What's in What You Eat?It is said you are what you eat, from your head to your feet. So why not know… What's in what you eat?

Now that I’ve told you it is possible to eat well on a budget, it is time for me to prove it. Using a combination of the four cheaper Seattle area grocery stores (QFC, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Safeway) I will show you just how cheap 4 days worth of eating can be.

Minimum Wage in Washington State is $8.67. The goal here is to stay under that for the whole day. One hour of working would pay off your whole day of eating.

Things To Note:

• Each day will be from one store using only online sale flyers.
• Yes, the variation per day is low since we are going for the best deals at the time. If you shop at multiple stores, you can mix and match the sale items so you have different meats and vegetables at different times instead of the same stuff all day.
• Many of the below purchases will have leftovers for the following day, which would subtract from the next day’s budget. For the purpose of this post, everything resets the following day (i.e. no leftovers).
• Remember, this is working with the lowest budget possible. Beef may not be listed if pork is even $0.50/lb cheaper. Read the ads and find your own personal balance.
• I eat a lot, and this is more food than I typically even eat. Likely, you would be spending less than the calculated amounts.

Disclaimer: This post is aimed towards people who are already spending at least  $7.00+ per person per day. If your budget is lower than this, I realize this may not work for you. Do your best.

DAY 1: SAFEWAY

You Bought:
-Eggs: $2.50 / 18 count
-Broccoli Crowns: $0.99 / pound
-Oranges: $4.99 / 8 pound bag
-Chicken Breast: $2.99 / pound
-Pork Chop: $1.79 / pound

Breakfast: $1.34
-4 hardboiled eggs ($0.52)
-1/2lb steamed broccoli  ($0.49)
-1/2lb orange  ($0.31)

Lunch:  $2.73
-3/4lb boneless Skinless Chicken Breast: ($2.24)
-1/2lb broccoli ($0.49)

Snack: $0.44
-1 hard boiled egg ($0.13)
- 1/2lb orange ($0.31)

Dinner: $2.59
-16oz Bone-In Pork Chop ($1.79)
-1/2lb steamed broccoli ($0.49)
-1/2lb orange ($0.31)

DAY 1 TOTAL: $7.10

DAY 2: QFC

You Bought:
-Eggs: $0.99 / 12 count
-Asparagus: $1.49 / pound
-Apples: $1.00 / pound
-Chicken Thighs: $1.99 / pound
-Seedless Grapes: $1.28 / pound
-Boneless Pork Loin: $2.99 / pound

Breakfast: $1.58
-4 hardboiled eggs ($0.33)
-0.5lbs Asparagus ($0.75)
-0.5lbs Apple ($0.50)

Lunch: $3.38
-1lb Chicken Thighs ($1.99)
-0.5lbs Asparagus ($0.75)
-1/2lb grapes: ($0.64)

Snack: $0.16
-2 hardboiled eggs: ($0.16)

Dinner: $3.49
-0.75lbs Boneless Pork Loin ($2.24)
-0.5lbs Asparagus ($0.75)
-0.5lbs Apple ($0.50)

DAY 2 TOTAL:$ 8.61

DAY 3: FRED MEYER

You Bought:
-Eggs: $3.00 / 36 count
-Avocado (Large) $3.00 / 2 count
-Cantaloupe: $0.53 / pound
-Salad Mix: $5.00 / 2 count
-Beef Back Ribs: $1.69 / pound
-Apples: $0.88 / pound
-Roasted Chicken: $0.88 / pound

Breakfast: $1.34
-4 hardboiled eggs  ($0.33)
- 1/2 Avocado ($0.75)
-1/2lb cantaloupe: ($0.26)

Lunch: $3.69
-1lb Beef Back Ribs ($1.69)
-1/2 Avocado ($0.75)
-1/2 box salad mix ($1.25)

Snack: $0.60
-2 hardboiled eggs: ($0.16)
-1/2lb apple: ($0.44)

Dinner:$2.57
-1lb Roasted Chicken: ($0.88)
-1/2 container salad mix: ($1.25)
-1/2lb apple: ($0.44)

