How a California Family of 4 Spends $354 a Week on Groceries (Mostly) Eating the Carnivore Diet

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Name: Courtney 
Location: Orange County, California
Number of people in household: 4; spouse and two children, ages 6 (son) and 4 (daughter)
Age: 40
Occupation: Stay-at-home mom, carnivore content creator and cookbook author; spouse is in finance 
Where you shopped: Costco, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Good Ranchers
Weekly food budget: $500, which includes our grocery spending and ordering takeout
Amount spent: $353.91 (groceries); $62.35 (takeout)

Where did you shop?

We typically shop for meat at various independent farms, like Good Ranchers, and store it in our freezer, but we also get a lot of meat at Costco. I usually try to pick up our fruit from weekend farmers market stands, but that didn’t work out for us this week. Instead I ordered our produce and dairy from Sprouts.

What’s your grocery strategy?

We eat a mostly meat-based diet. My husband and I follow the carnivore diet, which means we consume a lot of meat and dairy. Our kids eat what we eat, with the inclusion of fruit and occasional other things. Because our diet consists primarily of meat and animal products, I like to get a variety of meats and seafoods to keep it interesting. While this way of eating can be done very cheaply with ground beef and eggs from competitively priced retailers, I do spend a little more to get different cuts of steaks and fish.

How do you meal plan?

To be honest, we keep our plans loose. I always have quite a few cuts of meat in the fridge, and we’ll pull from the freezer each week to make sure we have things defrosted; other than that, we tend to eat on a whim. We don’t cook with very many ingredients, so we focus on having meat ready and making sure our home is stocked with our dairy products and fruit.

We usually order wings each week and go to In-N-Out for burgers.

What did you buy?

Costco

• Italian dry salami, $17.40

• Fully-cooked bacon, $17.40

• USDA-Choice beef ribeyes, $87.51

Total: $197.72 (includes tax and delivery)

Sprouts

• Organic chicken sausage, $12.99 (on sale)

• 2 (6-ounce) containers of blackberries, $3.00 (on sale)

• 2 (5.6-ounce) containers of raspberries, $3.99 (on sale)

• Organic strawberry popsicles, $5.99

• 3.47 pounds organic bananas, $2.19

• Herb-seasoned roasted chicken, $9.99

• 2 pounds organic apples, $4.99

• Organic American cheese, $7.49

Total: $111.19 (includes tax and delivery)

Good Ranchers

• 3 pounds ground beef, $45

Total: $45

Takeout

• Buffalo Wild Wings, $43.16

Total: $62.35

Grand Total: $416.26

Sunday: Brunch with Friends and Family, Rotisserie Chicken with Broth, Meat Chips, and Chili

We have company staying over for my cookbook signing. I cooked everyone dinner last night, so I decide going out for brunch in the harbor the following morning would be a nice treat. I have corned beef, bacon, sausage, part of a burger patty, and an incredibly creamy coffee. The rest of the hooligans have scrambles, omelets, and gasp — avocado toast. Totally cheating by counting this special meal as part of my entertainment budget (which I don’t have), instead of grocery money.

Lately, I’ve been trying to stick to two meals a day for some intermittent fasting. Typically, it’s brunch and then an early dinner, though sometimes I end up eating three meals. Today, I stick to two. Before dinner, I place an Instacart order from Sprouts to grab most of our dairy products, a rotisserie chicken, and fruit for the kids.

Dinner for me is some chicken with broth, plus a big bag of meat chips I picked up a few weeks ago. The fam has chicken as well, but then my husband went rogue and ran to the grocery store to get ingredients for his World Famous Chili. He and our son have that while they watch football. He paid for the ingredients out of his own pocket. It doesn’t count toward my grocery budget. Girl math, right?

Monday: Frozen Fruit, Carnivore Bar, Ground Beef in Broth, Yogurt, Salami, More Fruit, Rice Cake, Broth, and Pesto Butter Salmon

Me and the kids wake up feeling under the weather, so our meals today are a bit all over the place. My husband doesn’t want my germs near his food, so he goes to work empty-handed. (I’m sure he’ll pick up some burger patties later.)

Unfortunately, that means I have to place another Instacart grocery delivery order and WOW, the prices for Costco are higher than I expect! My $63 ribeyes end up costing $80. (The in-store and online prices at Sprouts are the same.) From now on, I’ll only be hitting Costco in person.

My little girl snacks on some frozen fruit for breakfast; my son isn’t feeling great, so he doesn’t have anything. As for me, I have a Carnivore Bar (the last thing I have energy for this morning was putting together a meal). It holds me over until lunch.

For lunch, my husband and I have ground beef in broth. Thrilling, right? It was super nutritious and tasty. I also have a little bit of yogurt. One kid has some salami and a fruit snack, and the other has a rice cake with broth.

