What Does It Really Cost?

A lot of the skeptics that I see online and even a few friends seem to immediately dismiss Paleo eating because it "costs too much". People hear terms like organic veggies, grass fed beef, and wild salmon and think that they can't afford to move to the lifestyle. Out of curiosity to see if this is true, I'm going to try to break down my meals for a bit. It won't be perfect since most of the staples I use I've had for a while and I'm still eating some meat that was purchased pre-Paleo.

In a given month, I try to keep the cost of groceries, meals out, and alcohol under $600. It's a number that forces me to cook and eat at home more than not, but still allows me to go out on the weekends and enjoy myself. My theory is that I can eat Paleo for the same amount. I am eating out less, drinking less (though last weekend is Austin in NO reflection of that), and spending more time planning my meals. I'm going to track each day in March (at least that's my goal!) to see how it turns out.

Here is what I've committed to myself to eat, so I don't have to write it down each time:

Eggs - 100% vegetarian, cage-free, no hormones/antibiotics, Omega-3, from a local farm in Petaluma. I already buy these at my local market and they are $4.99 per dozen, or 42 cents per egg. Pasture raised can only be found at Farmers Markets and go for $7.50 per dozen here.
Beef - Grass fed, no hormones/antibiotics. I haven't started buying this yet, so I don't know what to expect other than Whole Foods sells 1 lb ground for $6.99 regular price.
Fish - Wild or sustainably farmed (after looking at the prices on wild, I'm going to make this concession from the typical Paleo stance). I haven't bought this yet so I don't know the actual prices.
Chicken - Organic, cage free, no hormones/antibiotics. I have a 4 lb whole chicken in the freezer from TJs that was $12.99.
Veggies & Fruit - I will follow the "Dirty Dozen" rules and make sure to only purchase organic the items on that list. Otherwise, I'll use my best judgement.

Other rules:
1. When I cook for boyfriend at home, I'll count it twice. When we go out to eat and he pays (mostly our system - I buy groceries and cook, he pays when we go out), I'll not consider part of the expense. If we go out and I pay, I'll count it.

Tonight's Dinner

2. I'm not going to count items like spices, olive oil, coconut oil, etc. I'll assume I spend less than $10 per month replenishing these and try to come in under $590 to save myself a lot of hassle.

Here's a start, just for fun, with today's food. The total comes out to $12.76. That is well below the $20 per day average needed to stay under $600. It's also super healthy and fresh. The other thing I've noticed is because I have to be so prepared and on top of things, I don't waste food. There are rarely veggies anymore in the fridge that go uneaten. So I think it will be an interesting experiment if I can keep up with it. I'm fairly certain Paleo either maintains or reduces my food expenses.

Breakfast - Hard boiled eggs with guacamole and salsa
3 eggs - $1.25
2/3 avocado - $.54
1/3 lime - $.10
1/3 organic onion - $.25 (guess, bought last week)
1/3 carton of salsa - $.83
spices for guacamole

Snack - 1 organic Pink Lady apple - $.69

Lunch - Taco Salad
1/2 organic romaine heart - $.38
1/4 ground turkey - $1.25 (guess, pre-Paleo not healthy but in freezer so not wasting)

2/3 avocado - $.54

1/3 lime - $.10

1/3 organic onion - $.25 (guess, bought last week)

1/3 carton of salsa - $.83

spices for guacamole and taco seasoning

Snack - 1/3 bag organic carrots and 1 red bell pepper (out of organic, realize this is on dirty dozen) - $1.52

Snack - Nuts from vending machine - $.75

Dinner - Turkey, Avocado and Butternut Squash

1/4 ground turkey - $1.25 (guess, pre-Paleo not healthy but in freezer so not wasting)
1/3 carton of salsa - $.83
1/2 avocado - $.411/2 bag of precut butternut squash - $.99olive oil and spices for taco seasoning

Paleo Reality

My only complaint about Paleo is the time I spend in the kitchen. I don't mind the time I spend learning, researching, and discovering new recipes. I don't even really mind the cooking. But I spend so much time doing dishes! I know it will be easier once I move and have a dishwasher, but right now it is so time consuming. These are just the dishes from the food I brought to work today!


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Eating Paleo in Austin

I am in Austin this weekend with some of my favorite people: my love, the BFF, and the BFF's hub. We (minus the love) were supposed to run the Austin Marathon on Sunday. Then we realized we'd run a combined ten miles in 2011 and wondered why we'd waste a rare weekend together on 26.3 miles of torture. So instead we relaxed and enjoyed a few days in 70 degree weather.

My flight just landed and I have about two hours before they all land. After just breakfast and an apple after a Crossfit session this morning, I'm starving! I wandered through each restaurant and (shockingly) decided my best bet was Tex Mex. The woman taking orders was not Paleo friendly and rolled her eyes when I asked for the taco salad with just lettuce, beef, salsa, and the green goodness. I ended up with cheese, without salsa, and in a tostada shell. The meat for sure had sugar in it, but I scooped out as much cheese as I could and skipped the shell and it was pretty decent for a quick airport meal.


I'm hoping I can eat as Paleo as possible all weekend. I know it won't be as healthy as simple veggies, protein, an fat at home, but it will be way better than my former ways!

