THIS WEEK (#44) MEALS

We have started eating a lot more salad once we found a dressing we all enjoy and figured out what veggies everyone likes. The dressing is a sweet lime ginger that I make from scratch in large amounts!

 
Dinners:
Salmon, Turmeric Squash, salad with my ginger dressing
Chicken Pot Pie (making up the recipe from several others will post later if it goes well)
Broccoli Tofu Stir Fry
Avocado Verde Enchiladas
Black bean and corn tamales (from the local farmers market), salad, Mexican rice (husbands specialty)
Leftovers Night
Out to eat


Lunch:
Quinoa Pizza Bites  I plan to not use cheese and sub in a little coconut "butter" for flavor
Lemon thyme almond cakes, salad
Peanut butter and jelly on banana nut waffles (2x), apple slices
Apples and peanut butter, chocolate chia pudding
Thia Tofu tacos
Leftover Lunch

Breakfast:
Oatmeal Bars (2x)
Banana Nut waffles (freeze leftovers)
Avocolada Smootie - I am making this up from several other ideas but I have a lot of frozen pineapple, plan to add coconut milk sugar avocado, maca powder and raw sugar (I will update once I have tried it!)
Yo Soy (yogurt) and fruit (2x)
Cold Cereal and Flax Milk (our new favorite drink!)


Snacks:
Pineapple upside down cupcake (I use the Betty Crocker GF mix, coconut butter, otherwise like the old fashioned type)
Chocolate garbanzo bean mini muffins (see previous blog)
Fruit

Obviously I am feeling ambitious today and like trying a lot of new things ;) Lets see if I actually do it!!

Dinners for week #42

Sunday: Leftovers


Monday: Gluten Free Pasta with canned spaghetti sauce (w/ extra garlic, onion, diced up veggies)

Tuesday: Tuna Casserole Wraps


Wednesday: Tofu Curry and Rice


Thursday:  Lentil Soup

Friday: Tacos (corn tortillas) with chicken (for every one but me) re-fried pinto beans, Spanish rice and guacamole

Saturday: Out to eat (at Pei Wei)

Sunday:  Margarita Pesto Pizza

Overcoming illness

So a lot has happened since my last entry. Mainly I have had some major health issues and seem to be on the recovery side of them most days. Basically I have no idea what is wrong. I have had more tests than I can count, seen several different specialist and no one ever could give me an answer. I lost the ability to walk or have had days where it is very difficult and then a couple weeks later I am fine. I have had migraines that were completely debilitating causing me to not be able to have any light, making me so dizzy and nauseated I would throw up and at one point they were happening every week for a few days. I have been so fatigued that I feel like moving an arm or leg is like trying to lift 1000 pounds. I have had such bad limb pain that I can't stand to move. I have had extremities go completely numb. My peripheral vision and depth perception was getting worse. The doctors were not giving me answers or a cure and I was (still am) frustrated. Finally they just started assuming it was all in my head and I was crazy (awesome). The last neurologist appointment I went to he recommended I start seeing a psychiatrist and take anti-depressants to lower my anxiety. It has been a frustrating year medically speaking. I tried all types of all natural diet changes. I ate more beef (thinking I was anemic), I started drinking raw milk (thinking I was missing some enzymes), I tried fermenting my own food (thinking I needed more probiotics, and adding a variety of vitamin supplements. I tried migraine medicine (caused me to have a mini stroke!). After ending up loosing my ability to speak and in the ER with my last migraine pill I refused to take any more medicine. My doctor said "what do you want me to do if you won't take medicine?" I answered that I wanted to understand what was wrong. Why is my body giving up on me?
I gave up on medicine! I read a lot of books during this whole ordeal and one really jumped out at me. It talked about inflammation in the body and I definitely have an issue with that!
The book was called "Eat to Live"by Joel Furhman and I have been following the diet outlined as well as eating gluten and dairy free 95% of the time and I have not had a migraine since and have had very few symptom days. The days I have had symptoms they are much less intense than they were. I can live my life again! Hooray!! You will notice from now on my posts and recipes will be mostly vegan (with the exception of fish) They will still be gluten and dairy free :) I fell off the wagon and got sicker than I already was becoming. It turns out my body just doesn't do well with any type of animal protein. I wish I could explain why or understood it but that just seems to be the case.

