Holy Cow!

I have to admit, I was amazed today.  I had absolutely no clear idea just how expensive meat is at the grocery store.  I have completely taken for granted the fact that Dan, Allspice, and Cinnamon have blessed our house with food for the freezer each deer season.  We eat a lot of venison.  Each year we process the meat ourselves, saving some money, and bring in the meat to have it ground into hamburger.  When I take into consideration the deer tags and the processing fee, I pay about a dollar a pound.  I haven't had to purchase hamburger in the store for a long time and so it took me by surprise when I was looking today just to see how much it was.  $2.18 a pound, when buying in bulk, was the cheapest I found.  That can really put a crimp in your budget!

I was similarly surprised by the cost of bacon and pork products.  We raise two pigs each year.  This year, a more expensive year than typical, our pork costs $2.89 a pound whether it is ground pork, bacon, ham, pork chops, or even ribs.  After looking at the prices at the store, I will try not to complain when my kids are off dancing or camping, leaving me to feed the pigs.  Even when they tip the food bin over causing me to fetch it.  Even when it results in being pig kissed by two grinning swines with incredibly dirty noses.

Yes, this is the pig that kissed me!

Speaking of hamburger, tonight we had tacos.  This is a definite menu item each month.  Paprika would have it each week if she were in charge of the menu!  It is her favorite meal. 

When I make tacos, I usually fry four pounds of hamburger.  We use some for dinner and I freeze two containers to use at a later time for quick menu nights.  This is simple to do and a real time saver.  I use the method of batch cooking whenever I can.

For tacos we have the usual components like refried beans, sour cream, lettuce, olives, avocado, cheese, and tomatoes.  When tomatoes are out of season or when I do not have any on hand I do something different.  A few winters ago, when tomatoes were expensive and looking less than appetizing, I came up with this "taco topper".  It is a family favorite and is often requested over fresh tomatoes.

TACO TOPPER:

1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 onion chopped

16 oz package of  peppers (red, green, yellow), thawed

olive oil

Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning

In a skillet saute your onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.  Add peppers, black beans, and the tomatoes and juice.  Cook over medium heat.  Add Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning (I am pretty liberal with this) to taste.  Continue to cook over medium heat until juices are absorbed.  We top our tacos with this mix, as well as, use it the next day on leftover quesadillas.  Tonight our taco meal came to approximately $10.15.  The Taco Topper itself was $2.78.  It would have easily fed six and we have enough leftovers for tomorrow's  lunch: quesadillas.

I am sure this post will quickly become Dan's favorite, since I am basically giving him the double thumbs up to his deer hunting.   So, this weekend when deer season opens, I am sure to hear, "Honey, I am only trying to help the budget!"

A Sunday Reflection

Someone once asked me if it was the pits to be gluten free.  Didn't I miss all those things like bread and pasta.  I have spent a lot of time thinking about it.  Sure, I miss that delightful taste of home baked bread.  I may never find a substitute for my grandmother's ravioli.  But, do I wish I could go back to those carefree days when I could eat anything I wanted, fix anything for dinner, choose foods without limits?  The simple answer is no.

When Paprika was six she came to me and told me her foot hurt.  Probably like a million times before, I shrugged it off like every other childhood bump or bruise.  Within a day or so she began to limp.  I then noticed her foot was swollen.  The doctor thought it was perhaps a little fracture that an x-ray couldn't pick up and that would heal with time.  The problem was that it just never healed.  It just kept getting worse.  Three months and five different doctor opinions later she was put in a cast.  My little star soccer player hobbled around on crutches and had to be carried up the stairs.  I would trade every pastry and donut we ever ate to erase that memory.

That Halloween, Dan carried Paprika when they went trick-or-treating.  Her foot hurt so badly that when she was home, she crawled rather than walked.  We still had no idea what was wrong.  February came and Dan and Paprika flew to Children's Hospital, where after eight months we finally had an answer: juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.  What I thought must surely be an ending, only ended up being the beginning. 

Paprika was started on medications.  Every three months we would travel across the state for her appointment, hoping she was better, knowing she was not, finding out we were right.  She just seemed to be getting worse.  Now her knees and her chest hurt.  I would tuck her in at night only to hear her scream that the sheet hurt when it touched her.  I found myself in that hard to be place as a mother who can't fix her child.  I would have passed on the basket of rolls to fix her.

