Dirt cheap, lowish-carb paleo dinner ideas?
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Primal7,
That link was extremely helpful! Thank you! If you know of any others, let us know!0 -
What a helpful bunch of people on this forum! Thanks for the great ideas.0
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If you do not have a freezer, get one!!! Freezer was on my christmass and birthday wish list for years, and this year I finally got it. OMG it is amazing! I am still learning , but it is a great resource.
Buying bulk at Costco or other places can makes thing so much cheaper. I'm from Canada, and groceries here twice as more than in the US , so budgeting is even more important. Here grocery stores usually have 15% off on the first Tuesday of the month on the top off their regular deals. Obviously it became my shopping day. I check the flyers and hit 2-3 stores on that day and buy a month worth of meat, eggs, and dairy ( I am primal not paleo),toiletteris, spice and anything that can be stored for 3-4 weeks. I also visit Costco at that day. This makes that day very loong and tiring , but than shopping is done for the month. I portion out the meat that day and freeze it. Beside the protein and no perishables, I buy enough fruits and veggies that last 2 weeks. This way I do not have to visit the store the following week. 2 weeks later the big shopping, i visit a farmers market only to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Again buy enough mfor 2 weeks and that's all the shopping I do in a month. Sometimes I visit the farmers market twice a month, but the grocery stores only once.
If you see cheap whole chicken buy a few and grill them at once. Or buy ready to eat rotisserie chicken if it is on sale. Take the meat of and chop into pieces and bag it, freeze it. This is the best go to food in my house. Great fast lunch or extra protein in any dish really.
A couple of additional freezer advice:
1. LABEL everything. Content, date size, so you actaully know what is in bags in the freezer.
2. When you portion out put the price on the portions, it makes you aware of the prices. Our family loves chick breast, but seeing the price on a single dinner portion day after day, made me shift toward cheaper cuts like leg and thigh.
3. If you see some fresh fruits and veggies are going soft , toss them into a bag and freeze them. I Usually keep my fruits in the fridge except bananas. When they start to get brown spots, I peel them , chop them and toss into a bag and freeze them. Berries Can go bad fast and thy are pricey, so freezing even a leftover half container is worth it. No fruits or veggie gets thrown out this way. The fruits can be used in smoothies , the veggies can get steamed, or fried later.
4. If you eat dairy, freeze them too. Cream, cheese, butter even milk can be frozen. I buy the biggest , cheapest , family pack from everything and freeze it. I buy a 5 lb shredded mozzarella , portion into 1 lb bags and toss 4 into a freezer , 1 goes to the fridge.0 -
Definitely check out local farmers for buying beef, pork or chicken. Even without a separate freezer, if you don't normally keep a lot of frozen items, you can still store a quarter beef. And it reduces tremendously on your most costly food item. So, use the high rent district to hold the high rent food.
www.eatwild.com is an excellent resource for searching out local farm producers. And don't be afraid to ask about splitting up possibilities.0 -
Found this today and thought of this board.
http://balancedbites.com/2012/09/faqs-how-can-i-eat-paleo-on-a-budget.html0 -
Really great ideas.0
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we eat a lot of meat, so i go early am ( bet 7 and 9 ) to shop for meat. They start marking it down around 6:30 / 7. i have gone during the week and weekends and they mark down everyday. Last week i got a large chuck roast reg. price 17 something for just under 8 $. it was large enough for 3 meals for 2 pple. Also, other fresh items (veggies and fruits ) are also being marked down at this time as well and many times i am lucky enough to find expensive cheeses marked down too. If i find milk marked down, i bring it home pour up a bit and freeze the rest. Shop early.0
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Favorite go to stuff for inexpensive, low carb, paleo/primal dinners
- whole chicken, roasted and green beans sauteed in EVOO and butter. Save the remainder of the chicken, get lots of lunches out of it.
- Taco salad - Buy the fattiest ground beef you can find (it's cheapest), season it up and cook it, put over lettuce and tomatoes and maybe some salsa on top
- When I am craving steak - a flank steak is pretty cheap per lb, I grill it to medium rare, slice it thin across the grain, serve with a salad or maybe broccoli. Use the left overs for steak salads throughout the week. Put chimichurri sauce on it. see my recipe below for it, put chimichurri on most any grilled meat, it's inexpensive if you make your own. #Nom
- grilled chicken breasts: if you buy the ones on special at the grocery store, you can get 'em pretty cheap. Buy the great big package, too, and split 'em into portions, and then freeze.
- stewmeat, make your own chili. If you want to save more money, use ground beef instead of stew meat.
- if you have easy access to an actual butcher shop, go in and ask him what he has on special. Ask him how to cook it. He'll give you great advice.
Some of the things we do ....
I save all left over meat, use it for my lunch salad. 3 oz or so of chicken or beef on a salad is a great lunch, and very inexpensive.
We buy the huge mondo bag of chicken breasts at Costco and keep in freezer. I can easily pull out however many chicken breasts I need for dinner and cook them up. Almost always have leftovers for my lunches to go to work.
Pork shoulder! Costco sells a package with two pork shoulders that have the shoulder bone already removed. Make Chile Verde in the crockpot or smoke the shoulder and make pulled pork.
Chimichurri recipe:
1 cup lightly packed chopped parsley (ideally, flat leaf "Italian" parsley)
3 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
2 tablespoons shallot or onion, minced
3/4 cup EVOO
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
In blender or food processor, pulse all ingredients until well chopped and a nice sauce is forming, but do not overdo and puree. Spoon on to sliced flank steak (or any other grilled meat you prefer, I love on top of a grilled pork chop).0 -
Pork shoulder is usually very inexpensive, I throw into the crock pot and viola!
I have a couple variations, I usually brown with coconut oil beforehand although I have put frozen ones in as well. I regularly shop the discount section where meat is 50% off...Ill get a pork shoulder that was 6$ for $3...and it will last me days. Always use; salt, pepper, oregano and then...
Variations:
1. Apple juice with sliced apples
2. Orange Juice with sliced apples
3. Apple Cider Vinegar
4. Balsamic Vinegar
I am a struggling college student, so I also have a Costco membership and will buy the whole tray of pork chops to use. I also buy their low sodium bacon pack and salmon (which I cut into portion sizes and freeze. Coconut oil is WAY cheaper at Costco too.0 -
I buy a 2 lb flank steak and get eat off of that for several days. Also chicken drumsticks are really inexpensive, I slather them in coconut oil, season with paprika & garlic salt then bake. Country pork ribs in the crock pot are relatively inexpensive.0
