11th hour POD taking. My current favorite scent. For someone who is smell sensitive and can’t wear the vast majority of commercial perfumes, this oil from Nemat provides a warm, rich scent that doesn’t leave me nauseous.
March 18, 2015
Fingers crossed for a deck.
March 17, 2015
Ears like Lord Vader’s helmet.
Sidebar: happy St. Patty’s Day to me. More than half of what I’ve eaten today has been green – and I’ve had cabbage for two meals. Delicious.
March 16, 2015
First medal of the year.
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of March 9 – 13
This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftover pulled beef and shredded quick-sauteed red cabbage
Dinner: Dinner was supposed to be london broil with bagna cauda sauce, but the hubbs wasn’t hungry, so I scrounged and ate mini breadless muffuletta sandwiches (the last of the cured meats I bought to snack on last weekend + olive tapenade + dijon mustard) with a hand full of veggie chips also purchased last weekend.
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: The last of the pulled beef leftovers + the last of the shredded red cabbage, quick-sauteed again with a bit of ghee and cumin
Dinner: Instant Pot Kalua Pig + a brussels sprouts hash that I had intended upon blogging about, but didn’t work as well as hoped.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftover Kalua Pig + cabbage
Dinner: Buffalo Cracklin Chicken with sweet potato (coming soon to a blog near you)
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftover Kalua Pig + cabbage
Dinner: Dinner was supposed to be pork chops with a broiled cabbage side, but I made spectacular bacon and egg stuffed paleo pancakes (coming soon) instead.
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Surprise leftover snap pea salad found in the back of the fridge and miraculously not molded yet + the second half of last week’s grapefruit + a healthy whop of leftover Kalua Pig.
Dinner: Out
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out
This Week’s Grocery List
Cilantro ($1.69 @Amazon Fresh)
Pat LaFrieda grass fed london broil, 1 lb. ($11.99 @Amazon Fresh) — Amazon Fresh gave me ground beef again instead of London Broil.
Satur Farms arugula, 5 oz. (I ended up getting this item for free because last-minute substitutions had to be made)
Boneless pork shoulder roast, 3 lb. ($14.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Organic green cabbage (2 heads) ($3.98 @Amazon Fresh)
Brussels sprouts, 1 lb. ($2.50 @Amazon Fresh)
Lemons (2) ($1.50 @Amazon Fresh)
Garlic (2) ($0.96 @Amazon Fresh)
Organic basil, 0.25 oz. ($0.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Black peppercorn grinder, 1.24 oz. ($1.22 @Amazon Fresh)
Organic sweet potatoes, 2 lb. ($2.46 @Amazon Fresh)
Silk cashew milk ($5.00 @Brooklyn Faire)
Eggs ($2.00 @ CVS)
Smoothie Supplies
Zico coconut water, 1 liter ($2.39 @Amazon Fresh)
4 Apples ($3.95 @Amazon Fresh)
1.5 lb. limes ($2.77 @Amazon Fresh)
4 Avocados ($4.49 @Amazon Fresh)
Satur Farms mixed kale, 5 oz. (2) ($6.98 @Amazon Fresh)
Satur Farms baby spinach, 5 oz. ($3.49 @Amazon Fresh)
Simply pulp free orange juice, 59 oz. ($2.99 @Amazon Fresh)
Totals
$69.34 Amazon Fresh
$5.00 Brooklyn Fare
$2.00 CVS
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $76.34; $23.66 under budget. Yay, having extra meat. That really saved my proverbial bacon this week. That, and getting creative with what I had on hand. London Broil didn’t pan out again this week – which was actually fine, but annoying. And I had a craving (obsession?) with pancakes that I had to drop everything immediately to make.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have pork chops, ground beef, a head of cabbage, a few stalks celery, and a few jalapeños 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.
March 15, 2015
I want an Intergalactic Spaceboat of Light And Wonder.
March 14, 2015
Escaping the dog for a night in exotic New Haven, Connecticut. Yup, it’s chilly here, too. I’m over not being warm.
Buffalo Cracklin Chicken Bowl
Mmmmmm….. Nom Nom Paleo’s Cracklin Chicken.
For someone formerly horrified by (and still kind of wary of) chicken skin, this recipe was a revelation. And, it gives me something to do with skin-on chicken.
I inexplicably had some of this delectable chicken gift left over from my last batch and felt the need to dress it up a little. And pretty much all I wanted to eat all day was hot sauce – I think I found a good marriage here between the tangy sweetness of the sauce, rich fat of the chicken, bright punch from celery and luxurious softness of sweet potato.
As written, this recipe makes enough for two smallish dinners. Scale accordingly if you need to feed more. And do go read the actual recipe for Cracklin Chicken. The directions below are what I could remember from the recipe when I was making dinner.
Gluten-free, paleo
Buffalo Cracklin Chicken Bowl
4 tsp. ghee
1/4 c. chopped pecans
2 small stalks celery
2 de-boned skin-on chicken thighs
Salt, pepper, your favorite seasoning mix for chicken
1 large sweet potato (my favorite is the super creamy white flesh variety)
1 Tbsp. grass fed butter, melted
3 Tbsp. Choula or other simple hot sauce
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. onion powder
Put your potato on to bake.
In a large skillet, toast the pecans in 2 tsp. ghee over medium-high heat. Remove.
Add the remaining 2 tsp. ghee to the pan and bring up to temperature.
Pat the chicken dry, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and your favorite seasoning. Place in the pan skin side down and sauté 4-5 minutes or until deep brown and crispy. Flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove to a cutting board to rest.
While your chicken is resting, dice the celery and make the sauce by whisking together the melted butter, hot sauce, white pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.
When your potato is finished, halve and place each half in separate bowls. Chop the chicken and place on top of the potato. Top with celery and pecans and drizzle with sauce.
Serves 2 for dinner
March 13, 2015
Tastes like chocolate and cigars. Delicious.
March 12, 2015
Don’t decide to work late. Don’t decide to work late. Don’t decide to work late.
p.s. Someone come clean my windows.
