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 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 6 – 10)

The Plan vs. Reality

Ok guys, so I was incredibly slack this week in posting. I blame it on not going grocery shopping until Monday and having my week cut short by vacation!

Monday

• The Plan – Delicata squash & fennel salad with miso & kale and duck
• Reality – I did my salad, just with harissa and it was fantastic

Tuesday

• The Plan – Cilantro cauli rice with peppers and spicy chicken
• Reality – I actually did good here – made the rice, only with crackling chicken from Nom Nom Paleo instead of a spicy chicken because, as it turned out, I bought bone-in skin-on chicken thighs instead of my usual variety. A happy accident.

Wednesday

• The Plan – A tomato sauce with eggplant & ground beef over squash mash
• Reality – Forgot we had planned on meeting friends for dinner – which we did.

Thursday

• The Plan – I’m on vacation!
• Reality – My dinner was a quick salad from the airport + crapton of pre-packed plane snacks.

Friday

• The Plan – Still on vacation!
• Reality – And dinner was fantastic (pork chops + asparagus & mushrooms, if you must know)

Lunches

• The Plan – Leftovers. Try to eat some veggies.
• Reality – That happened. I had the last of the Napa cabbage with pulled pork and an egg, plus slipped things like half a bell pepper into other leftovers. Yum.

Extras

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

This Week: October 13 – 17

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries. I was out of town when I generally plan menus and I knew I didn’t want to bug the hubby to go shopping in my stead, so I didn’t really plan anything and went shopping on Monday.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday vague plan: Eat out
• Tuesday vague plan: I’d love pulled pork, but that probably isn’t happening
• Wednesday vague plan: Vegan cheese intrigues me
• Thursday vague plan: I’d like to waffle something
• Friday: No plans.
• Lunch: Leftovers.
• Extras: Back on the almond milk train.

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

Grocery Store Key: WF = Whole Foods, TJ = Trader Joe’s

Shopping List

Extras: Skipjack tuna ($1.49) and Albacore tuna ($1.69) to build my emergency protein rations, 2 pears ($0.79 & $0.69) for snacks.

Total TJs: $62.70

Total For The Week: $62.70; $12.30 under budget. *happy dance* Whoo! Whoo! I love it when the grocery gods smile upon me.

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

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 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 September 15 – 19)

The Plan vs. Reality

This week’s meal planning was decent – I got corn in my CSA box again and decided to use it instead of waste it, even though corn isn’t paleo.

Monday

• The Plan – Steaks with corn on the cob
• Reality – Uncured beef hotdogs with sauerkraut and corn on the cob

Tuesday

• The Plan – Stuffed peppers with Italian sausage, fresh roasted tomatoes, roasted eggplant and kale
• Reality – Yum. This was a great meal.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Corn and goat cheese stuffed peppers with some sort of meat
• Reality – I didn’t stuff the peppers, but this was still tasty. served with flank steak.

Thursday

• The Plan – Eggplant fries with burgers.
• Reality – The eggplant fries were less than successful (though still entirely edible), and the burgers were delicious as usual.

Friday

• The Plan – Eat out.
• Reality – This happened.

Lunches

• The Plan – Leftovers.
• Reality – Had a bunch of leftovers.

Extras

• The Plan – Nothing planned but almond milk.
• Reality – The almond milk turned out awesome. More on that soon!

This Week: September 22 – 26

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Chicken stir-fry with bok choy, carrots, eggplant, pepper and kale
• Tuesday: Green curry meatballs
• Wednesday: Burgers & corn on the cob
• Thursday: Something quick
• Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
• Lunch: Leftovers.
• Extras: Almond milk & maybe chocolate cookies

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

Grocery Store Key: FD = Fresh Direct

Shopping List

Extras: Dry aged beef burgers ($13.49 for 4), pistachios ($9.99 for 10 ounces).

Total FD: $74.62

Total For The Week: $74.62; $.38 under budget. I had planned a big recipe meal for this week (green curry pork meatballs), but ended up choosing convenience over budget with my grocery shopping; so I couldn’t make it happen. Plus, Fresh direct didn’t have half the specialty ingredients I needed. No big deal; I will just get creative. Plus, I now have even more extra meat. Score!

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

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 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 September 8 – 12)

The Plan vs. Reality

This week’s meal planning was decent – I got corn in my CSA box again and decided to use it instead of waste it, even though corn isn’t paleo.

Monday

• The Plan – Collard wraps with shredded balsamic beef, bell peppers and carrots
• Reality – This worked really well. I can’t wait to get more collards in the CSA box – this needs to be repeated!

Tuesday

• The Plan – Shredded balsamic beef with corn/green pepper/feta salad
• Reality – Yum. This was a great meal. I added jalapeno for some extra spice and roasted all the peppers on my gas range. Delicious.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Bunless burgers with corn on the cob and herbed butter
• Reality – I ditched the fancy butter and this meal was delicious.

Thursday

• The Plan – Stuffed peppers with kale and roasted tomatoes if I get enough peppers in the CSA box
• Reality – I ended up going another direction. Had leftover shredded balsamic beef with a warm corn/pepper/leek/balsamic vinegar salad instead.