Meal Plan (2 weeks)

This was a post from a year ago that somehow stayed in the draft phase and I never published. This isn't my actual meal plan for the next two weeks now (but it was a year ago :)

Today we picked up our biweekly bountiful basket  which is a coop for fruits and veggies. I like to meal plan now on Saturdays because I find out what fruits and veggies we will have once we pick up our basket. Today we got a bunch of key limes among other things. My husband really wanted key lime pie which was one of the few things I made for him before we got married and convinced him I was a great cook (which he quickly found out was far from the truth). So I am making one because I love him :)

Saturday: 

Breakfast: fruit and Apple Oatmeal

Lunch: left overs and sandwiches

key lime pie 

Dinner: Salad, Cilantro Potatoes (we will see how they go), Salmon Patties (from Costco) with Cilantro Lime dressing (will be modified)

Sunday:

Breakfast: Smoothies & Apple Donuts

Lunch: Strawberry Spinach Salad, Pork Tenderloin, Asparagus

Dinner: Out

Mon-Tues: Vacation so we will be eating out :)

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Smoothies & Cereal

Lunch: Cucumber Salad & Chicken Nuggets

Dinner:  Tomato Basil with sourdough bread

Apple Pie

Thursday:

Breakfast: Waffles and fruit

Lunch: Left overs

Dinner: fried squash and pickles, Spaghetti

Friday:

Breakfast: Smoothies and Cereal

Lunch: PBJ and fruit

Dinner: Tomato Basil with sourdough bread

No Cook super easy Key Lime Pie Tarts (NOT GFCF)

Disclaimer: So this recipe is NOT gluten free and definitely NOT dairy free so I know it is the opposite of what should be on this blog, but please forgive me and if you are looking for gluten free skip this recipe! My husband really wanted key lime pie today and said some neighbors would love the recipe so I am putting it up for any of them who may enjoy it! I am sure I could figure out some substitutes but I am positive it would be far from the original recipe.





SUPER EASY KEY LIME PIE TARTS:

I learned to make this while waiting tables at a gourmet restaurant and it was part of my side work to make the pies. I will not name the restaurant but they had me make pies for $2/hour for a year of my life so I am not feeling guilty about sharing how I made those pies at all :)


Ingredients:
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup key lime juice (approx 16 key limes)
mini graham  cracker crust (2packs) (I prefer the mini ones which is what we used in the restaurant and they were "key lime tarts" but our local dollar general store only had full pie crusts* so that is what I used)
1 spray can of whipped cream

*This makes more key lime batter than 1 crust worth but not enough for 2 so you can use 1.5 cans of sweetened condensed milk and juice from approx 12 key limes for one pie). Also with a large pie crust batter may be a little runny even after a few hours in the fridge. We do not mind it being a little runny but if you do it can be easily fixed. Just add a couple tablespoons  of cornstarch (when stirring the batter) if you want your pie to not be to runny.

Directions:
1. Put most but not all of the keylime juice (about 1/2 cup) and sweetened condensed milk (1.5 cans) in a bowl stir or whisk until juice thickens milk (about a minute). There should be no liquid and it should be the consistency of yogurt. Careful not to over stir and don't use an electric beater because it will over stir the batter. 
2. Taste  if too sour put more sweetened condensed milk, if too sweet add key lime juice and stir more to mix into the batter (This is necessary because every key lime is different in tartness so you HAVE to taste it every time you make it and adjust until the right balance)
3. Pour batter into mini pie crust and leave a little space for whip cream (but DO NOT put it on yet)
4. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let it get firm. Since I made a large pie I use the plastic that came with the crust for a cover (flipped upside down-see photo)
5. Put whip cream on each tart as it is served and enjoy

