THE PALEO DIET

BUDGETSHOPPINGGUIDE

By Robb WolfAuthor of The Paleo Solution &

The 30 Day Total Transformation

Table of ContentsChapter 1 – All the excusesPaleo is too expensive ...................................... 5Take a look at your money ................................ 8Finding free money ............................................ 9I don’t have fancy stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s ..................................................... 10I can’t afford grass-fed or organic ................... 10I don’t have time to cook ................................. 11I don’t have time to shop ................................. 11I don’t know how to cook ................................ 12

Chapter 2 – Learn to cookLearn to use a pressure cooker ....................... 14Learn to use a slow cooker ............................. 15Learn to make soup ........................................ 15Learn to cook vegetables - four ways ............. 16Learn basic knife skills .................................... 1710 easy recipes to know by heart ................... 18

Chapter 3 – Meal Planning 101A couple caveats ............................................. 20A few helpful pre-game tips ............................ 21How to plan a menu ........................................ 23Time to make the menu ................................... 26Want something a bit more techno-glitzy? ..... 28A menu to get you started ............................... 30Stocking your paleo pantry ............................. 31What do I do with that? .................................. 32Meal maker checklist ....................................... 39This week’s menu ............................................ 40Shopping list ................................................... 41

Chapter 4 – Money Saving TricksKeep a price journal ........................................ 43Don’t pay for preparation ................................ 43Buy in bulk ....................................................... 44Buy direct from a farm ..................................... 44Organize a group buy ...................................... 45Freeze it! .......................................................... 45How to save for buying in bulk ........................ 47Buy local .......................................................... 48What about coupons? ..................................... 48

Chapter 5 – Budget Shopping PrioritiesNavigating the “green lingo” ........................... 51Do I have to buy organic? ............................... 53Do I have to buy grass-fed? ............................ 53Fats and oils .................................................... 54

Chapter 6 – In the kitchenHow to cook meals in advance ....................... 56Other ideas from the Paleo blogosphere ........ 57Prep now, save time later ................................ 58Meat cookies ................................................... 58Cook it slow ..................................................... 59On defrosting frozen stuff ................................ 59What about snacks? ........................................ 60How not to waste food .................................... 61

Resources ..................................63

About the author

Robb Wolf, a former research biochemist is the New York Times Best Selling author of The Paleo Solution – The Original Human Diet. A student of Prof. Loren Cordain, author of The Paleo Diet, Robb has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world via his top ranked iTunes podcast, book and seminars.

Robb has functioned as a review editor for the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, is co-founder of the nutrition and athletic train-ing journal, The Performance Menu, co-owner of NorCal Strength & Conditioning, one of the Men’s Health “top 30 gyms in America” and co-owner of Paleo Brands Inc. a paleo food company selling meals and snacks featuring grass-fed meat, wild caught fish and all organic ingredients.

Robb is a former California State Powerlifting Champion (565 lb. Squat, 345 lb. Bench, 565 lb. Dead Lift) and a 6-0 amateur kick-boxer. He coaches athletes at the highest levels of competition and consults with Olympians and world champions in MMA, motocross, rowing and triathlon. Wolf has provided seminars in nutrition and strength & conditioning to various entities including NASA, Naval Special Warfare, the Canadian Light Infantry and the United States Marine Corps.

Robb lives in Reno, Nevada, with his wife Nicki and their infamous cat, Keystone. You can follow Robb on Twitter and connect with him on his blog, RobbWolf.com. Watch videos and learn more about Robb here.

About this guide

It’s a multimedia guide, not just another e-book.

You’ll see links to bonus reading throughout the guide, as well as video and audio files to watch and listen to.

So be sure to read & click whenever you see sidebars like this one. That means there’s bonus content and more than meets the eye!

Links throughout the book are in orange: like this! So be sure to click where you see orange.

We’ve also given you big ol’ wide margins, so if you decide to print this book you can do so, and have plenty of room to take notes. It also makes it easier to read on screen, if that’s your thing.

ChAPTeR 1

ALL The exCuSeS

Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide

ChAPTeR 1

ALL The exCuSeS

All the excuses — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 5

All the excusesFor over a decade, I’ve been a gym owner and strength and conditioning coach. I have taken literally thousands of people just like you through the process of gaining better health and performance, losing weight, and mitigating or completely elimi-nating symptoms of diseases and disorders by smart exercise and a paleo approach to nutrition. In all these years, with so many clients, you better believe I’ve heard all the excuses.

I can’t eat a paleo diet because…

It’s too expensive.I don’t have fancy stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.I can’t afford grass-fed meat or organic veggies.I don’t have time to cook.I don’t have time to shop.I don’t know how to cook.

Yep, we’ve heard it all. Well, in this Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide, we’re going to bust up each and every one of these excuses, and give you real solutions so that you, even you, special and unique snowflake, can enjoy better health, performance, and longevity through paleo nutrition. Let’s start on these excuses, one by one.

Paleo food is too expensive.

Why I went into health & fitness and did not sell vices is be-yond me. If this whole Paleo thing goes fanny-up it’s going to be hookers+cocaine+baked goods, finished with a smoke. No one will argue with that buffet but in this health shtick you deal with the mass illusion of “cave men lived short lives, meat causes cancer, this is not sustainable.” Then there is that pesky Evolution thing!

Well, I guess I can be assured of job security. It’s not likely the ADA is going to change course nor will folks like Dr. Melina get a clue any-time soon, so onward and upwards.

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Back to the affordability of Paleo: This way of eating, like virtually any way of eating, can be made much more, or much less expensive. Now, similar to cooking or meal options, I thought this was a pretty straight-forward concept (if you are broke, buy cheap, if you have some cash, kick your heels up a bit) but alas, it is not. So, I’m going to walk through some basic shopping and put an arrow in the head of the “Paleo is expensive” idea, then we will look at some basic finance ideas as I think some folks may benefit from that.

Whole Foods or WholePayCheck?

We ran a blog article recently on shopping at Whole Foods which was pretty well received but I wanted to share a recent shopping trip I did and the chow I procured on that excursion. Check out the receipt to the right, and then I’ll talk about what I bought and why.

I bought Two organic chickens, and a mix of ground beef and chuck-roast. Why these items? Because when I walked into the store they had these nifty yellow “sale” cards on them. Even the color-blind cannot find an excuse for fracking this up…I also bought a “bunch” of chicken, ground beef and chuck roast. things broke down like this:

• 9.15 lbs of chicken at $1.39 per lb• 16.7 lbs of beef at $3.99 per lb• Total cost: $81.10• Total carnage: ~25lbs

Here is what that all looked like:

Now, the meat was not grass-fed, but when I hit up a farmers mar-ket, I generally buy similar cuts of Grass-fed meat for $4/lb. Can you

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spend $30/lb on New York steaks? Uh, yea, but Keystone the cat needs to eat too, so I go for the inexpensive cuts and just kick my heels up occasionally.

When we were living in Chico we routinely bought a half a cow and the average price was $4-5/lb. We have not set that system up here in Reno yet, so I make do with the situation I’m in. So Whole Foods (or the farmers market) can be navigated in a reasonable way. I’ll pause a minute and wait for the inevitable complaint that arises when you are trying to help people….Ok, I think it’s just about here:

“But Robb! That is still too expensive for me!”

Ok, shop someplace else. I’m going to look at some produce shop-ping I did at one of the big food outlets (FoodMax) but you could buy your meat there and save a ton of money. Sale items will likely range in the $1.50/lb to $2.50/lb and given that the meat I just bought at Whole Foods is not Grass-fed, the quality is likely similar at a Costco or Food-4-Less kind of location. Anyway, take a gander at the pro-duce I bought:

I cannot for the life of me find the receipt for this, but it was about $20 for all that produce. This is one of the reasons it’s hard for me to not bludgeon people when they make ignorant statements about everything from fiber to the nutrient content of eating Paleo. I mean, how much more fiber and nutrients DO you need? If I was really tight I’d ditch the coconut and avocados and cut at least $6 off that bill

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and put it elsewhere, but it’s still a lot of food for not much money. Was it organic? No, but it was largely seasonal, and this particular place turns over a mountain of produce. It is amazingly fresh and you cannot beat the price.

Now I’ll wait for the next question.

“But Robb! how long will that last you!?”

The produce will last about two weeks, the meat similar or longer.The bottom line is we are talking about ~$100 for two weeks of food for my wife Nicki and I. If I’d bought the meat at one of the big-box mega food places I could have likely cut that bill in half, bringing the bill down to about $60 for two weeks, neglecting the fractional costs of a cooking fat like coconut oil. Either way, not too bad on the pocket-book.

As you can see, buying whole, unprocessed food (paleo food) is actually cheaper than paying someone else to refine and process what you eat into an “edible food product” instead of actual, real, whole food. Buying meat, vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats in their whole and unrefined state is cheaper, folks. Period. And this is just a typical grocery store purchase. If we used some of our Money Saving Tricks that we’ll show you in Chapter 4, we would save even more.

Take a look at your money

One more thing before we move on from the “paleo is too expen-sive” excuse. We want you to take a long hard look at where your money is actually going. What percentage of your overall household budget actually goes to groceries? You might say, “But Robb, I don’t have an extra couple hundred bucks just laying around that I can spend on food! That’s crazy!”

I’m willing to bet that if you are like the typical consumer, you didn’t at one point have an extra $100-300 extra dollars to spend on a cell phone, plus an extra $100-200 per month to blow on 700 anytime minutes, a data plan, and unlimited text messaging either. Whoops, you added a line for your partner or expanded to a family plan? Make that $200-300 per month!

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Bonus video

Watch this video of Joel Salatin, a leader of the real food movement. He addresses the “I can’t afford to eat this way” question with a decidedly non-politically correct answer.

Extra creditSign up for a free account through Mint.com, a really useful website that can help you track expenses through “tagging” different categories where you spend. Make some tags like booze, entertainment, cell phone, dining out, and travel. Add up your expenses for the past few months. Still think you don’t have any “extra” money to spend on nutritious food for your family?