For dinner, we have my favorite pesto butter salmon from Costco. I air-fry it, and the top gets all crispy and delicious. The carnivore police might arrest me for that little dash of pesto and sprig of dill, but if you’re reading this, then that means I posted bail. So, it’s all good!

Tuesday: Yogurt, Jam, Bacon, Eggs, Charcuterie Plate, Burger Patties, Carnivore Bar, and Apple Slices

I’m still not feeling great, so my husband takes charge of breakfast while I rest. The kids have their usual yogurt and jam, and he has bacon and eggs before heading out on a three-day work trip (where he will take care of his own meals). I always get a little sad when he leaves, but my grocery budget is probably relieved!

For the kids’ snack, I put together a little charcuterie plate with strawberries. I have a few bites while assembling it, but my appetite is pretty low today. For lunch, my sweet mom brings over In-N-Out patties and takes care of the kids while I nap.

Dinner is more patties, and my older kid has a Carnivore Bar and some apple slices. I guess a log of meals while sick isn’t all that exciting, but at least we’re still eating. Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll be back to feeling 100%!

Wednesday: Yogurt, Jam, Ribeyes, Milk, Berries, Leftover Burger Patties, Ice Cream, Bacon Cheeseburger Soup, and Carnivore Bar

We’re finally on the mend — hurray, hurrah! The kids have their usual yogurt and jam for breakfast. I’m still fasting, though.

For lunch, I cook up some ribeyes, nature’s multivitamin. The kids also have some milk and berries to go with it.

For the kid’s afternoon snack, they have leftover In-N-Out patties and some vanilla ice cream my husband picked up during his chili ingredient run.

I turn the leftover beef and broth I had the other day into my Bacon Cheeseburger Soup. We all enjoyed that for dinner, and I also have a carnivore bar. My appetite is back!

Thursday: Bacon, Cheese, Strawberries, Milk, Leftover Burger Patties, and Ribeyes

For breakfast, the kiddos have bacon, cheese, and strawberries. I join them with some bacon and cheese, along with a big glass of milk that really hit the spot.

For lunch, the kids enjoy leftover In-N-Out patties.

Later in the day, my hubby cooks up some delicious ribeyes for the whole family — a simple and delicious dinner.

Friday: Leftover Ribeyes, Eggs, Breakfast Shakes, Milk, Wings, Burger Patties, Cheese, Fruit, and Carnizzas

For breakfast, my husband takes leftover ribeyes and eggs to work with him. I make the kids a shake with frozen fruit, fresh tangerines from a friend’s tree, milk, heavy cream, yogurt, strawberry beef protein, and a capsule of desiccated beef organs (which I open and pour in). I must be dehydrated because all that sounds good is a glass of milk, so I have that and then chug some electrolyte water.

For lunch the kids want wings so I order Buffalo Wild Wings (which fries its wings in beef tallow). We get the traditional wings, flats only, no sauce and, once they arrive, throw them in the air fryer to crisp them up a bit and sprinkle them with salt. Don’t sleep on these.

Snack for the kiddos is burger patties with cheese and some fruit.

For dinner I cooked up a couple of my Carnizzas, which are animal-based pizzas where the crust is made with mozzarella, cream cheese, egg, and pork panko. Probably one of my favorite recipes from my book!

Saturday: Sourdough with Butter, Yogurt, Jam Steak, Eggs, Post-Game Snacks, Beef Bowl, Cheeseburger Patties, Milk, Leftover Wings, More Yogurt and Jam, and Banana

Normally, our week consists of trips to the gym, homeschool co-op, sports practices, playdates, and park outings. As you now know,  we’ve all been sick, so today marks the first time we’ve left the house! What a week it’s been.

A sweet surprise arrived last night when my lovely friend, who runs a little micro bakery, Dough and Dirt, dropped off a loaf of sourdough on our doorstep. This morning, the kids enjoy a slice with butter, yogurt, jam, and some steak, while Jeff has steak and eggs. As for me, my appetite isn’t fully back yet, so I fast until the afternoon.

After breakfast, we head out to the kids’ soccer games. Postgame snacks for them include a banana, granola bar, and Siete chips. Jeff, on the other hand, makes himself a bowl of ground beef, sour cream, shredded cheese, and salsa.

The kids both nap in the afternoon, which they must have needed after this first active day all week. Plus their bodies are still healing from our bug.

For dinner I end up ordering my husband and I some cheeseburger patties from our local burger joint and got wild with adding some grilled onions on it. Yes, we still have food at home but, the texture and flavor of these burgers are so yummy, I just had to have them. I also drink a glass of milk with that.

My older kid isn’t interested in the burgers and instead has leftover wings and some yogurt and jam. My little one naps for four hours; she wakes up and has a banana and goes back to bed!

At The Kitchn we believe setting a food budget for you and your family is an essential part in getting your financial life in order. Don’t know where to start? We have a guide for that. Want to share your Grocery Diary with The Kitchn? See how here.

Further Reading

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