Going Pescatarian advice

[CollyWombles]

I am currently nearly 12 weeks pregnant and I have completely gone off meat of any kind. Even pictures of it make me feel ill. I've considered goinh pescatarian for quite some time as even before this pregnancy I wasn't mad about meat. But I ate a lot of it. I have 4dc already and my husband likes his meat.

Money is always pretty tight and I'm not sure where to even start with going Pescatarian and also making sure the lack of meat doesn't cause problems in pregnancy like low iron.

Im worried I won't be able to afford to keep the kids and himself on their current way of eating and cater for a pescatarian diet myself.

Fish, fresh fruit and veg are just so expensive!

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

Fish is expensive yes, but so is meat tbh.

Do you like tinned tuna? Tinned tomatoes? Cheese? That would make a topping for pasta, rice or jacket potato - or add to boiled eggs and olives for a salad topping.

Frozen salmon portions are microwaveable - would that work?

I love salmon and tuna, however I think I can only have one portion of oily fish a week in pregnancy, I can however eat haddock and cod, both of which I love, and well cooked prawns. I have always loved fish and seafood thankfully. I enjoy hard boiled eggs as well.

Most veg I don't mind cooked but prefer a lot raw. I will eat pretty much any fruit except pear. I love all types of nuts.

I need to get a meal plan together, I'm just nervous I might get it wrong and end up lacking nutritionally.

Have a look at frozen fish and veg - often much cheaper than fresh and can be easier if you aren't all having fish. Also look at other types of fish - ones that are less popular like coley, basa, pollock are cheaper than cod and haddock
Then tinned beans and lentils are cheap and good sources of protein, vitamins and minerals -plus if you have quinoa, tempeh, tofu, whole grains, and vegetables, eggs and dairy then you should get everything you need - although you might want to talk to your Dr about taking an iron supplement later in your pregnancy

If you can find a couple of veggie dishes you all like (lentil bolognaise, vegetable korma, bean chilli - those kinds of things) and have those for your main meal two or three days a week, that helps stretch the budget. Lentils, beans and so on are also very good nutritionally.

This isn't exactly what you're looking for, I know, but might be of some help. You could substitute fish for tofu, for example and add in eggs where appropriate.

Iceland sell three packs of various fillets for £10. Depending on which packs you buy, there's usually about 12 fillets in total.