Let's try this.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Cheap-O Paleo

Big ups to Gumball Poodle and KnickerRocker!  I was one of the lucky winners of their Facebook contest and recieved 2 pairs of SUPER cool socks and a $25 certificate to KnickerRocker. I've heard that the Gumball Poodle socks fit over big fat calves, so I'll update you after I Crossfit in them.

Okay, onto business.  Every blog post I read from my Paleo people lately talks about two things:  How to afford Paleo, and how to not spend every waking moment in the kitchen.  Well, I have an answer to both.

How to afford Paleo:

1.  MEAL PLAN.  This is the most important one and I'll elaborate in the next section...You only buy what you need because you have a list in front of you saying exactly how much you need.

2.  Google is your BFF.  Find local farmers.  Write them emails.  Buy their shit in bulk and have it delivered.  Google how to freeze/ferment/preserve your veggies for use all year 'round...on that note, cook seasonally if you don't have a giant freezer.

3.  Amazon is your BFF.  Subscribe to the shit you buy regularly.  I hear Amazon Prime is a good investment, but I've yet to see it pay off because I always buy over $25 worth of stuff and get free shipping on the stuff that qualifies anyway.

Okay, so on to the most important part...MEAL PLANNING:

I'm not in the business of blogging.  I don't make a profit on anything that I mention in my blog, so if I say it rules, it's because it rules, not because I make a dollar for every person that buys it/reads it/whatever.

Once A Month Mom changed my LIFE!  She offers several different menus...PALEO, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegetarian, etc.  This might sound really intimidating, but this woman has thought of everything and walks you through how to cook once a month.  You prep a bunch of food (some cooked, some raw that you throw in the crotchpot or whatever).  You don't need as much freezer space as you might think.  I recently picked 40 pounds of organic strawberries at Swanton Farms and still had FOUR 1-gallon bags of whole strawberries in there when I did my once a month cooking.

You can CUSTOMIZE your menus for the amount of people in your family!!  This is genius.  Srsly.  You can't be totally technologically impaired because it involves some intermediate computer skills (I had to read her tutorial...I'm kind of a ditz), but at some point, you put a number 3, for example, into a box and everything miraculously changes to accommodate the size of your family.  All  you're responsible for after your cooking day is side dishes and a few breakfasts/lunches/snacks, etc.

I could go on all day, but only you can decide to do it.  You cook for an entire month in one day.  That's it.  

www.onceamonthmom.com

I think you have to pay for a nominal membership...like $8 a month or something.  It's worth every penny just for the chopping list...or the organized shopping list...or the moment to moment instructions for the whole day...

Okie dokie...this got really long and I have Friday-itis, so I'm going to try and get out of here early and bomb over to Santa Cruz. 

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