Time to Stock the Fridge

Slow-cooker Beef and Butternut Squash with Cauli-Mash

Those baby boomers who still work (like me), probably still do your grocery shopping on the weekend.   I do my grocery shopping for the week, along with the prep work and pre-cooking, so when I come home after a long day, it takes me about half an hour to get dinner on the table.  Unless you just use all frozen vegetables - those without sauces or sugar are just fine - you need to shop for fresh produce each week and we eat a lot of vegetables.

You may think that because it is called the "Caveman" diet, that the Paleo way of eating is mostly meat - not so.  It is mostly vegetables, with protein next, then fat, then nuts and seeds.  If you buy the vegetables that are in season and locally grown - right now pumpkins, squash, cabbage, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, beets and sweet potatoes in our part of the world - it is more budget friendly.  Here is what I bought for this week.

I already had some beets, cabbage and mushrooms left from last week along with some fresh kale so I just added another bunch because we eat a lot of kale.

So, what am I doing with all this?

• Kobucha squash - baked with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper to go with the roast free-range chicken and coleslaw for Saturday night dinner.
• Butternut squash and leeks - used to make Rubies and Radishes Slow Cooker Beef and Butternut Squash Stew.  It makes enough for three meals for two people and is scrumptious.
• Kale - to make kale chips to go with the turkey burgers.  The recipe will be on the Friday blog.
• Brussels sprouts - cleaned and prepped to add to ground beef (seasoned with Magic Mushroom Powder), served with a baked sweet potato for a quick dinner later this week.
• Cauliflower - to make Cauli-Mash as a side dish for meatloaf (with Paleo BBQ sauce) and coleslaw. 
• Broccoli - roasted with cauliflower for a side dish with baked chicken legs.
• Sweet potatoes - our local supermarket had these huge sweet potatoes on for 49 cents a pound so I stocked up.  Paleo Grandad shreds them and fries them with peppers in ghee to go under his breakfast eggs.  I will make baked sweet potato fries, bake them and boil them to use in various recipes throughout the week.
• Cabbage - for oil and vinegar coleslaw and stir fried with egg on top for breakfast.
• Bananas - for when I just have to have something sweet.
• Plantains - either for plantain pancakes again, or I'll let them ripen more and fry them in coconut oil for a starch to accompany some pork chops and cabbage later this week.

Buy all the vegetables that look good to you that week (organic if it is in the budget but, if not, don't worry - just buy lots of vegetables), buy enough protein (including eggs) to allow for protein at all three meals, buy some good fat (coconut oil, olive oil, ghee), some fresh fruit for your sweet tooth (but limit to once a day if you are trying to lose weight) and there you have it.

It is Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and my two sons and all their children are going to be with us for dinner for the first time in a long time so I am in a planning frenzy to create the most delicious Paleo Thanksgiving dinner for nine people - stay tuned.