This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftover Vietnamese chicken bites – I planned lunch veggies poorly again this week. Boo.
Dinner: Daikon and red cabbage sesame noodle salad with leftover pulled beef
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers from last night’s dinner
Dinner: Kung pao brussels sprouts with Nom Nom Paleo’s Cracklin’ Chicken
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftover red cabbage, sauteed, with leftover pulled beef
Dinner: Pepperoni meatballs with sea beans and marinara
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftover meatballs with sea beans and marinara
Dinner: The hubby wasn’t feeling good, so we split the rest of the meatballs and I made a snap pea/radish/jalapeno/grapefruit salad
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftover snap pea salad with leftover pulled beef
Dinner: Takeout
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Takeout
This Week’s Grocery List
Sugar snap peas ($5.04 @ Whole Foods)
Red cabbage ($1.63 @ Whole Foods)
Mixed nuts ($7.69 @ Whole Foods)
Sea Beans ($4.70 @ Whole Foods)
Uncured pork pepperoni ($4.99 @ Whole Foods)
Shredded sheep romano ($6.75 @ Whole Foods)
Ground pork, 1 lb. ($3.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Brussels sprouts, 1 lb. ($2.50 @ Amazon Fresh)
Thyme, 0.25 ounces ($0.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Celery ($1.69 @ Amazon Fresh)
Grass fed ground beef, 1 lb. ($9.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Boneless pork loin chop, 1.5 lbs (4 chops) ($8.59 @ Amazon Fresh)
Italian flat leaf parsley ($1.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Organic daikon radish, 8 ounces ($1.25 @ Amazon Fresh)
Just BARE chicken thighs, 2.25 lbs. ($5.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Frozen kale, 16 ounces ($1.89 @ Amazon Fresh)
Nakano seasoned rice vinegar, 12 ounces ($1.96 @ Amazon Fresh)
Contadina tomato paste, 6 ounces ($0.64 @ Amazon Fresh)
Hunt’s tomato sauce, 8 ounces ($0.44 @ Amazon Fresh)
Dole pineapple chunks, 20 ounces ($1.29)
100% pure maple syrup, 12.5 ounces ($7.98 @ Amazon Fresh)
California olive ranch EVOO, 16.9 ounces ($9.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Chock Full O’Nuts coffee, 11.3 ounces ($3.98 @ Amazon Fresh)
Smoothie Supplies
5 Apples ($3.95 @Amazon Fresh)
Ginger, 8 ounces ($1.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Zico Natural coconut water, 1 liter ($2.39 @ Amazon Fresh)
Totals
$72.98 @ Amazon Fresh
$32.10 @ Whole Foods
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $105.08; $5.08 over budget. Boo, overages. But I’m not terribly worried – the pork chops I bought had enough for two meals (as did the chicken), and I’ll be flush with fats for awhile. I also now have at least 1 emergency veggie on hand (the frozen kale – which I thought was spinach).
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have bacon, a few jalapeños, 2 servings of pork chops, celery and chicken thighs left over. I need to incorporate these items into my menu for next week.
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Think eating healthfully is too expensive for you? Think again. According to the USDA, to ensure a nutritious diet as of December 2014, a family of two aged 19-59 years should spend between $388.90 and $776.10 on food per month, or $89.80 – $179.30 per week. Source
For my family of two adults, I spend roughly $400 a month on groceries or $100 a week – and we eat well. Not caviar and lobster well, but I do manage to serve a predominately paleo diet with little to no processed foods, and I get to throw in a few luxuries here and there (like expensive snacks for the hubbs and the occasional ridiculously expensive bag of coffee). We even manage to buy “good” meat (grass fed beef and free-range chicken) most of the time – and I make this budget work even on the weeks we pay for convenience by getting delivery groceries. I make: 10 breakfasts, 5 lunches, and 10 dinners a week – plus enough snacks to satisfy and fuel two active adults.
I’m hoping that this series will help shed a little light on the day-to-day things a “paleo” person really eats — and how that way of eating can work on a budget. I want to nudge anyone sitting on the fence right over the edge by showing that it *can* be done and that you don’t just eat meat, meat, meat and more meat.
Gastography 