Posts tagged ‘Paleo’

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December 1, 2011

Paleo Family on a Budget: Six People, Six Rules, Six Hundred Dollars

I’ve been working on a food budget. Really working. As I said in my last post, it does feel good to buy the absolute best of the best Paleo food options for my family, but nothing feels as good as a replenished emergency fund will. So, to that end, we’ve temporarily given up our monthly delivery of grass-fed meat and weekly delivery of fresh, organic produce.

I gave myself a month leeway to get a handle of what we need vs what we want at the grocery store and how each of those things adds up. I’m not saying I’ve never paid attention before, but I was really in the “all health food is a must have expense, even if those dried apple chips for the kids are $1.00 a bag” camp. Oh and by the way, also a big fan of the “my kids need those apple chips to take to the gym so they have a snack when I work out” excuse.  Not.any.more.  Can you believe that fresh fruit is actually just as convenient as the pre-packaged apple chips were? Really.  Apples and bananas are so easy to grab and put in our gym bag.  My kids haven’t even mentioned the lack of apple chips in the house.  Try it.  

Anyway, now that I am really paying attention, a tight grocery budget has helped us stick with basics in other ways as well, sticking to lean meat (since it’s not grass fed), eggs, fresh produce, frozen veggies, and healthy fats (and dry beans for my 4HB husband). That’s it pretty much it, although I did make room in the budget for coconut flour and almond flour for some comfort foods (who doesn’t love Everyday Paleo’s Meatloaf)?

Alright, alright.  I’m sure you are dying to know…what’s the dollar amount? How much money have I budgeted for groceries each month for our family of six?

Six hundred dollars. That’s roughly $20 per day. Granted, most of the mouths in our family are small children, so it’s really more like feeding 3.5 to 4 adults.

In case you’re curious, during my adjustment month (November), I was only over by $28, which I consider a success, considering it was a month with a birthday in the family (read: special breakfast, dinner, and of course cupcakes!) and Thanksgiving.

It’s December 1st, Day 1 of our new budget.  To help make grocery shopping easier, I came up with a few guidelines for myself that has made it easier to stick with this budget. These are not earth shattering revelations here, people, just things I’m implementing.

Six Paleo Budget Rules for a Family of Six:

1. Lean Meat: $1.99 per pound or less (roughly $120/month)

Buy what is on sale, especially if it’s got a special coupon on it for quick turn-around. If you cook it or freeze it right away, buying meat like that is truly a bargain! When I go to the store, I already know what meat is on sale and plan to buy that, but first I peruse the meat isle to see if I can get a better deal.

2.  Omega 3-Enriched Cage-Free Eggs: $4.50/18 Pack or Less (roughly $80/month)

I suppose this is a tiny splurge, since you can get regular ‘ol eggs for less than $3.00 per 18 pack.  This is one of the three areas that I decided the splurge was necessary, and I made other adjustments.

3. Fresh Produce: $0.99 per pound or less (roughly $30/month)

There is always fresh fruit on sale. I buy bananas every week since my kids love them, and usually apples since they are in season, but I make up the difference in what’s on sale. Hubby and I don’t usually eat fruit, so this is a kids-only expense.

Fresh Vegetables are hit or miss. I always buy baby carrots, but I rarely buy other fresh vegetables lately unless I feel like it’s a real bargain. Frozen vegetables are already ready to go…and are always on sale!

4. Frozen Vegetables: $1.79 per 16oz bag or less (roughly $90/month)

I can usually get a way better deal, but there are some things we can’t do without (Cauliflower, for example)! I end up spending less money on vegetables this way because I don’t throw any away. I am very particular about fresh produce… It has to look pristine, or I toss it. I’m sure I will get better about that, but for now, I’m sticking with what’s working, and that’s frozen all the way, baby!

5. Healthy Fats: (roughly $60/month)

Coconut Oil: $20/month
I buy Nutivia Organic Coconut Oil on Amazon Subscribe and Save for about $20 per 54 ounce container.

