More no-bean chili...

Paleo Budget tip of the day:
Regarding grass-fed beef:
Local grocery store: $6 - $10 per pound, but possibly good variety
Local warehouse store: $4 per pound (but only available as ground beef)
Local humane farmer: $4 per pound if you buy a share of a cow (if you buy about 30 pounds at once, about $120)
tip #2: Use a big ol' tomato instead of canned to save on BPA exposure.




No-bean Chili

This isn't a cheap dish, but I needed something to take to a potluck. I enjoyed my low-cost chicken version so much that I had to do a beef version as well. This is adapted from Stephanie O'Dea's "crockpot 365" blog - thanks Stephanie! I've done this several times with basic variations on the meat.

Recipe - No-Bean Chili
Ingredients:
2 lbs beef loin sirloin tip steak, cubed
1 lb ground beef
10 oz Spicy Mango Jalapeno Chicken Sausage (or andouille) - you see Italian in the picture, but I actually used both, it needed the spicy cajun style sausage
1 onion (I used 1 c frozen)
1 tomato (or can of diced)
2 cups of beef bouillon
1 tb ground cumin
2 tb chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
Combine everything in the crock pot and cook on low 12 hours or high 4 hours then low 4 hours.

The low-down: It was good, but I actually liked my chicken version better. I will state that several people got seconds and the pot was almost clean by the time we left.

Day 17 - Paleo Lunch for $3 or less

Budget tip of the day: make a big batch of something (chili, soup, casserole, etc.) on the weekend and then stretch it for lunch.



So today I decided to take a picture of my new favorite lunch, the paleo lunch. This is so much more filling and satisfying than cafeteria food. Here you will find:

1. Leftover chili - made with chicken instead of beef, and meat was bought at discount - $1.10
2. Leftover turkey cutlet - $1.00
3. 1 whole cucumber - $.48
4. Paleo granola - $.30
5. Date - $.20
6. Frozen Peaches - $.41 (would be $.62 for organic)
7. Banana - $.20
Total: $3.68

Of this, the granola, date, peaches, and banana would be the snack, so this is really a lunch plus a snack for around $3 or $4. I might add some paleo pumpkin "custard" to satisfy the 2:00 p.m. sweet tooth as well, still keeping things under $4. Delicious!

Day 15 - Cheap and Easy Paleo Chili

Budget tip for the day: Buy chicken at BJ's or Walmart. Both places have a large selection of vegetarian fed, free range, no antibiotics chicken. BJ's was cheaper, though, for the record.
Cheap and Easy Bean-Less Chili
I got this recipe from the Crockpot365 blog. We tried the "Meat Lover's No Bean Chili" and it was delicious. However, it's pretty expensive. So today I'm remaking it, using free range ground chicken (bought at Wegman's at half price for about $2.60) and some free-range chicken sausage. This is delicious! Chicken is less expensive than typical beef, so I wanted to try this out with all chicken based ingredients.



Recipe:
1 lb ground chicken
10 oz chicken sausage, pref. andouille, but we wound up using italian sausage and it worked
1 can tomatoes (I used generic organic)
1 onion (I used 1/2 cup frozen chopped onions)
4 cloves garlic (I used 2 tsp garlic powder)
1 tb cumin
2 tb chili powder
1 t salt (I omitted this, there's enough in the tomatoes for me)
2 c broth (I used "Better than Bouillon Organic Chicken Low-Sodium")
Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low 8 hours. Delish!
Thank you Stephanie O'Dea for this paleo friendly dish!

Day 14 - Budget Granola

Budget tip of the day: Get your granola going with nuts bought at the lowest price. You can stock up this time of the year, and then freeze. Just remember that freezing breaks down the cells, so it's best to freeze and then use in some sort of recipe. Buy slivered almonds instead of whole (unless you really want to eat whole, in which case, ignore.) You could buy a pound of nuts for about $7 at a grocery store, or get two pounds for $8 or so at a large warehouse like Costco, BJ's, or Sam's Club. I'm making this as a gift for all my family this year, and BJ's will definitely have my business!

Budget tip #2: Dates are in season. I found 3 lbs for $7 at the local warehouse store!

Budget tip #3: Use bakers chocolate instead of commercially prepared dark chocolate. The only ingredient is chocolate, and it will last longer.

