August 18, 2014
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of August 18 – 22
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.
Menu for Last Week (Week of August 11 – 15)
The Plan vs. Reality
This week’s meal planning was fairly efficient – I ended up making pretty much what I set out to make, for dinner at least.
Monday
- The Plan – Tuna salad with aioli, tomato and cucumber in a cucumber boat for lunch and stuffed eggplant with beef and hopefully lamb for dinner.
- Reality – Tuna salad didn’t happen because I ran out of eggs for the aioli. Dinner was good, though lamb ended up not being in the budget.
Tuesday
- The Plan – Broiled lettuce + tomato salad with parmesan and balsamic for lunch and fingerling potato-leek hash with swiss chard, eggs & bacon for dinner.
- Reality – Ok, so the lunch plan was a little ambitious and didn’t happen. Dinner was good though.
Wednesday
- The Plan – Zucchini bowl with kale for lunch and meat + csa veg for dinner
- Reality – I had a zucchini bowl for lunch, but it featured fried green tomato instead of kale. Dinner was macadamia crusted turkey tenders with zucchini fries.
Thursday
- The Plan – Meat + csa veg.
- Reality – Tried to perfect those zucchini fries (with no success) – served with pork chops and green peppers.
Friday
- The Plan – Eat out
- Reality – That happened.
Lunches
- The Plan – Planned lunches + salads and leftovers.
- Reality – The planned lunches didn’t happen. I ended up having lots of peach + tomato + cucumber + lime salads instead.
Extras
- The Plan – Nothing.
- Reality – Nothing made.
This Week: August 18 – 22
I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries.
This Week’s Proposed Menu
- Monday: Beef keema bowl over lettuce with cilantro mint chutney
- Tuesday: Italian sausage, chard & sun-dried tomato stuffed peppers
- Wednesday: Some sort of baked asiny eggplant with something.
- Thursday: Meat with CSA veggie
- Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
- Lunch: Leftovers. More peaches + tomatoes.
- Extras: Pickles or veggie stock if I have enough leftover. 1 ingredient ice cream. Tomato & macadamia ricotta tart.
Shopping List & Cost Breakout
Grocery Store Key: TJ = Trader Joe’s, O = Optional if budget allows
Shopping List
Eggs ($2.79 @ TJs)
Cilantro – did not get
Ground beef ($6.99 @ TJs)
2 onions ($1.58 @ TJs)
Mint – did not get
Lemons ($0.98 @ TJs)
Italian sausage ($4.58 @ TJs)
Canned tomatoes ($1.69 @ TJs)
Garlic ($1.29 @ TJs)
Almond flour – did not get
Yellow mustard ($1.69 @ TJs)
Meat (2 ribeye steaks $5.30 + $5.21 @ TJs)
Meat (chicken thighs $7.24 @ TJs)
Vanilla extract ($4.99 @ TJs)
Dried dill – did not get
Shrimp paste or kombu – did not get; make due with pantry
Cilantro – did not get
Ground beef ($6.99 @ TJs)
2 onions ($1.58 @ TJs)
Mint – did not get
Lemons ($0.98 @ TJs)
Italian sausage ($4.58 @ TJs)
Canned tomatoes ($1.69 @ TJs)
Garlic ($1.29 @ TJs)
Almond flour – did not get
Yellow mustard ($1.69 @ TJs)
Meat (2 ribeye steaks $5.30 + $5.21 @ TJs)
Meat (chicken thighs $7.24 @ TJs)
Vanilla extract ($4.99 @ TJs)
Dried dill – did not get
Shrimp paste or kombu – did not get; make due with pantry
Smoothie supplies
1 bag kale ($1.99 @ TJs)
1 bag spinach ($1.99 @ TJs)
4 apples ($3.16 @ TJs)
Limes (1 lb $1.99 @ TJs)
2 avocados ($2.78 @ TJs)
Extras: pistachios ($7.49 @ TJs) and cashews ($6.99 @ TJs) for snacks.
Total TJ: $70.72
Total For The Week: $70.72; $4.28 under budget. Whoo Whoo. Under budget.
Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, CSA veggies.
August 17, 2014
Imma gonna sports.
August 16, 2014
Seen in: Williamsburg.