I made this for my husband before we were married (and after). He thought I was some kind of GREAT chef. When I showed him how I made it (after the wedding) he couldn't believe that was it and I didn't even cook it. He quickly learned that I had a lot to learn about cooking that involved actually using an oven! I have come a long way since then :)

 

Cinammon Apple Donuts

So I made a few batches of donuts with our left over Cinnamon apples and left over icing (from a carrot cake I made last Sunday). The kids love them. One of my strategies for GF baking is to avoid cooking things that need to rise. I have successfully gotten baked things to rise (such as bread) BUT I have failed many more times. For Christmas we bought ourselves a mini donut maker which is basically an electric top and bottom pan that is donut shaped. This batter could also be used in a waffle maker (that is same thing but different shape) or a cake pop pan.

Ingredients:
2 cups of  Cinnamon apples
1 cup of Gluten Free baking mix (I make my own 2 parts rice flour, 1 part potato starch, 1 part soy flour, 1 part corn starch)
5 eggs (can use less I just like a lot of protein)
icing (recipe coming later)

Directions: 
1. Put cinnamon apples then baking mix, then eggs
2. Process until well mixed and apples have no more big chunks
3. Put in donut maker, or top bottom pan, waffle maker, etc 
4. Cook until done and put on icing

Our mini donut maker is sold on Amazon :





 

GF breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1 cup oatmeal
1.5 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 apple peeled and chopped

1/4 cup raisins

1 TBS cinnamon

Directions:
1. Bring water to a boil
2. Add oatmeal first and stir then add all other ingredients and stir
3. Cook on low 5 mins or until oatmeal and apples have a nice consistency


So I know oatmeal is not all that exciting but I grew up on it and it is easy for a quick basic gluten and dairy free breakfast! All you need for a perfect breakfast is a glass of OJ, some protein and you have a quick balanced breakfast. I recommend grabbing a boiled egg from the fridge or frying one up on the skillet while your oatmeal cooks. This breakfast is comforting to me and reminds me of staying with my grandmother as a kid. We would have it more often in our home but one of my kids does not like the texture so I give him a different breakfast (which can be a hassle). Maybe one day we will ALL enjoy this easy quick breakfast. One can always dream right?

Coconut Curry Chicken (GFCF)

Tonight for dinner we had a family favorite Coconut Curry Chicken with Rice. It is not too labor intensive but in my mind if it takes prep work it is not a quick meal either. We made quite a bit which we always do because it freezes well and we all love the left overs! This has a lot of flavor, a creamy sweet richness and the heat from the curry gives it a wonderful spicy finish! Also this is one of the few dishes I think taste even better as left overs. The longer the better!

Ingredients:
3 TBS Peanut Oil
4 TBS Red Curry paste
1 cup chopped green onion
1.5 tsp dried minced garlic 
1 large tomato diced
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp salt
canned Coconut milk 20 oz (1.5 cans)
2-2.5 lbs skinless chicken breast cubed (can use less but decrease other ingredients only slightly NOT proportionally or may not have enough flavor)


Directions:
1. Cook Peanut Oil and Curry Paste for 5 minutes Med-Low heat
2. Add Onion and Garlic to pan and saute for 5 mins
3. Add Chicken and salt. Cook until it is no longer pink
4. Add Tomato, fish sauce and coconut milk
5. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes
6. Salt to taste and serve

We like it served over white rice (to soak up all that yummy sauce!)

SHORT ON TIME IN THE EVENING??
I have a great solution and I actually prefer the flavor to the traditional way above but it does take more steps and overall time.
1. Cube and cook the chicken in oil
2. In a freezer bag put curry, fish sauce, garlic and coconut milk, mix well.
3. Put chicken into bag and put in fridge for when you are ready to make dinner
4. Can cut up onion and tomato now and put in fridge until dinner or cut up at dinner if you have time
5. When ready to cook put veggies and bag of sauce and chicken in a sauce pan and heat on Med heat for 20-30 minutes (until nice and hot)

Cinnamon Apples: This dish + carrot cake icing makes the apple cinnamon donuts (soon to come)

I have been a rebel and took the family off the gluten free diet for a while (for a GI doc who was wanting to do testing) and we have not totally gotten back on the band wagon yet (I know... for shame, for shame, tssk, tssk, tssk) BUT I did start having crazy medical issues and I have started cooking GF again. SO the first real big batch of cooking I did was because I joined a food co-op and ordered 25 pounds of apples (and no that is not a typo), along with 20 pounds of carrots, and tomatoes.  (Oh why am I so ambitious?) Alas even after DAYS of cooking I still ended up giving away a bunch of produce. But on to the cooking ........

