Gastography

This Week’s Menu

Monday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Leftover “race fuel” – ground beef with a tiny bit of rice

Dinner: Grilled salmon with paleo spring vegetable paella

Tuesday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Leftover paella from last night + bacon and 2 fried eggs

Dinner: Paleo pork tacos with pineapple rhubarb salsa

Wednesday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Pulled pork over cabbage slaw with pineapple rhubarb salsa

Dinner: Chicken with roasted spring vegetables and a lemon goat cheese sauce

Thursday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Pulled pork over cabbage slaw with pineapple rhubarb salsa again, since it was so good yesterday

Dinner: Pulled pork & spring vegetable “pad thai” with bell pepper, peas and carrot – but not the spaghetti squash it was supposed to have.

Friday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Whipped goat cheese chicken salad with thyme, grapes & pecan

Dinner: Ate out

Sunday

Breakfast: Out

Lunch: Out

Dinner: Out

 

This Week’s Grocery List

Red bell pepper ($1.08 @ Amazon Fresh)
Zucchini, 1lb (2) ($2.29 @ Amazon Fresh)
Just BARE boneless skinless antibiotic-free chicken thighs, 20oz. ($5.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Natural pork boneless shoulder roast, 3 lb. ($14.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Coleslaw mix, 16oz. ($1.50 @ Amazon Fresh)
Cauliflower ($4.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Red seedless grapes, 2 lb. ($5.98 @ Amazon Fresh)
Alaska wild caught sockeye salmon, 8oz. x 2 ($14.98 @ Amazon Fresh)
Sunset mini kumato tomatoes, 16oz. ($3.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Chavrie goat cheese, 4oz. ($3.07 @ Amazon Fresh)
Organic leeks, 3 ($3.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Organic broccolini ($3.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Asparagus ($4.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Green onions ($1.29 @ Amazon Fresh)
Birds Eye frozen peas, 10.8oz. ($1.79 @ Amazon Fresh)
Sliced pimentos, 4oz. ($2.19 @ Amazon Fresh)
Organic fingerling potatoes, 1.5 lb. ($4.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Spaghetti squash ($3.84 @ Amazon Fresh)
Yellow onion ($0.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Reese quartered artichoke hearts, 14oz. ($2.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
La Croix sparkling water (lime), 8 pk ($2.88 @ Amazon Fresh)

Smoothie Supplies

Zico Natural coconut water, 1 liter ($3.98 @ Amazon Fresh)
4 Apples (Food Emporium)
5 limes (Food Emporium)
2 Avocados (Food Emporium)
Bagged kale (Food Emporium)

 

Totals

Food Emporium $20
Amazon Fresh $95.27

Budget Breakout

This week, I spent $115.27; $15.27 over budget. Crap. I *knew* this week looked expensive as I was checking out on Amazon Fresh — and then I remembered that I’d already purchased $20 worth of smoothie supplies. The grilled salmon treat was totally worth the overage, though. Boo overages.

 

Leftovers From This Week

At the end of the week, I have spaghetti squash, some random bits (half a can of artichoke hearts, half a jar of pimento, half a bunch of broccolini, half a package of coleslaw mix) left over. I need to incorporate these items into my menu for next week.

—

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. 

This Week’s Menu

Monday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Chicken/cabbage/rhubarb/grape salad

Dinner: Semi-successful thyme & lemon chicken with rhubarb and sweet potato

Tuesday

Breakfast: Green smoothie

Lunch: Chicken/cabbage/rhubarb/grape salad

Dinner: Bunless burger with not-the-best hot chili sautéed broccoli rabe

Wednesday

Breakfast: Green smoothies

Lunch: Chicken/cabbage/rhubarb/grape salad

Dinner: Pork chops with chili blistered brussels sprouts

Thursday

Breakfast: Green smoothies

Lunch: Chicken/rhubarb/grape/pecan salad

Dinner: A ludicrously small amount of peas with broiled London broil

Friday

Breakfast: Green smoothies

Lunch: Chicken/rhubarb/pecan salad

Dinner: Out

Saturday

Breakfast: Out

Lunch: Out

Dinner: Pre-race fuel – my DH made his pre-race meal of rice & hamburger – mine was heavy on the burger/light on rice; his was heavy on rice/light on meat.

 

This Week’s Grocery List

Cage-free brown eggs, dozen ($3.79 @ Fresh Direct)
Sliced antibiotic-free rosemary grilled chicken breast, 6oz. x2 ($8.00 @ Fresh Direct)
Pat LaFrieda dry aged beef burgers, 6oz. x4 ($13.49 @ Fresh Direct)
English peas, 0.51lb. ($1.52 @ Fresh Direct)
Jumbo yellow onion ($0.60 @ Fresh Direct)
Rhubarb, 1.44lb. ($2.87 @ Fresh Direct)
Lemons x4 ($3.00 @ Fresh Direct)
Thyme ($1.99 @ Fresh Direct)
Grass fed ground beef ($9.99 @ Brooklyn Fare)

Smoothie Supplies

4 Apples ($3.99 @ Fresh Direct)
2 Avocados ($4.00 @ Fresh Direct)
Satur Farms cut mixed kale, 50z. ($3.49 @ Fresh Direct)

 

Totals

$53.01 Fresh Direct
$9.99 Brooklyn Fare

 

Budget Breakout

This week, I spent $63.00; $37.00 under budget. Yay, leftover meat from last week! Having leftovers from last week’s shopping really saved my budget this week. Enough so, I bought ridiculously expensive chicken for lunch without worrying about it. Hopefully I can parlay the $5 in budgetary overage I still have (last week’s groceries were $31.69 over budget) into a little extra meat next week to start building my emergency stockpile back up.

 

Leftovers From This Week

At the end of the week, I have 1 aging head of broccoli rabe, half a bulb of fennel, and two burgers left over. I need to incorporate these items into my menu for next week.

—

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.