Unstuffed Indian-Spiced Eggplant
This past week, I was plagued blessed with a ginormous eggplant. How ginormous? Bigger than my freaking head. I happen to like eggplant, but my DH? Not so much. The last time I made him eggplant that wasn’t blended to obliteration or diced and fried, the poor guy put a bite into his mouth and it tumbled out toddler-style. The texture of any type of summer squash is tricky for him – eggplants quadruply so. But, we love CSAs. So I have to get tricky. This dish circumvents the eggplant sponginess by first baking it (like you would if you were making baba ganoush) and mixing it into the finished dish until it is almost indistinguishable from the rest of the ingredients. Win!
This is not a quick meal. If you are looking for a quick dinner, make the eggplant a day ahead. Bonus: if you have a bunch of eggplant, cook up a whole tray – eggplant “guts” can be used in a bunch of different dishes – like, say, this pasta sauce or Strange Flavor Eggplant dip).
Gluten-free, Paleo, and Whole30-compliant
Unstuffed Indian-Spiced Eggplant
1 Italian eggplant (the blackish purple kind)
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 an onion (about 1/2 a cup chopped)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
Salt & black pepper
1/2 cup cashews
1 bunch kale
1/2 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
Citrus
Cut the eggplant in half length-wise and salt. Let hang out in a colander 1 hour to release a bit of juice and kill the bitterness. Preheat your oven to 350 and prep a baking sheet with tinfoil.
Bake, face up, until soft and slumpy (about 20 mins – 1 hour, depending upon how large your eggplant is).
While your eggplant is working, tackle the stuffing. In a large pan, heat the coconut oil. Add the onions and sautee, stirring, 1-2 minutes or until they just start to go translucent. Add the beef and cook, breaking up into smaller and smaller bits, until mostly broken up. Add the spices, along with a few cracks black pepper and generous pinches salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned.
While the beef is going, crunch your cashews up and slice your kale into ribbons.
Now would be a great time for your eggplant to be done. When it is slumpy and soft, scoop the “guts” out.
Add the eggplant guts, cashews and kale to the pan with the beef and stir to combine until the kale starts to wilt and everything fits into the pan without spilling all over the stove.
Add the coconut milk, stir to combine and taste. Add more salt/spice if needed. Cook 5-7 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Finish with a sprinkle of citrus (I used the juice of 1/2 a lime). Serve.
Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.
August 15, 2015
Pattern
August 14, 2014
Lights
August 13, 2014
Numbers & letters.
What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables: Paisley Farm Box 10
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 – October 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 10
2 bunches leeks
1 bunch swiss chard
1 bunch dandelion greens
2 zucchini (huge zukes)
1 huge eggplant
4 lemon cucumbers
1 head green leaf lettuce
Heirloom tomatoes + a green tomato
Leftover From Last Week
Carrots (non-CSA)
1.5 heads lettuce (wasted)
0.5 bunch dandelion greens (some was wasted)
2 heads kale
1 spring onion
Spring garlic
1 bunch leeks
2 pattypan squash
1 zucchini
4 cucumbers
4 beets
How I Used My Share
I used 1 head of kale + some zucchini in a harissa pasta with chicken.
I used tomatoes in lunch pretty much every day, along with some watermelon and peaches I bought. Sometimes I included a cucumber.
I made fries out of 2 zucchini.
I used the chard and 1 bunch of leeks in a hash with fingerling potatoes.
I stuffed the eggplant with ground beef and kale.
I made fried green tomatoes + pattypan squash for lunch one day.
My Favorite Dish From This Box
My zucchini fries weren’t as big a hit this week, so I’m still tweaking the recipe. That chicken/kale/zucchini harissa pasta I made was pretty successful.
Next Week
Going into next week, I have ancient carrots, 1 pathetic looking head of lettuce, 1 sad bunch of dandelion greens, a few shriveling beets, 2 bunches of leeks, spring garlic, scallion heads, 2 zucchini, 5 round cucumbers, and 5 skinny cucumbers.
Oh goody, more cukes & zukes. I really need to get on making some pickles this weekend or I won’t have any to foist off on my game night guests.
August 12, 2014
Doggie play date.
Gastography 