Rainy on set.
November 19, 2015
Rainy on set.
November 18, 2015
And so it begins.
Lord & Taylor
November 17, 2015
Happy birthday, Ma. I’m not having a terribly exciting dinner, but you’d have been excited about the pulled pork I had for lunch.
November 16, 2015
I can’t.
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of November 9 – 15
This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover Thai food from last night
Dinner: Thai-inspired ground pork bowl with carrots, scallions and ginger
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover Thai pumpkin chicken curry
Dinner: I made a huge pulled pork shoulder and left the DH with buns to make sandwiches. I had zero time to eat, so I grabbed
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover Thai pumpkin chicken curry
Dinner: Chipotle bourbon steak with paprika brussels sprouts
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: The last of the leftover Thai pumpkin chicken curry (boo)
Dinner: I made a pumpkin protein smoothie in an attempt to solve the no time for dinner & Simple Squares bars + Epic bars don’t really count as dinner conundrum
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Out
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out
This Week’s Grocery List
Fennel, 1 bulb ($2.00 @ Whole Foods)
Asian pear ($1.99 @ Whole Foods)
Yams, 2.62 lbs. ($6.52 @ Whole Foods)
Pomegranate ($2.00 @ Whole Foods)
Smoothie Supplies
Ginger, 7 oz. ($1.60 @ Whole Foods)
Orange juice ($2.99 @ Whole Foods)
3 Apples ($3.47 @ Whole Foods)
Turmeric, 0.63 lb. ($5.03 @ Whole Foods)
4 Avocados + 1 avocado ($5.99+$2.50 @ Whole Foods)
Kale, 1 lb. ($2.99 @ Whole Foods)
Totals
Carryover from last week: ??
CSA meat: $40.00
Whole Foods: $38.08
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $78.08; $21.92 under budget. I have kind of sucked at grocery shopping, meal planning, and eating dinner in general lately. My last CSA shipment hit about 2 weeks ago (more on that when I finally use the last few items), I was traveling and then sick, my DH and I have both had hectic schedules, and things have just been generally chaotic around dinnertime lately. This week, I actually went grocery shopping and was happy that I got to make 2 whole meals at home for the two of us. My Tuesday/Thursday night schedule is going to remain kind of difficult around the time I usually eat dinner throughout the next few months, so I’m going to have to either forcing some really early dinner on myself or figure something better than a couple granola bars or some deli meatballs out to do to feed myself.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have a whole chicken, a few carrots, some parsley, some scallions, an onion, 2 sweet potatoes, a pound of ground beef, and a tiny steak left over.
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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.
November 15, 2015
Gowanus
November 14, 2015
Craziness.
November 13, 2015
Extreme dachshund selfie.
Creamed Corn with Chipotle Oil
What to do with late-season corn when you’re suffering from corn fatigue? Grind it up and make a great base for some slow-cooked meat!
Gluten-free, vegetarian
Creamed Corn with Chipotle Oil
4 ears corn, 3 – 4 cups kernels
2 Tbsp. ghee or butter
2 cloves garlic
1/2 can coconut milk
Kosher salt
2 tsp. adobo sauce
2 Tbsp. avocado oil
Strip the corn from the cob. Add to a pot with the ghee and cook over medium heat until beginning to brown. While the corn is cooking, peel and smash the garlic.
When the corn is browned in spots, add the garlic, 2 big pinches salt and the coconut milk and kick the heat down – simmer 10 minutes.
While the corn is cooking, blend the adobo sauce and avocado oil together.
Drizzle over the corn and serve.
Serves 3 – 4 and makes the perfect foil for last week’s short ribs.
What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables: Brooklyn Beet CSA Box 11
Boo! This is my last CSA box for the year, and man did the time fly. I’m going to miss my boxes of veggies and meat shares during the winter.
This year’s CSA was from Brooklyn Beet CSA. Brooklyn Beet provides veggie shares from Angel Family Farm, a sustainable farm located in Orange County, NY that was created with the support of GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project; fruit shares from Hepworth Family Farm, a 250-acre NOFA-certified seventh-generation family farm in Milton, NY; baked goods from Wild Mountain Bread based in Brooklyn; and a wide variety of grass-fed beef, pasture raised pork, and other products (like other meats, cheeses, bread, flour, grains, lax-fermented vegetables, pastas and other pantry goods) from Lewis Waite Farm, which sources from over 35 local family farms.
I purchased a half share, and received a box containing 6-8 vegetables (about 2 bags worth) every other week from June – October (11 shares), and also ordered a carnivore share box from Lewis Waite (4-6 lbs. of meat) for pickup each veggie week, plus a “Challenger Share” for the season (6 deliveries total) containing odd bits like animal fats, organ meats, neck bones, shanks, and rendered lard. The price of my CSA averaged out to $25.50 per share for veggies, plus an additional $45 per pickup week for meat/offal.
I felt the value for dollar was pretty good compared to other NYC-area CSAs I’ve participated in, and the variety of vegetables provided was pretty good. I actually kind of missed the usual late-summer glut of zucchini, and only really felt menaced by cucumbers and corn throughout the season.
Brooklyn Beets 2015 CSA Box 11
1 huge stalk teeny brussels sprouts
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 kabocha squash
1 bunch radishes
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch scallions
Lewis Waite Meat Share Box 10
1 whole chicken
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. mock tenderloin steak
Pictured but purchased separately: pork shoulder
How I Used My Share
I turned the kabocha squash into a pumpkin chicken curry.
I glazed the tenderloin in bourbon chipotle sauce and pan-seared it – served with paprika & garlic dusted brussels pan seared alongside the steak.
Unsurprisingly, the lettuce didn’t make it.
I made simple pulled pork out of the pork shoulder.
I’ve thrown random radishes in a few dishes.
I made a nice little Thai-inspired ground pork bowl with some carrots, the scallions, and a few radishes.
One of the pumpkins went over to the dark side before I could do anything more than revel in it’s fall-ness.
The last of the green tomatoes and serrano chilis from a few shares ago finally died in the bottom of my veggie drawer (much to my relief).
And I plan on slow-cooking the chicken whole and serving it with zoodles.
Leftovers: Those damn lamb kidneys that were part of one of the challenger shares, a whole bunch of un-rendered lard from a challenger share I still need to address, 1 teeny tiny little steak,
My Favorite Dish From This Box
This week, my favorite was the Thai pumpkin chicken. That dish was freaking delicious. Hopefully my attempt at whole slow-cooked chicken turns out equally as awesome.
Gastography 