Gastography

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. 

Last Week (Week of April 28-May 2)

The Plan vs. Reality

Monday

• The Plan – A burger or sausages with some sort of side sweet potato fries
• Reality – Bacon burgers with sweet potato fries

Tuesday

• The Plan – Spinach, parmesan & prosciutto stuffed pork loin with some sort of side roasted parsnips
• Reality – Yum.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Leftover pork repurposed into a stir-fry with peppers, celery and broccoli
• Reality – I wasn’t feeling the saltiness required for a stir-fry, so I went with plain boiled and buttered broccoli. Yum.

Thursday

• The Plan – Marinated London broil with some sort of side broccolini
• Reality – Another win – and a super easy no cleanup 1 cookie sheet under the broil type of meal.

Friday

• The Plan – Carrot Ginger Lime Pasta with Crispy Ground Poultry (from last week)
• Reality – This didn’t happen again this week and I think I’m giving up for now. Went grocery shopping again this Friday.

Lunches

• The Plan – I gave up on the egg foo youngs ever happening
• Reality – I had the last of the leftover ham from Easter + whatever else I could cobble together for my lunches

Extras

• The Plan – Bacon Maple Sandwiches
• Reality – I forgot that Mudderella isn’t for another week – luckily, I bought really green bananas and they are still acceptably ripe going into this week. I need to make the pancake portion of the recipe soon, though, or they won’t be.

This Week: May 5-9 

I had every intention of visiting my favorite butcher again this week, but they happened to not be open yet when we walked past, and we needed to go to Whole Foods anyways. Luckily Whole Foods had what we needed and we were doing well enough on budget to be able to get what we wanted to get.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Something Rogan Josh with cauliflower rice and paleo naan
• Tuesday: Chicken in coconut milk with lemongrass and some sort of side
• Wednesday: Leftovers from the chicken in green curry with broccoli and peppers
• Thursday: Larb spiced ground poultry with some sort of carroty something
• Friday: Sausages or burgers with sweet potato fries
• Lunch: Nothing planned – hoping for leftovers, though I really need to find some wiggle in the budget to grab some protein
• Extras: Bacon maple sandwiches for Saturday’s breakfast

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

Grocery Store Key: TJ = Trader Joe’s, WF = Whole Foods, O = Optional if budget allows

This week, I have $100 to spend for my weekly groceries, and I hope to stick to it.

Shopping List

Ghee – $5 est – ($3.29 @ TJs)
Eggs – $3 est – ($2.99 @ TJs)
4 cans coconut milk – $4 est – ($0.99 x 3 @ TJs)
Lemon – $3 est – (3 – $1.47 @ TJs)
Lemongrass – $2 est  – ($2.80 @ WF)
Greens (2 c) – $2.50 est – did not get – using frozen spinach instead
Cauliflower – $3 est – ($2.49 @ TJs)
Parsnips or something else to serve with chicken – $3 set – (bok choy – $2.29 @ TJs)
Sweet potatoes – $2 est – ($0.98 @ TJs)
Green curry – $4 set – ($3.79 @ WF)
Broccoli – $3 est – ($1.99 @ TJs)
Pepper – $1 est – ($0.99 @ TJs)
Sriracha – $3 est – ($2.99 @ TJs)
Limes – $3 est – bought a few extra with the smoothies bunch

2 bags kale – $5 est – ($2.29 x 2 @ TJs)
1 bag spinach – $2 est – ($1.99 @ TJs)
3 avocados – $4 est – ($4.47 @ TJs)
5 apples – $5 est – ($3.45 @ TJs)
5 limes – $4 est – (1 lb bag – $2.79 @ TJs)
Cilantro – $2 est – ($1.79 @ TJs)
Ginger – $2 est – ($1.39 @ TJs)
Orange juice – $4 est – ($2.99 @ TJs)
Celery – $3 est – I thought we bought this, but it didn’t show up on the receipts…

Extras: roast chicken for my lunches  – ($6.99 @ TJs), broccoli slaw for my lunches  – ($1.99 @ TJs), scallions  – ($1.29 @ TJs), impulse buy of a pint of cherry tomatoes because they were grown on the roof of the building and that is just freaking awesome – ($5.49 @ WF)

Butcher’s List

1 chicken (2 meals) – $15 est – ($7.27 @ WF)
1 lb. stew beef – $9 set – ($8.95 @ WF)
Ground pork – $6.50 — Use leftover poultry instead
Meat – $9.50 or less – beef & bacon burgers, or sausages – (Bacon cheddar burgers – $4.17 @ WF)

Total TJ: $56.17
Total WF: $34.48

Total For The Week: $90.65; $9.35 under budget. I thought for sure I’d be over this week, with all the little extras I bought.

Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, Monday’s dinner.

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. 

Last Week (Week of April 21-25)

The Plan vs. Reality

Sunday

• The Plan – Easter Dinner – Ham, peas and lemony thyme smashed fingerlings
• Reality – A holiday meal that was economical, quick to prepare, and filled with good taste.

