Monday, July 23, 2012

But I Can't Afford to Eat Healthy

Everyone in the paleo community can attest to this, they have heard someone come up with an excuse that they can't eat a healthy diet because they cannot afford to. It's one of the oldest excuses for eating the way they do, and it's not true. Now the Paleo diet does focus on better sources of meats and produce, but if you cannot afford to buy those things, it shouldn't deter you from eating better choices or even a fully paleofied diet.

What I am going to do for the next few blog post is post what I am eating and the average cost per person per meal, then compare that to the price of other things like fast food and other restaurants.

Tonight I made a fancy looking dinner for hardly any of the cost. I am just sad that no one took a picture of it lol. It was a dinner for my Mom before she went back to Lubbock. Here is how it breaks down.

2 packages of Thin sliced chicken breast $7 (approx)
1/3 of a can of parmesan cheese $1.30 (approx)
1 Spaghetti Squash $3.54
1 small bottle of pine nut less pesto $1.99
2 organic tomatoes $1.50
1/2 onion $.80
1 TBL of garlic powder $.08
1 TBL of onion powder $.08
Salt & pepper

Total:  $16.25
Servings: 5 
Cost per serving: $3.25

I made a paleo version of chicken parmesan with spaghetti squash tossed with the pesto and more parmesan cheese. This fed my mother, wife, my daughter and I, and left 1 serving to be eaten for breakfast or lunch (or a snack lol). This was a very nutrient dense versin of chicken parmesan and could've even been better had I added some sauteed squash and zuchinni which would've added .40 per serving.

Lets look at some other means of food.

Mcdonald's Big mac value meal: $4.37
Burger King Whopper Meal: $4.32


Now this is just two examples, but you could buy some less nutrient dense food for more price. You could even have saved more money by making a butter sauce for the spaghetti squash or a simple marinara sauce with a can or organic tomato sauce.

Tomorrow I will be cooking some paleo chocolate chili!

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