Budget Update

The second week of our pay period started yesterday. Woo! So, of course, I went grocery shopping. I spent $73.03.

I bought:
Milk
Yogurt
Hot dogs
Turkey slices
Ground turkey
Eggs
Cat food
Pancake mix (not GF)
Rice
*Pop
Gravy (not GF)
Soup (not GF)
Spaghetti sauce
Diapers
*Mop solution for the Swiffer
*Mop solution for the Clorox
Q-tips
Infusium 23 (I need this. I don't care how expensive it is. There are very few "products" I buy. This is it, pretty much.)
*Earrings
*Chips
Hamburger buns (not GF)
*Weight Watchers chocolate cakes (not GF, also I think their logo should be "everyone deserves a little cake" Get it? Because they're little cakes. Sorry. I really like them, so I think about these things.)
Tuna
Baked beans
Lettuce
Bananas

* Unneccessary budget busters accounting for $22.58 in extra expenses. Gah. Actually, I have no idea how to clean our wood floors without the Swiffer and wood floor solution. ?

Anyway, this should leave us with $40 to buy gas and everything else we need until pay day. Hopefully we can do it, as we're in better shape right now than usual.

MeMe

Totally copied from Swistle, because she said I could. Feel free to copy it your own self too!


Eggnog or hot chocolate? I've never had eggnog, so I'm going with hot chocolate.

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? Of course Santa doesn't wrap presents! That would be MADNESS! ;)

Colored lights on a tree or white? White, though SuperDad protests.

Do you hang mistletoe? No, but I should.

When do you put your decorations up? We try to do it on SuperDad's birthday, which is December 8th.

What is your favorite holiday dish? Turkey

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, all the family gifts to each other are opened Christmas Eve, and tend to be more of the boring socks, underwear, PJs variety, while Santa brings the good stuff. Because he's nicer than I am.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? This year we have a lovely "band" of ornaments around the tree, just high enough for E to reach, but out of reach for M. ;)

Snow: love it or hate it? Uh. It is.

Can you ice skate? No. I can barely walk some days.

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Turkey!

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Eating candy for breakfast on Christmas Day!

Candy canes: yum or yuck? Not my fave, not exactly yuck.

Favorite Christmas show? A Christmas Story.

And you know how much I like to sneak big news right here at the bottom to reward anyone who actually reads: The baby is a GIRL!!! Woo! :) Visions of matching outfits for my two baby girls are already dancing in my head. SuperDad forbids rhyming twin-like names, though. Party pooper.

Buying Groceries

I bought groceries last night. I spent $67.54 for one week's worth of groceries (for the meals listed below, plus breakfasts and lunches) and supplies for the kids' birthday party, which is on Saturday.

Regular Supplies
Diapers - 7.97
Cat food - 5.74
Milk - 3.49
Bananas - .97
Strawberries - 1.98

Crockpot Sour Cream Salsa Chicken
(I already had some of the ingredients, including chicken.)
$2.99

Tuscan Soup
$6.50 (Yikes - and I have to admit to skipping the kale, because it was cost prohibitive.)

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup
$5.17

Sloppy Joes and Baked Beans
(I also already have ground turkey.)
$2.13

Polish Sausage
I ran out of money before I got to this... But I expect we'll have lots of leftovers from the party.

Party Supplies
We're serving GFCF pizza, GFCF pasta salad, lettuce salad, and GFCF chocolate cake.
We're also serving Pizza Hut's Pizza Mias ($5 each), regular pasta salad, lettuce salad, and regular chocolate cake.
$21.76 (still need to buy soy cheese and the Pizza Hut, of course)

Lunch (one Michelina's Lean for me, mostly we eat leftovers)
.98

Breakfast Stuff
$4.04

And that's where all the money goes.

Dinner Update

Spaghetti tonight - gluten free noodles for the kids, ground turkey, cheap spaghetti sauce, parmesean, Romaine lettuce salad. About $3.39.

Dinner Update

Sloppy Joes

1 lb. ground turkey (1.57)
ketchup (?)
mustard (?)
brown sugar (?)
salt & pepper (?)
onion (?)
garlic (?)

Sorry. I don't have a good price estimate (or recipe - every time is different) on this one. My mom used to serve BBQ (okay, okay, Sloppy Joe) meat on top of rice. I haven't yet done that for my kids, they eat this meat just fine as it is, with a slice of bread on the side (.25), an apple (.22), and some raw carrots (.15).

