Contest: The $5.99 Primal Value Meal
The Prize:
A yoga mat! Yoga is more than just exercise, it’s also a great way to relieve stress. And in the case of today’s prize, a great way to save the environment. Jade Yoga, today’s prize donor, is partnered with Trees for the Future to plant a tree for every mat they sell. Jade Yoga recently provided mats to the White House for children’s yoga on Easter Monday, and today they’re providing a professional natural rubber yoga mat in any choice of color to the contest winner.
The Contest:
Fast food value meals are such a farce. They certainly aren’t talking about nutritional value. And as for economical value, you pay $5.99 for a burger, fries, and soda that you would have paid $6.09 for if you’d bought them individually. If saving a dime on 2500 calories of sugar and trans fat is your idea of value, then you’re probably not the type of person who wants to win a yoga mat.
So, what does a Primal value meal look like? You tell me. For today’s contest I want you to create a Primal “fast food” meal in which all the ingredients can be purchased for $5.99 or less. That is, the recipe needs to be inexpensive and easy to eat on-the-go. Leave your recipe as a comment on this post.
Examples:
I’m looking for cheap recipes that satisfy this reader’s question. I offered up a few options. Now see what you can come up with!
Eligibility:
This prize is only available to residents of the 48 contiguous states. [If you don’t live in the U.S. and you win I’ll ship you a bottle of my Master Formula instead, and the mat will go to an alternate winner.]
The Contest End Time:
Midnight, tonight (August 25th)!
How the Winner Will Be Determined:
Executive decision. I’ll pick a favorite. That’s the winner.
To track all the contests visit The Primal Blueprint Health Challenge Contest Page for daily updates.
Visit The Primal Blueprint Health Challenge for challenge details.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
$5.99 for one meal. I will do you one better. $5.99 for breakfast all week.
Ingredients:
A dozen eggs ($2.00)
A bag of frozen broccoli or other veg ($1.00)
A stick of butter or 1 cup of heavy cream (.75)
Meat, your choice, chicken, ham, bacon ( A pound of bacon is $2.25)
Whip up those eggs and stir in everything else (you gotta melt that butter first if you use it). Pour into a loaf pan and bake at 350 for about an hour (keep an eye on it, sometimes it takes longer). Let it cool, cut into individual loaf portions for the week and freeze each individual one. Before you leave for work in the morning microwave your loaf for 2 minutes at 80%. Wrap it up in a paper towel and eat it while you sit in traffic. Use the money you saved for a cup of coffee and a book on CD. Your morning commute has just become a relaxing meditative wonderland.
Are you actually getting organic free-range eggs, meat and butter at those prices? Where I live (Portland, OR) you could only get factory farmed animal products so cheaply.
I’m in Lancaster County PA and we have a farmers market where a dozen cage free eggs is $2 but we are a large farming county so it makes sense. The cream is a $1.5 but it’s for a quart, and yes organic grass-fed no hormone dairy. The meat is more that I’ll grant you. Chicken out here is the cheapest and it’s $3.5 for the good stuff.
This sounds great! Going to make this Sunday for my breakfast’s next week! Thanks for the great idea.
I tried this recipe and I was blown away!!! This loaf rocks! I made it and Mark’s Primal Meatloaf, and my family is set for breakfast and lunch all week>
An actual fast food value meal: Go to subway and make any of their subs a salad! They cost 5.50 where I am from and will fill you up if you chose all the veggies on the menu in addition to a meat. Perfect for someone who doesn’t have time to make their day’s meal
Thanks for the tip, hope the Dutch Subways do that too!
My Fred Meyer store (maybe Safeway) sells whole rotisserie chickens for $5.98. Ready to eat.
Not free range, but will make a couple meals for most people. Just find a plain one, I’m sure some of the flavors are just coated in HFCS.
If you live in the country this time of year, enjoy natures happy meal!
1.) Buy a box of .22lr ammo for $1.40 and go rabbit & grouse hunting.
2.) Pick lots of berries along the way There’s a good chance you’ll find apple and hazelnut trees too.
