Gastography

This Week’s Menu

Monday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Leftover broiled cabbage + leftover avocado chicken burger

Dinner: The hubby worked late, so I had assorted leftovers for dinner

Tuesday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Primal carbonara (recipe coming soon)

Wednesday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Leftovers from last night

Dinner: Chicken/asparagus/avocado/hatch chile salsa paleo pizza

Thursday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Leftover pizza toppings

Dinner: Chicken/bacon/avocado bowl with green beans

Friday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Leftover chicken bowl stuffs from last night

Dinner: Out

Saturday

Breakfast: Out

Lunch: Out

Dinner:

Sunday

Breakfast: Out

Lunch: Out

Dinner: Out

This Week’s Grocery List

Savoy cabbage ($3.29 @ Amazon Fresh)
Organic dill, 0.25 ounces ($0.99 @ Amazon Fresh)

Pimento stuffed green olives, 8 ounces ($3.79 @ Amazon Fresh)

Flat leaf parsley ($1.49 @ Amazon Fresh)

Asparagus ($3.99 @ Amazon Fresh)

Just BARE boneless skinless chicken breasts, 14 ounces ($5.25 @ Amazon Fresh)

Just BARE boneless skinless chicken thighs, 20 ounces ($5.49 @ Amazon Fresh)

Serrano chili, 4 ounces ($1.00 @ Amazon Fresh)

Orange bell pepper ($0.89 @ Amazon Fresh)

Organic broccolini ($2.99 @ Amazon Fresh)

Greenhouse campari tomatoes, 1 lb. ($3.49 @ Amazon Fresh)

Plantain chips, 4 ounces ($1.52 @ Amazon Fresh)

Hatch green chilis, 4 ounces canned ($1.90 @ Amazon Fresh)

Purity Farms ghee, 7.5 ounces ($6.79 @ Amazon Fresh)

Spaghetti squash ($3.05 @ Amazon Fresh)

Garlic, 2 bulbs ($0.96 @ Amazon Fresh)

Organic sweet potatoes, 2 lbs. ($2.46 @ Amazon Fresh)

Diamond pecans, 6 ounces ($5.79 @ Amazon Fresh)

Smoothie Supplies

3 Apples ($2.37 @ Amazon Fresh)
Limes, 1.5 lbs. ($2.77 @ Amazon Fresh)
4 Avocados ($4.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Bagged kale, 1 lb. ($5.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Ginger, 8 ounces ($1.99 @ Amazon Fresh)

Zico Natural Coconut Water, 1 liter ($3.50 @ Amazon Fresh)

Totals

Amazon Fresh: $80.24 (with tip)

Budget Breakout

This week, I spent $80.24; $19.76 under budget. Yay, making up for last week’s overages.

Leftovers From This Week

At the end of the week, I have plantain chips, ground beef, serrano chiles and broccolini 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.