$29.84 Grocery Week

I realized, shortly before hitting the grocery store, that we'd used up more than half of the food budget for the week already. Yikes. I had $30 left, so what's a girl to do?

First, I looked through our cupboards and fridge and noticed that we had:
Spaghetti sauce
Pizza crust mix
Shredded cheese
Canned beans
Sausage
Potatoes
Tuna
Various canned fruits and veggies

So I wrote a menu based on that:
Homemade sausage pizza (using spaghetti sauce)
Egg/potato/sausage/cheese casserole
Chicken/tomato/bean something in crockpot
Spaghetti
Chicken paprika
Tuna sandwiches on homebaked bread

And then I bought the following groceries:
Cat litter - 5.36
Hot dogs - .74 (I know...)
Eggs - 1.78
Frozen chicken breasts (on sale) - 4.99
Garbage bags - 2.88
Ground turkey - 1.62
Milk - 3.32
Canned tomatoes - .54
Cat food - 5.74
Whole wheat spaghetti noodles - 1.18
(Thanks to the shopping spree, we have the gluten free products to fill in the edges here, or we wouldn't have made it.)

Total, including tax: $29.84
Whew, that was a close one.

Meal Planning

It's been... awhile since I've been able to cook. SuperDad, in addition to his many other duties, has taken on the cooking. And he's been doing great.

Last night was burgers on the grill. He's also tackled Tater Tot Casserole, egg sandwiches, GF mac and cheese and baked beans, chili, Ham Not Fried Rice, GF Hot Turkey Combo (it was an experiment and it went pretty well), and spaghetti.

Cheap and gluten free cooking continues at our house, with a new captain at the helm. Who I'm sure, will be more than happy to hand the cooking back to me when I'm feeling better (soon I hope!).

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Fiesta Tamale Pie

Party Pie! In the... crockpot? It can't be! Yet it is!

We really liked this. And I think we'll like it even more next time I make it in the all-new, not cracked and old and uneven-heating slow cooker SuperDad bought me for Christmas. Awww... love!

3/4 c yellow corn meal (.15)

1 c beef broth (.25 if using bouillion)

1 lb. ground beef (we almost always use ground turkey for everything - (1.78)

1 t chili powder (.05)

1/2 t ground cumin (.05)

1 jar salsa (2.00)

1 can corn, drained (.50)

2 oz. reduced fat shredded cheddar (.75)

In a large bowl, mix corn meal and broth. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in beef, chili powder, cumin, salsa, and corn. Pour into 3 1/2 quart slow cooker. (Mine is 4? And also 2! And also 6! The awesome, you can smell it, right?) Cover and cook on low 5-7 hours or until set. Sprinkle cheese on top. Serve.

We served with lettuce salad (.25?). Total cost = $5.78.

Jamie's Kielbasa Potatoes

This recipe came from Jamie at Looks Good in Polka Dots. Because it's yummy, that's why.

1 turkey kielbasa, sliced ($2.50)

new potatoes (.50)

mushrooms (or skip these because SuperDad will say "EW" and not eat)

baby carrots (.50)

32 oz. chicken broth (or bouillon and 32 oz. of water - .15)

2 T quick cooking Tapioca (.15)

pepper

salt

garlic

Total cost: $3.80

Combine all in crockpot and heat most of the day on low or 4 hours on high.

I was a little skeptical about the tapioca, but it was great - it disappeared into the sauce and made it nice and thick without any GF floury taste. We will definitely make this again.

Adventures in Gluten-Free Eating

1) I was asked to order from a menu for a catered business lunch. Uh huh, sure. So, in a rare display of uncharacteristic bravery, I called the restaurant and asked annoying and detailed questions about the menu. Result? My Town's Canterbury's turkey and grape salad appears to be on the "safe list." Additionally? Yummy.

2) I'm on an antibiotic. I feel very school-sporty taking these, since they happen to come in my college's school colors. Point? Oh yeah. So I decided to break out the probiotics, and started taking them, only to - gulp - realize they contain wheat. Can anyone suggest a good gluten-free probiotic?

3) We're taking a trip, sometime (she says, mysteriously, hoping no one is stalking her blog just waiting for the right moment to kidnap her morbidly obese cat - who, by the way, if you were wondering, was on his diet about two weeks when he attacked one of the other cats and nearly bit his tail off. Am I kidding about this? I am not. Morbidly Obese Cat - 1 Cat Diet - 0). Where was I? Oh, yes, our mysterious trip. Anyway, I found TWO restaurants there to which I'm thrilled to go. Boston's Gourmet Pizza offers a gluten-free pizza crust (reviews, anyone?) and Buffaloberries, a local place, offers both a gluten-free pizza crust and a gluten-free sandwich bread. Plus, we'll be returning to the Original Pancake House. Yay!

