Last week of groceries

There are only six more days left on my personal paleo cooking on a budget challenge, so most likely this weekend was my last trip to the grocery store and the farmer's market. I knew last week that I was going to go over my initial $250 budget, so I probably splurged a little bit more than I should have...hey, I'm from Texas: we go big, or we go home.

I only had to pick up a few things for dinner and some more creative options for breakfast since the gym's paleo challenge requires that I cut out dairy from my diet. THE HORROR of cutting out Greek yogurt, my go-to breakfast staple!!!!! I like sweet things at breakfast, so the eggs and bacon bit is going to get pretty old pretty fast. Anyway, here's what I shopped for:

1 lb. chicken (to go with the basil pesto I made last week)
3 cans salmon (for salmon cakes - stay tuned for recipe later this week!)
red pepper
salad mix
fresh dill
pecans
walnuts
sunflower seeds
dried coconut flakes
dried cherries
dried mango (my snacking weakness!)
frozen organic berries (cheaper than the fresh stuff and still great in smoothies)

The grand total from the Wedge came to $59. I also bought some fresh pastured eggs and beef bacon from Blue Gentian Farm at the Lyndale Farmer's Market, which set me back another $11. Ok, so that roughly brings my monthly grocery bill to $313. Quite a bit over budget, but still under my past grocery expenses. I will say that I still have some food leftover from last week, but it only lasts and tastes good so long. For next month, I'm going to continue cooking on a budget and try to re-meet what I feel is a very do-able goal, but I'll maybe halve the recipes so that I'm not stuck with too many leftovers...

So you may have noticed all the nuts and dried fruit in my grocery list...that's because without a quick yogurt breakfast, I had to make some homemade nut granola! I love this stuff either dry as a snack, but it also works well with a dollop of coconut cream on top (put your canned coconut milk in the fridge and then scoop out the cream that rises to the top), or a splash of almond milk to make it more like cereal.

Nut Granola
1/2 cup of each: raw almonds, walnuts, pecans
1/2 cup of each: raw pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
1 Tb coconut oil, melted
1 Tb vanilla
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I like it freshly grated)
~1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup small dried fruit of choice - look for stuff that doesn't have added sweeteners or oils like cherries, cranberries, blueberries, apricots

Preheat oven to 350'F. While oven is preheating, roughly chop the nuts in a food processor and mix with the seeds, coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Evenly spread out the mixture on a parchment-lined baking sheet or baking dish. Roast nuts in the oven about 2-5 minutes, rotating and stirring occasionally to toast evenly.

Remove from oven and drizzle the honey over the top. Mix the nuts around again and then pop back in the oven for another 4-5 minutes, checking frequently to make sure the nuts and seeds don't burn. Remove from oven and let cool in a bowl. Once cool, add the flaked coconut and fruits and mix. Store in a plastic container or bag.

Like I said, I eat this dry when I'm craving something slightly sweet. I also used to eat it on top of my yogurt and berry breakfast bowl to add some crunch.