Medication after medication was tried.  More and more joints were affected.  Some I didn't even know about.  Once we went out to eat and Paprika looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said I can't eat.  I asked her why and she said because she couldn't hold the fork.  It was only then that I realized that our handles at home were "fat" and that's why we hadn't noticed her hands hurt and she had trouble holding things.  We changed toothbrushes, pencils, crayons, scissors, anything she had to hold, to help. 

By the time she was in second grade life had become a new routine.  We would get up each morning and turn on her heat blanket to warm her up while I started a hot bath for her.  When it was ready, I would go back and get her.  I would slowly help her sit up and move her feet to the floor.  We would walk across the hall to the bath.  You would have thought she was ninety.  Some days a bath helped and the stiffness eased up after a couple of hours.  Other days it lasted four hours or more and then returned in the late afternoon.  I would have skipped the pasta and bread sticks to see my seven year old out running around rather than curled up on the couch. 

Year after year seemed to bring us similar struggles.  New medications.  New joints that became affected.  New symptoms like dry eyes and swollen optic nerves.  New procedures like joint injections and physical therapy.  One thing remained constant.  No matter how many new medications we tried, we could not get her arthritis into what they would call remission.  She hurt almost daily, was stiff a lot of mornings, and was tired all the time.  Some days seemed better than others, but you never knew what to expect.

The unexpected.  It made us look at things differently.  We couldn't plan like we used to.  We couldn't take things for granted.  We had to change things.   We started homeschooling all three kids when Paprika was in third grade.  It made sense and I know it helped!  What a blessing from God.  I would have never imagined homeschooling and looking back on it, I couldn't imagine any other way.  We were and are so blessed.

God is very important in our lives.  I couldn't have made any of this journey without His grace.  Deep in my heart, I knew He had a plan.  On those days that were hardest, I held on to a simple prayer, not for God to take the pain away or to fix it, but to help us endure, to give us strength to live out His plan. 

Nine years later, He opened our eyes and hearts to new friendships and new knowledge that has led us on this gluten free journey.  In the last year we have almost forgotten what life used to be like.  I think it is sometimes good to remember.  To remind us of our blessings. 


So, I think about that question.  Is it the pits to be gluten free.  The simple answer: sometimes.  Who doesn't look at that Krispy Creme Donut and salivate?  Who doesn't look at that lasagna, or the hunk of chocolate cake, or smell that fresh baked bread and sigh?  Would I love to go back to those days where I could eat anything I wanted?   I look at where I am and where I have been and I wouldn't change it.  None of it.  It was necessary for us all. 

I have learned that God is always with us, in the good, and in the bad.  He is with us now and will be in the future.  I know that Paprika could relapse any day.  I know there is the chance that we could find out we are gluten free for no reason at all.  But, I also know that God is there beside me through it all.  He gives us strength on each and every journey He asks us to make.  In knowing that, I find peace.

Cheap Eats: Baked Potato Night

A staple that I sometimes forget about is the potato.  A great and budget friendly gluten free food.  There are so many ways to fix them.  One thing I decided to do when I put my monthly menu together was to eat more potatoes.  They are cheap and they are simple.  I grew up in Idaho, you would think I would have thought of it by now!  But, alas, I had not.  So, this month I re-instituted the Baked Potato Bar night.  I used to have this meal more regularly in the past, but somehow, I forgot about it.  Don't ask me how.  Anyway, we have  this on the menu only once this month, but in the future it will be on there at least two or three times. 

Often times I forget how versatile the potato is.  I think potato.  I think butter and sour cream.  Well, actually being dairy intolerant as well, I think potato, salt and pepper.  My family thinks the other version.  Especially, Cinnamon who loves, I mean loves, sour cream!  Besides just topping your baked potato with the usual butter and sour cream, try some of these ideas:

Broccoli and Cheese
Chili, onions and Cheese
Ham and Cheese
Loaded: Bacon, Onions, Chives, Cheese

Or even try some of these more elaborate creations:

The Veggie: Grilled Broccoli, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Onions, Green Peppers and Cheese
The Taco:  Hamburger, Olives, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, Guacamole, Cheese
Pizza: Pepperoni, Sausage, Mushrooms, Olives, Onions, and Pizza Sauce with Mozzarella Cheese
Chicken Parmesan: Grilled Chicken, Onions, Mushrooms, and Parmesan
Chicken Alfredo:  Chicken, Bacon, Mushrooms, Alfredo Sauce
The Grilled Steak: Steak (sliced thin), Flaked Crab Meat, Grilled Asparagus
The German:  German Sausage, Sauerkraut, Onions

Use your imagination!  Serve with a salad or veggie  for a complete meal.  Simple and delicious.  Tonight we had the Pizza Baked Potato.  It was a hit!  Allspice even had a friend over who thought it was great.