3.) This kills two birds with one stone, as it’s also primal play or moving real slow also.
Or better yet just go literally “kill two birds with one stone” – stones are like natures ammunition, and completely free!
(har har, I couldn’t help it)
Start practicing, I’ve tried!
Done some clubbing too.
Primal Grok was a hardcore dude! It takes a mean whack usually followed by a tackle to get the job done.
My recipe is only for those that like broccoli, which I adore.
Ingredients
1. Frozen Bag of Broccoli (1.50) – Broccoli is a very well rounded food. It is very high in vitamins C, A and K, antioxidants and it is high in fiber! Eating fresh broccoli from the farmers market will be great but let’s be honest now, if you are replacing a fast food meal chances are you never made it to the farmers market. The benefit of the frozen broccoli is that it won’t go bad for a very long time so if your freezer is stocked with it you’ll always have a meal ready to go.
2. 2 Eggs (less than 50 cents) – Eggs are great source of protein and they are so cheap! If you are worried about cholesterol remember that dietary cholesterol does not directly increase your blood cholesterol.
3. Olive Oil (few cents?) – Buying nice olive oil can be pretty pricey but for this recipe you won’t be using too much of it so it is not a major cost contributor but a major health contributor.
3. A pinch of Sea Salt for flavoring.
Recipe:
)
1. Boil a pot of water. Add the eggs in. Add a little bit of olive oil and salt.
2. When the water is boiling full steam add the broccoli and set a kitchen timer for 4.5 min.
3. When the timer rings, drain the water and peel the egg.
4. Drench the whole thing with more olive oil and add some salt to taste.
5. Enjoy your cheap, lazy and healthy meal.
(I am defining fast food as grab-and-go when you’re away from a kitchen food)
Chickfila: $5.39 for a chargrilled chicken salad (there are a few variations)
Smoothie King: $5.28 for a 32oz Gladiator Smoothie (45g protein, 1.5g carbs + whatever carbs are in the two fruits you choose – I suggest berries)
Grocery Store: ~$4 for a pack of tuna (the rip open and eat kind) & a veggie or piece of fruit
Jason’s Deli: $5.99 Chicken Ceaser Salad (and for another $1 you have a few more salad choices)
That chargrilled chicken salad from Chickfila – along with the rest of their food is filled with sodium and preservatives. I would seriously think about skipping fast food – it isn’t food. What they pack and fill that food with isn’t primal.
Spicy Tuna Nori Hand Rolls
1 Sheet of Nori (50 cents)
Can of Tuna Fish ($3)
1/4 Cucumber (50 cents)
1/4 Avocado (50 cents)
1 Tbsp Mayo
splash of tabasco
1/4 tsp salt,
1/4 tsp pepper
This will yield you two pieces of hand rolls.
Cut 1 sheet of nori sushi seaweed into halves.
Mix Tuna fish, mayo, tabasco, salt, pepper.
cut up cucumber into strips
cut up avacado into slices
For the assembly:
Lay the nori flat
place tuna fish onto the first quarter of the Nori along with slices of avacado and cucumber. Then take the bottom corner and bring to middle top and start rolling into a cone.
For visual instruction on how to roll the hand roll,.. please go here:
http://www.imakesushi.com/howto/hand-roll.html
Pictures are much easier to understand…
Enjoy
Disclaimer: This is something I just thought of and never tried… so don’t know how good it’ll taste,…but in my mind it sounds pretty good.
Buy a double-double hamburger from Inn-n-Out protein style (bunless and wrapped in lettuce) with raw onions and no sauce.
Eat with some organic berries and roasted nuts on the side and a glass of water to quench your thirst.
Alternatively, lately I’ve taken to having ham and cheese roll-ups wrapped in lettuce with a little mustard slathered on it.