Monday

• The Plan – Vaguely Mexican chuck roast over broccoli – a sort of Mexi-bowl affair
• Reality – Delicious. The meat turned out really well, and the dinner was quick to throw together.

Tuesday

• The Plan – Leftover chuck with sweet potato/onion/green pepper hash and fried eggs
• Reality – Hash is one of my favorite foods – this one was no exception.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Banh Mi pork with brussels
• Reality – Really, really tasty dinner – recipe coming soon!

Thursday

• The Plan – Leftover chuck in a Shepherd’s pie
• Reality – Another win, though my mashed cauliflower topper sank

Friday

• The Plan – Carrot ginger lime pasta with crispy ground poultry
• Reality – We walked to the butcher and grabbed dinner while out instead

Lunches

• The Plan – Nom Nom Paleo’s Egg Foo Young (2-3 lunches)
• Reality – Still didn’t happen for me. Leftovers. I think I’m giving up.
• The Plan – Leftovers
• Reality – I had enough left over to scrape together lunch every day.

Extras

• The Plan – Nothing planned here.
• Reality – And nothing accomplished.

This Week: April 28-May 2 

It’s another ‘source what you can as best you can’ week – and I don’t have any freezer meat to fall back on. While on my favorite butcher’s website trying to scope the price of their fantastic sausages, I stumbled upon a great ‘how to plan budget meals using our meat’ feature – it gave me tons of ideas on how to shop there for $50 or under a week (something I thought was impossible), and I’m happy to be giving it a go with this week’s budget.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Carrot ginger lime pasta with crispy ground poultry – carried over from last week
• Tuesday: Spinach, parmesan & prosciutto stuffed pork loin with ???
• Wednesday: Leftover pork loin stir fry with celery & broccoli
• Thursday: London broil with ???
• Friday: Sausages or burgers with sweet potato fries
• Lunch: Nothing planned – hoping for leftovers
• Extras: Bacon maple sandwiches for Saturday’s breakfast

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

Grocery Store Key: TJ = Trader Joe’s, F= Butcher, KF = Key Food, O = Optional if budget allows

This week, I have $100 to spend for my weekly groceries, and I hope to stick to it.

Shopping List

TJs
Coconut milk (2) – $2 est ($0.99 x 2 @ TJs)
Snacks – $15 est – O – (Almonds – $5.99 @ TJs)
Garlic – $1 est – ($1.24 @ KF)
SIDE – $3 est – (Broccolini – $2.99 @ KF)
SIDE – $3 est – (Parsnips – $2.31 @ KF)
SIDE – $3 est – (Sweet potatoes $2.00 @ KF)
SIDE – $3 est – (Broccoli slaw – $2.99 @ KF)
Broccoli – $3 est – ($3.16 @ KF)
Pepper – $1 est – ($1.21 @ KF)
Onion – $1 est – Don’t need afterall
Frozen spinach – $1 est – ($1.00 @ KF)
Parmesan – $6 est – O – ($3.50 @ KF)
Prosciutto – $4 est – ($3.99 @ KF)
bacon – $4 est – O – ($4.99 @ TJs)
banana – $1 est – ($0.82 @ KF)
eggs – $3 est – Decided not to get

Grocery estimate TJs: $60

2 bags kale – $5 est – ($2.29 x 2 @ TJs)
1 bag spinach – $2 est – ($1.99 @ TJs)
1 coconut water – $4 est – ($3.69 @ TJs)
Celery – $2 est – ($2.99 @ KF)
5 apples – $4 est – ($3.45 @ TJs)
Ginger – $2 est – ($1.40 @ KF)
Cilantro – $2 est – ($0.79 @ KF)
2 avocados – $3 est – ($2.98 @ TJs)

Smoothie estimate TJs: $18

Fleisher’s
Pork sirloin roast 2 lb. (18) – 2 nights 
London broil 1 lb. (10) – 1 night
Sausages 1 lb. (11) – switch to ground beef if needed & buy from TJs (7)

Total Fleisher’s: $40 est

After Friday’s Shopping
Spent $44.38 at Fleisher’s; $9.89 of that should be taken out of the entertainment budget
Spent $45.53 at Key Foods; $11.99 of that should be taken out of the entertainment budget
$68.03 spent out of the grocery budget in total, leaving $31.07 left to shop @TJs.

$25 estimated cost for groceries (this total doesn’t take snacks into consideration)

I also want coffee – $15 est – Not enough in budget for coffee this week

Estimated total: $118 before coffee — $89 if I cut the optionals and switch to TJs ground beef for burgers 

I also bought some strawberries at Key Food for $2 on impulse.

Total TJ: $29.65
Total KF: $33.54
Total F: $34.49

Total For The Week: $97.68; $2.32 under budget. This was another week I thought managing to get everything I needed was going to be impossible. But, with proper planning, it wasn’t. I bought my coffee out of another budget, picked up everything I needed for dinners this week, and even gave in to my fruit craving and bought some strawberries. I *did* forget to pick up limes – I forgot to even add them to the list this week – and our smoothies will suffer for it.

Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, Monday’s dinner.