Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I started Paleo last week as a means of combating Ibs and the health benefits that everyone seems to have been raving about. The only problem is I am a college student which means 1. I have a limited budget (60 dollars or so a week) to spend on food and 2. Access to good butchers and health stores is limited. I could take the odd bus every once and a while but regular travel is unfeesable so I basically have the use of a good-sized grocery store.

With this in mind What can you knowledgeable paleo elders suggest as cheap and easy paleo meals for the budding paleo enthusiast trapped in a culture of Ramen Noodles and pizza?

flag	asked Feb 11 2011 at 2:16 Henry3rd 77●1●6

Morrigan · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-11 08:46:40Z UTC

Is there a Sam's club or COSTCO near you? How about Walmart?

You can Paleo very well on fattier, often cheaper cuts of meat.

Heavy cream and a quality oil should not be too costly.

Eggs should be cheap? Offal should be cheap too.

Get together with your fellow classmates to buy in bulk at a local farmer's market.

Even though I was not doing paleo, I survived on rice, pasta, eggs and cheaper cuts of beef in my student days. Would not have been hard to make it Paleo in hindsight.

Sandra · Answer 2 · 2011-02-11 02:25:44Z UTC

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Check this link out: http://whole9life.com/2011/01/paleo-poor-your-guide-to-the-grocery-store/

answered Feb 11 2011 at 2:25

Sandra
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Great writeup, thanks for sharing! – Jay Bell Feb 12 2011 at 0:36

Rock_Paper_Shirley · Answer 3 · 2011-02-11 02:39:59Z UTC

Asian food stores are a great place for low cost coconut milk. If you live near an Aldi, you can get great produce (not organic, unfortunately) and especially nice frozen fish and shrimp very cheap, but stay away from their meats - they're injected with "solution" to stay cheap, although you can sometimes find exceptions. If you do dairy, they also have fantastic, upscale cheeses at very low prices, and low priced nuts. Look into a food co-op to find grass fed beef, and try to network if you want to try to go in on a large buy of grass fed beef from a local farm. Think about allocating some of a student loan check for that if you have a freezer. Also watch for sales on meats. My "BUY" threshold is $2/lb or less for pork or poultry and $3/lb or less for beef as stock up prices. And don't forget eggs! Aldi also has biodegradable packages for those - I won't buy eggs in styrofoam. Hard boiled eggs and omelettes can be your best (cheap) friends!

Also think about things you can cook ahead and eat on the go. One of my favorites that comes to mind is taco meat I season from scratch, and I eat all of the stuff I'd put in a taco without the grains or beans. Like a no-shell taco salad, basically, and it's easy to pack and take to campus. It's edible at room temp, or heat the meat in a non-plastic container. Also consider soups, curries and stews as good one pot meals, and just serve without the bread/rice. I like the Patak curry mixes you can find in jars at many grocery stores. Add meat and veggies, then skip the rice. Also easy to make in one pot/pan.

I agree that college campuses are lousy for finding healthy food to eat! It's all very typical mainstream stuff, and even the stuff that pretends to be gourmet is just dressed up cheap junk.

Bread-Eating Beelzebub · Answer 4 · 2011-02-11 02:22:54Z UTC

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I used to just buy coconut milk in bulk and braise meat in it with some curry paste. Grass-fed meat is the best, but if you can't afford it, look for natural beef or lamb, or Australian/New Zealand lamb, or halal meat.

answered Feb 11 2011 at 2:22

Bread-Eating Beelzebub
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	I've wondered how halal meat fit into the grassfed/pastured/conventional spectrum. My Polish grocery store has Halal chickens and other stuff too. – sherpamelissa Feb 11 2011 at 2:36
	My understanding (I'm neither Muslim nor Jew) from conversation and internet searching is that these standards have to do with how the animal is butchered and not how the animal was fed before butchering. – ScottMGS Feb 11 2011 at 6:45
	Often halal meat is grass fed, it's just a coincidence though. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Feb 11 2011 at 11:45
	"Halal literally means lawful (from a religious perspective) according to Islamic jurisprudence. In the case of animals, Islamic law guarantees animals certain rights such as the right to live a minimum amount of time. It is also guaranteed care, the right to offspring, and the right to a dignified death. Islamic laws also offers the concept of Tayyib which means pure and good. For example, blood meal is used as a feed ingredient for many animal feed rations. For Muslims this at least violates the Tayyib rule as well as the Jallalah ruling." norwichmeadowsfarm.com/halalmeat.htm – RHunt Jun 26 2011 at 17:30

Sgroh87 · Answer 5 · 2011-02-11 22:35:39Z UTC

Optimally, you should be going for fatty cuts of grass-fed beef or lean cuts of conventional beef, and then add in good fats such as coconut oil or butter/ghee from grass-fed cows (I get Kerrygold for $10 a pound at Albertsons). This is a pretty good deal on coconut oil from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nutiva-Organic-Virgin-Coconut-15-Ounce/dp/B001EO5Q64/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297462933&sr=8-1 If you don't mind repetitive meals, I'd say go for lots of ground beef, since it's a cheap way to get your beef, with a couple fish meals a week. By the way, if you have access to a large freezer, you can get reasonably cheap beef from Slanker's farm: http://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com

His grass-fed ground beef is only $5.38 a pound! I aim for 1.5 pounds of meat a day, so a month of ground beef costs around $250, or about $62 a week). He also occasionally sells Pastureland butter for just under $9 a pound.

You can also get some cheap "weird" cuts for good prices. Tongue is cheap, but it has a texture I'm not too fond of. Heart isn't bad. I've yet to try liver, but it's next on my list of things to eat (plus beef liver is one of the richest sources of vitamins and minerals).

Goose · Answer 6 · 2011-02-12 15:50:06Z UTC

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When faced with a choice between potatoes and fruit, get the potatoes. They usually cost less per pound and fill you up better. You mentioned you want to lose weight, and now the consensus in the paleo community is that fruit stalls fat loss in most cases.

answered Feb 12 2011 at 15:50

Goose
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	lol IBS* its irritable bowel syndrom not LBS- pounds. but thank you for your help – Henry3rd Feb 12 2011 at 16:24
	:D that is pretty funny – Goose Mar 28 2011 at 14:17

Paleo for a College student

6 Answers