Getting Started

Hey Food Lovers,

If you are like me- and most Americans, you don't make a whole lot of money. I for one have chosen a very noble and gratifying profession so I'm not complaining (too much) that my financial resources are...shall we say...limited. I love what I do, I wouldn't change it for the world, and other than writing, I couldn't see myself doing anything else for a living. But when you're a teacher your wallet barks no to you every time you open it so you don't have the freedom to experiment on diet changes due to time and budget constrictions.

With a clear understanding of my financial limitations, I was looking for a new diet....ahem... lifestyle- in place of the one I recently had. On my 5'7 frame I have packed on an additional 25 pounds and I'm getting married in a few months. Needless to say, I am motivated to learn how to make satisfying delicious meals that would allow me to lose weight and keep it off and cook for hubby-to-be, who is also in his own right, a health nut.

I noticed a co-worker bringing in sumptuous lunches daily: baked sweet potatoes, dark green leafy salads, steak, and pineapple slices for dessert. She and I began eating lunch together, almost daily, until my lunches started looking more and more like hers. We speak "paleo-nese"; a rare language only spoken by those on a quest to live a healthy foodie lifestyle.

One day my as my co-worker and I began to speak paleonese, she told me that I should try dark chocolate for a sweet tooth fix. She explained to steer clear of all chocolates that are not atleast 70% cocoa. She told me she orders all of her chocolate from Belgium, Obviously, my coworker is in a different socioeconomic stratosphere than me. I can't afford to order cavalierly decadent dark chocolate from Belgium! It was then I realized that the Paleo lifestyle can sometimes be a costly one, one that a working class people like myself and my hubby-to-be can't afford (he's a blue collar, dirt under the nails kind of guy).

Hopefully with this blog I and fellow healthy-quest foodies will be able to eat and feed our families real foods without wallets barking in protest.

Getting Started

To get started, I threw out (or ate) all my non-paleo compliant foods. Milks, breads, butters, cheeses... basically anything dairy and delicious went out the door. In order to be Paleo and cheap I set a weekly food budget of $30 and began to plan meals for the week. you can plan more or less money depending on your paycheck and/or the size of your family,Since this is a budget for one week try to buy foods that are interchangeable for more than one meal. For example:  a bag of spinach  can be used uncooked for a lunch time salad or cooked with chicken for an evening meal. Whatever you buy make sure you have enough to last a week through careful planning of meals and looking over your neighborhood grocer's circular for the best deals. It doesn't take too much time... trust me. I work a ridiculous schedule and I do my planning and shopping on one of my days off. It takes 2 hours.

So there you have it. The hardest part about getting started is getting started but once you do you'll  be hooked. Have fun saving money and eating healthy, my foodies. The fun part is just beginning.