DAY 3 TOTAL: $8.20

DAY 4: ALBERTSON’S

You Bought:
-Boneless chicken breast: $1.88 / pound
-Grapefruit: $0.69 / each
-Broccoli: $1.29 / pound
-Chicken Thighs $1.29 / pound
-Apples: $0.88 / pound
-Baby Carrots: $1.50 / bag
-Pork Chops: $1.99 / pound

Breakfast: $2.39
-3/4lbs Chicken Breast: ($1.41)
-1/2lb Broccoli: ($0.64)
-1/2 grapefruit:  ($0.34)

Lunch:  $2.37
-1lb Chicken Thighs: ($1.29)
-1/2lb Broccoli: ($0.64)
-1/2lb apple: ($0.44)

Snack:  $0.81
-1/2lb Apple: ($0.44)
-1/4 bag baby carrots: ($0.37)

Dinner: $2.97
-1lb pork chops:($1.99)
-1/2lb Broccoli: ($0.64)
-1/2 grapefruit: ($0.34)

DAY 4 TOTAL: $8.54

Well there you go. Four days of eating, each below the goal. As a reminder, this is more food than you probably would go through and when you factor in things like a carton of eggs lasting multiple days, your spendings may very well be lower than these calculations. Is this realistic for you? How much do you typically spend per day with a regular American diet? How much does your Paleo menu cost?

One of the most common things I hear from people who choose not to do Paleo is that it is too expensive and there is no way they can afford it (or want to spend their money that way). The reality is first that this often (not always) is just one of many excuses people have in response to not wanting to give up the foods they are addicted to. From this post, hopefully, at least this excuse will be defeated. You can do it, if you follow these simple rules.

1. Quantity Over Quality:

This seems backwards from most nutritional advice. But within this requirement of “quantity” we are still talking about only Paleo friendly foods, not jumbo soda packs. As a general guideline for this post, for the most part, forget quality. We aren’t doing grass-fed meats or organic produce. In comparison to the typical western diet, a low quality Paleo type eating plan is still better than the heavy amounts of grains, dairy, sugar, and processed foods that you may be eating. You can get good bulk deals if you follow rule #2.

2. Shop at Multiple Stores

Ok yes, this may be a pain for you depending on where you live, but the reality is if you want to eat well, and your budget is low, this is typically a mandatory step. Here comes the other excuses (I don’t have time to shop at two stores). Yes you do. Find your motivation and you will make time for it. You also don’t even have to go to multiple stores on the same day, but during the course of the week, you should shop around. Now where do you go? Rule number 3 covers that.

3. Read Online Sale Flyers

Since you are reading my online blog, chances are you have internet access. The four main cheaper grocery stores in Seattle (QFC, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Safeway) all publish weekly ads with the items that are on sale. This includes things from all departments, including meat, seafood, and produce, the three important sections for a Paleo shopper. There is enough food on sale each week between these stores to do all of your shopping on sale items. Yes, this may mean visits to multiple grocery stores, but if you know what you are looking for (you read the ad), the extra stop shouldn’t take more than 5-10 minutes. You may also find some coupons on their websites for items you are buying. Unless you suffer from veganism (or any other odd condition), you likely are already buying things from the meat and seafood sections already. How can you start to afford more? There’s a rule for that. Number 4.

4. Stop Buying Unnecessary Crap

While individual bags of chips, cookies, crackers, sodas, and other processed foods may seem cheap, they really do start to add up. Once you stop buying all of these unhealthy “food products” you may be surprised at how much farther it gets you. Let’s say you buy two $1 sodas per day and a $1 bag of chips. Thats $3.00. Doesn’t seem like much. Turns out, depending on the store, that could have easily bought you at least a full pound of ground beef. Following these simple steps of removing unessential food products, again really starts to open things up. Also, spending all your extra money on fancy clothing, electronics, and latest trends when it could be put towards quality food, is not a very good way to extend your health and life.