Candied Apples:

5 apples cored and sliced (I leave peels on because time is a commodity and they have a lot of nutritional value)
1/3 cup brown sugar (for those not wanting sugar this can be skipped all together but requires longer cook time and will be a little bitter, or honey, agave, stevia, Splenda can all be used)
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1-2 TBS vegetable oil (or butter if you are not dairy free)

Directions: Spread oil on skillet, then apple slices, next sprinkle on sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook on Medium heat covered for 3 mins. Stir well and cook for 8 more minutes(stirring occasionally) until desired crispness/softness is reached. Also if want to have softer apples can recover it after first stir and just leave it for less work and more of a steamed apple texture. Eat as many as you like then refrigerate the rest for later! They taste good hot or cold!

*These are not super sticky or greasy like most fried apples but they can be with additional sugar, oil and pan frying for longer (and uncovered). My kids actually prefer them per the above recipe though. They like them with a little crunch and I cook them just soft enough that my kids will eat the peels without complaining.

**Can skip oil by putting 1/4 cup water instead and cooking a little longer though it does effect the texture some

Our favorite (packaged and ready to eat food) things

When we first decided to go gluten and dairy free the hardest part was figuring out what to eat, where to find it in the stores, and trying new brands (that were expensive). So I have decided to break down my lists into 2 parts. One list is of things that can be found in most grocery stores and the other is of specialty gluten free products that can be found at stores that carry more extensive selection of specialty gluten free brands and products. I could make another list of all the things we tried and didn't like but that would not be very nice.

Gluten/dairy free non-special products that can probably be found at most grocery stores:

1. Fritos (snack, no cheese frito pie)
2. Corn chips (bean dip, hummus, guacamole)
3. Corn Tortillas (tacos) 
4. Rice cakes (with peanut butter)
5. Fruit and veggies (dipped in honey, peanut butter, hummus)
6. Plain Potato chips
7. Chex cereal many types (mix with nuts and dry berries for yummy trail mix)
8. Jello (it is just so fun) 
9. Fruit Leathers
10. Betty Crocker gluten free cookies, cakes, and brownies (add some chopped walnuts yummy!)
11. Naked pre-cooked nuggets (we buy blue ribbon brand)
12. Oscar Meyer select hot dogs
13. Peanut Butter (on a spoon)
14. Bisquick Gluten Free mix- makes easy pancakes and waffles (add walnuts, berries, chocolate chips)
15. Hunts canned mushroom flavor spaghetti sauce ($1/can AWESOME with cooked ground beef and rice spaghetti)
16. DeBoles Gluten Free Penne and Spaghetti
17. Back to Nature Multi Seed crackers
18. Thai Kitchen Rice Noodles (some have dairy)

Specialty Gluten and dairy free foods we enjoy (most of which we only enjoy as a special treat because of cost!):

1. Glutino gluten free pretzels 
2. Envirokidz Organic Lemur Peanut Choco Rice Bar
3. KinniTOOS Chocolate Sandwich Creme (like GFCF oreos)
4. Tinkyada brown rice pasta shells
5. Lucy's cookies
6. Envirokidz Leaping Lemurs Cereal 
7. Envirokidz Gorilla Munch
8. Envirokidz Koala Crisps (great for making rice crispy bars) 
9. San J Organic Gluten-free Tamari Soy Sauce (essential for all our Asian cooking)
10.  Annie's Homegrown Snickerdoodle Bunny Cookies
11. Pop Chips (not all flavors dairy free)
12. Pirate booty (not all flavors dairy free)
13. Glutino Wafers
14. Applegate farms (many products!) our favorites are chicken nuggets and breakfast sausage
15. Ian's fish sticks and mini corn dogs
16. Goldbaums Ice Cream Cones
17. Spectrum Natuals Organic Shortening (needed for cake frosting)  

 

I plan to continually update the lists!