Turkey Roll-ups
Portable, cheap, and easy to customize! Makes 4 Roll-ups
Ingredients:
3/4 pound cooked Turkey, shredded or sliced ($3)
1 Avocado ($2)
1/2 Lemon (.25)
4 Leaves of Raw Green Cabbage (.49)
1. Mash the avocado with the lemon juice.
2. Divide the turkey into four portions and spread 1-2 inches from the leafy edge of each piece of cabbage
3. Spoon the avocado spread on or near the turkey
4. Wrap the leafy edge of cabbage around the turkey and avocado and roll up the leaf, firmly but not too tightly.
5. To maintain the roll-up, fold over the 2 ends of the cabbage and wrap in aluminum foil.
Here’s what I recently took with me for a breakfast & lunch at a conference. The jerky and nuts can both be dried in the oven.
Breakfast:
6 – 7 pieces of homemade jerky made from flank steak
1/4 cup crispy nuts (made according to Nourishing Traditions)
1 apple
Cost: $3 for the amount of flank steak I actually ate; $1 for nuts; $1 for farmstand apple: $5 total
Lunch:
3/4 cup curried chicken salad with grape halves & cilantro on apple slices
I ate the salad on the apple slices (mostly because I forgot a fork!). Use left over roast chicken or chicken legs & make your own curried mayo. Legs are definitely cheaper. I estimate this lunch at about $4
I like just about everything wrapped up in a huge leaf of romaine lettuce.
I like to pre-cook a bunch of meatballs (ground chicken, beef, or whatever kind of meat you like). All you need is meat and whatever kind of seasoning you like. I also like to add some minced veggies like sweet bell peppers, cilantro, garlic, onion, etc. to the mix…even fruit on occasion (ground pork and minced granny smith apple is nice).
Just throw a bunch of meatballs inside the lettuce and you’ve got a satisfying meal that doesn’t even get your hands messy. I like them cold or heated up; doesn’t matter. I find that I tend to eat about half a head of romaine in one sitting at such a meal.
Some Ive enjoyed in the past.
An apple (the original fast food) with almond butter
Celery with almond butter and raisins
Hard boiled eggs and beef or venison jerky (Can’t get bacon without Nitrates where i live)
Local Chinese restaurant has a sushi bar with $4.99 Sushi plate (I like the eel) with green tea $0.99 $5.98 whew.. I dont think Grok had to tip a waitress…if so it may have been with animal skins or arrow points :>)
Venison or calf’s liver sauteed in olive oil and butter with onions.
And the most Grok like…take a lunch time or saturday afternoon stroll through the woods foraging on wild raspberries, blueberries, mushrooms (KNOW your mushrooms), wild grapes, hickorynut, hazelnuts, watercress, dandelion greens what ever is in season. Catch some crayfish and boil or roast. (I draw the line on grubs but if you are adventurous….enjoy) Chew on a sassafrass stick, and drink of fresh spring water. Sprint home.
Can of sardines in tomato sauce (make sure it’s just tomato paste, water, and seasonings w/o soybean oil) – should run you about $3 give or take.
snack size bag of carrots – about $1
reasonable piece of fresh fruit – about $1
All told you’re under $6 for this meal and full when you’re finished. Just don’t cut your hand on the sardine can.
Here are various options:
- can of sardines; fresh veggie sticks (zuke,cuke,celery,jicama, etc)
- thin sliced roast beef (you can buy at grocery store deli counter or make your own ahead of time) rolled around avocado sections and optional cuke sticks
- hardboiled eggs, fresh veggies and/or fruit in a baggie or tupperware
- leftover cold chicken drumsticks
- canned salmon mixed w/avocado
Bon Appetit!
Healthy Pancakes
equal parts of (ie. 1 cup/1 cup/1 cup – I use 1/2 cup of each)
uncooked oatmeal (a few cents)
eggs (2 eggs = 1/2 cup) $1.00 max
non fat cottage cheese $1.00 max
blend to a paste.
fry like regular pancakes in a non-stick pan
top with a dollop of allfruit spread or jam ($0.25)
jazz it up by adding in 1/2 banana chunks (.25 max) & some raw walnut bits before frying (1.00 max)
well under 5.99 and well under 500 calories (assuming you’re doing the 1/2 cup measurements), tasty and filling!
cheers
GWNN
My $5.99 fairly fast food lunch:
Red curry shrimp and veg:
$1.50 – bag of mixed vegetables
$.89 – coconut milk
$.50 – 2 tbsp of a pouch of red curry
$2.00 – handful of shrimp from a frozen pack
Heat the coconut milk on the stove for a few minutes, then add in the red curry and stir. Toss in the vegetables and cook on high 4 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook 2 more. DONE! All in under 10 mins.