*Kerrygold Grass Fed Butter: $12/month
4 sticks a month ($2.99 each at Whole Foods)

*Whole Milk Grass fed Yogurt: $28/ month
Four (4) Glass Bottles of Traders Point Creamery Brand ($6.50 each at Whole Foods)

*I know the grass fed butter and yogurt are sort of splurges. I’ve decided it’s worth it to get the healthy fats from grass fed butter since we aren’t buying grass fed meat right now, and besides, it’s delicious on veggies! My kids are the only ones that drink the yogurt, but I think it’s a great way for them to get some probiotics (they don’t take probiotic supplements).

6. Other Staples: $100/month

Grass-fed Gelatin $12
Coconut Flour $22
Almond Flour $32
Curry Paste $10
Coconut Cream $14
Dry Beans for my 4HB Hubby $10

The grand total for this list only is $480, leaving $120 a month (less than $30 per week) “wiggle room” for extra’s at the store.  I know I can do it, and I’m pretty proud of myself for my performance last month.

It is possible, and I’m going to hold myself accountable to sticking my Paleo Family of Six on a budget of $600 per month.  Will you help me*? Want to join in?

*I’m going to try to post a spreadsheet of my exact grocery expenses so you can see that I am actually doing it, and that Paleo on a budget is possible…even with a family!

Posted in Food, Household Tip, paleo | 1 Comment »

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November 10, 2011

Stress Management, Cortisol, and Recovering from Unemployment

After reading all sorts of Paleo and Primal blogs and books, and listening to a few podcasts on a very consistent basis, I understand the basics; eliminate pretty much everything except meat and veggies, then start to add a few things back in gradually. Grass-fed and pasture raised meat is best, and organic, fresh, local produce is ideal. Sleep. Get a lot of sleep. At least eight hours of night in a very dark room. And manage stress.

Oh wait…what was that last one? Manage stress. This blog is about fighting chaos. Why don’t I have this stress- free thing on lock? Once again, the long-term-unemployment of yesteryear rears its ugly head.

My husband makes a fantastic income at the ripe old age of 30. But, as you know, we have four kiddos, live in one of the most expensive areas in the US (due to my husband’s job), and oh yeah, we’re coming out of some major ass-kicking by the economy in 2009/2010.

Furthermore, our health insurance is covering less and less for the same monthly premium, while making all of the enrollment literature appeared unchanged, which means I was none-the-wiser until the bills started rolling in. We are still paying medical bills from our preemie and my heart scare last year.

So, while we’ve managed to pay off a loan from the sale of a house (which we sold at a loss) and pay off my car, somehow, we are still trying to come back from unemployment. **If any of you are aware of statistics on the time it takes to recover from unemployment, please share! I would love to know…is it 3 months of gainful employment to every one month of unemployment. More? Less? We’ve been re-employed for twice as long as we were unemployed and we are still struggling to catch our breath. I realize as I write this that many are still unemployed or underemployed, and in no way do I mean to make my situation sound like the toughest to handle….I know it could be so much worse.**

The thing is, we kind of thought we would be “comfy” again by now. Not piling-up-the-money-comfy, but not-feeling-guilty-for-hiring-a-date-night-babysitter-comfy…ya know?

So, again, as the household CFO, I’ve decided to reevaluate. And to come full circle for you, in case it isn’t obvious, feeling short on rainy-day or emergency fund savings causes stress, which isnt good for health, and is one of the highly emphasized keys of living Paleo or Primal or really any type of healthy lifestyle. A key that was kind of overlooked by me until now.

I have recently been buying 100% grass-fed meat (which is insanely delicious, by the way), and subscribing to an organic produce delivery service. Before I continue, I should say that I plan to return to both of these luxuries once the financial stress is in check, because I think the money is worth it…when money is free flowing, an emergency fund is fully stocked, and there is very little debt. I know debt means different things for different people, so I should clarify.  We haven’t “carried” credit card debt in a while, but we do have a high car payment (read: young and irresponsible financial decision) and medical bills that are enough to make us feel crazy and broke. Crazy and broke on a salary that should make most people feel like Kings and Queens at our age. So, for us, “very little debt”  hopefully means only my student loan and possibly a home mortgage.

