This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Coffee with almond milk
Lunch: Leftover Thai food from last night
Dinner: Hot Italian sausages I picked up from the butcher this weekend + roasted broccoli
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Bunless burgers with kale & pear salad
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Chicken soup
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Hot pork sausage skillet with potatoes, a little corn, onions and peppers
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Out
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out
This Week’s Grocery List
Almond Breeze almond milk, 64 oz. ($2.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Honeycrisp apple, ($1.79 @ Amazon Fresh)
Applegate Natural ham, 0.50 lbs. ($5.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Collard greens, 1 lb. ($1.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Just BARE boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 20 oz. (%5.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Brown Asian pear, large ($1.39 @ Amazon Fresh)
Dietz & Watson london broil, 0.50 lbs. ($6.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Local McIntosh apple, large ($0.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Local Gala apple, large ($0.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Scallions, bunch ($0.79 @ Amazon Fresh)
Broccoli, 1 lb. ($1.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Garlic, 1 bulb ($0.70 @ Amazon Fresh)
Smoothie Supplies
Ginger, 8 oz. ($2.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Zico coconut water, 1 liter ($3.98 @ Amazon Fresh)
1 Apple ($0.75 @ Amazon Fresh)
1.5 lbs. limes ($2.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
4 Avocados ($5.00 @ Amazon Fresh)
Kale, 2 bunches ($3.98 @ Amazon Fresh)
Satur Farms baby spinach, 5 oz. ($3.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Totals
Carryover from last week: +$38.20
CSA veggies: $25.50
CSA meat: $40.00
Amazon Fresh: $53.77
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $81.07; $18.93 under budget. Whoo hoo, overages!
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have a bunch of CSA veggies, the chicken I bought, some burgers and a few other random items 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.
