Poor Man's Prime Rib, PaleoPlus-Style!

Eating a healthy diet can seem daunting...what do I buy, how do I read labels, where is the best place to shop and why is organic so much more expensive than "regular"?

That's just a fact of almost anything...higher quality and craftsmanship costs more than crap.  My brain totally understood that, but my wallet went through some sticker shock in the beginning!

The good news is - once you start shopping and eating PaleoPlus, you get the hang of it.  Stores that specialize in fresh, wholesome ingredients have sales, just like a regular grocery store.  More and more grocery chains are offering a "store brand" in organic ingredients.  (I am currently comparing a few brands of organic honey and canned veg - more later!)  You will learn what items to buy at what shop.  Seasonal items are usually more affordable - you just need to roll with it and eat those foods - it's how it was intended anyway!

The other piece of good news I want to share from my family's PaleoPlus journey is - if we couldn't afford organic or grass fed or wild caught - we bought "regular".  My commitment was to eliminate all refined sugars and artificial sweeteners from our diet and to cut out things that are full of preservatives and have gone through twenty processes to be "natural" or "lite" or "healthy".

Protein is a big part of PaleoPlus eating.  And it can be pricey!  So, in an effort to have a variety of delicious meals for my big-eating family, I have adopted a new way of shopping.

I drop my kids off for school and I hit the local market.  I grab a cart and head straight for the meat department.  I have found Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays to be the best days to find proteins on sale.  At my local grocery, they mark down meat and poultry that is set to expire in 48 hours, first thing in the morning.  They use a big yellow sticker, so it's really easy for me to spot. 

And that's what we have for dinner!  Period!

I head home and search Pinterest or my cookbooks or favorite blogs for a recipe.  I like to try new flavors and I keep a well-stocked pantry AND I'm not afraid to improvise in the kitchen, so this works well for my family.

Sometimes, the process is reversed.  I see a recipe that calls for a more expensive cut of meat and I go to the market on a mission!  I cross fingers and toes that what I am looking for will be on sale...and then hope the staff don't see me doing my happy dance in the aisle!

A few weeks ago, I came upon a Pinterest post for "Poor Man's Prime Rib" and have been wanting to try it ever since.  And on Friday - the store had a chuck roast, just the right size, marked down.  It was time to give it a try!

It's incredibly simple, but I still wondered if it would produce the juicy, perfectly-cooked, "prime-rib-like" cut in the pictures and descriptions.  I was not disappointed!

The original recipe can be found at Flavorite.net , but here is how it worked out in my kitchen!

First, I preheated the oven to 500°.  Then I covered a sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil (because I can do without difficult clean up), placed the chuck roast in the center and seasoned with a mix of equal parts garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne.  I added a pinch of crushed red pepper flake and salt and pepper to the mix and rubbed it all over the roast.

The recipe said to turn the oven down to 475° when you put the roast in and cook for 7 minutes per pound (my daughter got to use algebra to figure out the exact time!).  Then to turn the oven off and WITHOUT OPENING THE DOOR AT ALL! let the roast sit in the hot oven for 2 1/2 hours.  WITHOUT OPENING THE DOOR AT ALL!  I can't believe how difficult it was to not peek.

I had to make a sign...I knew I couldn't be trusted!

Oh!  And, you need to plan a side dish that doesn't require any time in the oven ... because you CAN'T OPEN THE OVEN DOOR AT ALL...did I mention that?

I'll admit, I was concerned that I'd do all that work, take all that time and be left with sides ready to go and a raw or over-cooked roast.  But, at the end of all that waiting - I had a moist, perfectly-cooked roast.  Very prime-rib like, with big meat flavor.  

Poor Man's Prime Rib (with a bit of extra spice)

It wasn't quite 'cut-with-a-fork' tender, but it was pretty close.  We made stir-fried Asian green beans and a root vegetable mash to go with our Poor Man's Prime Rib.  It felt like a really elegant meal that you could easily serve to company.  No one would guess that the entire meal cost less than $14 and fed 3 people with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day! 

PaleoPlus eating does not have to break your bank account.  Smart shopping and creative cooking really keep costs down.  PLUS - just think of all the money you are saving by not eating out all the time or running through drive-thru's, or buying sodas and snack machine junk. 

As long as I am willing to cook what's on sale or seasonal or on special at the store - PaleoPlus eating is actually a little less expensive than our old way of unhealthy eating.  How about that?

What's your favorite money-saving tip?  I'd love to hear so I can steal it!!!