Working it out this fall – desk vignette.
November 4, 2014
Working it out this fall – desk vignette.
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of November 3 – 7
A number of people I know are completely flabbergasted when contemplating sticking to a budget while eating a primarily “paleo” diet. I’m hoping to shed a little light on that issue for those of you on the fence about eating healthfully in this manner – it *can* be done – and done well – without spending all the money. All it takes is a little planning.
A little background: I live in Brooklyn, NY, and the grocery prices here are definitely not the same as what you will find in other areas of the country. If you live in say, Raleigh NC for example – you may very well be able to cut this grocery bill by a third, depending upon where you shop. For where I live, where I shop and what I buy, $100 a week is a doable budget without having to sacrifice the quality I want too much. My DH thinks $130 is probably more realistic with our morning smoothie supplies, but I want to shoot for $100. I aim to make 4-5 dinners for two and 5 lunches per week, plus two smoothies per day six days of the week with my budgetary allowance and update you all weekly on what’s going on. Let’s see if I can make it.
—
My CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares are going strong, so I will be doing things a little differently with the vegetable portion of my meal planning for the next few months (until November). My share averages out to $25 a week, which will come off the top of my budget allotment and will comprise the bulk of my non-smoothie-related vegetable purchases. If you’re curious to see how I use my CSA veggies up, check out my What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables posts.
Menu for Last Week (Week of October 27 – 31)
The Plan vs. Reality
I had zero plan going into this week, other than I wanted to make Hasselback potatoes and thought about broiling some cabbage “steaks”. And I wanted pulled pork.
Monday
- The Plan – Pulled pork with CSA veggies
- Reality – My big meat for this week was a citrusy pulled pork. I served tonight’s portion with a spicy butternut squash puree.
Tuesday
- The Plan – Pulled pork with CSA veggies
- Reality – I served tonight’s pork with broccoli and cauliflower that was supposed to be orange and gingery, but in reality was half-burnt and kind of tasteless. At least the pork was good.
Wednesday
- The Plan – Something with CSA veggies
- Reality – I had some leftover steak in the freezer, so I made that with hasselback potatoes & balsamic vinegar chard
Thursday
- The Plan – Something with CSA veggies
- Reality – I also lucked up and had some chicken, so I made a stir-fry with peppers, chard, broccoli and carrots
Friday
- The Plan – Eat out
- Reality – Mmmm….. Halloween bbq.
Lunches
- The Plan – Leftovers & fresh csa veggies
- Reality – I had some particularly good lunches this week – Mystery greens salad with yellow pepper, beef & apple; apples & carrots with beef; leftover butternut squash puree with shredded beef; and cabbage in butter with shredded beef, apple & kimchi.
Extras
- The Plan – Nothing planned.
- Reality – And nothing happened.
This Week: November 3 – 7
I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries. I planned pretty much nothing this week, since it’s a: my last week of CSA veggies, and b: we’re going on a mini-vacation at the end of the week. And life got in the way of planning last week.
This Week’s Proposed Menu
- Monday: Meat with CSA veg
- Tuesday: Meat with CSA veg
- Wednesday: Meat with CSA veg
- Thursday: Eat out
- Friday: Eat out
- Lunch: Leftovers & apples
- Extras: None
Shopping List & Cost Breakout
Grocery Store Key: TJ = Trader Joe’s
Shopping List
Meat (Pork chops – $7.76 @ TJs)
Meat (Chicken thighs – $5.39 @ TJs)
Garlic ($1.29 @ TJs)
Onions (2 – $1.78 @ TJs)
Smoothie supplies
2 bunches kale ($2.29 x 2 @ TJs)
1 bunch spinach ($1.99 @ TJs)
4 apples ($2.76 @ TJs)
Limes (1. lb bag – $1.69 @ TJs)
Orange juice ($3.29 @ TJs)
Coconut water ($3.69 @ TJs)
Ginger ($1.39 @ TJs)
2 avocados ($2.78 @ TJs)
Extras: Cheese for the hubbs to snack on ($5.82 @ TJs), and something worth $7.49 that’s a non-taxable grocery item from TJs. I can’t remember for the life of me just wtf this was.