5. If You Can’t Afford It, Don’t Buy it

This relates to a few things. Everyone knows Seafood is good for you. Everyone also knows it can be crazy expensive. Same with some types of nuts. Remember, we are doing our best here. Don’t feel you need to have something if you can’t afford it. A Paleo eating plan that never sees seafood is still better than a “See Food” diet that never sees Paleo. Also, while eating out is fun and convenient, we all know it is always overpriced for profit. When trying to stretch your dollar, eat home more often. Even cheap restaurants like McDonald’s aren’t really as cheap as they seem when you factor in just how low their quality is. But if you are out and need something cheap, sure go there, order a cheese-less burger and toss the buns in the trash before you have time to try to justify eating it for your “energy needs.”

6. Simple Preparations of Food

You are making eggs. If you scramble them, you typically need some sort of lubricant (oil / butter) on the pan. This costs money. How about hardboiling or baking them? Water and dry heat are cheaper. Same idea with vegetables. Steaming can save you money. Not much, but it all adds up.

The next and final rule is actually a 2-parter so read carefully. It also relates back to rule #1

7. Buy Value Packs & Clear Out Your Freezer

Shopping at QFC the other day, they had chicken breast for $4.99 / pound. Not too bad, but still not that good. Here’s the cool part. Buy one get one free. You could have spent $15.00 on chicken and gotten $15.00 additional for free. That’s 6 pounds of chicken which should last you quite a while. Now if your freezer wasn’t full of frozen pizzas, ice cream, and Otter Pops, there would be room to store this for later use. Shop value packs, stash up, and freeze it for later use.

Part 2 of this series I will actually show you multiple days worth of eating at the different stores using sale flyers, and the low price that it can have. According to one source, the average American spend $7.00 per day on food. Think you can get that low on Paleo? Stay tuned!

So while at work one day I had a good idea of having a iron chef style competition among employees. After thinking about it a minute, I realized I could make this idea great. So I did. I am happy to announce the first ever Primal Cook-Off being put on at Whole Foods Market Roosevelt Square.

“Are you a health minded cook? Enjoy a good culinary challenge? If so, you are invited to witness a cooking challenge with a healthy twist! Our experienced chefs will compete against local chefs to see who can come up with the best tasting, health conscious dish using the provided ingredients and within the allowed time limit. Your $20 entry fee will get you a admission to view the competition and the possibility to win one of four fabulous door prizes! All proceeds will be donated to the Whole Planet Foundation to help end global poverty.

Plus we’ll have a very special guest, author Robb Wolf, will join us to talk about his New York Times bestselling book “The Paleo Solution.” The ingredients for the challenge will be inspired by the recipes included in his book. The judges will be comprised of members of the “Western Washington Paleo Enthusiasts” group, chefs, and community members.

Just for attending you’ll be enter to win one of the following door prizes:
-5 personal fitness or boxing training sessions donated by Ballard Barbell & Boxing Club ($375 value!)
-A $50 gift card to Whole Foods
-A signed copy of “The Paleo Solution,” by Robb Wolf
Or -A seat at the judges table

Register in store or call (206) 985-1500. Seating is limited to 25 so RSVP today! Payment is due at the time of registration to hold your spot.”

So there we go. The vegan centered grocery store will finally be there to spread our cause. Hopefully this may be the start of something as people worldwide compete to earn the title of “Primal Chef.” Who knows, if this does catch on, maybe someone with some Food Network ties could get us a show (nudge nudge wink wink).

See you all there!

Eating a good diet is often thought to be expensive, especially when sticking to the quality standards that the paleo / primal lifestyle has (grass-fed meat, wild fish, free ranged poultry). This being said, there are ways to get the best value for those who don’t have an endless food budget without sacrificing too much quality. Most people know that the top notch quality foods are found at farmers markets, but is it really necessary to buy all your food there to have optimal nutrition? Here’s a guide about the places to shop to make your money stretch further without lowering your quality goals.
—————————
Meat: ideal quality
—————————

Beef : 100% grass-fed & grass-finished

With the quality of beef being so important, it might make sense that this is one to get at the farmers market. It actually isn’t. With the exception of ground beef, the beef at farmers markets is a good 40+% more expensive than at grocery stores that stocks good meat. The high price you are paying doesn’t get you any additional quality, in fact since it is almost all frozen, you are losing quality. In both settings the cows are raised on open grassland, living optimal lives. Unlike poultry (see below) the farmers market really offers no advantage other than carbon footprint of less travel time.