Breakfast Smoothies

 

This morning we had smoothies and dry cereal while watching a little educational t.v. 

Here is my recipe:

Frozen mixed fruit (from Costco's frozen isle) -about half blender full

silken tofu -half a pack

sugar- 2 heaping spoonfulls

Orange Juice- about 2 cups

Blend all until smoothe

I love these mixed tropical frozen fruits from Costco, and I like the tofu because it gives it more protein. We sometimes use Strawberries and almond milk instead of mixed fruit and OJ! 

What is your favorite smoothie?

Week 1: Meal Planning

The most difficult thing for me when starting was trying to meal plan with picky kids. That being said my son's willingness to try things has increased and our options are much broader than when we first started. If you are feeling desperate and don't know where to start hopefully this will help you! Since it is Tuesday (and payday) the plan starts on Wednesday.

Wednesday:

Breakfast- Chocolate Muffins and fruit
Lunch- Lunch meat, Glutino Pretzels, fruit
Dinner- experiment with tuna casserole (did not go over well)


Thursday:
Breakfast- Leaping Lemurs Cereal, fruit smoothies
Lunch- Peanut Butter and Jelly pancakes, fruit
Dinner- Spaghetti and salad


Friday:
Breakfast- waffles and syrup
Lunch- chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries
Dinner- left over Spaghetti


Saturday:
Breakfast- cereal and smoothies
Lunch-chicken nuggets, pretzels, fruit
Dinner-(probably Subway or Pei Wei)



Sunday:
Breakfast- Waffles and syrup
Lunch- Salmon Patties and salad
Dinner- Coconut curry chicken, steamed veggies and rice

Monday:
Breakfast- Pineapple upside down cake
Lunch- left overs
Dinner- Sweet and Sour Pork, stir fry noodles 

Tuesday:
Breakfast- Pineapple upside down cake
Lunch- Sweet and Sour Pork and noodles
Dinner- sausage, onion and bok choy stir fry

I will try to put recipes up for each item as we make it!

Chocolate muffins or cupcakes: Protien rich breakfast and treat!

Today I stumbled upon a can of garbanzo beans and got really excited!! (I am in need of a grocery trip) I was excited because I thought we were out. I have been really wanting to make some muffins. If you are just starting Gluten Free Dairy Free cooking you may have found there are PLENTY of recipes out there on the world wide web. If you have started trying to make them you (like me) have probably figured out a good percentage of them don't turn out very tasty. I was starting to become convinced gluten free people may have gained their health back, but lost there taste buds!
So my promise to you as a gluten free mommy blogger is every recipe I publish has been made in my kitchen. Also by me and my kids standards it tastes good (not just edible!). I will not garauntee they are healthy, they probably do not have a low glycimic index, and they may not be fully balanced (but can be if you add fruits, veggies etc). I only claim they taste good. Good enough that my kids will ask for more!

Another wonderful appliance I have gotten my money's worth from since going gluten free is my food processor which you will need for this recipe. I use it several times a week. It is 10 cup "Better Homes and Garden" brand.

The muffins/cupcakes are modified from a recipe on all recipes linked here 


I do not follow the recipe exactly as I use a little extra on the chocolate chips, I add a teaspoon of vanilla and extra sugar :)

So my recipe is this:
 In food processor I dump:

1 can drained garbanzo beans
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 cup of sugar
4 eggs

In a ramekin I microwave :
2 cups of chocolate chips - 30 secs then stir, then microwave 10 sec and stir until all chocolate is melted.
***Careful to not burn the chocolate or your muffins will taste like burnt chocolate which taste BAD!! If you want to be a little cautious you can start with 10 seconds at a time microwaving**

Pour melted chocolate in processor and process until well blended. I let it sit and rest about 5 minutes after processing to let eggs deflate. Then I use a large spoon and fill my cupcake liners about 3/4 full and cook at 350 for 25 minutes. I always check with a toothpick that they are done. Also I have deflated the middle by opening the oven.