As a minimalist family, we don’t shop a lot for non-consumables (although I have had to buy some key pieces since all of my pre-pregnancy clothes are too big and horribly out of style), we don’t subscribe to cable tv, and we generally try to avoid a ton of consumerism.  Unfortunately, I’ve found a different way to feed the shopping rush…groceries and *tear* Amazon.com. Now, I love me my Amazon Prime Membership, and I plan to keep it, but it does make spending money a little too easy…especially from my Amazon iPhone app!

Spending a ton of money on really healthy food feels good to me.  I don’t ever get the shopping guilt I would get in my single years from spending too much at the mall, because I feel like I am ultimately doing my family a service by feeding them the best of the best.  Now, while I do not plan to start buying pasta and bread in bulk (don’t worry this family has gone back to (primal) basics and we are not turning back!), I do have a plan to continue feeding my family healthy food… this time on a budget!

In a future post, I will get down and dirty in the details of our new food budget.  In the meantime, if anyone has stories of triumphant return from unemployment, tips, tricks, what-have-you, I’m ALL ears!

Posted in Food, Household Tip, Minimalist Monday, Mommying | 3 Comments »

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September 16, 2011

Chilling Out and My Recipe: Paleo Chicken Nuggets

If you’ve read my earlier posts, you know my kids were raised mostly vegan until recently. This meant a lot of whole grains (read: Pasta) and the occasional fake-meat chicken nugget. If you’ve ever tried fake meat (or shmeat as we used to call it), the texture is much different than real meat. Even the “healthy” stuff made at home sans preservatives and such still has a much softer, less chewy texture.

Getting my kids to eat real meat has been a HUGE challenge. Champ will eat pretty much anything, but he’s been eating Paleo since he started solid foods. Carl will eat bacon, and we did get him to try a bite of steak once. Jude wants nothing to do with any of it, and has taken a “that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it” approach. I feel like they would rather STARVE than eat on many days. I admit that I’m mostly just a big wuss. I realize that kids won’t allow themselves to starve, but I can’t handle two exceptionally-difficult-because-they-are-going-on-a-hunger-strike toddlers.

So, I’ve decided to loosen-up a bit (at least until they’re old enough to successfully bribe). The truth is, they’re doing pretty well. Carl asked me for green onion and shredded cabbage for his bedtime snack the other day, and that, my friends, is a WIN in my book.

So, thanks to my fancy food chart (which I will share in a future post) I’ve decided to focus more on trying new fruits and veggies (and actually consuming them). This means I’m going to be okay with them having My Paleo Chicken Nuggets for many lunches and dinners, with a side of the “real food” I’m cooking, and extra fruit and veggies, I’m fine with that. I don’t want eating to be stressful and yucky for them, so I need to chill out. For reals.

Paleo Chicken Nuggets

  • 1 lb ground chicken*
  • 1 cup coconut flour
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • Dash poultry seasoning
  • Several eggs  -or- 1 cup or so of unsweetened coconut milk**

Roll out the ground chicken on parchment paper or a silicone cutting board until it’s an inch or so thick. Put it in the freezer for 30-60 minutes until partially frozen (it’s easier to cut and bread that way). Cut ground chicken into strips, or rounds. Or if you want to get crazy (or just have time to kill), use cookie cutters to make fun shapes, like the Dino Nuggets in the store. You have to work kind of fast, because you still need the meat partially frozen for breading. Once cut, dunk the meat in egg/milk, then roll in flour mixture. Place on heavily greased cookie sheet, and cook at 350 for 30 minutes or so.

*I opted for ground chicken, because it is more like the texture of vegetarian chicken nuggets.
**I don’t like being too specific here, because I hate wasting ingredients, and I think everyone has different “breeding” skills. I start out small and add more egg/milk or coconut/almond flour as required.

This recipe was inspired in part or in whole by this recipe

Posted in Food, paleo, paleo | 3 Comments »

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September 15, 2011

Recipe: Homemade Chocolate Larabar

My kids LOVE Larabars. I do too. Unfortunately, they are at least a buck a piece. I’ve been searching for the perfect recipe to try, but I never have dates, and I don’t usually have dried apples, which is required to make copycat Apple Pie Larabars. I hate buying ingredients for specific recipes that I may not use for anything else, cause let’s face it…. Not everything is delicious!

