.Crazyness Galore.
So today has been one rollercoaster…. From being super stressful, to super awesome, to waking up early.. I met with my favorite clients, Kyra ran around like an idiot at daycare. Followed up by early-birthday treating myself to dinner (Steak Salad with yumminess)
And now that it’s over I’m planning crossfit inspired workout + yoga + running = Liz’s new workout!
Crazy right? But no it’s not! I’ve been researching mild(er) forms of crossfit workouts that I can do from home, that fit me for the moment and well, because well my landlord wouldn’t like it if I put pull up rings in my living room
{Never heard of crossfit? It’s ok! Check it out here: www.crossfit.com}
If you can afford to do crossfit locally, do it. It’s worth every single penny, they’ll kick your ass, and then your ass will look amazing.
But I can’t afford it right now, so I’m finding Workouts I can do at home, and mixing that with yoga and running { I love yoga… }
So how is it going to work?
Day 1: Crossfit-inspired workout, Yoga
Day 2: Crossfit-inspired workout, Run
Day 3: Crossfit-inspired workout, Yoga
Day 4: Yoga, Run
Repeat.
Unless it’s a Monday and in which case I can’t go out for a run early because of scheduling so It’ll be a crossfit-inspired + yoga day!
I’m also going to hold off on Running until the ice is gone because it’s a skating rink up here. So for now it’ll be crossfit-inspired and yoga, and maybe I’ll break out the elliptical again {but I really hate that thing}
What’s the point of this your asking yourself? Ha! Ok so here’s the deal. You can do amazing workouts, you can get fit and be paleo for next to nothing. I own yoga DVDs {Sara Ivanhoe is the best yoga instructor ever}
I’ll start posting what I do for workouts to
a.) keep me accountable
&
b.) so you can see and take some ideas from it!
Oh and why the sudden need to do this? I found these two pictures on the Crossfit Facebook Page {hint hint you should fan them!}:
So after seeing these prime examples {no pun intended} of rocking the crossfit world, how could you not try to do a smidge of what they do?
Sugar, Sugar, Sugar!
Sugar = </3
{Remember that folks!}
I love love love love sugar. LOVE it. Birthday cake happens to be my favorite thing to eat ever. But it’s a total no no, for really good reasons… ok you know what read Robb Wolf’s book and it’ll make a ton of sense.
Ahh but so many cheap things have sugar, I know I know!
How do you combat the sugar and the wallet at the same time? It’s tricky but you can do it!
I scoured my grocery store for about two weeks before I found what I wanted, that didn’t have sugar. For instance… most sausages and kielbasa and bacon come with some form of nitrate, sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, fructose corn syrup, {This list could go on}. It took me about 3 weeks to find a kielbasa and sausage that were totally paleo (they’re both locally made!}.
I know the sticker shock might seem like $3.00 for one kielbasa is pricey but look at it this way… I get 4 meals for 2 people if I stretch it out.
Math time: $3.00 / 4 = $0.75 / 2 people = $.038 per person per meal.
Ha! That’s Cheap!!!!
My sausages are the same price for around 10 links {they’re normal breakfast size ones which are great for breakfast, pizza, chili, tomato sauce, salads, etc}. They last either a really long time, or one meal around here. Just depends what I’m doing. Roughly though… 1 box will last 5-6 meals which then goes to about $0.25 per person per meal.
ha! You can beat sugar and come out the victor. Just take your time. Grocery shop on a day when no one will be there and you can spend a while reading all the ingredients. And think about how many meals you’re going to get out of it.
If you buy somet
hing but know you won’t use it all up fast, freeze it! Sometimes I freeze half our kielbasa because I know I only want to use it 2 or three times that week.
And just to leave with something super cute and awesome…
Here’s my #1 Paleo Cheerleader {She LOVES carrots, celery, meats, cheese, basically she loves being a part-paleo girl!}
Chips!
Seriously, turning paleo means giving up a lot of comfort “foods” to some people … but that’s not true, you’ve just got to find a way to re-make ’em! Take for instance the sweet potato chips I make with a homemade mayo. It’s super super simple, and really yummy. You’ll generally always have ingredients for mayo in your house, and then you’ve just got to get yourself a few sweet potatoes and you’ve got a great party food/snack or a great first half of dinner
And the best part..It’s cheap, wicked cheap.
