This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover chicken laab salad
Dinner: Delivery Indian
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Rotisserie chicken with tomato & peach bowl
Dinner: Sweet potato hash with rotisserie chicken and fried egg
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Rotisserie chicken with tomato & peach bowl
Dinner: Ground beef, okra and corn bowl
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers from last night
Dinner: Thai-inspired ground pork, cucumber and corn bowl
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out
This Week’s Grocery List
Rotisserie chicken ($8.99 @ Whole Foods)
Okra ($2.79 @ Whole Foods)
Grapes ($2.85 @ Whole Foods)
Peaches ($2.91 @ Whole Foods)
Grass fed ground beef, 1 lb. ($7.49 @ Whole Foods)
Smoothie Supplies
Ginger ($1.08 @ Whole Foods)
Coconut water ($3.50 @ Whole Foods)
4 Apples ($3.94 @ Whole Foods)
5 limes ($3.75 @ Whole Foods)
5 Avocados ($12.50 @ Whole Foods)
Bagged kale (1 lb.) ($2.99 @ Whole Foods)
Bagged spinach ($4.49 @ Whole Foods)
Turmeric ($2.16 @ Whole Foods)
Totals
Carryover from last week: +$26.30
CSA veggies: $25.50
CSA meat: $44.29
Whole Foods: $61.28
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $131.07; $4.77 over budget. Whoo hoo! Only $5 over for the week.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have a bunch of CSA veggies and meats 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.