Some of you even found the extra $1,000-2,000 in your tight budget to take that vacation to Disneyland. That latte you bought at Star-bucks was a tidy $5 after you left a tip for your favorite barista. Do that 4 times a week and that’s a neat $20. After a month of lattes and treating your friends a couple times, you’ve easily blown $100 on overpriced coffee.

And what about Saturday night out with some friends? Was that you spending $5-9 per drink on those fancy colorful cocktails? $3 per shot is a bargain nowadays, and it takes several of those to really get you going. At the end of the night what did your bar tab total up to? $30? $50? How often do you rack up one of those?

All this is not coming from a high horse of any kind, or to make you feel guilty for spending money on vacations, cell phones, or booze. However, when you really reconsider your allocation of money, it can be very revealing as to what your priorities are. If your priorities are truly to get yourself and your family into optimum health so you can feel better, avoid costly medical bills, and be around and mobile enough to pick up your grandkids and chase them around the yard, then reconsidering where you spend your money might be a good first step.

Finding free money

What can you trim down, simplify and get rid of? Do you really need that $18 per month Netflix plan? Redbox movies are $1 per night, and lots of stuff can be watched online for free. Are you using all your cellular minutes? What about that “high speed” internet plan? You could probably downgrade to a cheaper plan and save $20-30 per month and get reasonably fast speeds. Eating out twice a week can easily rack up to $100-200 per week, depending on how many people are on your check. What about staying home and enjoying the challenge and fun of preparing a meal as a family and saving lots of money in the process.

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Bonus audio

Click to listen to Robb ranting about “Hippy excuses for failure” numbers 1 and 2.

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I don’t have fancy stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.

I want you to know right up front that you don’t have to have access to Whole Foods or any sort of “gourmet grocer” to eat a healthful paleo diet. You can absolutely eat a whole-foods-based diet with-out shopping at Whole-Foods-capital-letter-store. There are other options out there: bulk buying clubs like Sam’s Club or Costco, Wal-Mart, local grocery chains, Asian markets, local butcher shops, farmers markets, CSAs, and farm meat shares are all budget-friendly ways to get your fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, and meat without having to spend a fortune or shop at a gourmet grocer.

The nice thing about paleo food is that it’s not special. It’s meat. It’s vegetables and fruit. It’s nuts and seeds. If you can find it, it’s coconut oil and almond flour, and things like that. All these things you can find without having to shop at fancy stores.

I can’t afford grass-fed meat or organic veggies so I’m not going to eat paleo at all.

Well, grass-fed and organic are certainly optimal, but if you cannot afford it you cannot afford it. If it REALLY matters to you, make sac-rifices and make it happen, but you might need to shelve your ideal-ism long enough to survive, and reverting to bagels is not the way to go. Your health will be better served by eating conventional meat & mega-farmed produce than a largely grain based diet.

This reminds me of the following:• Hippy Excuse for Failure #1: I can’t find grass-fed meat…

so I’ll eat a bagel.• Hippy Excuse for Failure #2: I can’t find organic produce…

so I’ll eat a bagel.

Substitute “afford” for the word “find” above and we have the same story. I can’t tell you where your value system should start or stop, but I will definitely tell you when you are sh*tting the bed with faulty logic.

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extra credit

Don’t think you have time to cook?

Track your time over a 24 hour period using a simple notepad and pen. Write down the time and what you’re doing each time you start a new activity. For ex-ample:

7:30am Wake7:35am Shower7:42am Prepare breakfast

And so on until you go to sleep. Write out a total next to each line to find out how long you spent doing that activ-ity. Did you find any “extra time” in your day?

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The choice is not between grass-fed, organic, free-range, constantly-hugged meat or a standard American diet filled with grains, sugar, and unhealthy franken-foods. It’s not all or nothing, folks. In Chapter 5, Budget Shopping Priorities, we’ll help you navigate all the confusing “green lingo” like grass-fed, free-range, cage-free, organic, and such. Then we’ll talk about priori-ties of quality when shopping on a budget. If you really can’t afford grass-fed meat or organic fruits and vegetables, we’ll clue you in on the “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables to avoid if you can’t buy organic. We’ll also let you know some great alternatives to grass-fed and wild-caught. We’ll let you know what’s safer to eat and what’s not. You can absolutely still eat a healthful paleo diet, even if you can’t make the most sustainable choice possible.

I don’t have time to cook.

We feel you on this one. Time is precious, and preparing whole foods from scratch does take an investment of time and energy. We’ve got a ton of time-saving tips in Chapter 3, Meal Planning Basics, includ-ing how to prepare a week’s worth of meals in the time it would take for you to sit down and watch a movie or a couple DVR’d episodes of Family Guy.

Oh, did you pick up on our hint there? We want you to think about reallocating your time (just a couple of hours per week) as well as your money. How much TV and Netflix are you watching? How many hours do you spend online on Twitter or Facebook or browsing blogs and news sites? Is your XBOX controller still warm from your last Skyrim marathon?

I don’t have time to shop.

In Chapter 3, Meal Planning 101, we’ll have some tricks for getting you in and out of the stores more quickly. By being organized, you can really save time in the grocery store. We’ve also got a list of resources for things you can buy online, which will save you money and time. And honestly, in the scheme of your week, grocery shop-ping doesn’t have to take any longer than any other errand. It’s a necessary part of living a healthy life. In the time that it takes to go out to a restaurant for a meal, you can go and buy food for your fam-ily for an entire week of healthy meals.

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I don’t know how to cook.

Well, let’s take care of that right now. In Chapter 2, Learn to Cook, we’ll teach you some basic techniques in the kitchen that will not only save you time, but help you to create delicious, healthy meals for yourself and your family. You won’t be graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, but you will be able to make tasty, nutritious food.

Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide

ChAPTeR 2

LeARN TOCOOK

Learn to cook — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 14

Bonus audio

Click to listen to Robb talk about cooking. You’ll learn how he prepares 99% of his meals, plus some cooking tips that will keep things simple in the kitchen.

Get Robb’s Food Matrix with thou-sands of meal combinations right here.

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Learn to cookWe’ve teamed up with some of the most badass Paleo chefs and bloggers around to bring you some cooking lessons that will get you up and running in the kitchen in no time! First, a video from yours truly!

Learn to use a pressure cooker

Learn to use a slow cooker

Learn to cook — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 15

Learn to make soup

About your cooking mentor

Hi. My name is Cindy Sexton. Teach-er by day…food blogger/chef by night. I love eating wicked food…and lots of it! I am all about trying new eats and creating all sorts of yummy paleo-style goodness in the kitchen. I have always been interested in health and wellness,

but really put this passion into full practice and living proof about 3 years ago. My own personal journey towards achieving optimal health, became a priority of upmost importance, after losing my mom to a heart attack several years ago (full story here). With commitment and a desire to change, one step at a time, I have literally transformed my life into one that now exudes energy, vitality and exuberance. I thrive on helping other people become healthier beings and more in control of their body and its performance. As the little lady behind the PALEOdISH blog, I get pumped every time I post a new recipe for those who may be reading out there. It warms the cockles of my heart to think that folks are incorporating some of the dishes that I have created, into homes of their own. When I am not whipping up new concoctions, you will find me lifting

Learn to cook — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 16

weights, listening to podcasts, reading, surfing the interwebs, stroll-ing the beach and chilling with friends and family. On weekends, my husband and I are nuts about roaming the farmer’s market for good-ies and seeking out new restaurants that offer scrumptious paleo(ish) options. My hope is to offer my blog as a useful tool for you to explore, as you make choices to suit your own needs and lifestyle. I highly recommend that you do some reading and self-experimentation, to figure out what works best for your body and situation. Take away what you wish for you and your loved ones. My own journey is far from over. I am constantly learning, growing, expanding and revising my knowledge and stance on the science behind nutrition. You are given one body and one life. Take care of it and live it! In addition to my blog, you can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Learn to cook vegetables - four ways

About your cooking mentor

Michelle Tam is the sardonic foodie and working mom behind Nom Nom Paleo, a popular food blog devoted to Paleo food porn and recipes galore. Covering everything from kitchen shortcuts to tips on dining out, the site demonstrates with vivid food photography that Paleo eating is possible for anyone – even

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those with busy schedules and demanding palates, Michelle is passionate about helping readers implement and sustain an ances-tral dietary approach; on a daily basis she writes about how home cooks can spend less time in the kitchen and still end up with nutri-tious, flavor-packed meals for the entire family. Currently, she is working on an iPad cooking app that will be released Spring 2012. You can also check out Nom Nom Paleo t-shirts here!

Learn basic knife skills

About your cooking mentor

Julie & Charles Mayfield are co-authors of the best selling cookbook Paleo Comfort Foods, blog at paleocomfort-foods.com, and are proud owners of BTB Vinings, a CrossFit affiliate in Smyrna, Georgia. They are avid cooks, gardeners and community volunteers. They reside in Atlanta with their dogs, Buzz and Phoenix.

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10 easy recipes to know by heart

Make any of these simple recipes. They’re easy enough to memorize so you can whip up dinner in a flash.

Bone brothRoast a chicken Fritatta PestoTomato sauceChicken soupBalsamic vinaigretteSalad dressingsChiliPot roast

ChAPTeR 3

MeALPLANNINg101

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 2020

Meal Planning 101Let’s talk about the foundation of smart grocery shopping: meal planning. Meal planning will help you to:

• Plan nutritious, healthy meals each week• Save money by making sure no food goes to waste• Get in and out of the grocery store more quickly• Make sure you’re getting a good variety of foods into your diet• Stay excited and engaged with healthy eating

In this chapter, we’ll get you started right away about how to plan a basic menu, how to get your family involved, how to get organized for your grocery shopping trip, how to save money by shopping your pantry and scouring the sales flyers. In the next chapter, we’ll talk about Money Saving Tricks to save you even more money, and in Chapter 5, we’ll also cover some other questions like “what if I can’t afford grass-fed” and other such shopping priorities.

Let’s get started learning how to plan your meals.