Updates.

Gluten Free Eating Update: SuperDad wanted lasagna for dinner last night, so I made a gluten-free version for the kids using DeBoles Rice Penne, spaghetti sauce, ground turkey, cottage cheese, mozzerella, and parmesean. D said, "I LOVE zagna!" :)

Reading Update: I finished Little House on the Prairie just in time to get it back to the library (ahem, note to my mother, who never reads this: you could bring over my own personal copies anytime, thanks). I know we're supposed to be outraged that they were kicked off "their" land at the end of that book and had to walk away from the crops they'd just planted and all, but... Well, it just wasn't really their land. Sorry. (But then... is my land mine? Sigh.)

On to Farmer Boy. I remember really not caring for this one as a kid, since it isn't about Laura, but about her future husband, Almanzo. I must not be the only one that feels this way, since the library copy of this is practically pristine in comparison to all of the other books. One of the first scenes is about the teacher having to battle a group of big boys who beat up the last teacher so badly that he died from his injuries. And we thought school violence was a new thing.

Money Update: Due to my own laziness, when I took our weekly cash out at the bank, I never separated it into the envelopes. Groceries are bought, gas is full, and we have $39 to make it until Friday. Can we do it?

Garden Update: Looking good! We ate our first radishes. SuperDad put up a trellis type thing for the peas, which are growing up it nicely. I'll try to take photos sometime this week.

Baby Update: 23 weeks along, everything looks fine, I am already enormous, no, it isn't twins.

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.

Dinner Update

Chili

1 lb. ground turkey, browned w/onion (1.57)
lg can of tomato juice (1.16)
1 T brown sugar (?)
chili seasoning (?)
black beans (.66)
pinto beans (.35)
leftover rice (?)
leftover corn (?)

We always serve our chili with cinnamon rolls (1.66) because that's how the local public schools served it and we're hooked. For the kids, I made GF cinnamon/sugar toast (.25) and drizzled on a little bit of the frosting from the canned cinnamon rolls that I bought.

Total: $5.65

Dinner Update

Tater Tot Casserole

1 lb. ground turkey, browned and drained ($1.57)
3/4 can of corn, drained (.35)
Tater tots, take time to ensure GF (.50)
Cream of whatever soup (.50?)

Mix and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until whining of family becomes intolerable.

Total: $2.92

Mmmm. Okay, so this isn't the healthiest thing in the world, but some definite comfort food, and the kids loved it.

I particularly love cooking casseroles because they are pretty much a complete meal in one dish. We served muskmelon as dessert. The kids would think I was the world's best mother if I told them that from now on, we'd be eating nothing other than melon and cheese.

Eating Gluten Free on a Budget: Rule 1

So, you find out you're gluten intolerant, or your kid is, and of course you hit the Internet looking for "gluten free recipes," right? Well, here's the problem. Anything that is labeled "gluten free" means that it was supposed to have gluten and some very wise cook out there figured out a way to make it without gluten, by finding substitutions. But substitutions can be expensive and, sometimes, not so tasty. There is a reason we use wheat for everything - it tastes good!

In my not-so-humble opinion, I really think that the best thing to do is to make the best use of naturally gluten free foods. Foods that have never contained gluten and will never contain gluten. Like:
Chicken
Veggies
Fruit
Beef
Rice
Nuts/Nut butters
Cheese
Potatoes
Milk
Seeds
Quinoa
Puffed rice
Lentils
Pork
Beans
Fish
Turkey

The real key, for me, is not to look at gluten free recipes trying to find one we'll all eat, but to instead look at lots of regular recipes and try to identify the ones that are already gluten free.

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! ;)

Dinner Update

I made this one up. It doesn't have a name.

3/4 c. rice (this was all we had left) (.25)
beef bouillon cube added to the rice-cooking water (?)
1 lb. ground turkey, browned and drained (I actually forgot to drain it because I'm a spaz that way) (1.57)
pepper (?)
cooked carrots (.50)

Mix and serve.

Total: $2.32

Every time we have rice I think, "Hmm.. Maybe a dog wouldn't be so bad after all." You know, as I'm sweeping up more rice than what actually made it into my kids' tummies.