This recipe is an adaptation of the Paleo Diet Lifestyle's blog. The original recipe is here: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/chocolate-nut-granola/. 


Paleo Budget Granola
1 c walnuts
2 c slivered almonds
pinch of salt
1/4 cup honey
3 tb butter (?)
3 tb cocoa powder
1/2 c coconut
1 oz bakers unsweetened chocolate square
3 pitted dates

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Melt butter and chocolate at half power in the microwave in a glass bowl covered with a plate.
3. Chop dates in the food processor.
4. Add walnuts and almonds and chop with dates in the food processor.
5. Add cocoa, vanilla, and salt to the butter/chocolate and wisk together.
6. Pour chocolate mix into the nuts in the food processor. Pulse briefly.
7. Add coconut. Pulse 1 time.
8. You may need to take it out of the food processor and stir to mix - my food processor is not big enough for everything.
9. Spread over baking sheet.
10. Bake for 4 hours at 200 degrees. Break into chunks.

Day 13 - Grocery Bill Tips

Budget tip of the day: buy frozen veggies. Stock up on cucumbers this time of year (skin them before you eat, though, unless you buy organic.)

Our grocery bill (food) - $82
Paleo stuff  - $42

This included:
Rice dream milk - 3.86
Turkey breast Cutlets - $3.99
Frozen spinach - $1.50
Frozen peaches - $2.48
100% cranberry juice - $2.78
Peppermint tea - $2.38 ($1 coupon)
Vitamins - $2.94
Bacon - $3.98
Limes - $.44
Grapefruit - $.68
Coconut - $1.72
Eggs - $2.88
Eggs - $2.88
Organic apples - $4.97
Kiwi - $.30
Cucumbers (3) - $1.44
Bananas - $1.37
? - $1.83

Total: $42.42

I didn't need to buy a lot of veggies because I already have everything frozen. Meat this week will be turkey and bacon. I have to get rice milk because almond milk upsets my stomach. We got the cage free eggs - but not necessarily Omega 3, sorry. I didn't need nuts because I already made the granola this week. Also, I had some chicken chili in the crockpot ready to go for tonight and the next couple of days. My husband got his regular fare of frozen waffles, french toast, burritoes, and chimichangas, as well as the slow carb beans and chicken italian sausage.

So, the paleo diet isn't that expensive, after all. What do you do to save money?

Day 11 - Cheap and Easy Sausage Soup

Budget tip of the day: grow your own herbs on a balcony or porch and then dry them for the winter. Below is my "vegetable garden" - 2 peppers, 2 tomatoes, and cilantro on the right. Will definitely add more herbs next year!

Sausage Soup

This is a soup of leftovers! I had to use up some things I bought before I went paleo - some half price "Wine and Cheese" pork sausage and some rice. This was really quick and easy because I used pre-cut veggies.

I followed this recipe, but used frozen spinach instead of escarole, dried rosemary instead of fresh, and added mushrooms, carrots, rice, and organic chicken stock to the mix.

The verdict: Delicious, especially after it sat in the fridge overnight.  I should have cooked the rosemary first until it was wilted - it was still hard when I ate it. Also, if I ever use frozen spinach in a dish again, I should certainly cut it up into smaller bits!

178.8 - down .6

Day 10 - Productivity

Budget Tip of the Day: Buy cheap spices. ($1) Not sure if this is morally and socially conscious - I'd be curious to see if anyone has done any research on the treatment of workers for generic spice companies.

I can't believe how much better I feel on Paleo. I am 10 times more productive than I was two weeks ago. I feel like I can keep going and don't want to stop, even to sleep. This has never happened before!

Day 9 - The Verdict on the Grocery Bill

Budget tip of the day: buy canned wild salmon instead of fresh.

So... I finally read the first half of The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain. The information on fats was especially enlightening, and I really appreciate the fact that he went into such detail. I have to admit, though, I don't normally eat many of the meats on his list of approved lean proteins.

I tried to incorporate more of the paleo foods into my groceries this week, and was proud to say I was able to keep it under $85 total.

$47 was for paleo foods, the rest for incidentals and my husband's fare. That was good! Some of the upgrades include omega-3 eggs, organic diced tomatoes, almonds, walnuts, organic frozen chopped spinach, lots of fruits and vegetables, and canned wild salmon. I refuse to buy something redundant (like almond flour) until I use up what I already have. Guess I'll be making some whole wheat bread for the holidays!

