$100 Paleo Grocery Challenge & Whole 30 – Week 1
First official week of the $100 paleo grocery challenge! Who’s excited!?
If you don’t know what I’m talking about or want to know the rules, check here.
I’ll start with a workout brag though. I did 30 miles on the stationary bike Saturday. Whoa buddy, did my bum hurt after. It took 1:47:10 and I got a lot of reading done, which is the only good part about being on an indoor bike.
I can’t wait to get outside and ride. My new helmet came last week!
After the ride, Carter and I went grocery shopping with my in-laws. Harley and Scott were at the Monster Truck Show. I knew Sunday was going to be busy with family dinner at my grandpa’s, so I wanted to get it out of the way. We went to Meijer and McCord’s Market. (Note: There are a couple non-paleo items in the photos, I’ll address them later.)
| Meats | |
| Ground Beef 1.20# @ 2.99/# | 3.59 |
| Smoked Pepper Salmon | 6.49 |
| Fresh Salmon 1.35# @ 6.99/# | 9.17 |
| Angus Round Steak 1.87# @ 2.49/# | 4.27 |
| Total: | 23.52 |
I looked at the salmon and realized it wasn’t paleo/whole30 compliant. Preservatives. Blast. Another lesson learned, make sure you READ INGREDIENTS!
Also, there is a corned beef brisket for Scott.
| Vegetables | |
| Parsnips 1.78# @ 1.10/# | 1.96 |
| Broccoli 6 bunches @ 0.88/each | 5.28 |
| Brussel Sprouts 1# | 2.25 |
| Green Peppers 5 | 1.39 |
| Grean Beans 3.19# @ 0.49/# | 1.56 |
| Summer Squash 1.81# @ 1.79/# | 3.24 |
| Red Peppers 4 | 2.13 |
| Avocados 4 (after $1 off coupon) | 1.79 |
| Cabbage 2.62# @ 0.14/# | 0.37 |
| Pears 2.06# @ 1.28/# | 2.64 |
| Broccoflower | 2 |
| Organic Spinach | 2.5 |
| Tomatoes (after $1 off coupon) | 1.5 |
| Stir Fry Mix (after $1 off coupon) | 1.5 |
| Total: | 30.11 |
If you don’t shop the marked down produce rack at your grocery store, then you should. If your store doesn’t have one, that blows. Also, if you are lucky enough to have a Meijer to shop at, check for MPERKS! Coupons for produce is rare. Meijer has got your back. Super easy, sign up with your phone number, no rewards card to keep track of, just type into the keypad at the end of your transaction to see the savings come off.
| Fruits | |
| Fuji Apples 3# Bag | 2.5 |
| Braeburn Apples 3# Bag | 2.5 |
| Green Grapes 1.92# @ 1.29/# | 2.48 |
| Bananas 8.45# @ 0.39/# | 3.3 |
| Pears 2.06# @ 1.28/# | 2.64 |
| Limes (Bag) | 2 |
| Lemons (Bag) | 2 |
| Total: | 17.42 |
Overall, I’m very satisfied with my shopping trip. I didn’t get to write a list either, but I generally try to buy things that are on sale. I actually clipped the mperks while I was shopping.
Paleo Friendly Grocery Total: 71.05!
Under budget by $28.95! Overage will be saved for bulk ordering. I’m going to order from the local co-op coconut chips and whole almonds so I can make my own coconut milk, coconut butter, almond milk, almond flour, etc.
And I didn’t get to buy Scott’s pop for in the non-paleo groceries, but there’s plenty left from the $25 I allot for him to get it.
| Non-Paleo Groceries | |
| Yukon Gold Potatoes 5# Bag | 1.79 |
| Corned Beef | 9.19 |
| Meijer White Bread | 0.99 |
| Total: | 11.97 |
Scott really liked the Organic White Bread that I bought at Trader Joe’s, but I couldn’t find an organic bread at Meijer. Oh well.
After we got all of the food put away, Carter and I went back to my in-laws to hang out.
I didn’t get to take pictures of any meal prep other than what I made for family dinner on Sunday, but I did make up a bunch of other vegetables too.
I’d like to add that we didn’t use everything from last week, so I definitely got plenty of groceries.
I’m out of time right now to write about the Whole30, so I’ll try to fill you in on that tomorrow. Pretty proud of how this trip went, especially with not planning.
What do you guys think?
Fit. Fat. Fut. 
March 19, 2013 at 7:11 pm
do you plan out your menu for the week? its the only way I can do it. I too shop for a week at a time. I buy meat in bulk at costco (chicken, pork chops, grd turkey, turkey bacon &eggs)
what do you do with all those bananas? we go thru one bunch in a week. I buy frozen broccoli and green beans. the rest is fresh. I will have to track my food bill
March 19, 2013 at 9:22 pm
I sort of plan my meals around what I can buy on sale. If there is meat on sale we like, but I don’t want to eat that week, I will freeze it and pick something else out of the freezer. Like, I made chicken last night but haven’t bought it in a few weeks and I put the ground beef in the freezer.
The bananas we eat! My family of four eats at least one per person a day. We love them.
And I do have some frozen veggies in the freezer I bought months ago. I love fresh roasted veggies and if I get them on sale, they are cheaper or I can freeze them.
Thanks for the questions Kelly!
March 19, 2013 at 8:12 pm
I didn’t think green beans were paleo. I am obsessed with them.
I think it is so fun to see what other people buy, and I am STOKED to see salmon in there 🙂
Lastly, my Meijer does have Meijer Organic bread and Meijer Naturals. They are in with the specialty/smaller loaf breads at mine. But it could be one of those items that is “tested” here and not widely available?
Xx
March 19, 2013 at 9:29 pm
I didn’t think they were okay either, but I just read the Whole30 book, “It Starts With Food,” and green beans, sugar snap & snow peas are okay! I was ecstatic because I love them all! I can’t remember the exact reason but it said it was a lot more pod than bean. Yay!
Glad you like looking at my food and yeah salmon!
I was rushing through the bread because my ride was in the checkout, so I will look again when I can read labels better. Trader Joe’s spoiled me. I did look it up and Rochester Hills is 28 miles from Grand Blanc when I start driving there for my weekend job and they have Whole Foods and TJs.
March 21, 2013 at 4:52 pm
I’ve seen both about green beans.. because they aren’t grown in the ground. yea not everyone in my family eats a banana a day so I just buy when I run out. we don’t have a meijers (think those are only in the north) we do have a sprouts and their produce is really cheap! we eat a lot of cauliflower rice.
March 20, 2013 at 8:57 am
I too will have veggies and fruit left over from last weeks shopping trip. Will not have to buy so much this week. Will see about replacing a few items with better choices know and see if the family notices. We have lots of soup made from left overs we are eating too for lunches.