family, helping animals, and dreaming up new ways to make the world a better place.

If youre like me and want to spend less time in the kitchen preparing food, cooking, and cleaning, and more time doing things that really light you up, this book is for you! Of course, helping you save money will still be my priority, but just as I spent years figuring out the best ways to cut back on food costs, Ive also dedicated countless hours to figuring out all the smartest methods for saving time on food prep, which Ill share in a moment. Besides helping you create mouthwatering meals you and your family will love, this book will also help you get to the fun parteating!much faster and more easily. But first, a word to those who might be just embarking on their own plant-based journeys. Some people embrace plant-based eating with the passion of a new convert, diving in headfirst and never looking back. This was not how my journey unfolded. My approach was far more tentative (a longtime Taco Bell taco habit will do that to you!) and involved many starts and stops.