A couple of quick and easy dinners

One thing that I've learned since we started eating Paleo almost a year and a half ago is that it's really easy to go over budget each month in the grocery department. Since we are at the store every couple of days buying fresh stuff (most often bananas for the little guy), it's easy to see some great stuff and get inspired to make something. However, we always have meat in the freezer (namely beef because we buy 1/4 cow or more each year), so we can easily cook that up with some veggies and call it good. No need to get fancy.

So, as the month came to an end last week, we challenged ourselves to "make it work" as Tim Gunn would say. (Please don't judge me by my Project Runway reference...) In addition to beef, we had chicken, bacon, and a ton of eggs, so we were set as far as protein goes. After we set aside money for bananas, we had a little less than $10 left for veggies for the week. Granted, we also still had some random veggies in the fridge too (beets, snap peas, chard, a couple of small zucchini and a few peppers). We ate a lot of "breakfast for dinner" in addition to breakfast for breakfast. But, we like eggs, so it really wasn't all that bad.

Okay, all that to say, it is possible to eat Paleo and not break the budget. It also means that not all of your meals have to be gourmet. Basic works. As long as you have meat, veggies and some good fat, you're set. An added bonus is that these basic meals take a lot less time to put together and aside from defrosting the meat, they require no planning ahead.


This was just a basic steak and sweet potato fries dinner. I marinated the steaks the night before in a little fresh grated ginger that we had laying around, along with a some coconut aminos. For the fries, I followed Nom Nom Paleo's basic recipe.

For this meal, we sauteed some snap peas in coconut oil and grilled up some chicken thighs with a Tuscan Spice Rub that my sister made for Brandon as a gift -- great gift idea, huh? Super good rub too. I would recommend making a big batch of the spice rub to have on hand. It's great for quick dinners.

Tuscan Spice Rub (slightly adapted from Eating Well)

1 Tbsp fennel seeds
6 Tbsp dried basil
3 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp sea salt
2 Tbsp dried rosemary
2 Tbsp dried oregano

And this meal consisted of grilling up some meatball kebabs. The meatballs were a mixture of Italian sausage and ground beef and we just stuck them on some skewers with peppers and onions. I can't remember now what we paired it with, but it's pretty safe to say that we just roasted some broccoli. Pretty simple stuff!