Instead, buy your 100% grass-fed meat at stores such as PCC, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Ballard Market. From what I have found, PCC is typically the least expensive. Another options is to order directly from Thundering Hooves. The absolute cheapest option? Buy a whole cow and split it amongst friends. This typically gets you 100% grass-fed beef for around $4 per pound.

If fully grass-fed meat is still just plain too expensive, look for Country Natural Beef which is 90% grass-fed (yes the last 10% does make a huge difference) and antibiotic and hormone free. Country Natural Beef is sold at many stores including PCC, Whole Foods, Madison Market to name a few. This is still far better than conventional, cheaper meat.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Lamb: 100% grass-fed & grass-finished

Very similar to the beef issue, only fewer grocery stores sell it. The cheapest, highest quality lamb is again through Thundering Hooves. As far as retail stores go, PCC and Whole Foods are the places to go. At the farmers market, expect to pay a lot more for the same quality stuff. If you are concerned about buying only local however, Whole Foods lamb is very far from it…but remember we are trying to save money here and do our best.
—————————————————————————————————————————————

Poultry: 100% pasture-rased

Chicken and turkey are one of the best indicators of the quality differences you receive at different grocery stores. Allow me to break it down for you:

QFC/ Safeway/ Fred Meyer/ Albertsons: (CONVENTIONAL) Birds raised in cages, zero room to move. Beaks and wings clipped to prevent conflict. Birds pumped full of antibiotics to make up for cramped conditions. Feed is entirely corn, wheat, and soy.
PCC / Whole Foods / Other Natural Stores (FREE-RANGED): Birds raised in large hen houses without cages with a door that is open if the birds choose to go outside. Crammed together. No antibiotics are administered. When inside, they eat corn, wheat, and soy. When outside, they eat grass, bugs, worms, etc. They are usually inside, so their feed is usually corn, wheat, and soy.
All Stores (ORGANIC). Same as conventional raising in the natural food stores, however the corn, wheat, and soy they are given have to be certified organic. Big whoop. Not worth the money.
Farmers Markets: Birds raised primarily outside, eating optimal amounts of grass, bugs, insects, etc while still receiving some corn, soy, wheat, and various vegetables from the farm. The extra bugs and grass they are eating significantly increases the nutritional content of the meat. Farmers markets are definitely something to look into when buying poultry.

Out of all food items, poultry is the biggest one that buying from the farmers market will benefit you.
————————————————————————————————————————————–

Eggs 100% pasture-raised, golden yolks

Eggs can follow the exact same guide as the poultry above, however there’s one more variation I’d like to touch on

Omega 3 Enriched: Still fed corn, soy & wheat, however also fed flaxseeds which increase the omega 3 content. If you can’t buy farmers market eggs, I would go for these. They are eating less of the bad stuff and give you a little extra omega 3 to enjoy.

Depending on the weather, the chickens will be inside or outside on varying levels. I would say there is definitely a potential argument for getting better value buying during the dryer months from farmers markets since if the weather is bad, they will be raised indoors regardless. Some farmers though will feed the chickens bugs and grass still inside, so talk to your farmer! If your yolk is yellow, they haven’t been outside much. All supermarket eggs have yellow yolks!