Pizza Baked Potato:

Russet Baking Potatoes (one for each person)
1 Onion chopped
1/2 can of olives ( I just use whole olives and break them into pieces)
Mushrooms (fresh and sliced or canned)
2 cloves of Garlic minced
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 can of Tomato Paste
1 can of Tomato Sauce
Pepperoni  (24 slices)
Sausage sliced (I used our venison we had made into GF German Sausages)
 water
Italian Seasonings, Salt, Pepper
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Scrub your potatoes until they are clean.  Dry thoroughly.  Poke each potato with 8-12 deep puncture marks.  This allows the moisture to escape while baking.  Dry again.  Rub potato skins with olive oil.  Coat thoroughly.  Roll in sea salt and desired seasonings.  I used Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb and sea salt. 

Bake on the middle rack of the oven.  I placed a pan on the bottom rack to catch any drippings.  Bake for about an hour.  The more potatoes you have the longer it will take.  I actually cooked the potatoes (I had 6) for 90 minutes or so.  I  turned my heat up for the last 30 minutes to 400 degrees to cook them a bit faster because these potatoes were huge.  The skin should be crisp, but the potato should feel soft.

While your potatoes are baking, shred your cheese and make your pizza topping.

Saute onions and garlic with a little olive oil over medium heat.  Add sausage and heat thoroughly.  Add mushrooms and olives.  Then add tomato paste, tomato sauce and water.  Add Italian seasonings, salt, and pepper to taste.  Toss in your pepperoni.  Let simmer until potatoes are ready.

When your potatoes are done.  Use a fork to perforate the skin lengthwise.  Then press the ends toward the center and the potato should burst open.  Top with your pizza topping and mozzarella cheese.  Enjoy!

We had our pizza baked potatoes with steamed broccoli.  The cost of this meal: $11.91 and it fed four teenagers and two adults.  You could make this even cheaper if you used either sausage or pepperoni instead of both.  I was about to do that myself until Cinnamon scoffed at me and said, "This is a one meal wonder; it has to be loaded!"  So, there you have it.  By the way, the definition of a "one meal wonder" is a dish that can star on its own.  Just in case you were wondering. ;)

New Menu Night: Chicken Pot Pie

Today was cold and rainy.  I am having a hard time getting used to the weather change.  A week ago it was in the 80's and today was barely in the 50's.  When the weather changes drastically like that, my poor body can't take it and it seems like I always end up with a cold.  Yuck!  So there I was today pouting about being cold and having one to boot!  Then I realized today is Thursday!  I could have very easily panicked, but I took one look at the menu and saw the perfect dish.

Every Thursday in our house is New Menu Night.  I figure in order to expand my gluten free world, I need to keep learning and growing.  Each Thursday I either try something completely new or convert an old recipe.  Tonight was Chicken Pot Pie.  Good old comfort food.  Now that is exactly what I needed.

I tried a few new things in this recipe.  First, to make it gluten free.  Second to use fresh ingredients.  And Third, to make it dairy free as well. 

Chicken Pot Pie:

Chicken 4-5 boneless, skinless thighs
olive oil
3 carrots chopped
1 onion chopped
4 celery stalks chopped
1 cup of frozen peas
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 Cup of flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour)
3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups of water
2 cups of soy milk
Seasonings (Salt, Garlic Pepper, Garlic & Basil)

The Topping:
1 1/2 Cups of GF Bisquick Mix
1 Cup soy milk
2 egg
4 Tbsp of melted butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cook chicken with a little olive oil in a large skillet.  Remove and add chopped carrots, onions, celery, and garlic.  Cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent.  Cut the chicken into small pieces and return it to the pan.  Add peas. 

Mix flour in with chicken and vegetables to coat.  Add milk, water, bouillon cubes and seasonings.  Heat thoroughly.

Pour mixture into a casserole dish.  In a separate bowl.  Mix Bisquick mix, soy milk, eggs, and melted butter together.  Spoon on top of chicken mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until topping is golden brown.  A toothpick inserted into the topping layer should come out clean.

The approximate cost for this dish is $7.50 and it easily feeds a family of five. We even had leftovers. You could use this as a quick stand-alone dish or pair it with this salad for an additional $2.40. Bringing your total to $9.80. 

This is a simple salad made with romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, mandarin oranges, and avocado slices.  I tossed it with a vinegar and oil dressing, a little salt and garlic pepper.  Yum!

