Lots of good suggestions here, I'll just add that sardines/mackerel and a sweet potato can make an AMAZING meal, for about $4.

I'd also reduce the nuts and try to buy some sweet potatoes/yams. You can find them for less than $1/lb! Also, liver is really cheap.

Sweet potatoes and liver are among the most nutrient dense foods available and are amazing bangs for your buck.

Nix the coconut flour, almonds & chicken sausage. Buy bags of apples, bags of carrots & get frozen packs of whole chicken quarters & whole squash (so you can roast the seeds for snacks).

$330 a month really doesn't sound like a hard budget to keep to in my mind. But it does sound like you'll have to prioritize your paleo purchases. Get the big picture (i.e. whole foods, animals and plants, etc) right first before thinking about the details (i.e. grass-fed, organic, etc). I'm wondering (based on your prices) if you're already trying to do the organic/grass-fed thing.

Your proteins are ok. Why bison, wouldn't beef be more affordable? 1 chicken per week should cover 2-3 meals. Ditch the sausage links, too processed, buy ground pork and add sausage spices. Bacon, again, is expensive for what you get, don't prioritize it. Eggs, great, no qualms with those. How about some fish? I get 1.5 pounds of frozen wild-caught salmon for $10. You can get a pound of canned salmon for $3-4.

You're a bit light on veggies in my opinion. How about some greens? Frozen/canned spinach is around $1 per can/box, which corresponds to a huge amount of fresh since it cooks down so much. Potatoes are paleo, and if you're on a budget they're great. Cabbage is cheap too, chop it up and braise it.

You've got a ton of added fat budgeted in: over 12 pounds per month? Seems excessive, particularly when you're on a budget and trying to maximize nutrition per dollar. Fats are just calories.

If you're on a budget and not needing to lean out, hard to go wrong with safe starches. White rice is dirt cheap.

Ditch the coconut milk (3.5 gallons for $10 though?) and coconut flour. Neither are that great for nutrition, just calories.

I would try and get hold of:

• liver and kidneys; excellent nutrition for their low cost
• bones, for making stock (bone broth); makes amazingly delicious and comforting soups and stews (You can put vegetables in the soups and stews and the minerals and vitamins don't drain away in the cooking water, as they do with boiling or steaming)
• any cheap (usually tough) cuts of meat, for long slow cooking (makes a change from mince (ground meat)
• lard and beef dripping (beef tallow) are great for frying and roasting
• frozen are certainly convenient, but fresh vegetables in season are the cheapest. For example, where I live, cabbage, cauliflower and root vegetables are very good value at this time of year. If you keep them cold, maybe in a shed outside, they keep for a long time at this time of year
• can you get those big bags of white potatoes? They can be much cheaper than smaller bags and will last for weeks if stored in a cool, dark place
• any good-value frozen fish you can find

Best of luck with your next shopping trip!

paleo doesnt have to be low carb. you can add potatoes and rice to this for minimal cost. i also would add some fruit for the kids at least, i know in my realistic daily life my daughter loves fruit and a little bit here and there goes a long way.

if you dont have trouble with dairy then dont discount that from wic, it might not always be the best choice but if you handle it well and its free eat it.

i use canned tomatoes a fair bit to mix in with ground meats to make chili.

look for canned tuna on sale i can get it for less than 1$ can and its a preety easy go to thing when i have no time.

if the oil and butter is cheaper in bulk then get it like that if not you dont need that much on a monthly basis. i dont think anyways.

just make sure you are not going to get sick of eating the same stuff over and over, if i dont have diversity i am much more likely to stray and fall off track.

This is a great list. Really good job. I cook without oil of any type. I hard boil or poach my eggs. Now that might not meet everyones needs. I also crock pot meat or grill it. Ground meat can go in a pan by itself. Also cooking in the oven works without oil. Eggs can be cooked in butter... Sweet Potatoes are cheap as well.

You've already gotten a lot of good suggestions. I'll just add, if you have a crockpot, try getting some cheaper cuts of meat or whole chickens ("stew hens"--the old tough laying hens that are no longer laying). I get tomato juice as part of my WIC package and it's really great stuff for slow-cooking tough cuts of meat, such as the cheap roast cuts. I put a beef arm roast in the crock-pot with 2-3 cups of tomato juice at night and let it cook until the next night for dinner. It falls apart, it's so tender! My boys love it. You can also cook a whole chicken in a crockpot. Also, as you buy whole meat, you'll have bones to make broth with and this is really healthy and yummy for making stews or chili. Also, you could cook your kids' rice in bone broth for added nutrition.

My poor student budget staples are

-canned chopped tomatoes

-canned sardines

-coconut oil or butter

-eggs

-bone in meat cuts or offal (thank heavens for slow cookers!)

-apple cider vinegar

-cheap vegetables and fruit like cabbage (great to stretch out meals), carrots, onions, cauliflower, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash

I'd agree with the suggestions to leave the coconut flour, sausage and coconut milk. Stick with most basic of foods until your budget can afford to add in baking and other creative culinary dishes. Joining a local CSA can be a lifesaver for fresh produce so I would really recommend that as an investment if you ever have the opportunity.

