This Week’s Menu

Monday

Breakfast: Green smoothies

Lunch: Leftover meat with guacamole

Dinner: Instant Pot pulled pork with spiced roasted parsnips

Tuesday

Breakfast: Green smoothies

Lunch: Cruciferous Crunch salad with leftover meat

Dinner: Instant Pot green curry chicken with cauliflower rice

Wednesday

Breakfast: Green smoothies

Lunch: Cruciferous Crunch salad with leftover meat

Dinner: Ginger sesame chicken zoodles

Thursday

Breakfast: Green smoothies

Lunch: Leftover dinner from last night

Dinner: The plan was to make pulled pork tacos in cabbage wraps with an apple/mint slaw, but that fell through when Trader Joes didn’t have cabbage. I improvised and made a killer bowl out of the apple/mint slaw and pork.

Friday

Breakfast: Green smoothies

Lunch: Cruciferous Crunch with pulled pork and a light hazelnut oil/lime dressing.

Dinner: I had planned on eating out tonight, but the hubby had to work so I cobbled something together – the last of my big chicken thigh pack, with a quick sweet potato hash and eggs

Saturday

Breakfast: I actually ate breakfast in today (I usually brunch both days or grab something quick from the bodega/Starbucks). I made a semi-successful bowl consisting of half a can of Ro-Tel, 2 eggs and half an avocado.

Lunch: Out

Dinner: Out

Sunday

Breakfast: Out

Lunch: Out

Dinner: I had intended on making burgers and sweet potato fries, but we had a large lunch and picked up things to snack on while grocery shopping.

This Week’s Grocery List

Cabbage X (I wanted this to make tacos with the pulled pork but they were out)
Apple ($0.79 at Trader Joe’s)
Mint ($1.69 at Trader Joe’s)
Veggie for side (1 lb. parsnips – $1.79 at Trader Joe’s)
Coconut milk (2) ($1.98 at Trader Joe’s)
Radishes ($0.99 at Trader Joe’s)
Cauliflower ($2.49 at Trader Joe’s)
Cucumber or zucchini
Sesame oil ($2.29 at Trader Joe’s)
Cilantro ($1.79 at Trader Joe’s)
Sweet potato ($0.49 at Trader Joe’s)
Ghee ($4.79 at Trader Joe’s)
Coffee ($4.99 at Trader Joe’s)
Nuts for snacks ($7.99 at Trader Joe’s)
Lunch veggie (1 bag Cruciferous Crunch – $2.29 at Trader Joe’s)
Ground beef ($7.49 at Trader Joe’s)
Zucchini ($1.50 for 2 at Trader Joe’s)
Carrots ($2.49 at Trader Joe’s)

Smoothie Supplies

Ginger ($1.39 at Trader Joe’s)
Coconut water ($3.69 at Trader Joe’s)
4 Apples ($2.76 at Trader Joe’s)
1 lb. limes ($1.49 at Trader Joe’s)
2 Avocados ($2.78 at Trader Joe’s)
Bagged kale (2) ($4.58 at Trader Joe’s)
Bagged spinach ($1.99 at Trader Joe’s)

Budget Breakout

This week, I spent 64.52; 36.48 under budget. This week’s budget was helped immensely by the pork shoulder and chicken thighs I picked up last week at Whole Foods while they were on sale. The chicken was about $12 and the pork was about $25. With the meat added in, I would have hit right at my budget limit. I watch meat sales closely and stock up when I can for weeks when I have to buy high-dollar items like fats and snack nuts.

Leftovers From This Week

At the end of the week, I have carrots, celery, half a bag of radishes, ground beef and 1 small sweet potato 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.