Groceries

Aldi ($22) and Costco ($49), pictured together.  Sorry, it was late and I was in a hurry to make dinner.

Strawberries, pineapple, and cantaloupe were $.99 at Aldi.  Got some cheap ground turkey to stretch our grass-fed beef further... Yikes, does that cancel out the benefits of the grass-fed beef?  Also: peas, oranges, bananas, tomatoes, tomato juice (for soup), and canned wild-caught salmon.

At Costco, I was going to get some nitrate-free bacon, but they didn't have any.... Bummer if they don't carry it anymore.  So, I got the not-pictured chicken-apple sausages (msg and nitrate-free), without thinking about the fact that they contain cheese (a Paleo no-no). Oh well, we will be eating them anyways... too much to waste!  Also: more organic apples for about $1/lb., organic salad greens, some almond butter to go with them, and more fruit & nut snack mix for my husband on the go.  Nuts are expensive, sheesh!

Price Chopper ($15)

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.69/lb.  I have missed the ease of cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Well, now I have an excuse to buy them, because I just can't handle doing all our chicken from a whole, pastured chicken!  And, spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes.  Not a great price, but they don't have these at Aldi or Costco.

Sub-total: $86

Plus, I got 10 lbs. of grass-fed ground beef and 2 dozen eggs from the monthly local farm pick-up... $67

And I will spend $20 on milk and eggs from the other farm later this week.  And hopefully, that is IT for March.  Ouch!!!!  $663.  Ouch again!!!!!  I had better get better at this Paleo shopping fast.


On another related note, our sermon at church today was on greed vs. contentment... I obviously don't think striving to be healthy is bad, because we should be good stewards of the life God has blessed us with.  But, I need to make sure that whatever we eat, I recognize that it is God's provision, and to be thankful for it.

Going to watch some b-ball now!

Menu Plan 3/28/11

OK, here is my creative menu plan.  Or uncreative, depending how you see it.  It is a lot harder to come up with these grain, dairy, and legume free meals, but I am getting better... I am more excited about the menu this week.

Breakfasts:
Spinach Oven Omelet (no cheese or cooked milk)

Eggs (with nitrate-free bacon or sausage, bell peppers, and/or sun-dried tomatoes)

Paleo Pancakes
Fruit

Lunches and Dinners:

Monday - 

Chopped Chicken Salad

Beef Burgers, Green Beans

Tuesday - 

Salmon Burgers, Peas & Carrots

Pork Loin & Roasted Veggies

Wednesday -

Chopped Chicken Salad

Leftovers

Thursday - 

Taco Salad (use chimichanga filling minus the sour cream)

Turkeyburger Soup

Friday - 

Turkeyburger Soup

Nitrate-free Hot Dogs & Sweet Potato Fries

Saturday - 

Meaty Sauce over Spaghetti Squash

Crock-pot Sticky Chicken, Broccoli

Sunday - 

Meaty Sauce over Spaghetti Squash

Chicken & Vegetable Soup

Sides:
Real Milk

Pineapple

Cantaloupe

Strawberries

Oranges

Bananas
Carrots & Guacamole

Apples & Almond Butter

Crispy Almonds

Fruit and Nut Snack Mix

Happy eating, everyone!

Update and Groceries

For any of you who are interested in how the Paleo lifestyle is going for us after 3 days, here are a few tidbits...

The kids are doing better with it than I thought.  Before starting, I decided that I would let them eat ketchup and other such condiments with their meat, so that helps them with the meat-eating.  Two recipe hits with them have been the paleo pancakes (we tried them on Tuesday) made of almond butter, unsweetened applesauce, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon, and of course the spaghetti (with spaghetti squash).  I used the Pioneer Woman's sauce recipe for that.  It is pretty easy as long as you allow enough time for it to simmer.  The only changes I made include subbing a teaspoon of raw honey for the sugar, and I used some diced tomatoes + juice in place of the 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, because that's what I had on hand.  It makes a lot of sauce - enough to make 1 lb. of meat last for at least two meals for our family of 4.  And the bonus was that there was enough spaghetti squash leftover to go with it for another meal, too.

Eeeeek!  I am over the food budget, as of course I knew would happen.  Since my last grocery update, I have had 2 orders from the farm (milk and eggs) for a total of $40, a $25 trip to Whole Foods on who knows what, an $89 trip to Costco (purely meat, fish, and produce), the $24 trip to Price Chopper (pictured below)....

(the soap and detergent was per my husband's request... I try to use more eco-friendly stuff on myself and the kids and our clothes)

... and then there was another trip to Costco for $12 because my husband called me from work while I was on my way home and asked me to bring him more food :) so I stopped and got a rotisserie chicken and 5 lbs. of organic apples (took most of the apples home with me).  So, that brings the monthly total up to $450 (past my typical limit of $400), and the month is not over, yet.  Looks like there are some good produce deals at Aldi this week, so I think that is where I will be heading in a few days.

I felt like I almost had grocery shopping down to a science, but now it feels like I have to learn frugality all over again as I try to adapt it to this new lifestyle...