Best of luck and kudos to trying to do the best for your family with the limits upon you.

Hi there, bet you've figured this out by now, and I hope I'm not repeating others too much, but...

Do not get coconut oil, unless you're SURE your kids like the taste of cooked foods with it.
Why pay extra for bison? Get regular meat, you're not in a place to be fancy here.
I can get 10 lbs chicken leg quarters for 4.99 total, chicken leg quarters are very cheap. Or buy roast chicken.
Bacon: I would buy ONLY enough bacon to get you started on a jar of bacon fat. Use this bacon fat instead of coconut oil.
Instead of sausage and bacon, buy other meats so you can eat them either at breakfast or other meals. I'm thinking of beef and pork roasts, or stew meat, they'll last you a very, very long time.
Coconut flour? I hope you're kidding, don't waste your money on that.
Olive oil is nice, but I think once you start eating meat and veggies at every meal (oh trust me, it doesn't get boring! I thought it would...!) you won't have much use for it. Why bother cooking with olive oil when you got bacon fat?
Definitely buy eggs, you're on a low budget, eat these for breast-fast instead of bacon or sausage. Cook them in bacon fat and they will be very filling.
Onions are OK, but honestly I rarely use them anymore.
Don't bother with chicken sausage, buy real meats. I suggest beef and pork roasts, you can cook two at once if you're busy. You can cook them at night while you watch TV, even.
Also don't waste your money on walnuts and almonds, specially when the only vegetables you're buying is broccoli and cabbage! Tsk tsk tsk!
Definitely buy the coconut milk :-)

Ok, we freed up enough money for good meat and veggies. For veggies, I recommend:
Carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, parsnips, turnips, squashes, cabbage (green and purple). Once your taste-buds reset, cabbage tastes sweet.

As a bonus, these vegetables are very cheap! If you're going to spend your WIC on expensive vegetables, go for spinach, and other dark leafy greens.

You say there are restrictions on what you can buy with WIC, but have you tried a farmer's market? They don't exactly have bar-codes on their produce, so perhaps that would let you bypass that restriction? Oh, I hope so! (Yes, farmer's markets have WIC, and I bet they'd give you a good price too).

I would also skip most of the coconut products this month, especially the flour and milk. You can make a decent nut milk out of raw almonds very easily if you have a blender. Lucky you, being able to live out in the country. Start looking for local suppliers now, for veggies and good quality meats. Onions and sweet potatoes are reasonably priced at this time of year, so I hope you find them on sale during your shopping trip. I split large bags of food with family, friends and neighbors so this might be an option for you.

I recently discovered how cheap organ meats are, even the organic, free-range, grass-fed ones from my local farmers at the farmers market. I couldn't believe it! I bought this huge bag or pastured organic chicken livers for ten bucks! I asked a guy about these huge grass-fed, free-range bison livers and he said five bucks. Not bad for the most nutrient-dense part of the animal. I am really happy about that. Also, you can buy their bones for super cheap and make some soup broths, which go a long way. This is how I'm currently stretching my dollar. I hate the taste of organ meats, but I always feel AMAZING about an hour after consumption. AND, I'm saving money. Excellent.

Making coconut milk from shredded coconut results in coconut flour as a byproduct, and is cheaper than buying either pre-prepared. It takes about 10 minutes worth of effort per batch (with batch size depending on your usage rate and available equipment. I'm currently doing about a quart at a time.)

I live out in the country too, and I want to encourage you to meet some farmers! We have started buying beef soup bones or ham bones really cheap. They make great broths, which make great soups. Also, friends of ours go in and split sides of beef with each other, which seems to bring the cost down a lot. Some farmers will give you a good price for buying things in bulk, like potatoes, onions, winter squash, etc. Right now we are getting all the fresh, raw goat's milk we can use, for free! If I had the time, I'd be making yogurt and cheese...

Another thing we do is raise a few chickens for eggs. It isn't very expensive to buy good feed (we actually splurge and buy organic feed), and the eggs you get are amazing. You have to really whack the eggs to break the shell, and the yolks are a bright orangey color....lots of vitamins! You can supplement your chicken's food with scraps from the kitchen, and your kids will have fun watching them and collecting the eggs. Laying hens can sometimes be found through your local feed store, or you can start with babies in the spring. Friends of ours buy a bunch of meat chickens in the spring and slaughter them for amazing organic freezer birds all year long.

Good luck~ You sound like an amazing mom!

I just wanted to chime in and say to not forget the standard grocery savings protocols-- Use the internet to search for coupons for every product you buy, "Real Food" Coupons are harder to come by but they DO exist, I right now have coupons for earthbound organics spinach, driscolls berries, coconut milk, and $2 off pork. www.recyclebank.com is a great site to join and do green things in order to earn points that can be redeemed for coupons for healthy food. Also, make sure you compare prices in store ads that before going out. Most walmarts will pricematch other people. I find all the produce sales within a 2 hour radius of me and then pricematch at walmart. That would allow you to use your foodstamps as well. Good Luck!