Dinner Update, And an Apple Pie

Beefy Lentil Soup - This recipe made enough for our family of four (served with bread and butter and milk) and to send a good portion over to a sick friend's house - not sure how far it got them, though. I thought it was extra yummy.

I used ground turkey rather than beef, so maybe it's more like Poultry-y Lentil Soup. I'm guessing it cost a little over $4.00.

***

E came home from preschool last Thursday to let me know that they had made an apple pie in class. The heartbreak in her tears when I told her that she couldn't eat the pie even though the teacher had said everyone could have some... well. So, together, we made a gluten free apple pie this weekend.

Awesome Gluten Free Apple Pie With Crumble Topping

During naptime, I mixed up the crust and set it to chill in the fridge. Then I peeled, cored, and sliced the apples, mixed in the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and put them in the fridge in their own bowl. Then I mixed up the crumble topping and put THAT in the fridge in a separate bowl. When E woke up, she got to combine everything, and now she has a pie she can be proud of.

I made three tartlet-sized pies. We ate one last night and: YUM. Oh my. This was better than regular apple pie, and I'm not even kidding. I'm always skeptical when a GF recipe has "Awesome" in the title, because people that live GF kind of forget what awesome tastes like, but, in this case, "awesome" is quite accurate.

Dairy; Rice and Lentil Casserole

When I wrote about all the wonderful, naturally gluten-free foods, I can't believe I missed one entire giant category: dairy. (A lot of people that can't tolerate gluten also can't tolerate dairy, however.)

Dairy is a huge part of my kids' diets. Cheese (of all kinds from string to cottage to cream), milk, yogurt, and occasionally ice cream. Actually, neither of them really took to solids until I introduced yogurt, at about nine months. Then, well watch out. The requests for "keeze!" are relentless.

Dinner Update
Rice and Lentil Casserole (est. less than $3.00)
corn (.33)
bananas -the kids begged me to serve these, so I did (.25)
Total: $3.58

As usual, the kids devoured their fruits and veggies (okay, the "vegetableness" of corn is debatable, I know) and picked at the meal. D (1) said, "Noooooooooo beans!" and pointed at the lentils. Oh. Okay.

Budget Update
+$30 from Avon
-$10 to gas
-$10 for pop (shame)
-$10 for food

Days until pay day: 6

Groceries

My budget worked out that I had $60 to buy groceries (which includes everything that we buy, other than gas) this week.

1. I went through my cupboards to see what I had, which was:

• Spaghetti sauce
• Ingredients to make bread
• Pasta and GF pasta
• Lentils
• Brown and white rice
• Cannellini beans
• Home-canned chili sauce
• Instant mashed potatoes
• Shredded cheese
• Baked beans
• Ingredients for waffles

So, I centered my menu for this week around that:

• Spaghetti and toast
• Lentil/rice chili
• Mashed potato pups
• Mac & Cheese and baked beans
• Waffles and fruit (carryover from last week)
• Breakfast sandwiches (ditto)

I spent $59.59 at the store last night. But we still need cat litter, which will put us about $5 over budget.

The budget-busters for this shopping trip were:

• Laundry detergent $4.07
• Diapers $10.99
• Baby wipes $5.19

These are things that are cheaper at Wal-Mart. Not a lot cheaper, but maybe enough that I could have bought the cat litter.

I also didn't realize that we're out of both GF waffles and GF cereal for the kiddos, so we'll have to figure something out for breakfast.

That's about it.

Planning, Planning, Planning

Warning: This is likely very boring for you.

Dinners for the next two weeks (not to be eaten in this order):

French toast
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Pancakes
Breakfast Casserole
Homemade chicken nuggets w/honey mustard dipping sauce
Sunshine chicken
Beefy lentil soup
Tater tot casserole
Potato soup
Spaghetti
Polish sausage/potatoes
Sloppy Joes (known here as "BBQs")
Tuna noodle casserole
Hamburgers/hot dogs on the grill

I seem to go in spurts. Lately we'd been eating a lot of beans and rice, previously a lot of potatoes. Now I'm feeling kind of breakfasty/soupy/casseroley, apparently. Spell check loves me.

Lunches:

Leftovers
Lettuce salad (me mostly)
Bean burritos
Sandwiches
Ham
Hot dogs
Eggs

Breakfasts:
fruit
GF Waffles
GF Cereal
Toast
Fruit
Yogurt

Snacks:
fruit
veggies
GF animal crackers
GF cookies
applesauce
fruit snacks (we try to limit these, but of course the kids luuuuuurve them. We have the best luck with the Gerber brand, which doesn't have any artificial colorings)

Then I make the grocery list, which is helped by a fairly well-stocked pantry, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies that I just bought. The juices and the chips are all part of recipes, we don't normally buy those for snacking.

To buy, and each item's budget:
ham (2)
chicken breast (7)
sour cream & onion chips (2)
orange juice (2)
rice (1)
ground turkey (7)
V8 (2)
powdered nonfat milk (2)
instant chicken bouillon (2)
plain yogurt (2)
spaghetti sauce (1)
spaghetti noodles (1)
GF spaghetti noodles (3)
polish sausage (2)
tuna (1)
egg noodles (1)
hot dogs (2)
sandwich meat (2)
GF waffles (2)
GF animal crackers (3)
apple sauce (2)
fruit snacks (3)
whole milk (4)
diapers (15)
baby wipes (5)
cat food (10) - We do not buy cheap food. We buy Purina One, as recommended by our vet, after switching from Science Diet. Cheap cat food = sick kitties. Period.
litter (5)
litter bags (3) - Totally not environmentally sound. Totally not caring.
TP (5) - When I was a kid, I had the hardest time remembering if "TP" stood for toilet paper or toothpaste. Is that funny or does it just make me look stupid(er)?
pop for SuperDad (3)
flour (1)
butter (2)
Total = $105

I'll probably take about $115 in cash with me to the store, just in case.

I find that having a budget for an item gives me a way better chance of meeting my budget than trying to add up the total budget in my head.

Anyway, if you made it this far, YAY! ;)