Paleo Happy Place: Chipotle

Very few things make me happier than the combination of guacamole, salsa, and seasoned meat. Chipotle is a Paleo lover's best friend. Ask for the salad, skip the beans in favor of fajita veggies, pick a meat, go for the salsas (leaving the corn one alone, of course), and add a heap of the green goddess. Yes, I did just call it that. In the Bay Area you'll pay nearly $9 for this, but it is oh-so-delicious.

Unfortunately, after a review of their website, Chipotle doesn't get the 100% Paleo stamp. They use soy bean oil to cook all meats. On the flip side, the meat they serve is a huge step above most convenience food places. Check out their website to see the current percentages of grass fed, humanely raised, and antibiotic and hormone free meats. Then go get yourself a salad, pronto.

Last Minute Paleo

I forgot my lunch today (luckily in the fridge) and needed to find a quick Paleo option. The cafeteria here at the office had no good entree options and the salad bar is sub par for even workplace cafeteria standards. I thought about Thai (really, this does not feel like a "diet" when curry is allowed) but didn't want to get in my car. My only other option was Specialty's Cafe.

I had low expectations, but was very pleasantly surprised! Minus the "splash of cream" in the soup, my meal is completely Paleo friendly. I wouldn't want to spend $8.10 daily, and the soups do rotate, but it's great to know this is available.




Medium Butternut squash soup, side of roasted chicken, and an apple for afternoon snack.

(The cookies smelled amazing, that much doesn't change, but I actually just enjoyed the aroma and had no desire to eat one.)


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Location:Dubuque Ave,South San Francisco,United States

Weekend Update

Taking pictures of each meal got a little old, so I stopped yesterday. I didn't stop eating (mostly) Paleo though.

Saturday morning I made an egg scramble with onions, mushrooms, and the jalapeno habanero sausage. And finished off the OJ. :( I went to my first Crossfit session that morning and came home and had an orange and a handful of nuts. A little later I made myself a salad with the leftover taco meat and the gross guacamole, thinking it would be disguised in a salad. Not so much. Picked out the meat mostly. It was such an amazing day (70s in SF in February!), I ditched the cleaning and work I had planned for a day in GGP with my love. We split a bottle of wine my aunts sent me for my birthday and snacked on broccoli, celery, carrots and fresh guac. We had dinner at a pub where I had a burger with bacon (sans bun) and a side salad. And another glass of wine. We ended up an hour early for our movie, so we ducked into the Wine Jar where I had a taste flight of three chards. I then promptly fell asleep for half of The King's Speech. Nothing to do with the movie, everything to do with the 4.5 glasses of wine I drank, mostly in the sun. So while not 100% Paleo, still had no gluten and no dairy.

Today, after fitful sleep and vowing to never drink 4.5 glasses of wine again, we tried a small diner for breakfast. I had a meat lover's omelet, with eggs, bacon, sausage, ham and a little bit of cheddar. It was good and very filling, perfect for my second Crossfit session. I am so tired after that session, that I've barely been able to manage an orange and a hard boiled egg. My body is soooo tired. I get two days off before my next session on Wednesday morning. Then I graduate to the real classes! Tonight for dinner I'm making Thai red curry, using a variation of this recipe. I'll either go without rice or try to mix in an extra veggie and create cauliflower rice.

Not a perfect weekend (Paleo-wise, it's been an awesome, relaxing, wonderful weekend life-wise), but certainly better than any weekend in the past and, besides the wine and little bit of cheese this morning, 100% Paleo. I found I didn't even really want a taste of G's french fries last night at dinner or potatoes this morning at breakfast. I know they will tasted good but make my stomach grumble all day. Not worth it.

Back to napping I go... the closet clean out is being postponed one more weekend I guess.

Day Four

Friday! At the end of a long week, I got a little lazy with my food. I packed a lot of snacky type foods and ended up not having enough to get me through the day.

Breakfast: Raw broccoli, guac for dipping the broccoli and a jalapeno habanero sausage. The sausage was delicious - maybe not completely Paleo, but it was gluten and hormone free. The guac however. Biggest disappointment of the week. I didn't have time to make fresh, so I bought this at the store. It was nearly $7 (local market) and awful! I also had my usual coffee and really can't remember if I had OJ or not.

Lunch: One bunch carrots (from the CSA, SO good), 1/2 of an orange pepper, 2 eggs (there were some almonds that i ate as a snack earlier), and more of the disgusting guac for dipping my veggies.

I had a meeting right after lunch that had Indian catered. I had just read on Robb Wolf's site that he and his wife tend to go for Thai when they want to eat out. Curries are meat, veggies, coconut milk and spices - Paleo! (Just make sure to not get something with potatoes.) I saw chicken curry so I had a small portion. I realized later that since it was Indian curry it was probably made with yogurt versus coconut milk, but still, much healthier than anything I would have gotten out of the vending machine. 

Dinner: Two plates! The boyfriend is home and is such a good sport that he was willing to eat shell-less tacos with me. I found myself a good one. :)  We had tacos (with beef this time - not grass fed, but organic/hormone free), salsa, and home made guac. This guac is AMAZING. We had a side of butternut squash. Easiest thing ever. Precut package from TJs, tossed with olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Roast at 400 for 25 minutes. And yes, I had one glass of red wine. Oh, he didn't sniffle at all after eating, which is quite unusual. So now we just have to figure out if it's gluten or dairy he has some sort of allergy to.