Back off, ladies, he’s all mine. 🙂
February 23, 2015
Back off, ladies, he’s all mine. 🙂
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of February 16 – 22
This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Lemongrass chicken meatballs with spicy pineapple samba & an egg with broiled green beans
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers – pumpkin puree with leftover meat
Dinner: Was supposed to be London Broil, but Amazon sent us ground beef instead – so I made bunless burgers with the seared okra & harissa crema side I had planned.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers – pumpkin puree with paleo doro wat
Dinner: Chicken nuggets with broiled balsamic brussels sprouts
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftover balsamic beef & broccoli
Dinner: Dinner was supposed to be an eggplant/sausage strata, but I ran out of eggs so I had to improvise. I ended up making a sort-of strata with diced eggplant so the hubbs wouldn’t be bothered by the texture and a kind of made-up sauce. It was good. Not what I had envisioned with a strata, but tasty nonetheless.
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Good thing I had leftover pulled pork and taco shells – i completely forgot that tonight was yoga and needed to eat something quick before heading out the door. Yay, accidental pre-planning! I made spicy pickled pineapple and a quick sriracha crema to go alongside. Yum.
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Snacks
This Week’s Grocery List
Chicken breasts ($5.25 for 14 ounces @Amazon Fresh)
Navel orange ($1.49 @Amazon Fresh)
Pat LaFrieda Hot Italian Sausage (1 lb. $5.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Ground chicken (1 lb. $7.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Brussels sprouts (1 lb. $2.50 @Amazon Fresh)
2 lemons ($1.50 @Amazon Fresh)
Organic cilantro ($1.69 @Amazon Fresh)
Pat LaFrieda grass fed London Broil (1 lb. $11.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Eggplant ($1.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Okra (1 lb. $2.25 @Amazon Fresh)
Green beans (1 lb. $1.69 @Amazon Fresh)
28 ounce can Muir Glen organic fire roasted diced tomatoes ($2.69 @Amazon Fresh)
13.5 ounce can Native Forest unsweetened organic coconut milk ($1.86 @Amazon Fresh)
20 ounce can Dole pineapple chunks in juice ($1.29 @Amazon Fresh)
8 ounce bottle Coconut Secret coconut aminos ($5.69 @Amazon Fresh)
Mina Spicy Harissa (10 ounce jar $6.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Garlic (2 bulbs for $9.06 @Amazon Fresh)
Shallots (8 ounces for $1.50 @Amazon Fresh)
Cafe Du Monde Chickory Coffee (15 ounces for $9.49 @Amazon Fresh)
28 ounce can Muir Glen Organic peeled whole tomatoes ($2.38 @Amazon Fresh)
2 stalks lemongrass ($0.99 each @bodega)
1 bunch basil ($0.99 @ bodega)
1 bunch mint ($0.99 @ bodega)
Silk Cashew Milk ($4.59 @ bodega)
Smoothie Supplies
Ginger ($1.99 for 8 ounces @Amazon Fresh)
5 Apples ($3.95 @Amazon Fresh)
1.5 lbs. limes ($2.77 @Amazon Fresh)
Cut kale (2 5 oz. clamshells) ($6.98 @Amazon Fresh)
Totals
$92.87 @ Amazon Fresh
$7.59 @ bodega
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $100.46; $0.46 over budget. Let’s just call $0.46 even. I’m not stressing out over less than a buck. This was another ‘I live in Hoth, so I’m getting delivery!’ week of groceries from Amazon Fresh. I planned a little poorly this week, too – the coffee I bought I hated (but drank all week anyways), I forgot to buy more eggs, and I had to switch dinner gears a couple times because Amazon’s wires got crossed and they sent me ground beef instead of London Broil. But, I’m happy that I was able to pull 5 meals out this week – even when I’d only planned for 4. Way to go, me. This was one of those instances where my general plan of always having at least meat on hand really paid off.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have a couple scrawny carrots, 2 radishes, a hand full of jalapeños, and a random grapefruit 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.
Playing With Fonts
This series of images was inspired by the new Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking image I created. I had forgotten how much I like to tinker with backgrounds and fonts and these little exercises gave me a chance to stretch those muscles a little. Why motivational quotes? Nerd Fitness, of course! This desire to stretch my creative wings coincided perfectly with the start of a six-week challenge cycle. Each day’s forum thread update featured one of these images, and they went over surprisingly well. So well, I’m posting them here in perpetuity for my Internet buds.
Note: These are not my original quotes (save one), I found them floating around the Internet. If you would like to re-purpose these images or use them on your own, please provide a link back to this page.
February 22, 2015
Happy little tools.
February 21, 2015
Tracks like fighter jets.
February 20, 2015
Braving Hoth for yoga.
Instant Pot Salsa Verde Pork
This is a fantastic pork dish. The salsa creates a great little sauce and the flavor can be dressed a bunch of different ways when dealing with leftovers.
Gluten-free, paleo, Whole30
Instant Pot Salsa Verde Pork
5 lbs. pork shoulder
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 Tbsp. Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 onion, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tsp. dried oregano
Juice of 1 orange
3 Tbsp. lime juice
1 jar Salsa Verde (Trader Joe’s brand is Whole30 compliant)
1/2 of the empty salsa verde jar water
Sprinkle the pork with the salt, cumin and chili powder.
Press the Saute button to preheat the cooker. When “Hot” appears on the display, add the coconut oil and brown your meat.
Add the onion, garlic, oregano, orange and lime juices, salsa and water. Seat the lid on the pressure cooker.
Press the Manual button and use the + button to program 90 minutes cooking time.
When the finished beep sounds, it is best to let the machine release its pressure naturally if possible (takes about 20 minutes). Always check to make sure the pressure valve has dropped before removing the lid.
This is great served as-is, but if you want to go a step further and make crispy carnitas, kick your broiler on high. Spread the pork out on a baking tray covered in foil. Strain the cooking liquid and de-fat if desired. Pour over the meat and broil 5 minutes. Stir, broil 5 minutes more – or until desired crispiness is reached.
February 19, 2015
And by ‘I don’t need your help, get off my leggings’ you mean crawl forward slower and attempt to get you to pet my belly, right?
February 18, 2015
Progress
February 17, 2015
Perhaps the best invention ever for winos and aspiring winos who may or may not be grace challenged.
Gastography 