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.
Last Week (Week of March 3 – 7)
The Plan vs. Reality
Monday
- The Plan – Bo Ssam with leftover Momofuku pork from last week + ?? as a side
- Reality – The Bo Ssam was on the slapdash side, since I couldn’t find all the ingredients called for in the recipe I wanted to follow. We ended up having a Korean BBQ-inspired pork bowl with seared pineapple, scallion sauce and cauliflower rice. It was still good.
Tuesday
- The Plan – Thai noodle bowl with ground beef, onions, bell peppers and zoodles
- Reality – The Thai zoodles went off without a hitch.
Wednesday
- The Plan – Pulled pork with sauteed pineapple and cauliflower fried rice with leftover Momofuku pork and pineapple from last week
- Reality – I had a last-minute appointment after work – and we ate the cauliflower fried rice dish last Friday, after the weekly menu had been finished. My backup plan for today was shredded pork, seared pineapple and caramelized onion “pizza” (using Primal Girl’s Magic Wonder Dough). But, since I had somewhere to be during prime dinner-making time, my DH ended up pantry-scrounging and made his famous marinara. I had some when I got home with macadamia ricotta I’d been dying to make (I had the macadamias in the pantry) and leftover zoodles. Success.
Thursday
- The Plan – Braised chicken with parsnips, leeks & cabbage with leftover parsnips, leek & cabbage from last week
- Reality – The braised chicken worked out well, despite having eaten the cabbage at the beginning of the week.
Friday
- The Plan – Concert, no dinner
- Reality – I wasn’t even thinking when I planned this week’s menu – we now live within spitting distance of the concert venue — and I got to make dinner and work out before making the whopping 5 minute trek to the show. Made the “pizza” I had wanted to make Wednesday and it was fantastic.
Lunches
- The Plan – Kale salad with beets, citrus and a kicky vinaigrette (2-3 lunches) & Roast squash, pea shoot and shredded hard boiled egg salad with horseradish vinaigrette (2-3 lunches)
- Reality – The kale salad happened as planned and lasted as long as I had hoped (3 days)
- The Plan – Salad of roast squash, sautéed pea shoots & shredded hard boiled egg (with horseradish sauce)
- Reality – Leftovers called and wanted me to eat them
- The Plan – Baked sweet potato with walnut and chive (and horseradish sauce)
- Reality – Was this really intended, or just an option? Leftovers again
This Week: March 10 – 15
After compiling a huge spreadsheet of grass fed beef/happy chicken/happy pork prices and agonizing over which option is the most cost effective, I decided to order our meat for the rest of the month from my usual standby – US Wellness Meats*. This is why I chose to go that route: US Wellness Meats has a better variety than the other places I was able to comparison shop (by miles), I know and like their quality, and I can get what I want (usually). Shipping is also not bad – $7.50 handling per order (no shipping charge) and next-day. Compare that with other online meat purveyors’ $30 and up for shipping and I’m sold. Plus, they have monthly sales. When balanced against the brick-and-mortar and local online options I found, it’s much more cost effective to purchase the type of meat I want here. That’s not to say I don’t love my local butcher(s) – I do and I will be making the trip to my very favorite when sausage season rolls around – but when dealing with a budget, I really need to be able to plan ahead.
This is what we will be eating for the rest of the month:
London broil (2 meals – $25.60)
Inside skirt steak (1 meal – $9.90)
Sandwich steak (2 meals – $13.20)
Flank steak (2 meals – $13.50)
Sirloin tip steak (1 meal – $14.50)
Flat iron steak (2 meals – $25.99)
Ground pork (1 meal – $7.60)
Butterflied pork chops (2 meals – $10.76 x 2)
Chick roast (3 meals – $24.49)
This is enough meat for 15-16 meals (5 meals per week). I spent $140.35, which will be defrayed over the next three week’s total grocery budgets (I will have $53.22 left to spend each week).
*No, I’m not being paid by US Wellness meats for advertising, nor do they know I exist as anything other than a customer number in the system. I happen to like their quality and think their prices are reasonable, compared to comparable quality items in my area.
While we’re on the topic of happy meat, here is the 2013 Clean 15/Dirty Dozen from the Environmental Working Group. I try to buy our produce with these lists in mind, but cost definitely plays a factor in what ends up in the cart.
This Week’s Proposed Menu
- Monday: Vietnamese Shaking Beef with carrot noodles and arugula
- Tuesday: Marinated sandwich steaks with Poppy Seed & Lemon Hashed Brussels Sprouts
- Wednesday: London Broil with Whole Roasted Cauliflower
- Thursday: Inside Skirt Steak with chimichurri and plantains and callaloo
- Friday: Pork chops with bacon, apple/brandy compote and crispy sweet potatoes
- Lunch: Nom Nom Paleo’s Egg Foo Young (2-3 lunches)
- Lunch: Baked sweet potato with walnut and chive (and horseradish sauce) (1-2 lunches)
- Lunch: Salad of roast squash, sautéed pea shoots & shredded hard boiled egg (with horseradish sauce) (2-4 lunches)
Shopping List & Cost Breakout
Grocery Store Key: TJ = Trader Joe’s, WF = Whole Foods, O = optional item if the budget allows
This week, I have $53.22 to spend, after taking out this week’s portion of the big meat purchase.
Planned Meal Components
Red onion ($0.89 @ TJ)
Yellow onion – O Did not get
Red pepper – O Did not get
Green pepper – O Did not get
Okra – O Did not get
Squash – O (20 ounces cut butternut $2.29 @ TJ)
1 lb. fresh spinach – O Did not get
Arugula ($1.99 @ TJ)
Carrots ($0.89 @ TJ)
Brussels sprouts ($2.79 @ TJ)
Lemon(s) ($0.98 @ TJ)
White wine – Did not get
Garlic ($1.29 @ TJ)
Cauliflower ($2.49 @ TJ)
Apple ($0.69 @ TJ)
Plantain – Did not get
Frozen spinach ($1.49 @ TJ)
Shallot ($0.99 @ TJ)
Bay leaf – Did not get
A citrus fruit – O ($0.69 @ TJ)
Basil – O ($2.69 @ TJ)
Smoothie Supplies
Kale (2 bags) ($2.29 x 2 @TJ)
Spinach (1 bag) ($1.99 @ TJ)
5 apples ($3.45 @TJ)
Celery ($1.79 @ TJ)
4 avocados ($3.69 @TJ)
Coconut water ($3.69 @TJ)
3 limes ($1.47 @TJ)
Incidentals/Snacks for the Hubbs/Shopping lunch for me
Frozen mac & cheese – in red package ($2.99 @ TJ)
Stevia ($5.99 @ TJ)
Total TJ: $49.80
Total WF: $0.00
Total For The Week: $49.80; $3.42 under budget. Some compromises were had at the grocery store this week. The plantains and callaloo I had planned are out for budgetary and store stock reasons; and the whole head of cauliflower I was going to make may need to be rethought, since I was not able to grab cheapie wine.
Pantry/items repurposed from last week: pork shoulder, pineapple, fats, spices, nut butter, eggs, snow peas, squash, sweet potatoes, macadamia “ricotta”, parsley
Gastography 