Sweet Potato Chips:
Sweet Potato Chips end up at about $2.00 when I make it {and that’s with two sweet potatoes}
Ingredients:
– Sweet Potato {If you buy more than one make sure that they’re all roughly the same width it makes for even cooking}
– Salt, Pepper
-Olive Oil
-Seasoning { I use whatever mix I have floating around Italian Seasoning or Pizza Seasoning are my favorite}
Directions:
•I use a mandolin to cut my potatoes into thin disks, if you want do it by hand feel free, I just can’t get them that thin on my own {Just be careful! Both are sharp and you can cut yourself}.
•On my baking sheet, I place however many chips can fit in a single layer, drizzle with Olive Oil.
•Then sprinkle salt, pepper, seasoning. Get your hands in there and mix it all up so all sides are coated with oil and seasoning.
•Put them back in a single layer.
•Bake at 350 for about 9-12 minutes (my oven cooks at the speed of light for some odd reason, so I set my timer for 9 minutes, and then keep checking them)
•When they’re done, transfer to a plate, add extra salt if you want and do the next batch (if needed) I end up doing about 4 batches for 2 sweet potatoes
If you let them cool down, they get crunchy like a real chip and then they’re addictive and you can’t stop eating them.
Mayo:
You might think that this is pricey, but it’s not … at all… mayo comes down to about $2.00 to make {and that’s if you don’t buy your Olive Oil in bulk like I do!}
Ingredients:
– 1 Egg
– 1.5-2 tbsp lemon juice
-1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
-1 tbsp Mustard
– Sprinkle of Salt, dash of pepper
-1 Cup Light Olive Oil {make sure it’s light, otherwise it’ll taste weird}
Before we start…
To make your may
o you can use a blender, food processor, or you can whisk by hand.
I’ve found something though that makes it all worth wild!
It’s the Hamilton Beach Single Serve Blender w/ lid. He’s my best friend for mayo. It’s easy to clean only two pieces ( ok three with the lid) and when my mayo is done, I can pop the lid on and stick it in the fridge. Anything that saves me from washing an extra dish is well worth it (and he’s only $12.00 on Amazon).
How to:
•Put Egg, lemon Juice, mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt pepper in your choice of mixing device. Blend for a few seconds to combine all of the ingredients.
•This is where you have to listen to me 100% or else you’ll have a broken mayo! Start your device of choice up and slowly start to add olive oil. I mean slow, like you’re going insane slow because it’s drop by drop almost. Don’t turn off your device either! Keep it going!
•So your adding, adding, adding, and then you’ll start to notice its coming together and looking like something more solid then eggs and olive oil. Then you can add a smidge bit more at a time. Keep going until it’s all added in {It should take a minimum of three minutes to make}.
•I like to open the lid, give it a stir {And low and behold its mayo!}, replace the lid and give it a few more seconds mixing just to make sure it’s all combine!
Then either eat right then or stick in your fridge and enjoy later!
{*Side note, if you use my bffl Mr.Hamilton, you might notice oil at the top. It’s smaller so it has a harder time blending all of it together. Don’t worry about it, stir it, then blend again. Sometimes while I’m making the mayo I like to give the container itself a little shake to make sure everything’s moving!}
I use my mayo for homemade ceaser salad dressing (lemon juice + Garlic), Dip for my chips (lemon Juice and a little bit of seasoning I’ve used on the chips), and anything else you can think of!
So for $4.00 You’ve got Chips and Dip, and left over mayo for a few other meals {and possibly left over chips..but I doubt it!}. I did this last night for dinner with Chicken and we were both stuffed.
Enjoy!
Lets Start
What is this blog you ask?
This is a place for all you paleo lovers (and soon to be lovers) to come to and figure out how to do it on a budget. Before I turned paleo, my staple diet was pasta, bread, pasta, rice, bread {you get the picture}. Between two of us we were buying (everyweek almost) Bread, English muffins, bagels, and some form of subrolls and the normal pasta night(s), rice, etc.
It was literally killing me, yes I know it sounds melodramatic but it’s the truth. So I woke up one morning and decided it was time for a change, and I read everything I could, I made a grocery list, and then I went grocery shopping. Yeah, Reality hit me pretty quick, I went from spending $40.00 a week in grocery for two people to $100.00. Talk about a budget killer! So I learned quick that either I was doing this {And doing it right} within my budget or I wasn’t doing it at all.
I choose to do it, and yeah you’ll have weeks when you still spend that $100.00 because you wanted too, not because you had to!
Stick around, grab a coffee {Yes I’m a paleo coffee drinker.. but it has to be black}. I’ll give you my tips and tricks on how to have meals do double duty, what foods will give you the most for your dollar, recipes, and track my journey through this. I think the one thing anyone that’s paleo will tell you is that this isn’t a diet, this isn’t a fad it’s a life style change, and the best one you can make for yourself.
Paleo on a Budget 