Kittehs!
August 3, 2015
Kittehs!
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of July 27 – August 2
This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs
Lunch: Takeout rotisserie chicken and sweet potato fries
Dinner: Tacos out
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover rotisserie chicken and the veggies it came with
Dinner: Pan-Roasted Chicken With Broccoli & Corn (recipe coming soon)
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover rotisserie chicken salad with a peach, red cabbage and broccoli slaw
Dinner: Zoodles with fried egg, leftover chicken & bacon
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: See: yesterday
Dinner: Fried lamb fries with warm potato salad
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover rotisserie chicken salad with a peach, red cabbage and broccoli slaw
Dinner: Out
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out
This Week’s Grocery List
Bacon ends and pieces ($3.49 @ Trader Joe’s)
Side dish – Broccoli slaw ($1.99 @ Trader Joe’s)
Potatoes 1.5 lb. bag baby reds ($1.79 @ Trader Joe’s)
Shallots ($0.99 @ Trader Joe’s)
Peaches ($2.79 @ Trader Joe’s)
Smoothie Supplies
Ginger ($1.39 @ Trader Joe’s)
Coconut water ($3.69 at Trader Joe’s)
4 Apples ($3.16 at Trader Joe’s)
1 lb. limes ($2.49 at Trader Joe’s)
4 small avocados ($4.49 at Trader Joe’s)
Bagged kale (2) ($2.29 ea at Trader Joe’s)
Bagged spinach ($2.29 at Trader Joe’s)
Impulse Buys
Sriracha roasted garlic bbq sauce ($2.99 @ Trader Joe’s)
Thai lime & chili cashews ($6.99 @ Trader Joe’s)
Raw unsalted almonds ($6.49 @ Trader Joe’s)
Sugar snap peas ($2.99 @ Trader Joe’s)
Bananas (4) ($0.76 @ Trader Joe’s)
Totals
Overage from last week: $21.52
Trader Joe’s: $53.31
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $74.83; $25.17 under budget. Ok, so maybe I need to start thinking of my CSA season grocery budget in two week intervals instead of weekly like the rest of the year. Last week, I went over by $21.52, but that translated into really not having to buy much this week.
Note: Smoothie supplies – limes, apples, coconut water and spinach were all a little more expensive this week than usual.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have lamb kidneys, a few carrots, half a bunch of celery, 1 zucchini and a few cucumbers 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.
August 2, 2015
Looks legit. This is definitely not Christmas refashioned into Birthday wrapping paper.
August 1, 2015
My bestie is the bestest. Love you too, K. ❤ ❤ ❤
July 31, 2015
Random street prettiness.
Pan-Roasted Chicken, Broccoli & Corn
This is a simple to throw together one-skillet meal that’s as satisfying as it is easy.
Gluten-free
Pan-Roasted Chicken, Broccoli & Corn
Adapted from Pan-Roasted Rosemary Chicken from Bon Appetit
1/2 chicken or 2 quarters chicken, bone-in and skin on
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic, divided
3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 shallot
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
1 small head broccoli
1 ear corn
1/4 to 1/2 cup stock
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Splash apple cider vinegar
Salt & pepper
Chop the rosemary and two of the garlic cloves. Mix together with 2 Tbsp. of the oil and spread over the flesh side of the chicken. Cover and chill 1 hour to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400 F with a rack in the lower third. While the oven is heating, pat the skin side of your chicken dry and hit with salt and pepper. In a large cast iron (or other ovenproof) skillet, heat the last Tbsp. oil over medium-high and add the chicken skin side down. Let brown while you chop the veggies and the oven finishes heating.
Chop the broccoli, and de-cob the corn. Add to the sides of the chicken, hit with salt and pepper, and roast uncovered about 25 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 F.
While the chicken and veggies are cooking, prep your add-ins. Dice the shallot and remaining 2 cloves garlic. De-stem the thyme. Collect your broth, butter and vinegar.
Pull the chicken and let rest, skin side up, on a plate.
Sauté the shallot, thyme and garlic in the pan juices over medium heat until softened. Add the broth and vinegar, scraping up the browned bits, until the sauce reduces a bit and the vegetables are nice and coated. Add the butter and stir until combined.
Serves 2 for dinner, with enough chicken leftover for lunch
July 30, 2015
What kind of weirdly shaped chicken butt did this come out of?
July 29, 2015
Construction everywhere.
Montreal, July 2015
This July we were lucky enough to have some vacation days the hubbs needed to burn, so we took a quick trip up to Montreal. And — I know this means nothing to you if you don’t live in a city where you have no access to a car — I got to drive! A car! I was ridiculously excited to be back in the driver’s seat, where there is no car sickness. And I didn’t even kill us – or get a speeding ticket. Whoo!
Thursday
We stopped at a little bike shop/sandwich shop/craft beer and wine bar/local music venue outside of Lake George for lunch on the way up – this was our view. Life is hard.
