At the end of April, I decided that my husband and I would attempt to go partially-paleo. If you have researched diets, or lifestyles changes as I like to refer to them, then you know that going paleo means no bread, no cheese and really nothing processed. The concept is to stick to "caveman" options, such as berries, nuts, meat, etc.
While I made it a family choice to not entirely remove bread and cheese and some processed food, the recipes we have been making have had such positive effects on us. I've never been at an obese weight, but I also know that I've never been as slim and toned as I've always wanted to be, and my husband has actually been losing weight since we've been married, so I didn't think going completely paleo was the best decision I could make for our family. I recently realized that I look and feel the way I do because of myself and my choices. This may seem obvious to some of you, but it's so true. I'm the one who grocery shops, cooks meals and chooses to use my free time to sit on the couch or take a nap instead of going for a jog or bike ride. So I finally decided to step up and start buying better food to prepare healthier meals, even if it took longer than 15 minutes to cook, it would be worth it.
That being said, here are some of our favorite recipes! Each time I try something new, I ask Andrew to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 if he would like me to make the recipe again.
I labeled this post Practical Partial Paleo because we're on a very tight budget and trying to eat healthy - so it's possible to eat well on a budget, a $200 monthly grocery budget (including personal care items and cleaning supplies). In order to accomplish staying in budget and making recipes, I also began meal planning:
- Find recipes from cook books, the internet or Pinterest you like
- Print or buy a calendar for the month (you can choose to plan the whole month or two weeks)
- Write in any plans you have where you won't need to cook dinner (going out of town, etc)
- Write in one dinner recipe per day (you don't have to stick to that recipe that day, this just helps you figure out how many meals you need)
- Make sure you have side dishes planned (you can write these in too if it helps you)
- Now make a grocery list of the ingredients needed for your meals
- Before going to the store, assess what ingredients you already have that you need and decide if you need to restock or buy more - if you're like me, I didn't have many baking ingredients when we started this journey so my grocery bills were a bit high at first as I stocked up on my baking staples.
- Cut coupons (if you choose to) or shop at stores such as Aldi to stay in budget - We go to Aldi for everything we can, and whatever Aldi doesn't carry we get at Walmart. Don't cheat yourself though, if there is an Aldi in your area, shop there! Their prices are so much better than Walmart's!
Happy Living & God's Blessings!
J.M.
