Life has been busy but happy in my neck of the woods over this Christmas season. We go to Branson to visit family every year. As with Thanksgiving, I also maintained Paleo over Christmas Dinner - Yay! We covered the sides, which worked well for us. Main entree of Prime Rib was provided by the elders. I made the Paleo Pork Stuffing from Thanksgiving. I love that stuff. Have I mentioned that I love that recipe? MMmmmmm.....
In addition to the stuffing, we also had mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus, mashed potatoes with gravy, and crescent rolls. Plenty of options for everyone.
I tucked my receipts from the trip away, but now I cannot fine either one of them. Yep, I managed to go to the grocers 2 separate times in one week. It felt very strange. The girls even mentioned it when we were at the store the second time. Pretty bad when you pull up in front of Wal-Mart, and Thing2 wants to know why we need to go shopping already "We were just here the other day!" I had to chuckle.
I have noticed, and Husband commented, that we have been eating more rich foods lately. With the holidays and festive meals, I have been making some pretty large and heavy meals lately. We have had so many containers of leftovers that on more than one occasion, I have just warmed them up and used them to feed the family. Husband has specifically requested more salads. I never really thought I would see the day when Husband asked for more salads. It is nice, and just re-enforces to me that we have made the right decision to change our ways of eating. When my husband is craving green, leafy veggies; it's a good thing!
With that in mind, I made a trip to Aldi's. My last grocery trip of the year...
2 dozen eggs @ 1.68 each $ 3.36
grape tomatoes 10 oz clamshells @ .69 each x 4 $ 2.76
Flat leaf spinach bags @ 1.79 x 2 $ 3.58
10 heads of cauliflower @ .89 each $ 8.90
2 heads cabbage @ 1.29 each $ 2.58
Mushrooms x 3 @ 1.49 $ 4.47
Diced Tomatoes 4 cans @ .59 $ 2.36
Tomato paste 4 @ .39 $ 1.56
Almond Milk 2 @ 2.49 $ 4.98
Ketchup 20oz bottle $ 1.49
Hot dogs 4 x .75 $ 3.00
Turkey bacon 2@ 2.19 $ 4.38
40 oz of catsup $ 1.49
Total $ 44.91
Meals that I plan to make in the coming week...
Paleo cabbage rolls from the blog "They've Gone Paleo" http://theyvegonepaleo.blogspot.com/2012/03/cabbage-rolls.html
This will be my first time to make the paleo cabbage rolls, and I will post about the process when it is done.
Last night, I made Chicken Stroganoff over spaghetti squash, and it turned out very well! I took my Chicken Stroganoff recipe off of the 99 cent chef's site... http://www.the99centchef.blogspot.com/search?q=stroganoff
2 chicken breasts $ 2.89
2 onions $ .40
Mushrooms (minus 3 to go into salad) $ 1.49
Bone Broth $ .80
Dijon Mustard $ .15
Sour Cream $ .50
Spaghetti Squash $ 4.87
Total $11.10
Side Salad of 1/2 bag of Spinach 90 cents
1/2 container grape tomatoes 35 cents
1/2 a cucumber at 2 for a buck 25 cents
1 carrot, grated 30 cents
3 mushrooms price included above
Total $ 1.80
Last night yielded enough leftovers for 2 more luncheon meals, and fed the whole family for $12.90. Not too bad, I think.
I have a few pounds of leftover sweet potatoes that I want to make up into stuff. I was going to make mashed sweet potatoes, but then Paleo Nick posted a video on how to make sweet potatoes Anna http://www.paleonick.com/articles/Sweet-Potatoes-Anna and I have decided to try that later today.
I have historically been a very visual learner, and prefer watching cooking shows to really see how the prep needs to happen. Youtube has been a great thing for me, and when we got rid of Dish Network, the only shows that I really missed were "10 Dollar Dinners" and "Good Eats" from the Food Network. (Well, also anything with Samantha Brown, Andrew Zimmern or Anthony Bourdain from The Travel Channel. But, this is about the food, right?) :-)
Paleo Nick's site has wonderfully instructional videos, and his approach is very low key and relatable. I have definitely picked up some great menu ideas from watching. In addition, he is not militant about Paleo, so he includes Paleo adjacent recipes too, which is kind of nice. I think that my annual fee is money well invested!
I will also be making lettuce wraps later in the week, and chicken curry is on the menu for tonight.
Chicken breasts (2 in a pack) $ 3.11
1/2 jar of Rogan Josh sauce $ 1.80
4 cloves pressed garlic $ .35
1 can diced tomatoes $ .59
4 stalks celery - diced $ .55
2 onions $ .40
large carrot $ .15
1 head cauliflower, diced $ .89
bone broth $ .50
Total $8.34
We are eating it like a stew, because I am kind of running out of ideas about what to put things over. I do not want to burn the family out on spaghetti squash, but mashed parsnips are too much like putting curry over mashed potatoes. The texture is just wrong. I will keep working on it, and will write about ideas in further posts.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
t
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