Alana in Canada Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I've just about completed my first whole30. (Day 25!) I would like to continue eating this way, but I am worried about how we will be able to continue to eat big chunks of animal protein with every meal. Up until this month, I had been trying to convert the family to eat, for lack of a better way to put it, the Mark Bittman way--vegetarian until supper and then small bits of protein in something like a stew or such. You know, "healthy." Food is more expensive here in Canada thn it is in the States. We can expect to pay up to 15% of our monthly income on food. I've made my peace with it--but that was before I started the whole30 and started wandering into places where my meat is grass fed (all year long) and my sausage is made with ingrediants I can understand and without sugar. Just as an example: grass fed beef: $6.00/lb. (That's buying direct and preordering. If I buy from Planet Organic it is more like $7.50/lb.) Ground elk was about $7.50/lb, too. the beautiful turkey kielbasa I bought was even more. Just for comparison's sake, My local safeway has New York strip loin steak on sale for $6.99/lb. (Of course, we just had the largest recall of beef in Canadian history due to e. coli contamination, so consumer prices may be a bit depressed in the industrial food market right now.) I'm sure you all face similiar dilemnas. How have you reolved them? Do you buy cheaper cuts? How do you find them? Cook them? What are cheaper cuts, anyway, lol. Thanks for any help you can offer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 It is an expense, but I also have cut back on going out quite often. I also watch for sales. I make a lot of things with ground beef and I almost always buy whole chickens. Definitely the less expensive cuts of meat are great, but I think it's the sales from my 3 favorite markets that really help me. I make my own mayo and ghee and bacon. The good bacon is 8.99-9.99 a lb here. I pay 3.99 for a pork belly. I also don't eat 100% grass fed all the time. I just bought two tri tips from Costco and while their meat is good quality, it's not grass fed or even organic. Financially, I have to mix it up. I was just layed off a week ago. I went to costco yesterday and for the first time, I bought conventionally raised eggs. I kept putting them back and picking them back up again. I will use those eggs for cooked eggs. Then I stopped at my New Seasons and bought 4 Pastured whole chickens that were on sale and one dozen eggs from pastured organic chickens. I'll use those for mayo and other raw egg recipes. Hopefully some others will chime in with ideas. This is a great thread to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsteen Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Hi Alana, I'm in the UK and food is really expensive here too. I'm on disability benefits and am unable to work so it's a really limited income. It's not always easy eating this way but it can be done. http://whole9life.com/itstartswithfood/ On this page you can download a lot of free guides, I don't know if you've done it already but I found the one on grocery shopping, how to make the most of your budget really helpful. Now my own tips, firstly you don't actually have to have meat 3 times a day. Eggs are a great source of protein and often work out a lot cheaper. Sometimes I'll make an omelette, sometimes I'll just fry a couple of eggs to go with leftover veggies or scramble everything up in the pan. Sometimes I can find packs of frozen fish that's not too expensive, so I try (don't always succeed mind you ) to keep some room in the freezer for any bargains I find. I always buy the cheaper cuts of meat. I can't tell you what they're called as you'll have different names for them. I doubt if beef hough means much to anyone outside Scotland But basically anything that requires long slow cooking tends to be cheaper and mince (ground beef) is usually cheap too. I also find i can get chicken drumsticks and thighs cheaper than a whole chicken and much cheaper than breast. I also buy tinned fish, sardines in olive oil, tuna in springwater (when it's cheap enough) so I've always got something on hand for emergencies. I also set out my own priorities, I'll only use organic eggs. I try to get grass fed meat, organic if possible but if I can't afford that, I do what Melissa suggests and buy ordinary meat and trim off all the fat and pour away any that comes out of it. We have a farmer's market here. There food isn't particularly cheap but I've found one really good stall and the butcher there is a mine of information on which cuts are cheapest and how to cook them. Good luck with feeding the family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhmomi Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Alana - I have a family of 5. My kids are small so they don't eat as much as they will when they are teenagers, but I can definitely appreciate trying to save money. I do a much better job of grocery shopping to save money than I did at the beginning of the year. I want to buy the best foods possible and stretch my budget farther and so my enthusiasm for looking for deals is much higher. Not sure how much of this post will help since you had more frequent vegetarian meals before, but this Is what I think has helped me... If you can