A couple caveats

First, I feel like you should know that it’s not your job to please eve-ryone. If you’re cooking for one, congratulations, you are lucky. If you have a spouse, children, or other family members, then you know as the “one who cooks” sometimes it can feel like you’re a line cook in a busy restaurant full of ticked off customers. Well, you are not a short order cook, nor is this Burger King where they get to “have it their way.” If you’re investing the time into meal planning, shopping, and cooking, then you get to make the decisions about what’s in the kitchen cabinets and ultimately what lands on the dinner table. We’ve got some strategies for making sure your family feels involved and heard, but unless they are willing to share the responsibility of cooking, shopping, and planning, you choose the meals.

Secondly, sometimes you’re going to make a bad meal. It just hap-pens. Every cook and every kitchen turns out a bad meal every now and then, whether the eggplant is total mush or the steak is so rub-bery your jaw is sore afterward. Know this. Be okay with it. Move on with your life.

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A few helpful pre-game tips

We advocate weekly meal planning. Before you sit down to actually plan your first week’s meal, there are a couple helpful tips to train your brain into getting this done easily.

Make a list of 30 meals your family loves

Again, if you’re cooking for one, congratulations. You get to do this one too. For those of us who are partnered or have kids, sit down with the family and make a list of 30 meals they love. Every meal won’t be a unanimous decision, but make sure everyone feels heard. Making a list like this will give you a solid month of dinners to work with for your upcoming menus and will also make sure that you’re setting yourself up for success from the start.

Grab some paleo-friendly cookbooks (we’ve got plenty in the Resources section) and flip through them with your family. Pull up a few paleo blogs (a huge list here) and browse their recipes together. Make a list of things that look great. Mark favorite cookbook recipes with little post-it flags or bookmarks, and add yummy online recipes to your favorites, or visually bookmark them with a tool like Pinterest.com which saves the link along with a photo for a quick visual inspi-ration. Encourage your partner or kids to keep adding to the yummy food inspiration board by bookmarking favorites. Show them how. Get them involved!

Ask your family what their favorite meals are. Some things like macaroni and cheese just can’t be “paleo-ized” properly, let’s face it. Together, we ALL mourn the death of these foods, we say goodbye, and we think about all the other wonderful alternatives that are out there. Keep this experience upbeat with your family! Instead of say-ing, “You can’t eat that,” over and over again, ask a positive leading question like, “what’s your favorite food when we eat at the Mexican restaurant?” or “what’s your favorite orange fruit or vegetable?”

Keep a running list - post it on your refrigerator or family bulletin board. Let your family members add ideas to it.

Bonus stuff

We’ve set up a paleo meals inspiration board just for you on Pinterest!

Go check it out!

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Think about theme nights Another fun way to think about meal planning is to have “theme nights.” Maybe your week looks something like this:

• Monday: Slow cooker meal• Tuesday: Taco or Fajita night (in lettuce wraps)• Wednesday: Soup night • Thursday: Steak night• Friday: Roast chicken & veggies night

Monday night’s slow cooker meal can mix it up. There are so many delicious things to make in the slow cooker: pot roast, pulled pork, curry chicken, the possibilities are endless and the slow cooker saves time and makes your life easier.

Tuesday’s taco night is an endless combination of ground meats (beef, lamb, chicken, pork) or fajita style steak, chicken, or seafood with different toppings (fresh salsas, mushrooms, guacamole, cilant-ro) in lettuce wraps instead of taco shells. And so on.

If you like planning meals this way, adjust your theme night to fit your family’s schedule. If Tuesday night is a little more hectic and you don’t walk in the door til 6:30pm, that’s your slow cooker night. You throw a few things in there in the morning, and when you walk in the door that night, dinner is already prepared. If Friday is a night that’s more leisurely, pick a meal that maybe takes a little more time to make like a roast chicken (although, all said and done it’s still only an hour).

Avoid the one-meal ingredient

Think about recipes that complement each other by sharing ingre-dients. We’ve all bought a whole head of cabbage to make some slaw, only used 1/4 of the cabbage, and the rest went to waste. That not only is wasteful (think of the starving children), it’s like throwing money directly in the garbage. So if you’re going to buy something like cabbage or a whole bag of avocados, think about how you could use what’s leftover in another recipe.

If you’re buying the cabbage to make slaw, make ground meat & sauteed veggies wrapped in steamed cabbage leaves the next night,

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and grate up the rest and make fresh sauerkraut. If you have a bag of 5 avocados, make some into guacamole for dipping veggies, slice some up to go along with eggs at breakfast, and put the rest into a salad topping.

Check out the What Do I Do With That? cheatsheet at the end of this chapter for help with how to avoid the one-meal ingredient and to keep from wasting food.

how to plan a menu

This next section might seem a little long and rambling, but the steps are actually quite simple. Check out page 27 for a helpful flowchart that shows each easy step.

Shop your pantry, fridge, and freezer first.

Before you start putting together your first week’s menu from your family’s list of favorite meals or yummy food inspiration board on Pinterest, shop your cupboards first. Take inventory and use the Meal Maker Checklist to list what you already have. If there’s some chicken breasts in the freezer, a bag of apples in the produce drawer, and a can of coconut milk in the pantry, those are all things you can build a menu around. The chicken breasts can get roasted with garlic and lemon for a main dish one night, the apples can make a yummy baked treat or get cut up for lunches and snacks, and the coconut milk is a great start to a fast and easy curry.

Check out the What Do I Do With That? cheatsheet at the end of this chapter to help you figure out what to do with what’s in your pantry, fridge, or freezer.

Shop seasonally

By now you’ve probably heard at some point or another that we should be eating “seasonally.” Eating according to what’s in season (what’s growing in your area right now) has a lot of benefits.First of all, it’s cheaper. Buying something like strawberries in Feb-ruary is going to be way more expensive. The food is going to be traveling from somewhere that you can wear a bikini in February (think Mexico, Chile, places that are warm all the time). So you’re not only paying for the berries, you’re paying for them to be harvested,

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packaged, refrigerated, and shipped thousands of miles to your local store. You might pay $5.99 for one pound of strawberries! Contrast this with going to a local you-pick strawberry patch where you can get a whole pound of strawberries for about a dollar, and you’re talk-ing about some serious savings.

You also get to take care of the planet by purchasing local foods when they are in season. It costs money to ship food thousands of miles, but it also adds up in terms of pollutants, fossil fuels to run ships, airplanes, and trucks, extra packaging and energy costs to keep the food stable, and more.

Seasonal produce also keeps the money local. Your food dollar goes directly to a farmer in your area, providing jobs and putting the money right back into your community.

Finally, seasonal produce is more nutritious and simply tastes bet-ter. Shipping food thousands of miles causes the food to lose nutri-ents (as soon as it’s harvested, the nutritional breakdown begins). The fresher the food you eat, the better it is for you and the better it tastes. If you’ve ever eaten a strawberry picked at the peak of its season, still warm from the early summer sun, then you know the wonderful, intoxicating deliciousness of seasonal produce. Con-trast that: if you’ve ever been tempted to buy a strawberry from the grocery store in December, you remember what a bland, flavorless disappointment it was. There really is a difference when you eat pro-duce in season.

What’s in season when?

Click on your country below to find out. Don’t see your country listed here? We’d like to add it. Send us an email and we’ll try to update the guide.

• United States • Australia • Canada • Mexico • United Kingdom • Italy

Add some seasonal fruits and veggies to your Meal Maker Checklist.

Bonus reading

Check out the links below for more tips and advice on making seasonal eating an easy part of your lifestyle.

Healthy eating with the seasons

How to eat seasonally

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 25

Shop the sales flyers

Many grocery stores have a weekly sales flyer where they adver-tise “manager’s specials” and discounts on certain grocery items. It takes a bit of planning to shop from sales flyers, but if you are serious about saving money, this can be a big help. Here are some simple steps for planning your menu around the sales flyers.

Get a flyer. Obtain a flyer from your grocery stores (or two or three local stores). You can get these in the newspaper, in the mail, online, or from the stores. Check online first, since that’s the most conveni-ent. Your local store may post the flyer directly on its website.

Find sales on whole foods. Go through the flyer and note any sales on fresh ingredients. No doubt your store is having a sale on soda and cereal, but we’ll be skipping those. See what produce and meat is on sale and ignore the sales on processed and packaged items. Add these ingredients (ground beef, onions, zucchini, chicken legs) to your Meal Maker Checklist.

Time to make the menu

Now you’re equipped with a few things:

• A list of meals that your family loves• Bookmarked recipes in your paleo-friendly cookbooks• Your recipe inspiration board on Pinterest• Your Meal Maker Checklist which shows what foods are available

to you in your pantry and what’s on sale at the local grocery store

This is the most fun part of the meal planning process. You get to put it all together and decide what to cook for the next week. Grab your blank This Week’s Menu worksheet and get ready!

Start with your pantry items. Grab the Meal Maker Checklist and note what pantry items you have for each category - meat, produce, other stuff. Start with the meat you have available. Use the What Do I Do With That? cheatsheet to come up with some ideas or look at your family’s list of meals to get started. Then plan some sides, ac-cording to the produce you have and what’s on sale. Figure out what to do with your other stuff.

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 26

Then decide out what else you need to buy according to the seasonal charts, or just by filling in any blank spaces with meals your family loves.

Make your shopping list

Now it’s time to get organized for the grocery store trip. Use the This Week’s Menu worksheet you just filled out to make a shopping list. The shopping list is divided into sections just like a grocery store. Start by filling in items you’ve scouted out that are on sale, marking them down under each section on the worksheet. Then add in other things you need to buy, keeping things organized in each section. If you need an item more than once, put a tick mark next to it each time, so you’ll know how many to buy.

Time to go shopping

Now it’s simple. Go to the grocery store and stick to your list. Don’t toss stuff that’s not on the list into the cart. That’s it! Using this method will make your shopping trip quicker. Your purchases will mostly be around the outer perimeter of the grocery store, where the produce and meat are located. You won’t have to go up and down each aisle trying to find what you need.

When you get home, unpack your groceries and put your meal plan up on the fridge or bulletin board, you’ll have a plan, you’ll have saved money at the grocery store, and you’ll know no food will go to waste.