Anyway, the other day, I saw a chocolate Larabar at the checkout at Whole Foods. I bought it because those darn over-priced checkout stand treats get me every time. When I brought it home, the kids and I all tried a bite, and thought they were pretty good…and worth trying to make on my own (assuming dried apples and dates weren’t necessary). After googling over and over, and discovering every recipe required dates, I decided to modify one fantastic recipe.

Homemade Chocolate Larabars

  • 1/2 C raisins
  • 1/4 C walnuts, chopped
  • 1/4 C almonds, sliced or roughly chopped
  • 1 t cocoa powder
  • Splash of vanilla extract

Place all ingredients into your Vitamix, Blendtec, or food processor. Press into small glass pan or mold into small bars on cookie sheet and refrigerate. I press mine into a small rectangular Pyrex, put the lid on, and refrigerate over night (an hour is fine). Then slice into bars and store in refrigerator. These will last several days in the fridge, but if your family is anything like mine, they’ll be gone in 24 hours :)

Enjoy!

 

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September 4, 2011

Hurricane Irene Food Spoilage & A Fresh Start!

It’s been more than a week since Hurricane Irene touched down on the East Coast. As I post this, I realize that some have lost their lives, homes, pets, possessions, and more, and I feel fortunate to have avoided all of these losses. Living on the coast of Long Island, we expected far worse, and evacuated with our children before Irene hit.

The only inconvenience caused by Irene for us (and likely many of you), was the loss of electricity. A week later, there are still thousands of families without power. If you are like us, and lost power for several days or more (five for us), the food in your refrigerator and freezer spoiled and had to been thrown away. Many full garbage bags, hundreds of dollars.

In these economic times, the thought of stocking up on perishables can be overwhelming. It’s not just the big stuff, it’s the “use once in a while” condiments and specialty cooking items that add up.

I’ve decided to look at the silver lining here. This is a perfect chance for a fresh start. If you’ve been trying to clean-up your eating habits by going Paleo or just by tossing the junk, now is the time! I’ve always felt guilty throwing away food, even if it’s unhealthy, because it’s like throwing money in the trash. In this case, you’re forced to toss it anyway. DON’T REPLACE THE JUNK!

If you’re looking for a good list of essentials, the Everyday Cookbook has a great list, and Robb Wolf’s website has a PDF of shopping lists for several weeks.

*it is worth mentioning that some homeowners insurance policies and renters insurance policies cover food spoilage in events like this. It’s worth checking out, but ours does not.

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May 18, 2011

Everyday Paleo Cookbook Review: Great for Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free

I can’t remember the last time I bought a cookbook. In my minimalist journey, I have been donating cookbooks and taking iPhone pictures or scanning only the few recipes I actually like. For the most part, just about any recipe can be found online. Shockingly, I bought a cookbook last week! Since January, I have been checking in on a couple of Paleo blogs I really like on a fairly consistent basis, including (but not limited to) Everyday Paleo and Robb Wolf’s blog. When EverydayPaleo.com and GrowingupPaleo.com launched their own Paleo Talk Podcast, I started listening and heard them mention Sarah Fragoso’s new cookbook Everyday Paleo.  Sarah is a busy mother of three, so she totally “gets” how crazy my life can be.

Although the title of this post says “good for gluten-free and dairy-free,” I do realize the recipes use eggs. However, I also know (from my years as a vegan) that eggs are pretty easy to replace in many recipes. Now, obviously, the section titled eggs is one that should probably be skipped if you have an egg allergy (I can’t really think of a way to make the Egg Muffins without eggs!). However, even without the use of that section, this cookbook is still worth your money if you value your health and your time. Nothing too fancy-schmancy here; just darn good food.

I haven’t made used a ton of recipe’s just yet (we eat a lot of leftovers), but some things I’ve made and loved are:

  1. Paleo Pizza
  2. Garlic Beef Stew with Acorn Squash
  3. Paleo Meatloaf (made into meatloaf muffins)

So, why did I break my minimalist rule and buy a cookbook? This is more than a cookbook.  It’s a pep-talk and fitness guide too.  This one is a keeper!

As I continue to make recipes from Sarah’s cookbook, I’ll be sure to let you know!

