Budget Menus for the week (and shopping list)

Nicole, over at Astrogirl mentioned yesterday that a commenter on one of her posts was "having a hard time figuring out what people following Paleo or Primal diet were actually eating on a day to day basis." I think a lot of us are pretty good about stating what we eat pretty regularly, however, the details, as Nicole mentions sometimes slip through the cracks. We often list average meals and then a recipe. This is not always helpful to a newbie who hasn't eaten Paleo for years, and maybe is trying to get a grip in a more practical way. So, I have decided to post my weekly menu plan and shopping list. I can't promise I will do this every week, but I will make a concerted effort in case someone out there needs more than a general idea.

I start off my menu plans each week with a look at what is on sale:

The meat I buy is rarely on sale. Sometimes I will get lucky and PCC will have grass-fed beef for $3.99 a pound, and Rosie (organic free range) chicken hindquarters 4 for $10.00 or something, but this is not the norm. In my desire to eat less expensively, I have been forced to be flexible. Specific menu plans and shopping lists are often not the way to go. I kind of look at it like a math problem:

The first element would be your meat--the cheapest organic/free range or grass fed meat you can get. Sometimes that might be a whole chicken, or a certain cut of steak, but most often it is going to be chicken legs and thighs and ground beef. This week, Ranger chickens are on sale. X = Ranger chicken

Vegetables would be the next part of the equation. What is currently on sale and Paleo? This week tomatoes and avocado are both on sale. Also asparagus, oranges, strawberries and mangoes. So, let's say tomato, avocado and asparagus are your sale items, and you have certain standard supplies that you always have on hand. So, Y = (tomato, avocado, asparagus) + (salad greens, green onion, olive oil, vinegar, herbs & spices).
So your equation ends up looking like this:
Roast chicken + tossed green salad + grilled asparagus = full Paleo tummy.

Leftovers would be chicken salad and an orange for lunch the next day. If you have leftover asparagus, you could whip up an omelet with leftover asparagus and sliced strawberries and mango for breakfast, or even another light lunch. If you have a lot of leftover chicken you could make Easy Green Chicken Curry, which you could have leftover for lunch the next day served on a bed of spinach.

You only really need about 4-5 actual recipes per week to feed two people. I try to be as flexible as possible when planning meals because what I "plan" to make doesn't always end up happening. Right now, I am trying to use up what I have in my freezer: Pork chops, chicken legs, bacon. And what I have in my refrigerator: Oranges, apples, asparagus, salad greens, half of a roast chicken, carrots, zucchini, fresh basil, 2 sweet potatoes. Cupboards and countertops: 1 avocado, 3 tomatoes, 2 kiwifruit, 1 large onion.

So my menus for this week look like this:

Monday:

Breakfast - two boiled eggs, a handful of carrots, and 5 strawberries.
Lunch - 3 cups salad greens, one sliced tomato, 4 ounces chopped leftover chicken. 1 T. olive oil, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 orange.
Dinner - Grilled pork chops with fried zucchini and mushrooms, 1 cup braised baby carrots.

Tuesday:

Breakfast - 2 ounces leftover porkchop, small handful of walnuts, carrots.
Lunch - 2 cups salad greens, 1 cup broccoli slaw, one sliced tomato, 4 ounces chopped leftover porkchop. 1 T. olive oil, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 apple.
Dinner - Brandied Chicken Drumsticks, roast asparagus, tomato and avocado salad over 1 cup salad greens, 1 t. olive oil, 1 t. balsamic vinegar, 1/2 sweet potato mashed with nutmeg and coconut oil.

Wednesday:

Breakfast - 2 fried eggs with leftover asparagus and sweet potato hash.
Lunch - 3 cups salad greens, one sliced tomato, 4 ounces chopped leftover chicken leg. 1 T. olive oil, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 5 or so strawberries and a kiwifruit.
Dinner: Karney's Paleo Stuff with tossed green salad.

Thursday:

Breakfast - 1 handful walnuts, 1 boiled egg, large handful carrots, 1 orange.
Lunch - 3 cups salad greens, one sliced tomato, 1 cup leftover Karney's Paleo Stuff. 1 T. olive oil, 1 T. balsamic vinegar.
Dinner: Roast Chicken, 2 cups salad greens, avocado and tomato, 1/2 T. olive oil, 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 orange.

Friday:

Breakfast - 2 ounces leftover chicken, small handful of walnuts, handful of carrots, 1 small apple.
Lunch - 3 cups salad greens, one sliced tomato, 4 ounces chopped leftover chicken. 1 T. olive oil, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 orange.
Dinner - Easy Thai Green Curry, 2 cups spinach, fresh chopped tomato.

Saturday:

Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with green chiles, fresh tomato and avocado salsa, strawberries with mango.
Lunch - Leftover curry over raw spinach.
Dinner - Chicken Puttanesca with Spicy Spaghetti Squash.


Sunday:

Open

So, this is more or less my shopping list for the week ( I will try to shop a little each day instead of a lot at once):

2 pounds Mushrooms(whatever kind is cheapest, although I prefer crimini's for flavor if it costs the same as white mushrooms)
Spinach (organic, 2-3 bags, TJs or large tub at CostCo or Safeway)
Salad Greens (organic, large tub at CostCo or Safeway)
1 dozen Eggs (Omega 3 eggs Trader Joes or QFC)
Tomatoes
Avocados
Chicken breast (Free range, preferably organic, TJ's or QFC)
2 cans Coconut milk (Thai Kitchen at QFC or Safeway)
Sweet red pepper (organic, TJ's or QFC)
1 pound Ground beef (grass-fed TJ's or PCC)
Broccoli slaw (organic, Safeway)
Mango (organic, QFC)
2 Kiwifruit
Strawberries (organic, QFC or TJ's)



Trader Joe's is an excellent source of free range organic chicken and grass-fed beef. I often buy 10 drumsticks for under six dollars, and make Brandied Chicken Drumsticks, etc. However, I caution you not to take the "organic" or "free range" label at face value. Free range only requres chickens to have access to the outside, "USDA regulations do not specify the quality or size of the outside range nor the duration of time an animal must have access to the outside." Organic means that their feed is organic, but not necessarily species-appropriate. Organic beef for example is still fed grains and soy, and therefore not really better than standard beef nutritionally--however, any time you buy organic, you are lending weight to the organic movement which is a good thing. Financially however, this is not always possible.

I shop for meat at Trader Joe's and PCC Natural markets (a local co-op). If you are intersted in finding a co-op near you, check out this site. Co-ops typically support local and organic natural foods. They are a good source of meat if you can't afford to buy into a meat share or want to be sure that the meat you are buying is humanely raised and grass fed or pastured. A membership at PCC costs $60 for a lifetime membership with many benefits. You do not have to belong to a co-op in order to buy from them generally, but it is worth it in my opinion. I try to support co-ops and organic farming whenever possible.

QFC and TJ's both have Ranger chickens (Draper Valley free-range chickens). Not as great as buying "pastured" chicken, but pretty affordable compared to "Rosie" chicken which are usually twice as much.

Some of my veggies I buy non-organic and wash thorughly. I use the Environmental Working Group's list when I go shopping. I always buy organic lettuce and spinach(we eat a ton of leafy greens!). You can buy organic baby carrots, organic mixed field greens, organic spinach, on the vine tomatoes, kiwifruit, and mangos at CostCo for a really good price, less than at Safeway which is second best.

If you choose to eat commercially grown lean meat and buy some of your vegetables and nuts at CostCo, you could probably eat far more budget than we do. Also it is almost farmer's market time, and those are always a good source of vegetables and even pastured meat.