Check out the next page for a flowchart showing each easy step.

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 27

Meal Planning 101

Shop your pantryWrite down what ingredients

you already have. Use the blankMeal Maker Checklist.

What’s in season?Add a few seasonal ingredientsto your Meal Maker Checklist.

This will be helpful when planning recipes.

What’s on sale?Check the grocery store flyers

and add some items you can get on sale to your Meal Maker Checklist. This will be helpful

when planning recipes.

Plan your mealsUse your recipe inspiration

board, family’s list of favorite meals, and paleo-friendly

cookbooks to find recipes. Basedinners around protein. Add in sides

based on your produce, what’s seasonal, and what’s on sale.

Fill out your weekly planWrite down what’s for breakfast,

lunch, and dinner on the This Week’s Menu worksheet. Fill in

blanks with favorite family recipes or by choosing side items

or meats that are on sale.

Make a shopping listWrite down ingredients you’ll

need for your meal plan on theblank Shopping List worksheet.

Go shoppingStick to your list.

Convenience-prepHard boil eggs, pre-cook meat,

cut up veggies, make guacamole, etc.See the In The Kitchen section for ideas

on making meals in advance.

Eat!Confidently make healthy mealsfor yourself or your family each

night, knowing you’ve saved moneyand have a plan!

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 28

Want something a bit more techno-glitzy?

Notepad and pen just too old fashioned for you? There’s no end to the amount of apps, programs and websites out there that will help you create menus, save recipes and keep track of shopping lists. Here are a few that seem pretty cool to us. We still like to keep it old school, though.

Springpad - Save your favorite recipes and then organize your week-ly meal plans, create shopping lists and more.

Supercook - Enter ingredients you have in your pantry, and the search engine will find recipes you can make with only those ingredi-ents.

Once a month mom - A program designed to help you plan and freeze a whole month of meals at once. You can choose special cat-egories as well like whole foods, gluten/dairy free or even baby food.

Plan to Eat - Keep all of your recipes in one place with your Plan to Eat Recipe Book. Access, print and share your recipes from any computer with internet access. Import recipes from over 100 web-sites and blogs or add your own. Filter the recipes in your collection by ingredients, tags or how often you’ve planned them to simplify the meal planning process.

Menu planner app - for the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Lets you store your favorite recipes, create shopping lists and meal plans, and keep track of what’s in your pantry.

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 29

A menu to get you startedWe’ve attached a sample weekly meal plan to get you started. Your menu plans will vary based on your family’s favorite foods, what’s in season where you live, what sales you can get at your local grocer, and more. But this one will give you an idea of how a week’s menu can look.

Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snack

Monday

Egg “cupcakes”Apple slices

Cold leftover chickenGuacamole

Green pepper strips

Slow cooker pot roast with root veggies

Handful of almonds

Tuesday

Pastured bacon & fried eggs

Leftover pot roastCelery sticks &

guacamole

Baked chicken thighsRoasted sweet potatoes with

rosemary

Beef jerky

Wednesday

Egg “cupcakes”Apple slices

Leftover roasted sweet potatoes

Deli meat

Stir fried garlic flank steak with broccoli, onion, and carrots

Apple slices & almond butter

Thursday

Jerky, dried fruit, handful of walnuts

Spinach salad with tomatoes, cucum-bers, avocado, and leftover flank steak

Slow cooker stew with sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and

beef shanks

GuacamoleGreen pepper strips

Friday

Frittata made with any veggies in the

fridge on the verge of spoiling - topped with

avocado

Leftover frittata on top of a green salad

Roast chicken with roasted cauliflower

and broccoli

Hard boiled eggs

Saturday

Coconut flour pancakes, fried eggs

Cold leftover roast chicken and veggies

Dinner out with friends at a steak-house - 8oz sirloin, steamed broccoli,

baked sweet potato

Celery sticks with almond butter

Sunday

Eggs, pastured bacon, canteloupe

Big salad with hard-boiled eggs and

crumbled leftover bacon

Slow cooker chicken, shredded for “tacos” in lettuce cups with

lots of toppings

Jerky, dried fruit, handful of walnuts

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 30

Stocking your paleo pantrySo you went to shop your cupboards and came up empty? Here are our list of paleo pantry, fridge, and freezer must-haves. Keep your house stocked with these items and you’ll always have a base for a nutritious paleo meal. Just add meat & seasonal veggies!

Check our “buy online” guide if you can’t find it locally!

Pantry itemsFull fat coconut milk (look for a brand without added sweeteners or preservatives)Coconut oilOlive oilOlivesFlaked or shredded un-sweetened coconutCoconut flourAlmond butterRaw almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pump-kin seeds, and sunflower seeds (keep in the freezer after you open)Almond meal or flourTomato pasteMarinara sauce (check the label, we want no added sweeteners or unpronounceable ingre-dients)Canned chipotles in adobo (check the label for gluten-containing items)Canned tomatoes Canned artichoke heartsDried unsweetened Bing cherriesDried unsweetened figs

Fridge itemsBragg’s Raw Apple cider vinegarDeli meatCoconut aminos (instead of soy sauce)Balsamic vinegarDijon mustardDill picklesToasted sesame oilSalsa (check the la-bel, we want no added sweeteners or unpro-nounceable ingredients)Grass-fed butter or gheeHot SauceChili OilThai Curry Paste

ProteinGround beefEggsGround turkeyChuck roastSalmonBaconWhole chickenGround breakfast sau-sage Smoked oysters or sar-dines in olive oilCanned wild salmon Beef jerky

Fruits & VeggiesAvocadoCucumberCabbageSpinachBroccoliMixed greensOnionsGarlicTomatoesBell PepperLemonsYams/sweet potatoesCeleryCarrotsLimes

Spices & HerbsBlack pepperGround cinnamonGround cuminGround corianderGranulated garlic powderOld Bay

FreezerWhatever frozen fruits and veggies you can get a good deal on that you like to eat!BroccoliCauliflowerSpinachButternut squashFruit

Occasional treats85%-90% dark chocolateCocoa nibsChicharrones

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 31

What do I do with that?Shopping your pantry and fridge, but can’t figure out what to do with a certain food? Here are a few ideas on some of our favorite foods. Still can’t figure it out or want some more ideas? Pull up google.com or any of the Paleo blogs in the resources section and type in paleo ______ such as “paleo chicken thighs” or “paleo artichoke hearts” to find recipes!

Almond butter• Dip apples, celery or any crunchy fruit/veggie in it for a snack• Put some in a smoothie• Eat a spoonful

Almond meal or almond flour• Use for breading on meats (think chicken fingers)• Use in paleo baked goods (search for almond meal on any of our recommended recipe sites)• Mix with cocoa powder and coconut oil - roll into little balls, pop in the freezer for a quick treat

Apple cider vinegar• Add some to your homemade broth/stock - helps to grab minerals from the bones• Use in salad dressing or vinaigrettes

Artichoke hearts• Drizzle with olive oil and top with cracked pepper for a side dish or snack• Combine with other veggies for a salad• Throw them into a stir fry• Put them in a marinara sauce for an extra “hidden” serving of veggies• Serve cold on a platter with pickles, hard boiled egg and cold leftover meat

Avocado• Make fresh guacamole (here’s a favorite, very simple recipe) • Cut in half, sprinkle with salt & pepper and eat with a spoon• Cut into slices and use to top salads or scrambled eggs• Use it in a lettuce wrap• Dairy-free chocolate pudding

Bacon• Eat it by itself or with its best friend, eggs• Wrap dates in it and bake until bacon is cooked• Crumble and sprinkle on top of salads or veggies• Chop into pieces and cook through, then add any veggie for a quick and delicious saute

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 32

Balsamic vinegar• Make homemade salad dressing• Combine with a little olive oil for a marinade for meats• Drizzle over a salad, sauteed veggies, or cooked fruit like peaches

or pears

Beef (ground)• Make burgers• Make bean-free chili• Add taco seasoning and ground tomatoes and cook it - eat it on

lettuce wraps• Make meatballs - Sarah has a ton of yummy recipes.• Make cabbage rolls• Google “paleo ground beef” and make something that pops up• Make something on this page

Bell peppers• Cut into strips and dip into guacamole or baba ghanoush• Use in a stir fry, soup, or stew• Use in fresh salsa• Stuff with ground beef and spices and bake

Berries• Eat them fresh• Make a smoothie• Add a splash of coconut milk and a sprinkle of cocoa powder, eat.• Make a cobbler

Broccoli• Lightly steam or saute and drizzle with olive oil or balsamic vinegar• Roast with bacon and top with pine nuts• Eat raw dipped in guacamole or baba ghanoush• Shred the stems and make a fresh slaw (just add a bit of mayon-

naise and lime juice)

Butternut squash• Make a hearty soup• Roast or cook in a pressure cooker until cooked through and pu-

ree Top with coconut oil or butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon• Roast it• Cube it into small pieces and saute it in a skillet with greens

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 33

Cabbage• Shred it and make fresh slaw (just add a bit of mayonnaise and lime juice)• Shred it and saute with apples, sprinkle with cinnamon• Make cabbage rolls • Cut into wedges and steam it lightly• Use it in a soup or stew for an extra “hidden” veggie serving• Make your own sauerkraut

Carrots• Dice and use as a base along with onions and celery for ANY soup or stew• Chop and roast, drizzle with olive oil, coconut oil, balsamic

vinegar, or butter• Chop into sticks and use for dipping in guacamole or baba

ghanoush• Shred and make a fresh slaw (just add a bit of mayonnaise and lime juice)• Pickle it

Cauliflower• Make cauliflower “rice”• Steam and mash it, then prepare like mashed potatoes• Lightly steam and drizzle with olive oil, coconut oil, balsamic vinegar, or butter• Chop into florets and roast with bacon pieces• Pickle it (you can keep in the fridge instead of canning if you like)• Steam it along with carrots, then puree it and sprinkle with cinnamon or your

favorite spices

Celery• Cut into sticks and use for dipping into almond butter, guacamole, or baba

ghanoush

• Dice and use as a base along with onions and carrots for ANY soup or stew• Finely chop and put into seafood patties like crab or salmon cakes• Chop for a stir fry• Slice it very thin and add to chicken salad• Chop roughly and use in a stew or with pot roast