Posted in Cookbooks, Food, Minimalism, Mommying, paleo | 1 Comment »

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May 15, 2011

Paleo Challenge Day 10: What We Ate and How I Feel

I’m ten days into my 120 Day Paleo Challenge, and since I do all the cooking, this means my family is too.  I can’t say I’m totally impressed with myself.  The first eight days were painless and easy to maintain (I think because I’ve been “paleo”-ish for a few months).  However, the ninth day ended with my husband running out to pick-up a bun-less burger and dessert from the nasty-food-joint down the street.  I’ve decided to use words associated with bad feelings in place of the real name of the restaurant, hoping this tactic reminds me how disgusting I felt almost immediately after the final bite was down the hatch.  The truth is, I really felt disgusting.  It wasn’t just the “I’m so disappointed in myself I could puke” feeling that often comes with eating food that we know is bad for us. . .I actually felt ill.  My stomach started churning and cramping up, and it didn’t really stop until mid-day today. I guess I’m glad this happened now and not weeks from now.  Not that I needed proof that food from that place is junk, but I don’t think my body will let me betray it like that again.

Here’s a list of some of the things we ate this week, with links for recipes if applicable (if you don’t see a link yet, it’s because it is my own recipe and I’ll add it soon).  I’ve also included what I fed my kids this week.  The change has been somewhat rough on them, so you’ll see more “transition foods” on their list now than I hope to see in  the weeks and months ahead.

My Paleo Meals:

Breakfast: Egg & Veggie Scrambles- Peppers, Onions, Spinach, sometimes (leftover) sausage or bacon

Lunch and Dinner:

-Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Turnips and Carrots

-Garlic Beef Stew

-Planned-Over: Garlic Beef Stew w/ Oven Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Sauteed Spinach

-Paleo Friendly DaBomba Salad (copied from my favorite local restaurant, Downtown Cafe)

-Carne Asada with Peppers and Onions

-Slow Cooker Chicken Breast w/ Baby Carrots, Celery and “Ranch” Seasoning

-Curry Stir-Fry

-Balsamic Chicken Salad

-Paleo Meatloaf with Turnips, Sweet Potato, and Carrots

Most days I ate leftovers for lunch, but some days if I had a huge breakfast, I may have had a Larabar mid-day instead of a full lunch if I wasn’t very hungry.

Kids Paleo Meals:

Breakfast:

-Chaos-Free Paleo Breakfast Cookie (super simple recipe coming soon)

-Fresh Fruit

-Cashews

Dinner:

-Slow Cooker Chicken Breast w/ Baby Carrots, Celery and “Ranch” Seasoning

-Balsamic Chicken Salad

-Paleo Meatloaf Muffins with Turnips, Sweet Potato, and Carrots

-Grilled or Baked Chicken with Raw Veggies & Fresh Fruit

-Paleo Pizza with Spinach and Feta

Kids Paleo Snacks:

-Fresh Fruit

-Raw Petite or Baby Carrots

-Cashews

-Larabars

-Barney Butter Almond Butter Travel Packets

I’m excited! My kids are already showing improvements in dietary preferences, asking more for fruit and nuts than the grain-based snacks we used to eat! In the next few days, I plan to post my recipes and update this post with links.  I’m also working on a Cookbook review for Everyday Paleo that I’ll publish this week, as well as some website improvements and additions. Stay tuned!

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May 5, 2011

Getting Serious About My Switch to Paleo: 120 Day Paleo Challenge

“If you never change your mind, why have one?” -Edward de Bono

Three years ago, in an effort to achieve optimum health, I switched to a mostly vegan diet. Unlike many people who become vegetarians or vegan, my number one goal was to get really healthy, not to “save the animals.” As cold as that may sound, I do have some issues with the way most farm animals are raised, but I’ll save that for a later post.

For almost three years, I cooked without meat and dairy. At first I was very strict, but I felt like I caught so much flack from friends and family, that I was more lax when around others. Additionally, during those three years I was pregnant twice. I found that when I went out to dinner, I was craving meat, and would eat it only from restaurants. I know it sounds weird, but while I was mostly vegan, I developed a strange aversion to preparing meat that I didn’t have previously. Maybe it was all the vegan propaganda I was reading…who knows.

