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 ….
July 14, 2015
Delicious.
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of July 6 – 12
This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftover sandwich stuff (deli meat with collard green wrapper) + fruit salad from the weekend
Dinner: Another sandwich because I clearly have an addiction and can’t be stopped
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Boo! No sandwiches left – had a fruit salad with the last of my leftover spicy beef + radishes + watermelon/blueberry/strawberry mix + sriracha + salt
Dinner: Grilled London Broil with sautéed broccoli raab
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Attended a wedding and ate dinner there
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Roasted bird breast (which turned out to be half a chicken) with lemon balm and basil + a side of green & yellow beans with whole roasted lemon & basil
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Out
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out
This Week’s Grocery List
I was good this week and had enough to limp along for dinner on Monday and Tuesday before my CSA box came in.
Smoothie Supplies
Ginger (Brooklyn Fare)
4 Apples (Brooklyn Fare)
4 limes (Brooklyn Fare)
2 avocados (Brooklyn Fare)
Clamshell kale ($2.99 @ Brooklyn Fare)
CSA Meat Impulse Buys
This crazy good sounding supposedly raw milk cheddar cheese ($9.00 @ LW)
Eggs ($4.29 @ LW) – mental note: hurry up and eat the eggs I already have
Totals
CSA Veggies: $25.50
CSA Meats: $53.29
Brooklyn Fare: Ummmmm …. ??
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent an undisclosed amount; $0.00 under budget. Ok, so this week I was a budget breakout failure. I forgot to keep my receipt for smoothie supplies, so I don’t know how much I spent – I’m guessing it wasn’t more than $21.21, because that would be crazy. I know the kale cost $2.99. Other than that, I wasn’t paying attention; I was busy picking up a whole bunch of fruit, beer, “chips” and deli meats for a game night spread (and spending a quintillion dollars on dinner that night because I went to the expensive grocery store). I’m guessing the rest cost around $15; $1-something for ginger, about $1 per apple, $1 per lime, and $2 per avocado.
I also spent around $5 grabbing last minute extras for a spicy chard salad I whipped together to take to a potluck on Saturday.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have radishes, mustard greens, collard greens, romaine, swiss chard, basil, turkey breast, ground beef, pork ribs and eggs leftover.
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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 13, 2015
Back to it – maybe a day too soon.
July 12, 2015
All the cool kids are doing it 🙂