I excited to try some new recipes this week, such as the baked mustard lime chicken recipe I'm going to crockpot tomorrow. I'm also going to try doing the sweet potatoes in a second crock pot. Yum!

Does anyone have any recipes for livers? :)

Day 8 - Paleo Budget tips!

167.6
Yay! Down 3.6 lbs since last week, and I have to admit it was about 70% paleo last week.

So here's my goal. I'd like to eat healthy but be able to do so with our grocery bill staying below $80 a week. That includes everything: even all the non-grocery items and my husbands Timothy Ferriss Slow Carb Diet foods. Thankfully the slow carb diet is really cheap: "beans, greens and proteins."

Here are some things I do to try to save money:

1. Orange juice concentrate instead of real oranges for cooking.
I use this in my green shake and it is awesome. One can lasts me a month. Are there pesticides? Not sure it's much better than a regular orange, but it's very convenient! This could work for lemons and limes as well, assuming the only ingredient is the actual fruit itself.

2. I try to buy fruits and veggies with rinds and flesh. I'm not sure if this is right, but I figure if I can peel it then at least I'm deleting all the pesticides on the outside. I skin all my cucumbers and peel all my apples (regardless). This also has to do with my achalasia, a swallowing disorder.

3. Onion powder and garlic powder. This works if I'm doing a sauce oriented dish. If it calls for minced garlic, that comes dehydrated as well. Sometimes I'm just too tired to cut up onions - in which case I used dried minced onions or frozed pre-cut onions. I love frozen onions! So easy! They have a nice fragrance as well.

4. If it's on sale, and usually expensive, stock up.
For instance, last week I happened to be at Wegmans early Saturday morning and they had several cuts of chicken for half price. I also happened to be at Giant  two weeks ago and they had bruised produce on sale for 80% off. If I can use it or freeze it I will buy! I peel the apples and put them in shakes or use them to cook so it's not a big deal how they look.

5. Batch cooking.
I buy in bulk and cook up a big meal that gets divided into small portions to last the week. I try to waste as little as possible and find different recipes to match the same ingredients, especially if I happen to have some weird ingredients. I shop once a week and make a strict shopping list.

So that's it for now!

Before paleo, I was too tired to cook. Now, I have so much more energy.

What do you do to try to save money on a paleo diet?

Day 7 - trans fats make me sick

Budget tip of the day: buy fruits and veggies with rinds and skins, then peel such skins to avoid the cost of organic.

Well, my weight has stabilized. I guess I need to cut back on calories. Tomorrow! :)

So I've noticed one interesting thing.

My energy has skyrocketed and my attitude is cheerful. The thing that is interesting is the fact that I had such stomach troubles when I got off the paleo bandwagon. It's like, you go a week trying to eat healthy all-natural food and all of a sudden you ingest all these trans fats and your body can't handle it.  I want to experiment with this more - and test my body's reaction to junk food at the end of next week again.

So here's to the Paleo - it's making changes I can feel and it's only been a week!

Have you noticed changes with the paleo diet within the first week?

Day 6 - Budget time!

Budget tip for the day: buy frozen pre-cut peppers and onions instead of fresh.

So today is the day I start looking at what I want to cook next week. I went price shopping at BJs today to see if it's cheaper to buy in bulk. Nuts are a good deal at this time of year.  I salivated over the large pieces of salmon and organic vegetables. I was looking at their poultry section and I was amazed at the selection of free-range, vegetarian fed chicken they have. I bought 3 lbs of almost-organic (free range, no antibiotics, veg fed, humanely raised, etc) chicken drumsticks for $3.30. I couldn't pass it up. The organic frozen fruit was about the same price as at the local grocery store.

OK, tomorrow is grocery day, and let's see if I can do this on a bit of a budget!

Does anyone else have any ideas for eating paleo on a budget? I love the PaleoOnABudget blog!

Day 5 - Pumpkin Coconut Chicken Soup

Budget tip for the day: buy canned pumpkin instead of real. Buy real yams instead of canned. Buy frozen butternut squash instead of real, it's cheaper and a lot less work.