On a different note, one thing I already learned is that this family does not like curry dishes, so I won't be making any of those again anytime in the near future.  I think I am going to give away my jar of curry to a friend at work.

How do we feel?  Hungry :)  We do want to eat frequently, so I very quickly learned to be armed for that, or things get ugly fast.  I have to plan for one or two snacks a day for all of us.  And snack planning takes more prep.  BUT, the desire to overeat is gone.  Ya just don't feel like stuffing yourself with meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts.

We are eating SO many more fruits and vegetables!  I expected to be grossed out by how much more meat we would be eating (and I even like meat), but I've hardly noticed that.  I am more amazed by how easy it is to eat a ton of produce... and I thought we ate a lot of produce before!

I couldn't do this on my own.  I am so glad my husband is doing it with me.  And there is no way I could do it if there were non-paleo items staring me down in my pantry.  I do miss the cheese.

OK, that is all for now.  Goodnight!

Menu Plan 3/21/11

OK, I am crazy tired from the weekend because I stayed up too late with my little sister, watching Jersey Shore reruns and eating powdered sugar donuts :)  But I've got to get this menu plan organized because 30 days of Paleo starts tomorrow!!  So here goes...

Breakfasts

Eggs, Leftovers, Fruit, Nuts

Monday

L - Chicken, Strawberries, Almonds

D - Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

Tuesday

L - Chicken, Spinach, Apples

D - Pork Curry

Wednesday

L - Taco Salad

D - Leftover Pork Curry

Thursday

L - Taco Salad

D - Paleo Chicken Alfredo over Green Beans

Friday

L - Paleo Pancakes

D - Hot Dogs and Sweet Potato Fries

Sides & Snacks

Dried Fruit and Nut Snack Mix

Homemade Strawberry Milk

Blueberries, Apples

Saturday and Sunday

Leftovers

Paleo "Pizza"

Salmon Burgers & Veggies

Some of these recipes are from the book... I'll let you know if they are any good.

I've been out of commission on blogging for the past week because my old laptop finally gave out.  It had a good run, but it was time for a new one.  I hate spending money on one, but in this world, it seems a computer is pretty much another standard household appliance you just gotta suck it up and replace... and my husband got me one that is pretty sweet.  Don't you love the super fast feeling of a new computer?  OK, sorry, I don't mean to rub it in if you are feeling like I was for the past few months.

Happy Monday!

Menu Plan 3/14/11

I'm trying out a little bit of a new format: a more detailed menu plan for the weekdays, less detailed for the weekend.  I think this will help to make sure we eat the fresh produce at a good pace (so that is lasts us several days, but before it spoils).

I think I'm feeling springish. I made some Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares yesterday. Yum.


You might notice some not-so-healthy things on here that we are going to eat up during this transition week... so we don't have them lying around tempting us when we start eating Paleo for real next Monday.

There might be a little lull in recipe linkage on the menu plan in the next few weeks, but hopefully I can learn to adapt some recipes and then share them!

Monday
B - Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting (using frozen bread dough)
L - Chopped Chicken Salad
D - Bean Burritos, Broccoli

Tuesday
B - Waffles
L - Chopped Chicken Salad
D - Crock-pot Pork and Cabbage

Wednesday
B - Italian Omelets
L - Chicken, Salsa, Avocado
D - Leftover Pork and Cabbage

Thursday
B - Western Omelets
L - Tuna and Cabbage Salad
D - Fish Sticks, Sweet Potato Fries

Friday
B - Hard Boiled Eggs, Fruit
L - Chicken, Salsa, Avocado
D - Fish Sticks, Sweet Potato Fries

Snacks or Sides
Carrots and Ranch
Crispy Almonds
Oranges, Pineapple, Strawberries
String Cheese

Saturday and Sunday
Either eating with family or cleaning out the fridge!

March Groceries, Week 2

Hy-Vee

Peanut Butter was 99 cents/jar, and I am sure we will eat it again someday :)
Grapes 99 cents/lb.
Organic Granny Smith apples 88 cents/lb.
Cabbage 19 cents/lb.
Spent $44

Aldi

Pineapples were 99 cents each
Oranges were $1.49 for 4 lbs.
Avocados were 29 cents each
Spent $21

Price Chopper

Boneless skinless chicken breasts $1.19/lb
Strawberries $1.49/box
Spent $13, saved $25!

I also got 1 gallon milk and 1 dozen eggs from the farm this past week.  Spent $7.  And spent $13 at Target on toilet paper.  I think I somewhat hoard toilet paper.  I like to keep large reserve.

Total so far: $260 spent, out of $400 for March groceries.

Going Paleo

Ok, I think my husband is on board with eating "paleo" for 30 days.  30 days of meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, fats, and seasonings... no grains or legumes (how am I going to live without my peanut butter?!)  And no dairy... but we are going to drink our milk :)  I know, it is cheating.... I'm a cheater, I guess.  But no cheese.  Grassfed butter is permissable, though.  We are not trying to cure any diseases here or add years to our life.   Just add life to our years.  I am not planning on this being a permanent thing... We will see how we feel after 30 days and go from there.  Perhap we will tweak it to our liking after the first 30 days and end up healthier in the long run.  That is my hope.  It should at least give me some new challenges in the kitchen :)  Actually, it might simplify things a ton!

