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Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of October 20 – 24

October 20, 2014December 29, 2014Paleo On A BudgetLeave a Comment

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.

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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 October). 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.

Current Box of CSA Veggies

Menu for Last Week (Week of October 13 – 17)

The Plan vs. Reality

I didn’t really have a plan for this week’s dinners – mostly just combo something from the CSA with some meat. Exciting stuff.

Monday

The Plan – Pernil pork with something
Reality – Boo! I didn’t make it to the store that sells the pork, so none of that was had. I did, however, eat out because we needed to grocery shop.

Tuesday

The Plan – ?????
Reality – I made a cauliflower mash, which I served with sautéed chard and pork chops. Simple but good.

Wednesday

The Plan – ?????
Reality – I made pepita miso crusted butternut squash (recipe shared last weekend) + chicken tenders. Y-U-M.

Thursday

The Plan – ?????
Reality – Flank steak with roasted broccoli

Friday

The Plan – ?????
Reality – Bunless burgers with potato rounds

Lunches

The Plan – Leftovers.
Reality – I comboed leftovers with the rotisserie chicken I ordered in on Monday all week and did a Napa cabbage sautee on Friday to get a jump using that CSA veggie up.

Extras

The Plan – Nothing planned.
Reality – And nothing happened.

This Week: October 20 – 24

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries. This week’s shopping was convenience-based. Amazon has just started offering delivery groceries to my area and is offering a free trial, so we opted to try them out. Delivery was accomplished when promised, everything looks great, and the prices were good – I’m waiting to see what happens after the free trial period runs out before deciding that Amazon delivery groceries is right for us (currently we use Fresh Direct if there is zero time or desire during the weekend to shop).

This Week’s Proposed Menu

Monday: Shredded potato and scallion waffle with pulled pork, spicy cabbage/chard slaw and sriracha
Tuesday: Cauliflower pizza bowls
Wednesday: Stuffed peppers
Thursday: Pulled pork with CSA veggies
Friday: No plans.
Lunch: Leftovers & Napa cabbage in butter
Extras: Pear & almond tart

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

Grocery Store Key: WF = Whole Foods, AM = Amazon Delivery

Shopping List

Orange – did not get (no pork)
Lemon – ($1.19 @ AM) (slightly more expensive than TJs)
Scallions – ($0.99 @ AM) (about the same price as TJs)
Garlic – did not get (no pork)
Pepperoni nuggets – ($5.49 @ AM) (no comparison for TJs)
Sausage – ($5.39 @ AM) (price per pound more expensive than TJs – not sure if quality is better)
Pork – did not get – WF was out (chuck roast $24.97 @ WF)

Smoothie supplies

2 bunches kale ($4.98 @ AM) (this may be as much as TJs in quantity)

1 bunch spinach ($1.26 @ AM) (this is less quantity than TJs)

5 apples ($3.45 @ AM) (same price as TJs)

Limes (1. lb bag – $2.77 @ AM) (close to the same price as TJs)

4 avocados ($4.99 @ AM) (close to the same price as TJs)

Coconut water ($2.39 @ AM) (over a dollar cheaper than TJs)

Ginger ($1.99 @ AM) (a little more than TJs in dollars, but way more quantity)

Extras: Fancy mayo ($4.99 @ AM), “real” (Huy Fong) sriracha ($3.99 @ AM), ketchup ($1.99 @ AM), top round steaks because they were on sale ($13.81 @ WF).

Total AM: $45.86
Total WF: $38.78

Total For The Week: $84.64; $9.64 over budget. I’m not too terribly upset about the overage this week. I bought some staples needed to round the shopping cart up to free shipping (staples we wouldn’t be able to find at our regular haunt anyways), plus got some sale steak for a week we need to be leaner. Plus, I’ve been under budget the past couple of weeks. So, win-win.

Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, CSA veggies.

October 19, 2014

October 19, 2014October 19, 2014Picture of the DayLeave a Comment

IKEA prettiness.

October 18, 2014

October 18, 2014Picture of the DayLeave a Comment

Color Run selfie:

Miso Pepita Broiled Squash

October 18, 2014December 29, 2014RecipesLeave a Comment

I know I have a winner on my hands when the first taste of something horrifies my mouth – but subsequent tweaks and tastes cause me to salivate, eat too much, and wind up having to pour water over the bowl to cease the smorgasboarding. (sidebar: you don’t even want to know how many times I typed Smorgasburg instead of smorgasboard – I may have been living in Brooklyn too long)

Back to topic. This side is pretty great. The topping is sweet and salty and rich and a little crunchy – while the squash is a little sweet, soft and a touch velvety. The two play well nicely together.

Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, paleo-ish [miso is not strictly paleo (neither is rice wine vinegar for that matter), but as far as soy products go – fermented isn’t quite the devil that unfermented is. I will also love my rice wine vinegar forever, regardless of what the paleo police say]

Miso Pepita Broiled Squash
Adapted from Broiled Spaghetti Squash with Walnut-Miso Glaze by Saveur

1 medium butternut squash
Coconut oil
1/2 c. pepitas
1/4 c. white miso
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
Pinch red chili flakes
Pinch kosher salt

First, prep a baking sheet with tinfoil and set your oven to heat to 400 F.

Peel your squash with a vegetable peeler, cut into two easier-to-manage hunks, and cut into potato wedge looking sizes (scooping the guts from the bell end as you go). Lay on the prepped cookie sheet and drizzle a little coconut oil over. Toss well to coat. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake 30 minutes or until soft and just starting to brown a bit on the edges.

While your squash is baking, make the crumbly goodness.

Combine the pepitas, miso, maple syrup, vinegar, chili flakes & salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined and gravelly looking. Taste. The mixture should be weird but strangely delicious and addicting after the second taste or so.

If you need to cut the weirdness, adding a little more maple syrup would work; adding some “warmer” spices (like cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice) may also help. I kept it weird.

When your squash is done, move your rack up and kick the oven on to broil.

Top your squash with the miso pepita mixture – I used the whole batch when I made it (mostly because I was already obsessed with the taste, but in hindsight this was a wise choice).

Broil 3 minutes or so, until the top is nice and crunchy and browned.

Serves 4 as a side.