Paltry Paleo: when you can't afford the good stuff

Paltry:
"Lacking in importance or worth" (from here)

I decided to start this blog because we eat a paleo/primal-type diet, but we do it on the cheap. Really cheap. Not completely "bottom of the barrel," but pretty close. 

I'd like to share what our lives look like, and hopefully encourage other people who feel overwhelmed with eating healthy.

We're a family of three: My husband, my almost 10 month old daughter, and myself. We've been eating this way for six months now.



What we DO eat:

Protein
Meat from Aldi, Walmart, and Kroger. Basically anything on sale/super cheap. I buy most of our meat for less than $2/lb. We eat a lot of eggs from Aldi, and I buy a dozen or so eggs from a local lady. She's really nice, and I like visiting with her.

Produce
I try to go to the Farmer's Market when I can, but the past couple of weeks I've stuck to the aforementioned grocery stores. Even though the FM is reasonably priced, I get overly-excited and end up spending more than I should. We eat a lot of salad (which is about the only thing I consistently buy organic), broccoli, green beans, and onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Sweet potatoes in the form of baked fries are a favorite. We try not to eat too much fruit, because that causes sugar issues.

Other
Recently I haven't even been buying nuts and seeds because we eat too many of them. Not that they aren't healthy in very small amounts, but too many cause digestion problems.

We buy condiments. Caesar dressing, other dressings, hot sauce, BBQ sauce. You can make them, but I don't.

We drink lots of coffee, and put coconut milk in it for extra flavor. We sometimes buy flavored, lactose-free creamer to use in small amounts. Not paleo, but totally yummy. Sometimes we drink unsweet tea. Sometimes we drink tea and water with lemon slices.

Sometimes I put honey in sweet treats. I drool over treats more than I actually make them.

I use butter and coconut oil to cook things. I also use leftover bacon grease.


What we DON'T eat:

Dairy-We're lactose intolerant.
Legumes-this includes peanut butter. They're not great for our digestive system, and we get more nutrients from vegetables.
Grains-none of them. It's a filler, and we used to fill up on them! We avoid them completely because of our complete lack of control when we have them.
Sugar. No explanation needed


More to come! I'm excited to share some of my favorite meals, grocery shopping trips, and meal plans! I'm always open to suggestions and questions.