Brews with a view.
July 22, 2015
Brews with a view.
July 21, 2015
Old & new.
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of July 13 – 19
This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover roasted chicken with leftover spicy chard salad
Dinner: Plantain crusted buffalo turkey breast with olive/rosemary/bacon mustard greens
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover spicy chard salad with leftover plantain crusted turkey breast
Dinner: Slow cooker pork ribs with roasted grapefruit beets & radishes
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: The last of the leftover spicy chard salad with 3 fried eggs
Dinner: Ate dinner out
Thursday
Breakfast: Vacation!
Lunch: Vacation!
Dinner: Vacation!
Friday
Breakfast: Vacation!
Lunch: Vacation!
Dinner: Vacation!
Sunday
Breakfast: Vacation!
Lunch: Vacation!
Dinner: Vacation!
This Week’s Grocery List
Rosemary ($1.99 @ Brooklyn Fare)
Grapefruit ($1.49 @ Brooklyn Fare)
Olives ($3.79 @ Brooklyn Fare)
Smoothie Supplies
1 lb. Apples ($1.50 @ Brooklyn Fare)
3 limes ($0.60 @ Brooklyn Fare)
1 Avocado ($1.67 @ Brooklyn Fare)
Satur Farms mixed kale ($3.99 @ Brooklyn Fare)
Bagged spinach ($1.99 at Trader Joe’s)
Impulse Buys
Brew Free or Die beer ($12.99 @ Brooklyn Fare)
Granny Smith Polar seltzer ($1.00 @ Brooklyn Fare)
2.25 lb. Cherries ($6.73 @ Brooklyn Fare)
Talenti gelato ($3.99 @ Brooklyn Fare)
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $41.51; $59.49 under budget. Finally! An under budget week. Of course it helps that this is a short week + I had a bunch of CSA goodies left from last week.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have ground beef, eggs, collard greens and romaine lettuce 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.
July 20, 2015
This guy had a rough day full of panic every time his dad left his sight, and a tense me when that brought on whining and barking with every breath.
July 19, 2015
Mont Royal, Montreal
A stop off in Vermont to feed my hubby’s beer nerdedness
Followed by a ferry ride
And home.
July 18, 2015
Explored Montreal’s old city, waterfront and downtown areas today. Lots of cobblestones, tourists, ice cream & poutine.
Blistered Lemon Green Beans
Lemon! This is one of those bright, punchy side dishes that calls to mind hot summer evenings spent draped over the arms of furniture because it’s wilty outside, potluck barbecues with friends, and the bounty of an overflowing CSA box.
In short, it’s delicious and will wake your tastebuds up. Plus, it’s safe for pretty much everyone if you want to bring it somewhere.
Gluten-free, paleo, Whole30, vegetarian, vegan
Blistered Lemon Green Beans
1 lb. beans (I used a mix of yellow and green)
2-3 lemons
2 tsp. FOC (fat of choice)
4 cloves roasted garlic
1 Tbsp. tahini
2 Tbsp. chopped basil
Kosher salt & pepper
Water
First, tip your green beans and put your broiler on high. Add the green beans in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Slice one of the lemons in half, and then into thin rounds (peel and all). Pick out the seeds of the rounds and place on the cookie sheet with the green beans. Sprinkle with your fat of choice, salt and pepper.
Broil until the green beans are starting to blister and the lemons are starting to burn – roughly 5 mins., turn the pan and 3 mins. (at least in my oven) – start with 5 minutes and watch from there.
While your green beans are burning, make the dressing. Dice the garlic and add to a small bowl with 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, the tahini, and a shot of salt & pepper. Stir to combine and add a little water (about a Tablespoon) to loosen up a little if needed. Chop the basil and add to the dressing. Stir again.
When the beans and lemon slices are ready, remove from the pan. Dice the lemon (peel and all) and add to the dressing.
Toss the dressing with the beans well to combine (I massaged the dressing into the beans with my fingers).
Serves 2-3 as a dinner side
July 17, 2015
Olympic Stadium
Bugs!
& Joe Beef
A fantabulous day.
July 16, 2015
Dinner in Montreal: 1 hard & 1 soft raw milk cheeses, pork & duck pate, baguette and cured meats – all made locally and enjoyed in the park.
July 15, 2015
Dobby was nervous about the thunder, bags on the bed, cleaning, and multiple sets of clothing being layed out – I had work to do and couldn’t hold a 20 pound house elf in my too-small-for-him lap all morning. Compromise reached.
And yes, I know, I’m a sucker.
Look at that face ….