Total TJ: $51.70
Total For The Week: $51.70; $23.30 under budget. See? It all works out in the end. I was slightly over budget last week; this week I’m raking in the savings.
Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, CSA veggies, sausage.
November 3, 2014
A closeup of the hubbs’ marathon medal – love all the detail on this one (and in fact, the whole borough race series medals).
November 2, 2014
So freaking proud of my DH – he finished his first marathon, the NYC Marathon no less – in the crazy winds and cold temps – and in under 4 hours.
Way. To. Freaking. Go.
And did I mention, he looked damn good while doing it, too?
November 1, 2014
Today was rainy, cold & miserable – so I “impulse” bought waterproof(ish) shoes. I’ve only wanted Docs for 20 years… And now I’ve finally settled on a style.
Now to start the painful breaking in process.
Spicy Chard & Cabbage Slaw
It must be the Southerner in me, but every time I think ‘pulled meat’ (hee hee) I think ‘slaw’. This week, I made pulled beef as my big multi-meal protein, and was graced with some really nice cabbage and chard in this week’s CSA box.
Slaw it is, and what better kind than spicy?
Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free, Paleo (swap aioli for strict)
Spicy Chard & Cabbage Slaw
1/2 small head cabbage
1/2 bunch rainbow chard
4 scallions
1 small bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
Fresh black pepper
For the dressing
2 Tbsp. mayo (I used Just Mayo, which is pretty great and not filled with a bunch of crap – it’s not strictly paleo (contains canola oil & tiny amounts of sugar & pea protein), but it is good and waaaaayyyy more convenient than my futile attempts at making aioli)
3 tsp. sriracha
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. water
2 pinches kosher salt
Core and shred the cabbage and add to a large bowl. Ribbon the chard and add. Thinly slice the scallions and add. Julienne the pepper and add. Mince the garlic and add. Toss with a few cracks black pepper.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the mayo, sriracha, lemon juice, water and salt.
Drizzle the dressing over the slaw and toss with your hands to combine.
Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a bigass salad
October 31, 2014
I make a damn good skeleton, if I do say so myself.
October 30, 2014
Who the F ate part of my dish towel? How is this a thing?
What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables: Paisley Farms Box 21
This year’s CSA is from Paisley Farm, a 25-acre operation located in Tivoli, NY. Paisley Farm grows organically and plants with the chef in mind. The 22-week CSA runs from June – November and I purchased the standard vegetable share. This share includes 8-9 vegetables and herbs per week (8-12 pounds) – enough to provide a family of three with 3-4 dinners’ worth of veg. The price equals out to $25 per week, the cost of which will be accounted for in my weekly Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking posts.
Paisley Farm 2014 CSA Box 20
1 bunch mystery greens
1 bunch swiss chard
1 crown broccoli
2 small green cauliflower
1 small head cabbage
1 bunch radishes
1 Kabocha squash
1 big bag potatoes
Leftover From Previous Weeks
Frozen peppers
2 Japanese eggplant
1 bunch curly kale
1/2 bunch chard
1/2 cabbage
2 yellow peppers
1 bunch baby fennel
1 butternut squash
2 delicata squash
How I Used My Share
I turned one of the cauliflower into “steaks”, which I seasoned with chipotle and lime and served with shredded beef.
I made a lunch salad with half the leftover cabbage, a hand full of radishes, kimchi, apple, and shredded beef.
The next day, I sautéed the last of the cabbage in butter and served with apple, kimchi and shredded beef.
I made a silky chipotle puree with the butternut squash, which I served with pulled pork.
I sauteed up a bunch of the swiss chard with some balsamic vinegar and garlic and served that with Hasselback potatoes and steak.
Waste: The eggplant finally died from lack of attention
My Favorite Dish From This Box
I’m a sucker for a root vegetable puree, but I have to go lunch concoctions here. Nothing says fall like cabbages, apples, butter & spice.
Next Week
Going into next week, I have: 2 delicata squash, most of a big bag of potatoes, 1.5 bunches of chard, 1 bunch mystery greens, 1 cabbage, 1 bunch baby fennel, 1/2 a bunch of radishes, and 2 yellow peppers.
October 29, 2014
The old IRT line.
Gastography 