Chicken (pieces)• Toss into a slow cooker with curry sauce, coconut milk, enchilada sauce, etc

and cook on low all day• Google “paleo chicken recipe” and make something• Make something on this page • Or this page

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 34

Chicken (whole)• Rub skin with butter, lard, or coconut oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper

or a spice blend and roast it! • Sprinkle with salt & pepper, put into the slow cooker, and cook on low

for 7-8 hours• Use the carcass to make bone broth

Chipotles in adobo• Use sparingly! These are spicy!• Puree and add to a marinade• Add to your “cauliflower rice” (see cauliflower)• Put in a blender and then add some of the puree to a soup, chili, pu-

reed veggies, or make enchilada sauce

Chili Oil• Add to ground meat for spice and flavor• Make a spicy salad dressing• Make Thai “no-peanut” sauce

Cinnamon (ground)• Sprinkle on roast cauliflower, sweet potato, or butternut squash• Use in a meat marinade for something unexpected• Add to chili or hearty savory stews

Coconut (flaked or shredded unsweetened)• Eat it!• Make curried coconut chips • Combine with dried fruit, nuts, and jerky for a great snack

Coconut aminos• Use this anywhere you’d normally use soy sauce

Coconut flour• Bread meats with it (think chicken fingers)• Make paleo baked goods (just search on any of our

recommended recipe blogs in the Resources section)• Make biscuits

Coconut milk• Make a curry (see Thai curry paste)• Mix with fruit in a blender for a delicious smoothie

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 35

• Use it to flavor your coffee• Use it anywhere you’d normally use cow milk

Coconut oil• Use as a cooking fat• Use like you would butter (to top veggies, to melt on a sweet

potato)• Use in baking instead of butter• Use as a moisturizer or on your hair for a special conditioning

treatment (really!)

Cucumber• Slice and dip in guacamole or baba ghanoush• Chop and put on salads• Slice, combine with diced tomatoes, onions, and vinaigrette for a

simple side dish• Top with chicken liver pate

Dijon mustard• Spread on deli meat or cold, leftover meat• Combine with mayonnaise for a yummy dip for veggies• Use in a salad dressing• Use in a marinade or as a topping for meats or seafood

eggs• Scramble, fry, poach, or hard-boil and eat!• Make a simple omelet or frittata with lots of veggies• Use to bind meatballs or meatloaf

Lemons/Limes• Slice and put into water for flavor• Use juice or zest in a marinade or salad dressing• Use juice in guacamole or a fresh slaw• Cut in half and stuff the cavity of a roasting chicken

Lettuce• Make a lettuce wrap• Make a salad - top with tons of veggies• Shred for tacos

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 3636

Nuts• Sprinkle on top of a salad (raw or lightly toasted)• Sprinkle on top of fresh berries with coconut milk• Eat raw as a snack

Salmon (canned)• Make salmon cakes• Make salmon salad (mix with mayo, old bay and finely

chopped celery)• Eat right out of the can• Spread on cucumber slices or celery

Salsa• Dip raw veggies in and eat• Top cooked meats or seafood• Top scrambled eggs or throw into an omelet• Put into the slow cooker with chicken thighs for “enchilada meat”• Use with lettuce wrap tacos

Spinach• Use in an omelet or frittata• Add to marinara sauce or a soup/stew for an extra “hidden”

veggie serving• Eat raw as a great salad base• Put into a fruit smoothie• Throw into any stir fry or along with a sauteed veggie

Thai curry paste• Make a curry - Heat a pan, pour in some coconut milk , add a

small amount of curry paste and stir until incorporated. Add the rest of the coconut milk from one can, add some meat (diced chicken thighs, scallops, or shrimp), sliced veggies, and cook until the meat is heated through

• Add to scrambled eggs• Toasted sesame oil• Drizzle on top of sauteed or steamed veggies• Add to cauliflower rice• Use in a salad dressing

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 37

Tomatoes • Make fresh salsa• Slice and sprinkle with salt & pepper• Dice and toss into any veggie or ground meat dish

Tomatoes (canned whole, diced, or crushed)• Use in any soup or stew• Make salsa or marinara sauce• Cook with spinach for a simple side• Make something from this page!

Yams/sweet potatoes• Bake whole, top with butter or coconut oil and a sprinkle of

cinnamon• Cook and puree or mash• Make sweet potato pancakes• Make grain-free Thanksgiving-style stuffing

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 3838

Meal Maker ChecklistProtein Veggies Fruit Fats

Spices

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 39

This Week’s Menu

Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snack

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Meal planning 101 — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 40

Shopping ListProtein Veggies Fruit Fats

Spices

Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide

ChAPTeR 4

MONeY SAVINgTRICKS

Money saving tricks — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 42

Money Saving TricksWe’ve laid out some basics that are going to set you up for success from the start. You’ve got some cooking skills under your belt. You’ve made your meal plan, you’ve shopped from your list, you’re all set to eat healthfully and not waste food. But what if you want to take it further? Here are some money saving tricks that we’ve learned along the way that will help you take shopping on a budget even further.

Keep a price journal

The savviest shoppers keep a price journal. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, a simple notepad will do. Bring it with you each time you go shopping and write down the prices of staples you buy all the time. You can even use our Stocking your Paleo pantry cheatsheet and fill prices in next to each item. This way you will know the aver-age price for something, and when it really goes on sale. When the item is on sale, stock up.

Here’s an example of what that might look like:

Coconut Oil (Nutiva Brand)November 12, 2011 - $9.29December 15, 2011 - $8.29February 20, 2012 - $8.99March 12, 2012 - $7.49

Don’t pay for preparation

There’s a reason why a whole chicken costs less per pound than boneless, skinless chicken breasts or that bag of frozen, breaded chicken nuggets. The whole chicken is unprocessed (well, if you don’t count the guts and feathers), but the other products require some labor to get them that way. You are absolutely paying for that at the cash register.

When you go to the produce section, many stores now have a case of pre-cut vegetables. These are extraordinarily expensive compared

Money saving tricks — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 43

to their whole counterparts! Anytime you buy pre-cut, pre-cooked, pre-whatever, you’re paying more.

Learning some basic skills in the kitchen, which we taught you in Chapter 2, will be a lot better investment of your time. When you get home from the grocery store, you can even do a little bit of prepara-tion right away. Slice bell peppers into strips you can dip into guaca-mole. Make a big container full of chopped onion, celery, and carrots as a base for stews and soups. Cut up a whole chicken if you don’t plan on roasting it.

Do your own preparation and you will save money.

Buy in bulk

Buying in bulk can be a money saver, especially when it comes to things you can freeze, or shelf-stable things like coconut oil or almond butter. If you have the space in your pantry or freezer, stock up!

Buy direct from a farm

Buying a whole cow or a side of beef (half a cow) directly from a farmer can save you money in the long run, and is also a great way to ensure that your meat is local, that the animal has been treated well and harvested responsibly. Here are some simple steps for buying direct from a farm:

Find a local farmer who will sell to you. Local Harvest and Eat Wild are great resources for finding farmers who will sell to you directly. If that fails, you can call local butcher shops, ask around at organic or natural food grocers, or ask friends. Another resource is the local paleo crowd - call a CrossFit gym and ask if any of their members do a meat share or if they know where you can find grass-fed beef, or check in with your local chapter of the Weston A Price foundation.

Mark’s Daily Apple also has a post on “cowpooling” with some re-sources broken down state by state.

extra credit

Think about joining a CSA (community sup-ported agricul-ture).

One of the best ways to make sure you are eat-ing seasonally is to buy directly from a farm. You invest money at the beginning of the year when farmers need it most, and then when produce starts being harvested, you get a basket of fresh, extremely local, and usu-ally organic fruits and vegetables directly from the farm. It’s extremely cost-effective, and is super for all the reasons we gave you.

Read more about CSAs and see if they are right for you.

Money saving tricks — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 4444

What to expectFrom one family’s tale of buying their first whole cow:

Our cow had a hanging weight of 527 pounds and we had agreed to a price of $2.50 per pound hanging weight. The butcher said that our cow only lost about 25% of his weight (which was on the smaller side of weight loss?). That brought our grand total to $1,317.50 for the entire cow, which figures to about $3.33 per pound on average (though it also depends on your actual packages, some of my group-ings have averaged under $3 a pound). Mind you this is for local, natural (not technically organic due to a some of the feed they get during winter), mainly-pastured beef. The equivalent in the grocery store would likely range from $5-$25 a pound depending on the cut.

Continue reading here - there are also photos so you can know how much meat you could expect and what cuts are included.

Of course, if you’re short on cash or freezer space, you could always organize a group buy with friends. Split a cow four ways and the investment is much less per person.

Organize a group buy

Talk to your friends and see if they are interested in splitting a case of coconut oil or almond flour with you. Or if they want to split that side of beef from the farm. If you are part of a gym, make an announce-ment at your next class or ask your gym owner if they’d be willing to post about it on the gym’s website. Know of a health food store or small coffee shop frequented by like-minded folks? Post a notice on their community bulletin board with your phone number or email. Or start a post on Craigslist or the Robb Wolf forums.

A little bit of organization can go a long way to save some money here. Make a plan, collect cash or use paypal if that’s more conveni-ent for you (with online purchases that can be helpful), and go forth and purchase!

Freeze it!

Buying in bulk can only work well if you have storage for the extra food. For something shelf stable like coconut flour or almond but-ter, most people can find somewhere in their pantry or even an extra

Bonus reading

Advice on buying beef for home freezers

Money saving tricks — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 45

closet, but with meat, you really need a dedicated freezer. If you have space for this, it can save you a lot of money in the long run. It is, however, an up front investment to buy the freezer. We’ll talk about how to save to buy a big item like this in just a little bit.Look into buying clubs and restaurant supply stores.

