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. 

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My CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares are going strong, so I will be doing things a little differently with the vegetable portion of my meal planning for the next few months (until October). My share averages out to $25 a week, which will come off the top of my budget allotment and will comprise the bulk of my non-smoothie-related vegetable purchases. If you’re curious to see how I use my CSA veggies up, check out my What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables posts.

Current Box of CSA Veggies

Menu for Last Week (Week of August 11 – 15)

The Plan vs. Reality

This week’s meal planning was fairly efficient – I ended up making pretty much what I set out to make, for dinner at least.

Monday

• The Plan – Tuna salad with aioli, tomato and cucumber in a cucumber boat for lunch and stuffed eggplant with beef and hopefully lamb for dinner.
• Reality – Tuna salad didn’t happen because I ran out of eggs for the aioli. Dinner was good, though lamb ended up not being in the budget.

Tuesday

• The Plan – Broiled lettuce + tomato salad with parmesan and balsamic for lunch and fingerling potato-leek hash with swiss chard, eggs & bacon for dinner.
• Reality – Ok, so the lunch plan was a little ambitious and didn’t happen. Dinner was good though.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Zucchini bowl with kale for lunch and meat + csa veg for dinner
• Reality – I had a zucchini bowl for lunch, but it featured fried green tomato instead of kale. Dinner was macadamia crusted turkey tenders with zucchini fries.

Thursday

• The Plan – Meat + csa veg.
• Reality – Tried to perfect those zucchini fries (with no success) – served with pork chops and green peppers.

Friday

• The Plan – Eat out
• Reality – That happened.

Lunches

• The Plan – Planned lunches + salads and leftovers.
• Reality – The planned lunches didn’t happen. I ended up having lots of peach + tomato + cucumber + lime salads instead.

Extras

• The Plan – Nothing.
• Reality – Nothing made.

This Week: August 18 – 22

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Beef keema bowl over lettuce with cilantro mint chutney
• Tuesday: Italian sausage, chard & sun-dried tomato stuffed peppers
• Wednesday: Some sort of baked asiny eggplant with something.
• Thursday: Meat with CSA veggie
• Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
• Lunch: Leftovers. More peaches + tomatoes.
• Extras: Pickles or veggie stock if I have enough leftover. 1 ingredient ice cream. Tomato & macadamia ricotta tart.

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

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

Shopping List

Extras: pistachios ($7.49 @ TJs) and cashews ($6.99 @ TJs) for snacks.

Total TJ: $70.72

Total For The Week: $70.72; $4.28 under budget. Whoo Whoo. Under budget.

Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, CSA veggies.