Friday

• The Plan – Eat out.
• Reality – This happened.

Lunches

• The Plan – Leftovers.
• Reality – Had a bunch of leftovers + days of chicken with tomatoes and peaches.

Extras

• The Plan – Nothing planned but almond milk.
• Reality – The almond milk turned out awesome. More on that soon!

This Week: September 15 – 19

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Steaks with corn on the cob
• Tuesday: Stuffed peppers with sausage, roasted tomatoes, eggplant & kale
• Wednesday: Corn and goat cheese stuffed peppers with ???
• Thursday: Eggplant fries with ???
• Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
• Lunch: Leftovers.
• Extras: None planned.

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

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

Shopping List

Extras: peanut butter dog biscuits ($3.49 @ TJs), sauerkraut ($3.99 @ TJs), thai chile almonds ($5.99 @ TJs)

I also ran into a sale at Whole Foods on grass fed beef for $5 a pound – I picked up 4 lbs. and plan to break that out over the next few weeks. Win! 

Total TJ: $67.16
Total WF: $20.31

Total For The Week: $75.00; $0.00 under budget. I *was* $8.84 under budget this week, but I’m going to count some of that beef surplus toward this week’s budget. I think I’m safely recuperated from the week I went over with party supplies last month; plugging the partial cost of the beef in this week will leave me a little wiggle room for later in the month. Plus, now I have extra ground beef + the Italian sausage I still haven’t used in my freezer store. Whoo hoo!

Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, CSA veggies, Italian sausage, ground beef. 

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 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 September 1 – 5)

The Plan vs. Reality

This week’s meal planning was decent – I got corn in my CSA box again and decided to use it instead of waste it, even though corn isn’t paleo.

Monday

• The Plan – Labor day – day off + a 5k – eat out
• Reality – I had 1 bell pepper with some leftover eggplant dip for a snack and ate dinner out as planned.

Tuesday

• The Plan – Bunless burgers with sweet potato fries & zucchini fries
• Reality – Yum. I made sweet potato fries for the DH and perfected my zucchini recipe recipe for me.

Wednesday

• The Plan – ??? Ground beef ???
• Reality – We went out to eat with friends tonight. Figured ditching the weekly menu plan for socializing was a good enough reason to do so.

Thursday

• The Plan – Something with eggplant and meat – asiany ground poultry bowl with eggplant puree, carrots, peppers and kale
• Reality – This was good, but I forgot the kale.

Friday

• The Plan – Broiled pork belly with a corn/leek salad and carrot top pesto
• Reality – Delicious. Made a charred corn and leek salad (recipe coming soon) and the pesto was delicious.

Lunches

• The Plan – Salads and leftovers.
• Reality – Salads didn’t really happen, but I ate a lot of leftovers.

Extras

• The Plan – Broil eggplants and tomatoes so they don’t go bad.
• Reality – I also froze a ton of green peppers so they wouldn’t turn as well.

This Week: September 8 – 12

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Big meat with corn salady thing with green peppers.
• Tuesday: Collard burrito wraps with peppers, big meat and carrots
• Wednesday: Burgers with corn on the cob and some sort of herb or tomato butter
• Thursday: Stuffed peppers if I get bell peppers in the CSA box
• Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
• Lunch: Leftovers.
• Extras: None planned.

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

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

Shopping List

Extras: coconut milk ($0.99 @ TJs), almonds ($5.99 @ TJs), pistachios for the DH ($7.49 @ TJs), fruit bar impulse purchase ($0.99 at TJs), ???? something, I’m guessing for the DH, for $7.99 @ TJs – cheese?

Total TJ: $53.56

Total For The Week: $71.00; $4.00 under budget. Woop Woop! Under again.

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

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 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 August 25 – 29)

The Plan vs. Reality

This week’s meal planning was decent – I made most of what I wanted to, though I had an off-track night where I ended up eating lunch for dinner.

Monday

• The Plan – Leftover pulled pork tacos with peach/basil salsa
• Reality – I forgot to make the salsa, but the tacos were fantastic

Tuesday

• The Plan – Pork bowl with chard and leeks
• Reality – I wanted tacos again. More tacos.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Mexican-ish pork bowl with sweet potatoes, green peppers and onions
• Reality – I kicked the taco habit and this was really good. Used 1 pepper + some sweet potato

Thursday

• The Plan – Steaks with creamed chard and carrots
• Reality – The steaks were good, but I served with corn since we got corn in the CSA. Yes, I know, corn isn’t paleo – but I don’t want to waste it, either, on top of the massive amount of veggies I chucked last week. I also made a nice little tomato/basil/shallot salad.

Friday

• The Plan – Eat out
• Reality – That happened.

Lunches

• The Plan – Salads and leftovers.
• Reality – Salads didn’t really happen, but I ate a lot of leftovers.