My favorite work snack to eat at my desk:
1 C Fage 2% Greek Yogurt ($4 for 2 cups at Trader Joe’s)
A piece of seasonal organic fruit (right now peaches are in season, 1 peach is about $1)
a sprinkling of pecan pieces (organic pecans are expensive, about $1 an ounce)
Adds up to about $4 per service
My “no time to pack my lunch” lunch:
3 hard boiled eggs ~ $1.80
2 stalks celery with Almond butter ~ $0.50
Not as good as some delicious rib-eye steak leftovers, but it’ll do in a pinch!
Primal Lunch in a Box
Mix in a 1-quart container:
5 cups raw baby spinach / mixed greens ($1)
1 cup chopped raw veggies of choice ($.50)
1/2 avocado ($.50)
2 hardboiled eggs ($.50)
1 can wild salmon ($1.50)
Add a little container of homemade dressing ($.50)
Remember a fork.
Voila! Quick, easy, filling and healthful lunch for $4.50. (Actually, this is my standard take-it-to-the-office breakfast.)
Here’s my idea for a completely primal fast food lunch. And by “completely primal” I mean made of organic, free range, grass fed meat & veggies.
[b]Kohlrabi Sandwich[/b]
[i]1/3 lb. organic free range meat sliced thin
2 kohlrabis[/i]
Slice the meat very thin.
Slice the kohlrabis into quarter-inch rounds.
Make sandwiches.
[b]Cost[/b]
Free range organic meat @ $11/lb: $3.30
Kohlrabi @ $1 each: $2.00
[i]Total: [/i] $5.50
Well, shoot, I see that the BBCode doesn’t work here, and I can’t edit my comment. Sorry!
Also, here’s a link to a picture of a Kohlrabi Sandwich: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtrasue/3856111941
Make a stew of your favorite inexpensive, fatty white fish (sustainable/wild/low contaminants) with coconut milk, lime juice, coconut oil, tomato, cilantro, and cauliflower. The price varies depending on how expensive the fish you use is, but the fish is usually about $5-$10/pound. I made a version here: http://www.gofrolic.org/gofrolic/food_blog/Entries/2008/4/9_simply_delicious%3A_stew_of_halibut%2C_coconut_and_tomato.html with more expensive halibut. The recipe used 3/4 lb of fish to feed two people. With the minimally-priced vegetables and buying coconut milk at an Asian market where it’s cheaper, you could easily do it for under six dollars.
OH! I gotta add to my pancake recipe: try blending in some natural peanut butter (not too much it gets stuck in the blades, like about a tablespoon) to make your pancakes taste just like peanut butter cookies!! LOL. mm mm!!!!
(so what’s that? add another dollar max? still under $5.99!! haha)
Not really a recipe, but a nice little meal:
1 can of tuna (1.50$)
1 bag of baby spinach(1.99$)
1 bag of baby carrots (1.00$)
1 half pint of milk (1.00$)
1 bag of sunflower seeds (0.50$)
Very similar to what I had today!
My grab and go’s:
-1 Avocado (1.00)
-Raw almonds (can be conveniently storebought or from home) ($1.00)
head over to grocery store and grab
-chicken/egg salad ($3.99)
or, if low-carbin it,
-preroasted chicken (3.99)
Doable in one trip to the grocery
Spinach “crepes”
Mix to combine for a thin omelette/crepe:
Two organic eggs – about $.45
Pureed spinach (I keep some in the freezer in cubes) – $.30 or so?
Dash of cream (optional. $.15?)
Salt and pepper to taste
Spices if desired (oregano and/or cumin would be good for a few extra cents.)