A couple of things to note.  Not all bouillon cubes are gluten free.  The kind I use are the Herbox brand and can be found here.  Just read the label carefully.  Secondly, to make this completely dairy free you need to use a dairy free butter substitute.  We use Earth Balance.  If you haven't tried it, it tastes and cooks just like the real thing.  It is delicious.  I can't even tell the difference.  One other tip: if your Bisquick top is baked, but not browning, just place it under the broiler.  It browns very quickly and nicely.  Just watch it carefully so it does not burn!


So, how did this dish fare?  After a New Menu Night meal, we take a thumbs up or down vote.  The results were a resounding thumbs up!  I think my cold is already getting better!

Pasta Please!

Although it is only four days into the month, I am pleased to announce I have followed my menu every night!  Okay.  I know it is not that momentous, but hey I try.

I grew up in an Italian family, so pasta has always been a staple in our house.  Until we became gluten free that is.  We have tried several different pastas over the course of the last year.  Some are better than others.  I do have a favorite now though!!!

This pasta tastes like regular pasta!!!!!  It cooks like regular pasta!!!!!  It even looks...okay just kidding.  I cannot tell the difference between this pasta and regular pasta at all; and neither can my non gf eaters!!!!  You can get the Heartland Penne Pasta online for approximately $2.60 a bag.  Amazon also has this as a Subscribe and Save item.  Purchasing it this way would drop your cost to $2.21 a bag.  I am a little disappointed that they currently only have the penne pasta available.  You can sign up to be notified when the spaghetti or fusili varieties become available.  I purchase mine at Walmart where I have found the best deal at $2.18 and they have all three varieties.

Tonight, we had spaghetti served with salad and beans.  It is kind of funny how you don't really realize the cost of what you are making until you figure it all out.  My dinner came to approximately $11.22.  That did not include the meat cost since I already knocked that total out of my budget at the beginning of the month.  Besides, you could make the sauce meatless anyway.  It served five and we have enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow. 

Here is my recipe for spaghetti sauce.

SPAGHETTI SAUCE:

1 can tomato paste
1 large can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
4-5 fresh mushrooms or 1 large can (this is what we used)
Onion--chopped
2 cloves of garlic--minced
Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.
Add mushrooms. Saute.
Here, I added cooked hamburger.  You could also use chicken which is Cinnamon's favorite.
Add tomato paste and mix together.
Add tomato sauce and about 1/3 of a can of water.  Mix well.
Add your diced tomatoes.
Season liberally with Italian Seasonings and add salt and pepper to taste.

Let the sauce simmer.  Yum! 

The cost of the sauce itself is about $3.50 and the amount of sauce you make is at least double the amount of a store bought jar.  These ingredients were all purchased at regular cost.  You could save even more by purchasing the ingredient on sale or with coupons.

ENJOY!

The Wrap on Sandwiches

As a homeschooling mom of three teenagers, lunch is a big deal at our house.  What happens when that iconic staple, the sandwich, becomes a challenge, especially for the budget?  Bread is a big gf cost.  When we first became gluten free, we gravitated toward the gf bread you had to toast in order for it to be palatable.  We were new, we didn't know any better, and let's face it, it made lunch a less than pleasing experience.

Months passed and we ventured out of our comfort zone and tried new things like bread mixes.  Out of all the mixes I tried, my favorite was King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Bread Mix.  The cheapest place I found it was at Amazon: three boxes of mix for $19.98.  The bread tastes good and it is pretty simple to make.  A loaf is still over $6.50 though.

We also tried bread out of the freezer section.  They too are expensive.  A loaf, the cheapest I could find and one we thought tasted good, was $5.69, but I could find it on sale for $3.99 and stock up.  Each loaf contains approximately 12 slices which makes each slice of bread 33 cents when it is on sale, 47 cents when it is not.   The slices are also about half the size of a normal slice of bread.  We can blast through a loaf in no time which is not good for the budget!

Next I tried making bread from scratch.  My favorite bread recipe can be found in Gluten Free Mama's Best Baking Recipes.  The Honey Sandwich Bread is absolutely delicious!  Even my non gf eaters think this bread is wonderful.  Cost: $6.92 a loaf.  I cut mine into approximately 20 slices and freeze it.  That still makes it 35 cents a slice.  So you are starting out a sandwich at seventy cents with nothing on it.  If the three gf eaters ate 5 sandwiches a week, 10% of my new budget would be spend in bread alone.  That is not going to work!