Oh, Canada!
Our first stop in Montreal was the Plateau neighborhood to walk the eclectic shops and sights of Rues St. Denis and Mont Royal. Dinner was some raw milk cheese from La Fromagerie Hamel, foie and pork pate + cured meats from La Maison Du Roti, and a baguette + croissant from Boulangerie Les Co’pains d’abord eaten in the neighboring park. Delicious, and a perfect start to our adventure.
Friday
Friday, we were up fairly early and started the day with a trip to what we called “our” boulangerie for breakfast and Starbucks for the hubbs (Starbucks did not have my coconut milk – according to the barista, it’s hard to find in Montreal; luckily the boulangerie had almond milk).
And it was on to the Metro (which was easy to navigate) and off to the Hochelaga/Maisonnevue District to view some science and nature.
Montreal Botanical Garden, Insectarium, Biodome & Olympic Stadium
These attractions are all pretty much within sight of each other, and easy to knock out in an afternoon.
Botanical Garden
This was a nice garden, with lots of fruit trees and edible plants. The lunch at the cafe was pretty impressive, too.
On to the Insectarium, which was really impressive. Like, grownups squealing like children and at least one of them dancing around like a loon impressive.
We have never seen such a killer selection of live and pinned bugs from all over the globe. We could have easily spent the afternoon.
On to the Biodome, which was also great. The main exhibit was sloths, which were hanging out in a tree habitat right in the middle of the main area (the sloths were of course sleeping). The penguin exhibit was fantastic, too – a whole room of puffins + a room of larger penguins with enough room to swim and complain.
And since we were basically in the parking lot anyways, we checked out the site of the 1976 Olympics, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
For our one big planned vacation dinner, we were lucky enough to snag seats at Joe Beef. Joe beef is a semi-casual joint with an old school-inspired menu (simple done absolutely flawlessly) in the eclectic Little Burgundy neighborhood. We had some time before our reservation, and checked out the Marche Atwater – a big public farmers market – and some of the little boutique shops along Rue Notre Dame.
Dinner was outstanding. We had the cheval (horse) tartare (our favorite dish of the night), foie pate, ribeye topped with cured ham and bacon, crazy delicious fries, and green beans in lobster sauce. Joe Beef gets a lot of hype – and a lot of hate – and to us, it 100% lived up to its praise. This place was crazy good. For example, the picture above is of the cheval tartare – which was amazing (soft, sweet, complex but delicate flavoring). You wouldn’t expect in a dish like that for the garnish to also be amazing, but those carrots were some of the best either of us had ever had. And they’re just simply roasted. Something I do at home all winter, and I have out at restaurants (and good restaurants) often. But damn, whatever it is that they’re doing at Joe Beef, they need to continue doing it.
After all of that goodness, we waddled our stuffed little selves back to the hotel and passed out.
Saturday
Old Montreal and Old Port
Today was a more “touristy” day spent wandering the picturesque cobblestones of Old Montreal and the renovated Old Port, with a trip up to Montreal’s financial district to compare their “downtown” vs our “downtown”. Big difference: the cleanliness. Over and over we were struck by just how clean Montreal is. And how even in the middle of summer, it doesn’t smell like bum pee and garbage.
We learned some of the history of Montreal at the Chateau Ramezay Museum, and checked out the Bonsecours Market.
We also stopped back up near the hotel for our first plate of Canadian poutine at the 24-hour hotspot, La Banquise. This place, which serves over 30 varieties of poutine, was packed full of young people and a bunch of fun to eat at. It didn’t hurt that the poutine was delicious. We didn’t really understand the draw before, but after splitting an order of ground beef & onion, we got it. This would be the best hangover food ever.
Saturday Night Fireworks
We were fortunate enough to be visiting Montreal during the 31st annual L’International des Feux Loto-Quebec, a massive 25-country fireworks competition held at La Ronde (Montreal Six Flags) at Parc Jean-Drapeau. We watched the team from Hong Kong set off an absolutely stunning display from on top of the Jacques-Cartier bridge.
After a shorter-than expected (3 mile) walk back to the hotel, we called it a (late) night.
Sunday
Mont Royal Park & Beer
On the way out of town, we drove up to the top of Mont Royal to check out the view.
And then we headed home via Vermont, to pick up some hard-to-find beer. We also had a ridiculously delicious brunch at Misery Loves Company, a nice little rustic chic spot where we ate some great char & roe tater tots, shrimp & grits and seafood benedict in downtown Winooski.
Since we were already loving Vermont, we opted to take the Lake Champlain Ferry back to NY. We need to plan a trip just to Burlington and the surrounding area sometime soon. That place was gorgeous and the half hour we spent exploring the waterfront before hopping on the boat was not nearly enough time to see all the area has to offer.
And that was our trip. It wasn’t long, but we had a great time.
July 28, 2015