Pour the egg mixture into a greased pan (can thin it out with a bit of water or cream if needed), in batches, to make a thin omelette/crepe. Can be rolled up and eaten just like this for maximum portability. Or, if you’re at home, before you roll it up you can add some sausage or spinach leaves or tomatoes inside and serve it on a plate as a filled “crepe” or burrito. It’s also great with salsa and sour cream, if you do dairy. And, sometimes I add parmesean to the crepe mix for some extra flavor.
Makes several crepes (depends how thin and how big your pan is) for about $1. With additions, you can still keep it way, way under $5.99!!
I’ve got two — one for a fast food chain (Chipotle) and one you can bring from home or buy in the grocery store. both are easy and quick and $5.99 or less.
For the fast food one I must give credit to my sister’s boyfriend, as he is the one that introduced me to this cost saving, primal way of eating at Chipotle:
Order a side of barbacoa and chicken (double meat), and a
side of guacamole. Three sides in a bowl, nothing else — no rice, no
salsa, no lettuce, etc. If it has any of those other things, they
have to charge you for a full burrito bowl, extra meat, and guacamole,
which is ~$11. The double meat and guacamole bowl is ~$6 plus tax.
Not bad for 12 oz of food.
For the second, meal on the go, buy a can of tuna and a ripe avocado. if cherry tomatoes are in season, buy some of those too. mix together in a tupperware container with sea salt and voila! omega 3′s, healthy fat and energy to keep you going throughout the day!
Good one on the chipotle! A budget saving way to eat while traveling.
Fruit and Yogurt
Fresh fruit sliced or half a bag of frozen berries
Serving of Plain Whole Milk Yogurt
Handful of nuts
Small handful of raisins
And perhaps a sprinking of coconut.
Personally I like to drain a can of tuna (<$1), flake it, and mix in a tsp of mustard, (again <$1), I also add raisins for a little more texture and either eat it out of a bowl or put it in a lettuce leaf. I add almonds on the side to make sure I stay full for a while. All of this with a glass of water or tea is less than $5.99 and tastes great. Thanks for all the other ideas as well!
Steak, Eggs, Toast w/Fruit – Primal Style
Boil 3 free range organic eggs – $1
2oz Grassfed Beef Jerky – $2.50
1-2 slices almond bread – $1.50
Handful of grapes or other fruit- $.50
Total: $5.50
This is a wonderful meal on the go and transports well. Easy to eat on the run and can be made in advance as well as stored for days (or longer). You can even buy pre-boiled eggs. No utensils needed!
Eggs assume cost of $4 per dozen, beef jerky is $10 for 8oz at US Wellness Meats, Almond Bread (you can make yourself – recipe below) and grapes or other fruit are readily available.
Gluten Free Simple Bread
2½ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or honey)
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Enjoy!
MC’s $5.99 Lunch-To Go
I believe in preparing foods that I will use for a week’s lunch ahead of time. I love the idea of a Danish open style sandwich or a closed sandwich made with a vegetable sandwich crust. I make a large crust and store it in the fridge. It’s most convenient to cut the crust into sandwich-size pieces while still warm and then cool completely at room temp on a rack. I prepare sandwich toppings and keep them in closed containers in the fridge eg, washed and spun lettuce, left-over cooked proteins (meat, fish fowl, shrimp), home-made mayo and/or pesto, chopped onions, cucumber, and radishes, sliced hard-boiled eggs, shredded carrot, fresh herbs, … the choices are endless. I keep the tomatoes whole, slicing or chopping on the day, or just taking whole cherry or grape tomatoes. At this time of the year I have zucchini, Swiss chard, cherry tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers from my garden and I can visit local farmer’s markets for additional choices. With careful planning and shopping, my lunch is amazingly cheap and quick to put together.
