Less Gluten Journey w/ Meal Plan

Living a Less Gluten lifestyle can be very costly, just like eating organic or doing any other kind of elimination diet. Add to that wanting to lose weight, things can get out of control with the FOOD BUDGET!! Because I like knowing what is in my food, and saving money, I was already making a lot of foods from scratch, even before we were consuming less gluten. In some areas we did find however, that it was just worth it to purchase the premade item. For example, flour tortillas; we made those from scratch, and even though it was easy, it was a little tedious in the process, and so we decided to just buy them.

Now that we are a Less Gluten family, there are some things that we have found are just plain out expensive to buy!! Coincidentally, GF tortillas may actually be worth making now. Other things we are considering are crackers, GF all purpose flour mixes, muffin mixes, bisquick mixes, and more. I can’t justify spending $5 for a small box of crackers, which we use almost every day for lunch as our sandwich alternative, or $5 for a tiny box of bisquick mix.

I will say that I am very fortunate to live 20 minutes away from Bob’s Red Mill, and their bulk section for GF mixes and baking goods is phenomenal. I relish getting great prices on GF oats, cream of rice, Xanthan gum, Sorghum, and so much more. I will try to share things that we are making regularly, and if it helps even one person, I will be satisfied. Here’s a list of recipes that we made this week, which I have been enlisting the help of my kids on:

Gluten Free All Purpose Flour: http://glutenfreegirl.com/2012/07/how-to-make-a-gluten-free-all-purpose-flour-mix/

GF Bisquick Mix: http://glutenfreerecipebox.com/gluten-free-bisquick-recipe/

GF Crackers, we used a seasoning salt like salad elegance, but I think next time I will just make up my own, because I wasn’t too excited about the ingredients in it: http://theprettybee.com/2013/10/easy-gluten-free-cracker-recipe.html

Lastly, I have a favorite website that I used previously for helping me meal plan, and she keeps her meals pretty healthy and they eat a good variety, which is very important to me. I was kind of bummed to have to stop using her website for meals, and then it me, “Why don’t I use her meal ideas, and just make them GF!!” Duh, right? So, here is the link to this week’s meal plan, and then I will put the links to the GF alternatives we’re doing (We don’t necessarily do the meals on their corresponding days, but I will put them on here that way to keep it simple): Grocerybudget101.com: http://www.grocerybudget101.com/content.php/777-2014-50-Budget-Menu-Plan-Week-14

Breakfasts: We’ll do GF cereal, cream of rice, buckwheat oatmeal;I didn’t do fruit Kabobs, but I did cut up the fruits and put them in containers for lunches and breakfasts this week. Instead of muffins, I’m making cupcakes :-/ I just want some pre-portioned sweets ☺: http://theprettybee.com/2013/10/easiest-gluten-free-vegan-chocolate-cake.html

Monday: Stays the same
Tuesday: For dinner I am doing this recipe with GF noodles: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Greek-Chicken-Pasta/Detail.aspx?evt19=1
Wednesday: For lunch, we’ll do the egg salad on the homemade GF crackers
Thursday: For BLT’s we’ll probably do this as a lettuce wrap
For dinner, I am doing a pulled pork roast, so this meat will probably get used in the tacos with cut up napa cabbage, lime, and cilantro
Friday: Stays the same
Saturday: For lunch, I found this recipe, and I think we will just make the dip and have chips, red bell pepper, and celery to eat this with: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/artichoke-spinach-dip-with-roasted-red-bell-peppers-recipe.html For Dinner, I am making the given recipe with GF noodles
Sunday: For dinner, I will use my cooked pork for the given recipe.

Snacks: We usually have popcorn, fruit, and veggies on hand. I am going to start experimenting with the GF oats using the given recipe for granola bars, and can’t wait to have some great options there.

Well, I hope this is helpful for someone. Please leave me a comment or ask any questions. I love getting feedback. Thanks for stopping by!!

A Couple of Gluten Free Recipes!!

Dinner Spinner Pro

I am so excited about my newest App on my iPhone that I have to write a review on it. Mine and Alex’s biggest problem in our budget is our food budget. In fact, when asked “how do you buy your food, on a budget?” in class, we had to admit that we are the worst at this. We have really gotten into a rut cooking the same thing over and over again, therefore we haven’t been cooking at home as much. We love cooking, but have had a lack of inspiration, which unfortunately means we’ve been eating out a lot more than I’d like to admit.

Needing a solution, I began looking through Apps on my iPhone to make the process more fun and easy. I found a good one for putting my list on it, and then one with a dinner spinner, but I really needed them combined. I also had signed up for a few daily e-mails from allrecipes.com and tasteofhome.com, and wished I could combine one of those with an App, because I love the recipes I’ve been getting from those. So I kept up my search, and finally found that allrecipes.com had the Dinner Spinner Pro for a $1.99.

This App has the Dinner Spinner, which is really fun for coming up with recipes. You can pick which meal you want to make, such as dinner, salad, or dessert, then you ick a main ingredient-fish, chicken, or pork. Finally, you pick how long you want it to take, 20-40 minutes or less, or crockpot. You can even pick nothing and just spin, just watch out for those fish desserts-blah! Once you spin, it comes up with matches and you can pick your recipes. From there you can adjust the serving sizes, and then send it to your shopping lists, and DinnerSpinnerPro will adjust the list for the amount of servings you put! That’s not all though!! It also puts the recipes at the top of your list, so you remember what you are going to cook, and it sorts out your ingredients by aisles. Of course, you can also add items to your list manually. Well, there are many more features on this App. I highly recommend this tool for those of you who are looking for simplification for your budget and inspiration for your cooking!