Fast forward to September 2010, just shy of my three-year “veganaversary”. A couple of weeks after my 29th birthday, I ended up in the hospital. I was having chest pain, and after taking several EKG’s and comparing them, the doctor actually said “You may be having a heart attack- I can’t send you home. Oh, by the way, please take this nitroglycerin stat.” I imagine that’s really scary to hear at any age, but at barely 29 with four young kids at home, it freaked. me. out.

After two days in the hospital and several tests and follow-up visits, we still don’t know what was going on with my heart. We’ve eliminated stress, anxiety, panic attack, and heart attack, but that’s about all.

The experience made me question a lot of things (it’s how my minimalist journey started as well), but the first thing I questioned was my diet. My husband and I have a very good friend whom we really trust. He has a PHD and studied heart health, specifically the effects of diet and nutrition on the heart. Time and time again, his research showed that people who eat a diet of mainly vegetables and lean meat have the healthiest hearts.  While heart health isn’t my only goal, I am happy to report that the last few months of transitioning to the paleolithic diet (paleo diet) have meant fewer IBS symptoms, ovarian cyst flare-ups, and lessened my chronic cystitis.

Ironically, as this post sat in draft form for the last few weeks while on vacation, I had another heart scare.  Chest pain, followed by an ambulance ride, and several hours in the ER.  The only new news is a heart murmur.  Anyhow, I’m sure lots of cardiology follow-up is in my future, but suffice it to say: I’M SO DONE! It’s time to stop messing around. My health is the most important thing! My kids & husband need me!

I spent the last few months really dialing in my sleep, cutting out grains & dairy (except for Omega-3 Cage Free Eggs) and trying hard to get at least eight hours of sleep every single night… which is pretty tough with so many young children. Then, I went on vacation across the county, had an impromptu sleepover with friends and a total of eight kids, and had company in town.  All within 10 days.  As fun as exciting as all of it was, it left me running on very little sleep and drinking coffee again most days (after basically cutting it out).  For the first time in months, my usual health problems reared their ugly heads.

To sum it all up, I’ve realized something really important: my body is really sensitive.  Perhaps more sensitive than other people, perhaps not.  I just know I need to be smarter about things.  I can’t stay up really late and get too little sleep.  I can’t eat crappy food.  It’s a really slippery slope for me.  One thing begets another and then another.  I need to find a way to see friends during more reasonable (read: daytime) hours.  This means I need to plan further ahead, find a good babysitter, and force myself to go to bed at a reasonable hour.  No. Matter. What.

So, starting today, I’m embarking on a  four-month (120 day) Paleo Challenge.  I’m selecting 120 days because I’ll be 30 years old on September 5th, and I would like to have my health in check. I realize this means I will be at many a summer barbecue, being the “weirdo” that won’t eat this or that.  I am prepared to bring my own food and get laughed at- because that’s what it takes.

My Paleo Challenge isn’t just about food.  It isn’t just about the sleep or the exercise.  It’s about the synergy all of those things. I’m dong it.  My health is important.  My body needs my focus, and my family can’t handle having me out of the loop because I’ve made poor decisions.

Anyone care to join me?

Posted in Food, Minimalism, paleo | 5 Comments »

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March 23, 2011

Favorite Easy Meal

I would love to say that I make all of my meals from fresh vegetables. In fact, some day, I would love to be able to do that. Unfortunately, time is a huge factor for me with such young kids. I’m converting from a mostly vegan diet to a mostly Paleo diet, so vegetables are the main focus of my meals, with some added meat instead of rice or pasta like I used to add. Hard core Paleo diet enthusiasts may not like this recipe because it incorporates a very small amount of feta cheese. I’m trying to keep my meals about 80% Paleo, so this works for me. As for the vegetables, I realize the ingredients are not just vegetables, but again, it fits the 80% rule and is great for transition.

Easy Veggie & Steak Bowl:

-Two boxes “Green Giant Antioxidant Blend” frozen vegetables

-1/4 cup steak

-2 tbs finely crumbled feta

Garlic pepper to taste

Enjoy!

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