Stores such as Costco and Sam’s club often have great deals on large amounts of food. These stores are also filled with tons of junk that you don’t need, so make sure you have a plan when you go in, so you don’t get derailed and spend a bunch of money that’s totally not in your budget.

The first time you go into one of these stores, don’t even take your wallet. Just go on a scouting mission! Survey what they have and see if they carry staple items for your household at a significant sav-ings. My list for Costco looks like this:

• Frozen sausage patties (one brand they carry is just pork, salt, and sugar)

• Organic chicken & apple sausage• Canned wild caught salmon• 2 pound grass-fed beef (3 pack)• Boneless skinless chicken thighs (6-pack of about 5-6 each)• Bag of 6 avocados• Case of sweet potatoes• Large jar of raw almond butter• Case of organic canned tomatoes

Your store will vary in what they carry, but if you can scout out some items that your family eats often, this can definitely work in your wal-let’s favor.

Restaurant supply stores can also be a fascinating and value-packed trip, if you have one in your area that’s open to the public. Many res-taurant suppliers that are not open to the public only require a busi-ness name and tax ID number to sign up (you often don’t have to prove that you are a restaurant owner). For example, I know people who have signed up with their dad’s lawn care business tax ID or their friend’s consulting firm tax ID. I am not endorsing dishonesty, but sim-ply putting this information out there - do with it what you will.

One restaurant supply store I visited recently has a walk-in freezer the size of your local grocery store (this is JUST the freezer) filled

Money saving tricks — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 4646

with sides of beef, cases of ground meat, floor to ceiling - every kind of meat and processed meat product you could think of. If you could organize a group buy, this could be a really great resource. I have purchased for example, a case of wild caught salmon fillets and another case of free range chicken breast for much cheaper than it would have cost just buying them individually from the supermarket.

how to save for buying in bulk

So you want to buy half a cow or even a big ticket item like a deep freezer, but the up front investment (several hundred dollars) seems totally unattainable. My advice is to save a little each week until you can afford to buy.

here are some steps to figure out how to save for a dedicated purchase.

Figure out what disposable income you already have that you can put toward this purchase. Maybe there is an extra $20 per week that you could put here.

Revisit Chapter 1 for some tips about where you might be able to reallocate some money from your budget. Can you cancel Netflix for a few months? Forgo a dinner out per week? If you are like most American families, you could probably find another $20-50 per week here.

Once you have figured out how much money you can reasonably save each week, start withdrawing that amount from your bank ac-count each Sunday (or whatever day works for you). Get an envelope and mark it BUY THE DEEP FREEZER FUND or something similar, and keep it in a safe place. Each week, place your money inside and keep track of how much you’ve saved. After a month or three, you will probably have what you need!

You can also open a savings account that is connected to your checking account and transfer the money every week. Some people like the cash method, some people like to bank online. Either way, lots of people have successfully saved up this way for big ticket items, Christmas shopping, vacations, and more.

Money saving tricks — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 47

Buy local

We’ve already talked about how shopping seasonally can really make a difference in price. Don’t forget about that! Farmers markets and CSAs can help you stick to your budget.

Butcher shops are also a great resource. For example, a Trader Joe’s in my area sells grass-fed ground beef for $6.95 per pound, but my local butcher has grass-fed ground beef for around $5. If you don’t burn a lot of gas getting to this extra stop on your shopping route, it can save you a decent amount of money per item.

Butcher shops also have an advantage over grocery stores and bulk stores - they know where their meat came from and how it was raised. So ask them! They can also be a great connection to help you buy directly from a farmer.

Many butcher shops have “meat plans” where for a family of 2 or 4 you can get a week’s worth of meat for a certain amount of money. For example my butcher shop offers a weekly family package for two, which is plenty of meat for dinners, breakfasts, and enough to have leftovers for lunch. It looks like this:

Family Package for 2$49.99 plus tax1 lb. Ground Chuck1 lb. Homemade Sausage1 lb. Bacon1 lb. Hot Dogs1 lb. Cube Steak1 lb. Pot Roast1 lb. Stew Beef1 Whole or cut up Chicken2- 8 oz NY Strips4 Boneless Pork Chops

What about coupons?

Coupons can be difficult to find for whole foods like produce and meat, which the paleo diet is centered around. Most of the coupons you’ll find will be for processed and refined foods or straight up junk. However, this doesn’t mean you should abandon the coupon craze

Money saving tricks — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 48

altogether. If you have a few extra minutes, grab your Sunday paper and browse through to see what they have. Sometimes you can find a great deal on things like almond butter, coconut oil, or a specific brand of eggs. Since coupons for whole foods are tougher to find, this is not a top priority for most budget-savvy paleo shoppers. Your mileage may vary, however!

Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide

ChAPTeR 5

BuDgeTShOPPINgPRIORITIeS

Budget shopping priorities — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 50

Budget shopping prioritiesOk, let’s assume you’ve got the basics down and you’re feeding and watering yourself successfully. What’s next? What are food quality priorities when shopping on a budget? If you’ve got a little extra to spend, where should you spend?

Navigating the “green lingo”

Grass-fed, free-range, organic, cage-free... what does it all mean? Here’s a little primer on deciphering the “green” marketing lingo.

Grass-fed - This means the animal was fed grass, rather than grains. However, a grass-fed label doesn’t mean the animal was fed exclusively grass. Some grass-fed cattle are “grain finished” which means they ate grains from a feedlot prior to slaughter.

Grass-finished - This means the animal was fed grass the last few months before slaughter. Typically, feed lots finish cattle for 90 to 160 days on grain, usually corn, whereas, grass finished cattle are fattened on grass only, until the day that they are processed.

Free-Range - You’ll see this label on both eggs and poultry. While this term may conjure up images of chickens running through the grass, in reality this label may be used as long as the producers “give poultry access to the outside.” There is no rule on how long they must be given access to the outdoors, or how large the space is. For example, a confinement chicken operation can have a tiny door on the far side of the warehouse that they open for one hour a day, that opens into an outdoor area the size of a kitchen table, and still consider the thousands of hens inside “free range.”

Cage-free - Again, this label is found on poultry and eggs. It also conjures up an image of hens running free, however this only means that the animals were not confined to cages. It does not guarantee that they were given access to the outdoors, or raised in a “natural” environment. Many cage-free operations cut off the chickens’ beaks to prevent them from mutilating one another in their crowded con-finement, cages or no cages.

Budget shopping priorities — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 51

Organic - All organic agricultural farms and products must meet the following guidelines (verified by a USDA-approved independent agency):

• Abstain from the application of prohibited materials (including synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and sewage sludge) for 3 years prior to certification and then continually throughout their organic license.

• Prohibit the use of genetically modified organisms and irradiation.• Employ positive soil building, conservation, manure management

and crop rotation practices.• Provide outdoor access and pasture for livestock.• Refrain from antibiotic and hormone use in animals.• Sustain animals on 100% organic feed.• Avoid contamination during the processing of organic products.• Keep records of all operations.

However, not all “organic” products are created equal. If a product contains the “USDA Organic” seal, it means that 95 to 100 percent of its ingredients are organic. Products with 70 to 95 percent organic ingredients can still advertise “organic” ingredients on the front of the package, however, and products with less than 70 percent or-ganic ingredients can identify them on the side panel.

Also, the “organic” structure is set up to accommodate large produc-ers, and the bureaucratic red tape required to be certified organic is prejudicial and hard to access for small farms. So the key here is to ask. A small community-supported agriculture operation might not have the money or the infrastructure to become certified organic, but they may still use 100% organic practices. If you buy local, you can ask the farmer directly how their food is grown, what kind of fertiliz-ers they use, and how they treat their animals.

Natural - Be wary of this claim. It can mean just about anything. The claim is only regulated by the USDA in the case of meat and poultry, where “natural” means no artificial ingredients or colors have been added, and the product has been minimally processed.

Pastured - Pasture-raised chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cattle have been raised on a pasture where they’re able to eat grass. They are typically given access to fresh pasture each day.

Fresh - This means the food is raw and has never been frozen or

Budget shopping priorities — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 52

heated. However, “fresh” foods can be treated with radiation, which is never mentioned on the label.

Abandon all hope!

When it comes to labels, it is clearly “buyer beware.” So I can hear you thinking, “But Robb! Even if I buy the free-range, cage-free labeled eggs, they can still come from a factory farming operation? What hope is there in finding safe food that was humanely raised? What should we do?”

Do I have to buy organic?

It’s true - organic fruits and vegetables cost more. However, there are some places to save and places to skimp here. According to the Environmental Working Group, there are a “dirty dozen” in the pro-duce aisle that you should always buy organic, and a few that are less dangerous.

12 Least Contaminated (ok to buy non-organic)Onions Avocado Sweet Corn (Frozen) Pineapples Mango Asparagus Sweet Peas (Frozen) Kiwi Fruit Bananas Cabbage Broccoli Papaya

12 Most Contaminated (buy organic)Peaches Apples Sweet Bell Peppers Celery Nectarines Strawberries Cherries Pears Grapes (Imported) Spinach Lettuce Potatoes

Do I have to buy grass-fed?

There are many articles online about additional benefits of grass-fed meat.

• Eat Wild talks about grass-fed basics• More on the health benefits of grass-fed

Bonus audio

Click to listen to Robb talk about the importance of buying local and maintaining good relationships with local food producers.

Bonus audio

Click to listen to Robb talk about why grass-fed meat is beneficial to your health and the planet.

Budget shopping priorities — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 53

• US Wellness Meats on grass-fed nutrition• Read more about how grass farming benefits the environmentIf you cannot afford grass-fed meat (have you tried some of the options in our Money Saving Tricks chapter - buying in bulk, seek-ing out a direct buy from a farmer, found a butcher shop, or tried to share a large cut with friends?), then focus on the leaner cuts of traditionally raised meat. These leaner cuts will have less fat in them, which means less omega-6 fatty acid. We don’t suggest lean meats because fat is bad for you, only that fat from feedlot-raised animals contains an unhealthy balance of omega-6 and conjugated linoleic acid. Naturally raised, pastured animal fat is good for you and not a problem. However, if you cannot find or afford pastured animals, these cuts of feedlot-raised animals are a good secondary choice.

