Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of April 28 – May 2

A number of people I know are completely flabbergasted when contemplating sticking to a budget while eating a primarily “paleo” diet. I’m hoping to shed a little light on that issue for those of you on the fence about eating healthfully in this manner – it *can* be done – and done well – without spending all the money. All it takes is a little planning. 

A little background: I live in Brooklyn, NY, and the grocery prices here are definitely not the same as what you will find in other areas of the country. If you live in say, Raleigh NC for example – you may very well be able to cut this grocery bill by a third, depending upon where you shop. For where I live, where I shop and what I buy, $100 a week is a doable budget without having to sacrifice the quality I want too much. My DH thinks $130 is probably more realistic with our morning smoothie supplies, but I want to shoot for $100. I aim to make 4-5 dinners for two and 5 lunches per week, plus two smoothies per day six days of the week with my budgetary allowance and update you all weekly on what’s going on. Let’s see if I can make it. 

Last Week (Week of April 21-25)

The Plan vs. Reality

Sunday

• The Plan – Easter Dinner – Ham, peas and lemony thyme smashed fingerlings
• Reality – A holiday meal that was economical, quick to prepare, and filled with good taste.

Monday

• The Plan – Vaguely Mexican chuck roast over broccoli – a sort of Mexi-bowl affair
• Reality – Delicious. The meat turned out really well, and the dinner was quick to throw together.

Tuesday

• The Plan – Leftover chuck with sweet potato/onion/green pepper hash and fried eggs
• Reality – Hash is one of my favorite foods – this one was no exception.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Banh Mi pork with brussels
• Reality – Really, really tasty dinner – recipe coming soon!

Thursday

• The Plan – Leftover chuck in a Shepherd’s pie
• Reality – Another win, though my mashed cauliflower topper sank

Friday

• The Plan – Carrot ginger lime pasta with crispy ground poultry
• Reality – We walked to the butcher and grabbed dinner while out instead

Lunches

• The Plan – Nom Nom Paleo’s Egg Foo Young (2-3 lunches)
• Reality – Still didn’t happen for me. Leftovers. I think I’m giving up.
• The Plan – Leftovers
• Reality – I had enough left over to scrape together lunch every day.

Extras

• The Plan – Nothing planned here.
• Reality – And nothing accomplished.

This Week: April 28-May 2 

It’s another ‘source what you can as best you can’ week – and I don’t have any freezer meat to fall back on. While on my favorite butcher’s website trying to scope the price of their fantastic sausages, I stumbled upon a great ‘how to plan budget meals using our meat’ feature – it gave me tons of ideas on how to shop there for $50 or under a week (something I thought was impossible), and I’m happy to be giving it a go with this week’s budget.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Carrot ginger lime pasta with crispy ground poultry – carried over from last week
• Tuesday: Spinach, parmesan & prosciutto stuffed pork loin with ???
• Wednesday: Leftover pork loin stir fry with celery & broccoli
• Thursday: London broil with ???
• Friday: Sausages or burgers with sweet potato fries
• Lunch: Nothing planned – hoping for leftovers
• Extras: Bacon maple sandwiches for Saturday’s breakfast

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

Grocery Store Key: TJ = Trader Joe’s, F= Butcher, KF = Key Food, O = Optional if budget allows

This week, I have $100 to spend for my weekly groceries, and I hope to stick to it.

Shopping List

TJs
Coconut milk (2) – $2 est ($0.99 x 2 @ TJs)
Snacks – $15 est – O – (Almonds – $5.99 @ TJs)
Garlic – $1 est – ($1.24 @ KF)
SIDE – $3 est – (Broccolini – $2.99 @ KF)
SIDE – $3 est – (Parsnips – $2.31 @ KF)
SIDE – $3 est – (Sweet potatoes $2.00 @ KF)
SIDE – $3 est – (Broccoli slaw – $2.99 @ KF)
Broccoli – $3 est – ($3.16 @ KF)
Pepper – $1 est – ($1.21 @ KF)
Onion – $1 est – Don’t need afterall
Frozen spinach – $1 est – ($1.00 @ KF)
Parmesan – $6 est – O – ($3.50 @ KF)
Prosciutto – $4 est – ($3.99 @ KF)
bacon – $4 est – O – ($4.99 @ TJs)
banana – $1 est – ($0.82 @ KF)
eggs – $3 est – Decided not to get

Grocery estimate TJs: $60

2 bags kale – $5 est – ($2.29 x 2 @ TJs)
1 bag spinach – $2 est – ($1.99 @ TJs)
1 coconut water – $4 est – ($3.69 @ TJs)
Celery – $2 est – ($2.99 @ KF)
5 apples – $4 est – ($3.45 @ TJs)
Ginger – $2 est – ($1.40 @ KF)
Cilantro – $2 est – ($0.79 @ KF)
2 avocados – $3 est – ($2.98 @ TJs)

Smoothie estimate TJs: $18

Fleisher’s
Pork sirloin roast 2 lb. (18) – 2 nights 
London broil 1 lb. (10) – 1 night
Sausages 1 lb. (11) – switch to ground beef if needed & buy from TJs (7)

Total Fleisher’s: $40 est

After Friday’s Shopping
Spent $44.38 at Fleisher’s; $9.89 of that should be taken out of the entertainment budget
Spent $45.53 at Key Foods; $11.99 of that should be taken out of the entertainment budget
$68.03 spent out of the grocery budget in total, leaving $31.07 left to shop @TJs.

$25 estimated cost for groceries (this total doesn’t take snacks into consideration)

I also want coffee – $15 est – Not enough in budget for coffee this week

Estimated total: $118 before coffee — $89 if I cut the optionals and switch to TJs ground beef for burgers 

I also bought some strawberries at Key Food for $2 on impulse.

Total TJ: $29.65
Total KF: $33.54
Total F: $34.49

Total For The Week: $97.68; $2.32 under budget. This was another week I thought managing to get everything I needed was going to be impossible. But, with proper planning, it wasn’t. I bought my coffee out of another budget, picked up everything I needed for dinners this week, and even gave in to my fruit craving and bought some strawberries. I *did* forget to pick up limes – I forgot to even add them to the list this week – and our smoothies will suffer for it.

Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, Monday’s dinner.