I get free-range eggs ($3.00/dozen; $1/weeks sandwich crusts) from my local rustic-bread baker. I haven’t found a suitable raw cheese, so I settled on a Wisconsin Asiago (it’s cheaper than Parmesan, less salty and gives a perfect consistency). My cheese costs about $5/lb if I buy it bulk. The left-over precooked proteins need to be eaten and their cost is miniscule. Altogether, the initial cost of ingredients for my open or double-crust sandwich is spread over a week and cost me less than $6/day, even if I have to purchase all the vegetables (preferably from a farmer’s market or CSA).
For this recipe, I used Swiss Chard but I’ve used other veggies (see below)
Veggie Sandwich Crust for Open or Closed Sandwiches
Ingredients
About 14 large leaves of Swiss chard, remove from stems, wash well, and spin in salad spinner
1 oz butter
3 eggs beaten together with
1 egg yolk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon veggie oil
2 cup [about 7 oz] Asiago cheese, shredded
4 tablespoons [about 0.8 oz] unsweetened protein whey powder
Seasoning (I grind equal amounts of black peppercorns, coriander and cumin seeds and use about 1 heaped teaspoon; the cheese adds salt so I adjust for salt on my sandwich toppings)
1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 410oF. Put 2 pizza stones or 2 caste iron pans. I use one of each for this recipe (or just the stone for ½ the recipe). A rectangular cookie-tray can be preheated for 5 – 10 minutes to give a squarer sandwich-like product, but it’s not quite as crisp.
2. Sweat Swiss chard with 1 oz butter and 2 tablespoon of water on medium -low heat for 5-10 minutes. Should be quite soft. Mine was quite dry. Finely chop in food processer. My leaves are large and my final yield was about 7 oz cooked chard.
3. Stir eggs mix, garlic, cheese, and chard, then protein whey powder with seasoning. The addition of baking powder fluffs the crust slightly.
4. Spread the ‘batter’ in oiled pre-heated pan, or on oiled parchment paper and transfer to pizza stone. Bake until a great golden-brown color (about 15 minutes).
5. Cool completely (or cut when still warm with kitchen shears or pizza cutter and cool). Keep in closed box in fridge, Use for sandwiches, single/open in Danish style or double closed style.
6. Use tomatoes, crunchy romaine lettuce, grated or shredded carrot, finely sliced or julienned cucumber, cooked chicken, beef, salmon from a previous meal, tuna salad, chopped parsley, basil, or other fresh herbs, sugar-free salsa (or homemade salsa), pesto (I like homemade spinach or basil pesto), a sprinkling of lemon juice and olive oil or home-made mayo …. the choices are endless.
Variations on MC’s $5.99 Lunch-To-Go
Alternative use for the Veggie Sandwich Crust
7. Use the crust as a basis for a cold open pizza sandwich by topping while still warm with for example, shrimp (preferably raw, thawed, shelled and sliced), diced bacon, pre-cooked chicken or other meat, chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, drizzle of heavy cream, a sprinkling of fresh mozzarella or other cheese, chopped basil or other herbs (best added under other ingredients) etc.; heat at 410oF for 5 – 10 minutes, being careful not to burn uncovered edges. Again the choices are endless and it keeps well in a cool lunch box giving a truly delicious open sandwich (room temp is great or if you like it warm, use the lunch-room microwave for a very quick heat-boost).
Some Veggie Crust Variations
Vary the vegetable in the sandwich crust. For example, I used zucchini
8. Shred 2 medium sized zucchini (~14 oz) with the food processor attachment (can use a box grater). Remove excess water from zucchini by salting and draining in a colander for about 30 min. Since this makes the zucchini too salty, I actually slosh it around in more water. OK this extra step makes for a better tasting product but is a backward step. (the alternative is to go light with the salt). Squeeze each handful of veggie as much as possible, and put into a clean kitchen towel. Wring the towel well to get dry it further. Substitute the zucchini for the Swiss chard in the above recipe to make an even crisper veggie sandwich crust.
9. I’m thinking about trying other veggies like wilted spinach, shredded broccoli or cauliflower heated for about 4 minutes in microwave (take lid off immediately), raw, shredded carrot (makes a sweeter bread), or a mix of any of these veggies. Adjust the amount to produce a spreadable, not too wet ‘batter’.