This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover sandwich stuff (deli meat with collard green wrapper) + fruit salad from the weekend
Dinner: Another sandwich because I clearly have an addiction and can’t be stopped
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Boo! No sandwiches left – had a fruit salad with the last of my leftover spicy beef + radishes + watermelon/blueberry/strawberry mix + sriracha + salt
Dinner: Grilled London Broil with sautéed broccoli raab
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Attended a wedding and ate dinner there
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Roasted bird breast (which turned out to be half a chicken) with lemon balm and basil + a side of green & yellow beans with whole roasted lemon & basil
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Out
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out
This Week’s Grocery List
I was good this week and had enough to limp along for dinner on Monday and Tuesday before my CSA box came in.
Smoothie Supplies
Ginger (Brooklyn Fare)
4 Apples (Brooklyn Fare)
4 limes (Brooklyn Fare)
2 avocados (Brooklyn Fare)
Clamshell kale ($2.99 @ Brooklyn Fare)
CSA Meat Impulse Buys
This crazy good sounding supposedly raw milk cheddar cheese ($9.00 @ LW)
Eggs ($4.29 @ LW) – mental note: hurry up and eat the eggs I already have
Totals
CSA Veggies: $25.50
CSA Meats: $53.29
Brooklyn Fare: Ummmmm …. ??
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent an undisclosed amount; $0.00 under budget. Ok, so this week I was a budget breakout failure. I forgot to keep my receipt for smoothie supplies, so I don’t know how much I spent – I’m guessing it wasn’t more than $21.21, because that would be crazy. I know the kale cost $2.99. Other than that, I wasn’t paying attention; I was busy picking up a whole bunch of fruit, beer, “chips” and deli meats for a game night spread (and spending a quintillion dollars on dinner that night because I went to the expensive grocery store). I’m guessing the rest cost around $15; $1-something for ginger, about $1 per apple, $1 per lime, and $2 per avocado.
I also spent around $5 grabbing last minute extras for a spicy chard salad I whipped together to take to a potluck on Saturday.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have radishes, mustard greens, collard greens, romaine, swiss chard, basil, turkey breast, ground beef, pork ribs and eggs leftover.
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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 