Extras

• The Plan – Broil eggplants and perfect zucchini fries
• Reality – Neither of those things happened

This Week: September 1 – 5

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries. This week’s shopping was all tied up with Saturday’s game night.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Labor Day – eating out
• Tuesday: Zucchini fries with burgers
• Wednesday: Ground pork or turkey bowl with Asian flavors + eggplant, carrot, pepper and kale
• Thursday: Corn salad with leeks, carrot top pesto & some sort of meat
• Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
• Lunch: Leftovers.
• Extras: None planned.

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

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

Shopping List

Extras: coconut milk ($0.99 @ TJs), cashews ($6.99 @ TJs), cheese for the DH ($6.59 @ TJs)

Total TJ: $69.57

Total For The Week: $69.57; $6.43 under budget. I made up about half of last week’s budgetary overage by planning less and relying more on my CSA veggies for this week.

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

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 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 August 18 – 22)

The Plan vs. Reality

This week’s meal planning was decent – I made most of what I wanted to, though I had an off-track night where I ended up eating lunch for dinner.

Monday

• The Plan – Beef keema bowl over lettuce with cilantro and mint chutney
• Reality – Ate leftovers for lunch and a chicken/peach/tomato salad for dinner

Tuesday

• The Plan – Italian sausage, chard and sun-dried tomato stuffed peppers
• Reality – Yum.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Some sort of Asian flare eggplant sauce thing with steaks
• Reality – I did broil the eggplant, but didn’t end up going that direction. I used about half in the keema bowl – which I heavily modified and didn’t end up serving with any sort of chutney or over lettuce.

Thursday

• The Plan – Meat + csa veg.
• Reality – I made chicken thighs with a vaguely asian sauce + a fresh little salad of green pepper & carrot

Friday

• The Plan – Eat out
• Reality – That happened.

Lunches

• The Plan – Salads and leftovers.
• Reality – Salads didn’t really happen, but I ate a lot of leftovers.

Extras

• The Plan – Korean-ish pickles for game night. A tomato & macadamia ricotta tart – which didn’t happen.
• Reality – Delicious

This Week: August 25 – 29

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries. This week’s shopping was all tied up with Saturday’s game night.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Saturday Game Night: Korean style pulled pork tacos with dips & veggies & sweet potato chips and ice cream sandwiches for dessert
• Monday: Crock pot pulled pork tacos with peach/basil salsa and some sort of side
• Tuesday: Crock pot pulled pork Mexican style with peppers & onions & sweet potato
• Wednesday: Crock pot pulled pork with chard and leeks
• Thursday: Steaks with CSA veggie (maybe a riff on creamed spinach?)
• Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
• Lunch: Leftovers. More peaches + tomatoes.
• Extras: Pickles or veggie stock if I have enough leftover. Tomato & macadamia ricotta tart. Zucchini fries.

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

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

Shopping List

Extras: almonds to possibly make almond milk ($5.99 @ TJs), matcha pop ($3.00 @ WF), worcestershire for a mixed nut flavor the DH wanted to make ($3.69 @ WF), a snack donut while shopping ($3.00 @ WF).

Grand Total TJ: $70.72
Weekly Grocery Total TJ: $62.65
Total WF: $97.62
Weekly Grocery Total WF: $27.20

Total For The Week: $89.85; $14.85 over budget. This is without splitting hairs, either. I could shave off a couple more bucks owing to things I wouldn’t have purchased if it wasn’t for game night, but I’m standing with the overage.

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

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 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 August 4 – 8)

The Plan vs. Reality

This week’s meal planning was efficient – I ended up making pretty much what I set out to make.

Monday

• The Plan – Slow cooked beef (barbacoa) with spicy broccoli slaw + red onion, cucumber & lettuce cups
• Reality – The beef and broccoli slaw were good, but I forgot the lettuce cups.

Tuesday

• The Plan – Paleo lasagna with zucchini noodles + leeks
• Reality – This was pretty good, but I forgot to add leeks.

Wednesday

• The Plan – Barbacoa with CSA veggies
• Reality – I had leftover lasagna instead.

Thursday

• The Plan – Chicken & kale zucchini harissa pasta
• Reality – Yum.

Friday

• The Plan – Eat out
• Reality – That happened.

Lunches

• The Plan – Salads & leftovers
• Reality – Lunches this week were light on salads and heavy on leftovers again. I had tomatoes pretty much every day, had a warm skillet day with pattypan squash and dandelion greens, and had salad 1 day.

Extras

• The Plan – Nothing.
• Reality – Nothing made.

This Week: August 11 – 15

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

• Monday: Meat with zucchini fries
• Tuesday: Stuffed eggplant with ground beef
• Wednesday: Fingerling potato-leek hash with chard & eggs & bacon
• Thursday: Meat with CSA veggie
• Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
• Lunch: Tuna salad with cucumber, broiled lettuce with broiled tomato salad, zucchini bowl with kale, leftovers
• Extras: Pickles or veggie stock if I have enough leftover. 1 ingredient ice cream.

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

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

Shopping List

Extras: Coffee ($4.99 @ TJs), Thai Lime & Chile Cashews ($6.99 @ TJs), Old Amsterdam Gouda ($7.58 @ TJs)

Total TJ: $72.42

Total For The Week: $72.42; $2.58 under budget. Yay! Back to under budget – despite the snack foods we bought this week.

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