• Skinless chicken breast• Skinless turkey breast• Eye of round roast or steak• Sirloin tip side steak• Top round roast and steak• Bottom round roast and steak• Top sirloin steak• Low-fat ground beef• All kinds of seafood (fish, shellfish)• Wild game such as venison or duck

What are my priorities when buying fats and oils?

Diane Sanfilippo of Balanced Bites has put together some great guides on fats and oils. Here they are:

Fats & Oils: Which to Eat & Which to DitchWhat Are Safe Cooking Fats & Oils?

Bonus reading

Find out a lot more about how grass farming and pasture-based agricul-ture benefits the environment and our health in his delightfully cranky new book, Folks, this ain’t normal!

Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide

ChAPTeR 6

IN TheKITCheN

In the kitchen — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 55

In the kitchenYou’ve mastered meal planning, shopping, and finding a little “extra money” in your budget. Here are some tips for making things work a little more smoothly in the kitchen.

how to cook meals in advance

Here are some reader-generated tips for managing food when your schedule is all out of whack or when you’re short on time.

gimme proteinOnce a week, hit up Sams Club (or Costco or whatever wholesaler is nearby) and buy big amounts of protein (upwards of 20 pounds of meat). Mix it up each week with steak, hamburger, chicken, pork or beef tenderloin, shrimp, fish. Then fire up the grill and cook enough for the whole week.

You can add in seasonings (Old Bay for the shrimp, taco seasoning for ground meat, salt & pepper for steak, paprika for chicken, etc.) while grilling everything. The trick is to cook everything just shy of being done (medium rare, even for the chicken & seafood). Then later when the food is reheated in the microwave, it still tastes good and doesn’t get dry and rubbery.

You can then portion out the food and put it in ziplocks or plastic containers. Leave enough in the fridge for the next few days, and throw the rest in the freezer. Each day, pull a portion down into the fridge so it’s ready for the next day.

What about veggies?Follow the same procedure for veggies with a little variation. You can buy bulk amounts of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, brussels sprouts, asparagus, whatever veggies look good that week. Leave the veg-gies raw and portion out 2-3 cups or however much looks yummy. Another option is to make a big chopped salad at the start of the week and keep it in the fridge. Each day just scoop out a portion. Slice up your meat and put on top, add some olive oil, and you’ve got a darn tasty lunch.

In the kitchen — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 56

Other ideas from the Paleo blogosphere

Meals for the week – Paleo style - This amazing post from Julie Sul-livan Mayfield, author of Paleo Comfort Foods, is a veritable treasure trove of information. It has shopping lists, a meal plan, photos of their results, times it takes to prep things, and more. Go check it out!

Gable Barber said:8 lb pork roast in the crock pot on Sunday. Pull it apart and portion into little tupperware containers, usually ~8-10 oz servings. Some-times we bake 6 or so sweet taters, peel em, toss in a bowl with some olive oil and mash em up. Portion that into tupperware con-tainers too. Each day I usually put some frozen broccoli florets into tupperware and toss some pork (or whatever meat), broccoli, and sweet taters into my lunch box, and I’m set!

Tupperware almonds, beef jerky, etc too, for quick snacks. We save all our pedialyte containers, then brew a lot of green tea, cool it, and cut it 25% tea, 75% water and stash those in the fridge too. Any-thing to make the mornings less rushed, and to ensure I’ve got the right foods with me at all times.

Zach Marcy said:• Buy sectioned containers for the food.• Cook enough protein, veggies, sweet potatoes, etc for 5-7 days

worth of lunch and dinner.• Use frozen organic veggies with every meal.• Place them in the freezer for fast access every morning before

work.• Pack fresh veggies and healthy snacks like apples and almond

butter or fresh fruit and raw almonds.• Eat every 3-4 hours to keep blood sugar regulated and avoid

cravings.

MyPaleoLife said: I always cook a roast a week, slice it thin and freeze in small portions until needed. Always double or triple a recipe and freeze the other portions for when needed.

Yvespatte said: I cook meat/fish in advance, but without seasoning. So I don’t eat the same meal for several days. Different seasoning everyday.

In the kitchen — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 57

staceylillich said: On the weekend I cook up several pounds of ba-con and venison sausage and baggie it into individual servings for breakfasts.

Famlivingsimple said: Lately we have been making lots of chili and reheating it, but putting it on top of cauliflower to make it last longer.

NomNomPaleo said: I sous vide a bunch ‘o meats, make pot ‘o stew, & frittatas!

Prep now, save time later

For some, a good time to get convenience cooking done is right when you get home from grocery shopping. You could immediately boil a dozen eggs for snacks or as part of a quick breakfast on the go.

You could also bake 6-8 sweet potatoes in the oven so you always have those at the ready. Don’t have time to bake? Poke a few holes and microwave for about 4 minutes per potato. Sprinkle with cinna-mon. Done. Having a big batch of sauteed/roasted fajita veggies on hand is great. Use peppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots, whatever you like. Serve in lettuce cups with meat.

Cutting and prepping veggies is essential. For some reason, humans can gaze into the fridge and if there are whole carrots there, feel like, ugh, there’s nothing to eat, but if you go ahead and turn the carrots into carrot sticks and the celery into celery sticks, suddenly there are things to dip into guacamole and almond butter!

Meat Cookies

Another great go-to meal/snack is what I like to call Meat Cookies. The wild caught salmon burgers from Costco are legit (tons of Ome-ga-3s and 20g protein) as well as their turkey burgers (35g protein!). Grill a bunch of them at the start of the week and then eat them cold throughout the day. You can top them with homemade mayo or gua-camole. Viva la meat cookie.

In the kitchen — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 58

Cook it slow

Soups and stews are so easy to incorporate into a busy paleo life-style. The slow cooker is your friend. Here are your steps to a suc-cessful stew:

• Get a hunk of sturdy meat (pork loin, beef pot roast, a few skinless chicken thighs, venison, bison). This is the perfect opportunity to turn a cheaper cut of meat into something totally magical.

• Get some chopped veggies (carrots, celery, onions, garlic, toma-toes).

• Get some really good broth (chicken, veggie, beef, whatever you can get that tastes amazing on its own).

• Put them all in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.• That’s it! Now freeze the extras.

Don’t forget to check out the “Learn to use a slow cooker” video in the Learn to Cook chapter.

Also, go to any of the paleo blogs we’ve included in the resources section and search “slow cooker” or “crock pot” for many more ideas! Or go to Google and type in “slow cooker paleo” or “crock pot paleo”. Feast your eyes on the results and get cookin’.

Freezing soups or stews into individual portions

First allow your soup to cool slightly, then pour the soup into paper cups and freeze. Once it has frozen, pop a single portion soup out of its cup and into a freezer bag. You might wanna label the bags, soups can look really similar once they’re frozen. To reheat, just put the frozen soup into a bowl and microwave, or heat in a pot on the stovetop! Speaking of defrosting…

On defrosting frozen stuff

Cosmopolitan Primal Girl had this tip:

Usually I will leave the frozen item on the counter in the morning and by the time I get home from work it is thawed out. Then I either throw it in a pan to re-heat it or turn my oven to 350-400 and bake it for about 10 minutes to re-heat it. A toaster oven is also an easy & con-venient option for re-heating stuff without having to use the stove.

In the kitchen — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 59

If I’m using stuff that is solid frozen, I will speed up thawing by plac-ing the frozen item in a bowl of boiling/really hot water or leave it in the sink with hot water running over top of it.

Paleodish said this:

To reheat refrigerated items, I either re-heat them on the stove or sometimes toss it in the slow cooker. Tip – Depending on what it is…adding a little water or olive/coconut oil to it when re-heating seems to do the trick just fine. For frozen items, I usually take them out of the freezer and put them in a bowl/on plate to thaw in the fridge.

What about snacks?

We dislike the concept of snacks. By definition - what are “snack foods”? Usually snack foods are high carbohydrate, high sugar, high salt foods. Things that crunch. Things that satisfy a craving (which means your blood sugar is probably low, signifying that you should eat).

The simple answer on “what about snacks?” is - snacks should be the same paleo food that you should eat any other time. A good substitute for pretzels is not some paleo-fied version of a pretzel. If you are hungry, eat whole, unprocessed paleo foods. Eat meat, veg-etables, fruit, nuts, or seeds. Snacks need not “look like” what you think snacks should look like. Just as you can eat ground beef and cabbage and call it breakfast, you can eat some leftover chicken and broccoli and it’s totally a snack.

That being said, here are some ideas for paleo snack foods.

• Paleo brands snacks• Hard boiled eggs• Beef jerky• Chicken liver pate and cucumber slices• Raw baby carrots or sliced bell peppers dipped in guacamole,

olive tapenade, or baba ghanoush• Cold leftover chicken• Cold leftover roast beef• Cold leftover pork tenderloin• Cold leftover steamed shrimp

In the kitchen — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 60

• Handful of nuts or seeds• Fermented veggies or pickles• Canned sardines, smoked oysters, or herring• Canned wild salmon• Almond butter, plain or on celery or banana• Fresh fruit like apples or peaches with nuts• Coconut flakes• Apples cooked in a little coconut oil, sprinkled with cinnamon• Slices of high-quality lunch meat or salami• Smoked salmon• Pork rinds• Kale chips• Toasted nori• Olives• Trail mix• Egg muffins• A simple omelet

how to not waste food

Storing food properly

All of us have probably thrown out spoiled or rotten food at some point. Doing this on a regular basis is extremely wasteful and can get very expensive. Storing your food properly will prevent spoilage and save you money in the long run.

This post by Lifehacker gives a set of great guidelines on how to store food to prevent spoilage.

Clean-out-the-fridge meal ideas

Substitute whatever veggies/meat you have to make these clean-out-the-fridge-friendly dishes:

• Shepherd’s pie (like this one)• Fritatta or omelet - toss in whatever veggies you have!• Soup or stew

Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide

WhAT’S NexT?