Enter the new star on the gf stage:  the wrap!  The sky is the limit when it comes to wraps.  We use basic white corn tortillas which I keep in the freezer.  I take out about 15 at a time to place in the fridge in an air-tight container.  This keeps them fresh.

We have made all kinds of wraps.  Chicken Salad Wraps, Bacon-Lettuce-Tomato & Avocado, Tuna, Pulled Pork, Turkey-Bacon-Cheese, Grilled Ham & Cheese, Roast Beef, Italian Sausage & Grilled Onion, Pepperoni Pizza, not to mention the quesadilla and taco.  Today, Cinnamon toasted her tortilla (yes, you can toast them in the toaster), added cream cheese mixed with a sprinkle of Simply Organic Creamy Dill Dip mix and added sliced grape tomatoes.  Delicious!

Tomato and  Cream Cheese with Dill Wrap

We had these wraps today using leftover pork roast from last night's dinner!

So, what is the bottom line?  Remember the earlier scenario of three people eating 5 sandwiches a week for a month?  Is there a big difference if you simply switch sandwiches for wraps?  Take a look.  A package of 100 wraps purchased at Costco cost $3.85.  That is four cents a wrap.  Let's assume the cost of the ingredients that you put on a wrap or a sandwich are the same and that we are using either two slices of bread or two tortillas.  Using  bread would cost me around $40.00 compared to $4.62 for tortillas.  That is a huge difference!  A $35.00 difference each month or a savings of $420.00 a year.

I am not saying I won't use bread any more, but I will definitely make wraps my lunch of choice!

CHICKEN SALAD:

1 can of chicken or leftover cooked chicken
1/3 cup of craisins
3 stalks of celery sliced
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
2 large heaping spoonfuls of mayo
     (or enough to make it creamy)
1 tsp of mustard (or more if you like)
Garlic and Herb Mrs. Dash (to taste)

Mix all ingredients together and serve with lettuce on a tortilla.

I hope you enjoy!!!

The Plan

I guess in order to face and live up to a challenge, you have to first have a plan.  Problem is....I don't really have a plan, it is more like a string of ideas and maybe a place to start.  I guess that will have to do.

Since today is the first of October, I sat down and implemented my first idea.  I made a meal menu for the month.  Wow!  I know, this is not news.  A lot of people make menus and many authors say they are key.  I agree, but there is a difference between saying and doing.  A difference between looking and following.  I have made menus in the past.  Usually, I look at the menu and decide I really don't feel like tacos which is on the menu and opt for something else instead.  Before my gf days it was a phone call for Dan to please, please, please, pick up a pizza.  Some days other things came up that I had not taken into consideration.  It is hard to make polenta and roast if you aren't home because it is your turn to drive for dance!  Then there are the times where you finally decide to look at the menu at 3:00 only to discover your crockpot meal should be finished in the next two hours, but unfortunately it is still in the freezer.  So when working with a menu, you must first write one, second plan carefully, and third follow it.  Today my menu said tacos and tonight we served tacos.  Step one....good so far.  I will keep you posted.

Another idea I have read about repeatedly is taking only cash with you to the grocery store and keeping the amount for the month in an envelope.  I have tried this too, in the past, with success.  I am not sure why I quit, except perhaps, old habits die hard.  I really want to try this again.  Dave Ramsey, who I absolutely admire, recommends an envelope system.  If you have never read any of his books I highly recommend The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness.  I have read this book a couple of times and his advice is great!  So, I have my $500 in an envelope.  I am ready to go!

Okay, there is a slight problem.  As I said in my first post, we raise our own pigs and my husband, Cinnamon, and Allspice are hunters, so how do I account for that, if I am honest and really trying to cut the budget. This is what I came up with.  I figured the cost of raising our pigs and divided it by 12.  I did the same with the venison.  So, to be more accurate, I took out a hundred dollars and now will work with $400 for the month. 

I will be honest here, this looks a little daunting.  Three teenagers who eat like there is no tomorrow!  Gluten free foods!  Only 400 bucks when I have been spending more than double that amount!  I guess that's why this is a challenge.  We get used to things and forget we sometimes need to stretch ourselves.  We are so blessed!  God gives us so much and yet sometimes we feel like there is never enough after that visit to the grocery store where 30,000 products whisper to us.  We leave with bags of groceries, yet we can feel deprived.  I  want to feel thankful instead. 

So maybe I can learn not only to cut the budget, but to spend a little more time being thankful for all that we have. 

  God can even make simple little flowers bloom amongst life's rocks.