Still losing... that's ok with me. Today I ate the most delicious thing ever. I took a can of pumpkin and made it into a soup with shredded leftover coconut chicken and some butternut squash. You know, one of those frozen boxes of cooked squash? Added some onions and some mushrooms and it was delicious. I think next time I'll avoid using the canned "pumpkin pie" and just make it from scratch with less syrup and perhaps a little kick. It would be good with a pinch of cloves or some cumin too. Yum!

I am really glad I made the chocolate paleo granola. It's really nice to have some finger food and a crunch whenever I want it. I think I'll try that again and just change things up a bit with the nuts.

What amazes me is that I feel like I'm eating a lot of food - I ate almost a half cup of the granola and some additional trail mix to boot - but I'm still losing weight. Now that's what I'm talking about!

I happened to mention paleo to some of my coworkers today. Nobody's ever heard of it. I'm hoping I can keep this up and then be an advocate for this new way of eating. I just feel so much better!

I'm not posting the actual recipe for the pumpkin soup until I try it again with pure pumpkin. Check back later if you want to see how it goes!

Does anyone else have any other ideas for paleo granola?

Day 4 - Are High School Students Under a Food Spell?

Budget tip for the day: eat ALL your leftovers. Take everything you haven't consumed by Friday and turn it into a soup over the weekend. (even leftovers) This will make all your dishes very creative!

I'm lovin' this diet!

I can't believe how much better I feel. I just feel more alert, energetic, and connected to the world around me if that makes any sense. As a teacher, I see all kinds of crazy things in the classroom, but the thing that concerns me most is the lack of vitality and zest in my students. I'm now beginning to wonder if perhaps this comes from the bad food they are eating.

Today is the big powerball drawing. $550 million dollars. If I won this kind of lottery, I'd want to do an experiment with food. I'd hire a top chef and have them create the most delicious paleo meals in the school lunchroom. Then I would do an analysis of all the behavior problems and cross correlate that with test scores. I bet I would find a difference.

Lovin' it!

I made a beef and sweet potato stew tonight. It was ok, but I don't think I cooked it long enough. Still not hungry, though, and that is great!!

What are your thoughts on food, teenagers, and school lunches?

Day 3 - Shannon's Yummy Green Shake

Well the scale stayed the same, but that's ok. I feel so much better it's not even funny. I did come home and nap today but I believe that was because of the fact that I only got about 3 hrs of sleep last night.

I'm loving this paleo thing!

Today I ate all leftovers plus a green shake:

Shannon's Yummy Green Shake
(2 servings)
2 bananas
1 apple, peeled
1 handful of frozen spinach
2 spoonfuls of frozen orange juice concentrate
4 ice cubes

You would think that green would be nasty but it really does taste quite good. Plus orange juice concentrate is a lot cheaper and easier than having to peel and cut up an orange.

Yay paleo!

Does anyone else have any favorite shake recipes for paleo?

Day 2 - A fog is lifted

I feel different. I feel like a fog has been lifted. I have so much more energy. Usually I come home from work too exhausted to do anything, but today I actually want to come home and cook! I never cook during the week! This is huge.

Today I didn't feel well, though. I think it was the pumpkin scones. I added xanthum gum and I think it made me sick. I have been nauseous all afternoon and not feeling well, and it's only after I eat the scones. Oops!

I am so excited to have so much energy. It's like night and day. Yay!

Has anyone else out there felt like a fog was lifted when they switched to paleo?

Day 1

171.2

I looked at the scale and "ding ding ding!" went off in my head. This was the most I've ever weighed. Something had to be done.

So there it is.
I'm going to try paleo. I seem to recall reading about a bunch of people losing weight on this diet, so I checked out a book from the library. The words turned my way of thinking completely upside down.

So for day 1, I'm going 85% paleo.

Chocolate truffle and coffee with creamer doesn't exactly fit for paleo. But it was so good...

Then I decided to try making some of these recipes I found online. I made an omelete with a sausage crust, some paleo granola, and for dinner some coconut chicken with cauliflower mash. I also tried my hand at some pumpkin scones. It was all delicious! Except I burnt the granola and wound up having too much of the eggs/ssg pie. At any rate, I've made it through Day 1 and I'm not hungry! yay! That's all I ask.

Have any of the people reading this blog lost weight on paleo? Do you have any advice?

Coming soon!

This blog will start on December 2nd, 2012!