ReSOuRCeS

Resources — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 62

What’s next?Well, kids, we’ve come to the end of this Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide. We’ve hopefully dismantled all your excuses as to why a Paleo diet is too expensive, time consuming, or hard to pull off. We’ve given you some cooking skills you can use. We’ve taught you the most powerful way to make Paleo on a budget work for you - meal planning. We’ve given you shopping tips, kitchen tips, money saving tricks, and more.

Still having trouble? Need help? Want to share your success or give us some new ideas?

• Visit us at the blog, Robb Wolf.com and let us know how you did!• Start a thread on the forums• Contact us with questions• Come chat with us on Facebook or Twitter• We want to stay in touch, so reach out and get involved!

Tell friends about this bookTweet all about itShare it on Facebook

Viva la Revolución Paleolítica!

Resources — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 63

ResourcesConnect with Robb onlineRobb Wolf.comGet email updates including our Paleo RD tip of the week, the latest on the Paleo Solution, paleo eats, sustainability, and more! Friend me on Facebook Follow me on TwitterWatch me on YouTube

Need personal nutrition, meal planning, or training help?

Visit our Coaching page at Robb Wolf.com and meet our experts!

Also by Robb Wolf

The Paleo Solution: The Original human DietDo you want to lose fat and stay young, all while avoiding cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and a host of other illnesses? The Paleo Solution incorporates the latest, cutting edge research from genetics, biochemistry and anthropology to help you look, feel and perform your best. Written by Robb Wolf, a research biochemist who traded in his lab coat and pocket protector for a whistle and a stopwatch to become one of the most sought after strength and conditioning coaches in the world. With Robb’s unique perspective as both scientist and coach you will learn how simple nutrition, exercise and lifestyle changes can radically change your appearance and health for the better. Click here to learn more.

30 Day Total TransformationRobb Wolf’s 30 Day Total Transformation is the ultimate “getting started” guide to the Paleo diet. Includes interactive information on nutrition, metabolism, exercise, a meal plan, shopping list, and more.Click here to learn more

Watch a video to learn more about The Paleo Solution.

Resources — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 64

Other awesome programs Just click on an image to find out more!

Paleo friendly cookbooksFind some awesome Paleo-friendly cookbooks and more recom-mended reading in my Amazon shop.

Buy Paleo food online

Paleo Brands - frozen, prepared meals as well as paleo snacks like coconut flakes, the highest quality grass-fed jerky out there, and more

Eat Wild.com - here’s a list of farms that ship directly to you

US Wellness Meats - grass-fed beef, poultry, dairy, lamb, and pork shipped directly to your door

Tropical Traditions - the best coconut oil out there. They also have organic coconut flakes, butter, and coconut concentrate as well as lots of other organic foods. Tropical Traditions often runs free ship-ping specials and 2-for-1 deals so follow them on twitter and sign up for their newsletter to be sure you don’t miss a deal!

Mountain Rose Herbs - Organic herbs and spices in bulk

Resources — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 65

Find great recipes on one of these sites3 Cavemen and a LadyBalanced BitesBiPolar PaleoBraise, Boil, BakeCaveman StrongChris KresserCivilized Caveman CookingCosmopolitan Primal GirlEating the SceneryEveryday PaleoFamily Living SimpleFood Lovers Primal PalateFood RenegadeFree the AnimalHealth BentJen’s Gone PaleoMark’s Daily AppleMastering the art of Paleo CookingNom Nom Paleo

Nourished and NurturedNourished KitchenNourishing DaysNourishing GourmetOur Life In FoodPaleo Comfort FoodsPaleo for FoodiesPaleo JoyPerformance MenuPrimal EatsPurely PrimalRobb WolfStacey’s Paleo KitchenThe Clothes Make The GirlThe Domestic ManThe HerbangardenerThe Well Fed HomesteadThe Whole Life Nutrition KitchenWellness Mama

Resources — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 66

Aaffordability of Paleo 5–8allocation of money 9almond butter 32, 34, 44, 45, 46, 49,

57, 58, 61almond flour 10, 32, 45almond meal 31, 32apple 23, 30, 32, 34, 46, 53, 57, 61Apple cider vinegar 31, 32apps 28artichoke hearts 32avocado 7, 22, 23, 32, 46, 53

Bbacon 33, 34, 48, 58balsamic vinegar 33, 34beef 6, 22, 25, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 56,

57, 59, 60, 66beef (ground) 33, 54bell pepper 33, 44, 53, 60berries 24, 33, 37blogs 11, 21, 29, 36, 59bone broth 18, 35broccoli 33, 53, 56, 57, 60budget 8, 9, 10, 11, 43, 46, 47, 48,

49, 51, 56, 63bulk 10, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 54, 56,

66, 67butcher shop 10, 44, 48, 54butternut squash 34, 35buy direct 44, 48buy local 48, 52, 53

Ccabbage 22, 33, 34, 53, 60cage-free 11, 51, 53carrots 34, 56, 58, 59, 60cauliflower 34, 35, 38, 56, 58celery 32, 34, 37, 44, 53, 58, 59, 61Charles Mayfield 18chicken 6, 18, 22, 23, 25, 32, 35, 36,

37, 38, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 54, 56, 59, 60

chili 18, 33, 35, 58chili oil 31, 35chipotle 31, 35Cindy Sexton 15cinnamon 34, 35, 38, 58, 61coaching 64coconut 7, 35, 61, 66, 67coconut aminos 31, 36coconut flour 36, 45

coconut milk 23, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38

coconut oil 8, 10, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 43, 44, 45, 49, 60, 61, 66

cookbooks 21, 66cooking 14, 20, 21, 58cook meals in advance 56Costco 7, 10, 46, 56, 58coupons 48, 49cowpooling 44. See also whole cowcrock pot 57, 59. See also slow

cookerCrossFit 44CSA 10, 44, 48cucumber 36, 37, 60curry 22, 23, 35, 36, 38

Ddefrosting 59dijon mustard 31, 36dirty dozen 11, 53

EEat Wild 44, 53, 66eggs 23, 32, 37, 38, 49, 51, 53, 58,

60Environmental Working Group 53expensive 5, 6, 7, 8, 24, 43, 61, 63.

See also affordability of Paleo

FFacebook 11, 16, 63, 64factory farm 53fajita 22, 58family 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22,

23, 26, 30, 45, 46, 48fats 8, 10, 39, 41, 54free-range 11, 51, 53freeze 29, 44, 45, 57, 59freezer 23, 31, 32, 44, 45, 46, 47, 56,

57, 59, 60freezing soup 59frittata 30, 37, 58

Ggrass farming 54grass-fed 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 20, 31,

44, 46, 48, 51, 53, 54, 66grass-finished 51grocery shopping 11, 20, 58grocery store 8, 11, 20, 24, 25, 26,

27, 28, 44, 45, 46, 48

group buy 45, 47guacamole 22, 23, 30, 32, 33, 34,

36, 37, 44, 58, 60

Hhippy excuse 10

Iinspiration 21, 23, 26. See also Pin-

terestiPhone 29

JJoel Salatin 9

Kknife skills 17

Llamb 22, 66lean meats 54lemons 31, 37lettuce 22, 32, 33, 37, 53, 58limes 31, 37local food 24, 53Local Harvest 44lunch 23, 30, 40, 48, 56, 57, 61

MMark’s Daily Apple 44, 66Meal Maker Checklist 23, 25, 26, 39meal plan 28, 29, 30, 43, 64meal planning 11, 20, 21, 22, 26, 29,

56, 63, 64meat 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 17, 22, 25,

26, 28, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61

Meat 66meat cookies 58Michelle Tam 16Mountain Rose Herbs 67mushrooms 22, 58

NNetflix 9, 11, 47Nom Nom Paleo 16, 17, 66nuts 10, 16, 30, 31, 33, 36, 37, 60,

61

Index

Resources — Paleo Diet Budget Shopping Guide 67

Ooils 54organic 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 44, 45, 46,

51, 52, 53, 57, 66, 67

PPaleo Brands 3, 60, 66PALEOdISH 15, 60pantry 20, 23, 26, 29, 31, 32, 43, 44,

45pastured 45, 52, 54Pinterest 16, 21, 23, 26pork 22, 46, 48, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61,

66pot roast 18, 22, 30, 35, 48, 59preparation 43, 44prepping 58pressure cooker 14, 34price journal 43priorities 9, 11, 20, 51produce 7, 8, 10, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28,

43, 44, 48, 51, 53protein 31, 39, 41, 56, 57, 58

Rrecipes 18, 21, 22, 26, 29, 32, 33, 66restaurant supply stores 46

Ssalad dressing 18, 32, 33, 35, 36,

37, 38sales flyer 20, 25salmon 31, 35, 37, 46, 47, 58, 61salsa 22, 31, 33, 37, 38save for a dedicated purchase 47savings account 47saving time 11, 17, 22, 56, 58schedule 17, 22, 56seafood 22, 35, 36, 37, 54, 56seasonal 8, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 44, 48shopping. See grocery shoppingshopping list 27, 29, 41, 57, 64slow cooker 14, 22, 35, 37, 59, 60snacks 3, 23, 57, 58, 60, 66soup 15, 18, 22, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38,

44, 59, 61spinach 30, 31, 37, 38, 53Starbucks 9steak 6, 20, 22, 30, 48, 54, 56storing food 61strawberries. See berriessweet potato 30, 31, 35, 38, 46, 57,

58

Ttaco 22, 30, 33, 37, 56Taco 22theme nights 22The Paleo Solution 3, 64tomato 33, 36, 38, 46, 59tomato sauce 18Trader Joe’s 5, 10, 48Tropical Traditions 66Twitter 3, 11, 16, 63, 64

UUSDA 52US Wellness Meats 54, 66

Vvacation 9, 47vegetables 8, 10, 11, 16, 43, 44, 53,

60veggies 10, 22, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33,

34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61. See also veg-etables

WWeston A Price 44whole cow 44, 45Whole Foods 5, 6, 7, 10

Yyams 31, 38YouTube 64