afford a huge freezer, get one. I buy meat on sale and stock up! I bought 20 lbs of grass-fed ground beef at Whole Foods a few weeks ago when it was $4.99 a lb. Otherwise I pay about $6/lb at another store. I bought 8 lbs of scallops when they were $11.99/lb instead of $24.99/lb (which I would never pay). I bought 6 lbs of pre-cooked shrimp last week on sale too. I buy whichever wild-caught fresh fish is on sale when I am shopping. My oldest son's new favorite is slow-cooker pork roast which is pretty reasonably priced. Not all of our meat is grass-fed or even organic, but we buy more quality meats than we did before. We have eggs for dinner one night a week. Frittatas, omelettes, scrambled, so many choices. We eat less boneless, skinless chicken breasts and more chicken thighs and legs, or whole chickens. I make back what I spend on a whole chicken by making several quarts of broth with the bones. I never made broth or bought whole chickens until I began to eat a Paleo diet. Meatballs, meatloaf, chili, bunless burgers, taco soup, stuffed peppers, etc. Lots you can do with ground beef. I can't say I love to cook, so to help myself out, I found compliant turkey burgers for about $4/lb that I keep on hand as a convenience food to make quickly instead of getting take-out when time is limited. Applegate Farm's hot dogs are also a reasonable priced fast food alternative, So much about our grocery shopping costs more (more meat and seafood, more organic produce), but these are some of the ways I have found that we actually save money... Eating out less frequently. By planning ahead and pre-cooking ground beef, chicken and veggies on Sunday to make dinner prep fast, a meal is never more than 15 minutes away so we simply get fewer ready to eat meals at the grocery store, restaurant take-out or delivery Chinese food and pizza. Fewer over-priced snacks and drinks are purchased when we are out and about because I bring water bottles and healthier snacks along with us. We have a lot of frozen veggies. Buying quality meat and fresh produce is a double whammy. By getting a lot of frozen veggies on sale for $1/lb we save a lot and I can put more of our budget towards meat. I don't buy grapes as often (a perennial favorite snack at our house and we used to go through 5+ lbs a week) because they just cost too much per lb for as fast as we go through them. I can feed my kids bananas, apples, applesauce and baby carrots for less. I don't buy fresh spinach often. Frozen organic spinach is much less expensive, and I used to cook it most of the time anyway. For variety, I find myself ordering spinach salads when we go out. I don't buy pre-packaged snacks at all. I invested in small containers and package up trail mix etc. myself. I don't buy any diet soft drinks for myself anymore. I don't get lattes at Starbuck's. If I meet others out for "coffee" or a simple lunch, I often have water and a small salad so I even save money on those outings. I prefer my own food anyway, so why waste it on food that isn't great when the point is to just meet friends and catch up? When hubby and I do go out for date night, I no longer get a $10-12 martini every time. If my kids want pizza and wings, I give them a gluten-free frozen pizza and some wings or legs I bake at home instead of spending $20 at Papa John's (I can feed my family steak, veggies and fresh fruit at home for less than the delivery pizza and wings we used to do on Friday nights!). My family is not Paleo, but I have tried to reduce dairy consumption. We used to go through 3 gallons of milk each week, now it's only one gallon a week. Same thing for cheese, we hardly go through a pound a week. And individual cups of yogurt are pretty much a thing of the past. For myself, I eat sardines or canned tuna sometimes, plus I eat a head of cabbage at least once a month. No one else in my family wants these things, but it still helps the overall budget if I choose more cost-effective foods for me from time to time. My kids take their lunches to school most days and I save at least $5-10 per week plus my kids eat healthier food. My husband refuses to take lunch to work, but he comes home for lunch a little more often since we have better food choices on hand for him. I am a stay at home Mom right now so he will walk in the door and I will have a waldorf chicken salad or chicken Caesar salad ready in under five minutes. I plan ahead and cook more often than before. I almost never throw away leftovers anymore (I am more willing to eat them now because it saves me precious time making something else) and I rarely have produce spoil before it is eaten. I know this saves me a lot of money compared to my prior lazy lifestyle! Sorry to be so long-winded. We have been changing our family's diet all year to minimize processed foods and make better choices. We have come a long way since January. Good luck feeding your family. I can't wait to see all the other ideas people have for you! Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon Simpson Thumann Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Really awesome tips, Jhmomi! Only two in our house and it's still a struggle budget wise. So I buy the best I can afford and definitely keep an eye out for sales. I bought grass fed ground beef when WF had it on sale but not as much as I would have liked, unfortunately. I also buy the good eggs for mayo only and use regular ones for cooking. I'm a member of a CSA but am finding I don't like their choices much and it seems so little for the price I have to pay, so I am going to cut out that expense and just start going to farmers markets. I wish you all the best, trust me, it is a struggle for all of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcy Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 i just discovered beef short ribs. so inexpensive! tons of recipes out there...but i fried up some bacon then browned the short ribs (about 10 strips with 3-4 bones ea, cost me less than $10) in the fat. threw back some onions and the bacon in the pan, let them soften up. then added about 2c of stock to get the brown bits. threw it all in the pressure cooker with a bit of rosemary and garlic and let them rip for 20 mins. the sauce it made was so intensely flavourful. pressure cookers can be a bit scary, but all the other short rib recipes i found take hours to cook. these were amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhmomi Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I have an old pressure cooker my Mom gave me. Never used it. But I'm a bit intrigued now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alana in Canada Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Excellent advice and tips! Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of that out, jhmomi. I've been doing some googling and found this chart via the kitchn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_k_b Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 See if you can go in on a side of beef with folks in your area- farmers markets or local farms are a good place to start. $3.50 hanging weight- you get bones, heart, liver etc, and great cuts and mince/ground... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy H. Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Thanks so very much for the link to the chart. I have been cooking for over 50 years and even I can learn something. At least once in awhile. LOL I've been doing some googling and found this chart via the kitchn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alana in Canada Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 You're welcome! That's an awesome hanging weight--$3.50 a pound. The only grass fed rancher I've yet come across charges $7.25/lb for an eighth Economics are different here! (Of course hanging weight vs dry weight, or whatever they call it--these prices are closer than you'd think) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpinSpin Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I often shop at Costco and I go for the larger pieces of meat--the whole pork loin rather than chops and roasts, whole pork shoulders, a whole sirloin tip... I save $$$ per pound, and I break down the meat myself into chops and roasts, and into stew/chili meat. We have eggs for breakfast, hubby does hard boiled eggs, lunch meat, veggies and nuts for lunch--he packs it with him as he is a delivery driver for Coke-- and I do a salad for lunch most days or left overs. Talking leftovers--they are a mainstay here. Have to be! With two teen agers and a toddler who can pack away a 1/2 an avocado on his own, we live for leftovers. I also roast whole chickens and turkeys (I load up the chest freezer every year at Thanksgiving with 3-4 extra turkeys when on sale) and I make my own broth. I also make my own ghee, mayo and salad dressings. We are planning on moving in the next year, and we are looking at homes on lots big enough for a garden and a few chickens to help save even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhmomi Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 When you get a new house check local ordinances. I'm not allowed to have chickens per county law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpinSpin Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I know where we are now, you can have chickens so long as you don't have roosters because of the noise, and you are limited to the number you have so they are pets not being raised for meat--eggs are just a by product . Also you have to keep their area clean so they don't smell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I know where we are now, you can have chickens so long as you don't have roosters because of the noise, and you are limited to the number you have so they are pets not being raised for meat--eggs are just a by product . Also you have to keep their area clean so they don't smell. I have a feeling there are a lot of chicken allowed neighborhoods in Northern Nevada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpinSpin Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 There are! I know people all over that have them in Reno and Sparks, right in the old parts of town! Amazing! I even knew one gal who had an unfenced yard, with just a coop and literally just chicken wire who had a little flock of 4 chickens and no issues from the city. The big thing is the whole no rooster request. Otherwise, no one would know. The gal with the 4 said you had to stress that they were family pets--so they were her daughters and she had named them all--one was named Mozzarella! lol But since eggs were a 'by product' you can eat them, because they aren't chickens--yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 