————————————————————————————————————————————-

Side Note: So is organic meat worth it? No. The reason I buy only organic beef at Whole Foods is simply because their 100% grass-fed meat happens to be organic. There is plenty of organic meat that is completely corn fed, just organic corn. Any farm that is going the effort of producing 100% grass-fed meat is going to be raising to organic standards, just without the extremely expensive certification. Thundering Hooves for example has some of the best quality meats in this area. They are not certified organic, which is why it is still affordable.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Seafood: Wild Caught

The biggest thing here is to make sure you are getting wild fish and not farmed fish. If the product says “Atlantic,” it is farmed. Buy from a source with a knowledgeable employee who can guarantee you the fish is not farmed. Just like with beef, some fish starts wild and then is farmed for the last portion of their life. Really make sure the fish you are getting is 100% wild.

Fresh or frozen? Whatever is cheapest. Fresh will taste better, but if you can get a good deal on frozen, go for it as long as it is wild. I honestly don’t have a suggestion for where to shop to save on fish, just not the farmers market. Today I saw the same type of salmon at QFC for $2 more per pound than at Whole Foods. Go figure.

In reality however if money is a concern, you might be better off skipping the seafood. Grass-fed meat has the same healthful fatty acid profile as wild caught fish and is significantly cheaper. With the money you save, buy some fish oil!

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Produce: Your money saver

Organic produce often does taste better and can be quite expensive. With this in mind, I feel it is the main area you should spend less on when faced with a tight budget. Unlike cheap meat where you are consuming antibiotics and hormones as a byproduct, eating cheap vegetables really only results in lower vitamins and mineral contents, which even that topic is debatable. Pesticides are another potential issue, which most who buy organic assume they are avoiding. The reality though is that organic pesticides exsist and they are often used in organic farming. Simple solution? Wash your veggies, and wash them well! The last reasonable concern is that of genetic modification, which there is no solid research saying it is good or bad. I’m personally concerned, but not concerned enough to let my meat quality suffer when having to spend more on produce.

When cost is a concern, your best bets are shopping at places like QFC, Safeway, etc. Also surprisingly, if you find a produce market on the side of the road such as Rising Sun, it is significantly cheaper than grocery stores. At these cheaper places, if you can afford their organic produce, then go for it. Also occasionally checking Whole Foods and PCC for produce sale items can prove beneficial as well.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Conclusion: Don’t Hate Me!

I am by no means anti-farmers market. I fully support local farmers and the difference they make. If I had an endless budget, I’d buy all my food from the farmers market to get the most optimal choices available. However, in a realistic world, as you can see, some things just aren’t worth it while on a tight budget. If you have the money, then go for it! If not, don’t worry…there are many other ways to shop.

Many local citizens of Seattle have likely seen, shopped, or at least heard of the Rising Sun Farms produce market located on 65th and 15th Ave. N.E.

From the design of the place, it very much resembles that of a farmers market which also implies that it has the same quality as such. Another thing you may notice is the ridiculously cheap prices. How is this possible? I asked an employee.

It turns out Rising Sun Farms has absolutely zero quality standards and their only focus is providing produce as cheap as possible. The employee said they stock hardly any organic items and would bet that most of the products are sprayed with pesticides and likely are genetically modified.

If your concern is cheap fruits and vegetables, this may be a place for you. If you are looking for local, sustainable, organic, pure produce, I would suggest looking elsewhere (the place is located 2 blocks away from Whole Foods and 5 minutes from the Saturday University Farmer’s Market).

I spoke with an employee at Whole Foods in Roosevelt Square today and he said he knew for a fact the beef served in their salad bar, deli, etc was not grass fed.

He did not know what it was fed, only that it was not grass (likely corn or grain).

I was quite surprised at this and because of it, I would suggest to seriously moderate your intake.

Edit: To clarify, it is just the prepared foods section I am talking about. Whole Foods still sells 100% organic grass-fed meat in their raw section and is some of the finest beef available. Additionally, the beef in the prepared foods area, while not 100% grass-fed is still fed grass up to 2/3rds of the animal’s life and then finished on grains. It is still completely hormone and antibiotic free and is in no way “cheap” beef. Also, the poultry and other items in the Whole Foods prepared foods section is extremely high quality and does not have any negative attributes.

Whole Foods still holds my vote for the highest quality grocery store in the country.