We are going to try to finish up all the bread items in the house this next week and ease into and and start hard-core next Monday.  I hope I don't chicken-out!

I am a little uneasy about how much meat we will have to eat... it seems selfish and unsustainable (as in the world's resources probably couldn't handle it if we all ate this way)... and right now I can't afford (or rather, I choose not to afford) to purchase all this additional meat locally from humanely raised animals.  I figure I am going to have to buy 7 (!) times more meat than currently.  BUT, there will be things I am NOT buying that will hopefully help offset that cost.  I plan to definitely continue with what meat we already purchase locally, perhaps increase the amount a bit, and buy the rest from the regular grocery store.

Although I do have to say, I was totally grossed out buying a gigantic 8 lb. pork loin today.  All I could think about was the slaughterhouse in Food, Inc.  But, my husband will like it, and at $1.99/lb. it will help offset the $5-8/lb. grass-fed beef we buy.

I've never done anything like this before!! I'll try to keep you posted without being obsessed.

Alive!

I am here, and the wheels are still turning.

The fact that I haven't blogged lately (aside from menu plans) is probably due to the fact that I moved my computer to a rather inconvenient location, so that it is difficult to use when the kids are around.  And I am not moving it around anymore, at least for now.  This is good for us.  I don't want to miss any of these years due to my eyes being glued to a screen.  And thanks to my hubs dragging me into the 21st century, I can now reference recipes on my phone, which I have to admit, I kinda like...

Also, I was reading a book.  A real, non-fiction (sort of) book.  And I was determined to finish it before it was due at the library, even if that did mean keeping it a couple extra days and getting fined since I was out of renewals.  I know, such a rebel.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I liked it and am surprised I hadn't read it before since I like historical books like that.  I had put it on my "want to read someday" list after reading Amy's review.

And now, it is the Lenten season... and Spring Break here.

Of course I have some projects to tackle and some dietary experiments to begin.

I read the Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf, on the recommendation of one of my husbands coworkers, whom I respect.  I had it on hold at the library forever, and it was finally my turn to check it out.  I started the book last night and finished it this morning.  30 days, he says, try it for 30 days.  Shall we do it for the remainder of Lent to see what happens since it just happens to just about fit that time frame?  What is there to lose besides some money in groceries?

Speaking of groceries, a shopping trip is planned for tomorrow.

Maybe I can work some spring clothes shopping into the budget, too... that would be fun.

Thanks for checking in on my thrilling life :)

Menu Plan 3/7/11

Last week, we enjoyed some orange juliuses for a fun snack one day.  It had been awhile since I'd had one of those.

Here's the meal plan for this coming week...

Breakfasts:
Baked Soaked Oatmeal
Granola with Blueberries and Milk
Eggs and Toast

Lunches:
PB&J Sandwiches
String Cheese
Crispy Almonds
Carrots and Ranch (double the spices)
Apples

Dinners:
Monday - Cheeseburger Macaroni, Broccoli
Tuesday - Waffles (new recipe experiment) with Syrup
Wednesday - Black Bean Burritos, Lime Rice, Fruit
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Tuna Cheesies, Sauteed Vegetables
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Gourmet Garlic Chicken Pizza

March... Groceries

I went to Aldi, Costco, and Whole Foods this week.

I went to Aldi on Monday to get some little things, as well as some items for a meal I am taking to a friend (sour cream, beef, tortillas, choc. chips, corn, cream cheese)  Milk was also included, but not pictured.  There was shortage at the farm this week, so I had to pick some up at the store.  We love those vanilla Italian pizzelle cookies at the top right :) Spent $34.

And then ("And DEN?!"...name that movie), I went to Costco on Tuesday and spent $108.  Could have bought more, but I used restraint.  I had to get the stuff put away right away, so no picture, but here's the list:
bananas
strawberries
organic salad greens
refrigerated uncooked tortillas
fish sticks
frozen organic broccoli
string cheese
block of cheddar
sour cream
butter
organic lemon juice
Sugar in the Raw
organic salsa
raw almonds
ciabatta bread
white wheat sandwich bread

Then I went to Whole Foods today.  It has been awhile since I've been there since they haven't had any produce sales I've been interested in lately.  But now they have organic apples for $1/lb., so it was worth a stop after work.  I also got some mac & cheese for $1/box, some sucanat and organic dry black beans from the bulk bins, and some organic tomato paste (w/ Muir Glen coupon from the store flyer).  Spent $20.

I try to have one or two "convenience/compromise" foods in the pantry or freezer, ready to go for a quick and easy meal if needed (some ideas are nitrate-free hot dogs, frozen ravioli w/ jarred sauce, fish sticks made from wild-caught fish, a healthier boxed mac & cheese, etc.)

Total: $162 out of $400 for March

Last year, I remember going WAY overbudget (by a couple hundred dollars) for the month of March, so we'll see how it goes this year...hopefully better! :)