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!