That is so awesome. Even in Lake Oswego here, you can have them at least where a friend of mine used to live. She was even allowed to have a rooster. I never could figure out why she wanted one...I'm sure she told me, but I forget. Maybe they wanted to hatch some of the eggs? They only wanted a small flock. I think they had 4 or 5 hens and then adopted a scrawny rooster that someone had abandoned. I wonder if I could get away with 2 hens on my condo balcony? They can go into the storage closet for shelter and I'll figure out a way to plant grass and provide bugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura B Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 When you get a new house check local ordinances. I'm not allowed to have chickens per county law. Much to the dismay of my BF. He is obsessed with getting chickens! I want them, too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon Simpson Thumann Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 That is so awesome. Even in Lake Oswego here, you can have them at least where a friend of mine used to live. She was even allowed to have a rooster. I never could figure out why she wanted one...I'm sure she told me, but I forget. Maybe they wanted to hatch some of the eggs? They only wanted a small flock. I think they had 4 or 5 hens and then adopted a scrawny rooster that someone had abandoned. I wonder if I could get away with 2 hens on my condo balcony? They can go into the storage closet for shelter and I'll figure out a way to plant grass and provide bugs. My hubs and I joked about that because we live in an apartment with an enclosed balcony. We have two dogs so even if we could, we wouldn't attempt it. We already keep a container of grass out there for the dogs. We live in Florida and sometimes during the rainy seasons or if they have to go late at night we will let them out there for their business. We just go to Home Depot or Lowes and by a fresh piece of sod every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhmomi Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 My hubs and I joked about that because we live in an apartment with an enclosed balcony. We have two dogs so even if we could, we wouldn't attempt it. We already keep a container of grass out there for the dogs. We live in Florida and sometimes during the rainy seasons or if they have to go late at night we will let them out there for their business. We just go to Home Depot or Lowes and by a fresh piece of sod every week. That is genius about the grass sod. A litter box for dogs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 My hubs and I joked about that because we live in an apartment with an enclosed balcony. We have two dogs so even if we could, we wouldn't attempt it. We already keep a container of grass out there for the dogs. We live in Florida and sometimes during the rainy seasons or if they have to go late at night we will let them out there for their business. We just go to Home Depot or Lowes and by a fresh piece of sod every week. I have a chihuahua and sometimes my daughter's is here as well so no matter what the weather, we go on 3 walks a day. Totally checking out the sod idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon Simpson Thumann Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 We go on 4-5 walks a day regardless, just sometimes it's raining a bit too hard and my two will not go down the stairs! I have a chi mix and a schnauzer mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 We go on 4-5 walks a day regardless, just sometimes it's raining a bit too hard and my two will not go down the stairs! I have a chi mix and a schnauzer mix. Yes, the weather has just turned and started to rain very hard. We'll get snow and ice later, so they both own snow boarding jackets. When it's raining cats and dogs (pun totally intended), I'll open the door to head out and they both stare at me like "forget it!! I'll just hold it until next summer". I picked up my piece of sod. We'll see what they do with it. They are SUCH creatures of habit and really don't care to even go out on the balconey for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alana in Canada Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 We're a family of 4. I'm the only one fully committed to eating the whole30 way. I have a 15 year old son and a 12 year old daughter. I checked my grocery store flyer this week and last night, I finally managed to get out and get: chicken thighs, $2.99/lb--(valupak) 2 meals Pork shoulder blade steak, $2.79/lb (valupak) 2 meals pork back ribs: $5/lb. An indulgence, but my husband loves them, 1 meal (with leftovers) I also bought a whole chicken (we need broth) (blast, I don't have the receipt anymore) and two 3oz cans of salmon, on sale. Yum, yum, the salmon cakes in ISWF! That'll do a week. I should have photocopied the receipt before I gave it to my husbnd for a draw at work. I forgot I wanted to start a price book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I think a price book is SO smart. I'm going to do that. I try to do it from memory and I'm sure I'm off quite a bit. I go to 3 or 4 favorite stores and I would love to know how much cheaper one is over the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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