Also today to try and get maximum height I slowly increased the oven temp as the cupcakes grew. I started it at 330 and everytime it reached temp I increased it 5 degrees. This way the fire (we have gas) never turned off. When they finished the temp way 360. This was just an experiment and it worked (don't ask me why it may just be a coincidence). I got the tallest cupcakes I have made yet with this recipe. They did shrink a bit when cooling but it is better than normal. Normally they fall a little in the center. These were flat and some actually a little round. Yay! I better go take a picture before they are all eaten up!

I love this recipe because it is so protein rich. It makes a great quick easy breakfast. Also I love having leftovers to help avoid cooking for a meal or two!




Please take a moment to answer in the comments (and add any comments on the post of course!)

What is your favorite breakfast food and why?

Chicken Nuggets - a kids staple and cooking ahead

One of the best investments in cooking tools that we have purchased since going allergy free is our mini fry daddy. I am still in disbelief that I actually own an appliance for deep frying since I have always been such a crazy health nut. Priorities changed though when I needed my allergy free child to eat. Plus he is so skinny a little deep frying might do some good.

About once every couple of weeks we break out the fryer and make a bunch of something. This time we made sweet potatoe fries and chicken nuggets. We marinade 7 breast in a bowl of zesty italian ($1/bottle) and let it sit in the fridge at least one hour (longer = more flavor). I like to use my kitchen sissors and cut the breast up into chuncks before they marinade (more flavor), but my husband marinates then cuts them with a knife. The kids like them no matter what. It is really hard to mess up deep frying hence the regularity of doing it.

To bread the pieces we use 1/2 potato starch and half corn masa (corn flour for making corn tortillas). My husband like to add spices to the mix, like paprika, italian seasoning, cajun mix. I just add some salt and pepper. We like to use a plastic bag and put the (wet) marinated chicken pieces in the bag and shake. You could also use a plate and coat each side but it will probably take longer.

We use peanut oil and fry the chicken pieces in a basket approx 5 mins. We put paper towles on a baking sheet and dump them out. We serve them for that meal and make pleanty of left overs. We put the left overs in a freezer bag, roll the air out and freeze. When we are ready to use we take out the desired # of nuggets (and fries) then microwave (about 1 min for 8 nuggets).

If you want a consistancy more like asian sweet and sour (fried) chicken you can use a corn starch dip. First you put a cup of cornstarch the add a cup of water then stir. Let that sit about an hour (until water starts seperating) and pour off excess water. Now you have a sticky paste. Dry the meat and dip then fry. This will need a sauce on top post frying -traditionally sweet and sour. 

I love to have a quick easy non-cook kid food available in the freezer. When we first went allergy free we were buying chicken nuggets and they were $8/box. One box would feed both kids twice (maybe three times if we really stretched it). We could not afford to feed them several dollars in nuggets too often! I was relutant to buy a fryer but I can say it paid for it's self on the first batch of nuggets we made. We have also breaded and baked nuggets and meats, as well as pan fry, but the results are not always as sucessful with the kids. The breading falls off much easier and is not as crispy. We still do it because  it IS healthier, but sometimes I just need to have something I KNOW my kids will excitedly eat and that can be heated up fast! Fried nuggets do that for us.

Please take a moment to answer in the comments (and add any comments on the post of course!)
What is your preferred "go to" kid meal in a time crunch?

I am not cooking dinner tonight!

Tonight we had beanie weenies and spinach salad as a dinner.
To make beanie weenies you cut up:
2-3 hotdogs (and stir together in a pot with)
1 family sized can of Bush's baked beans

Salad was pre-washed spinach (from Costco), a cut up tomato and thousand island dressing

Ironically the first day I decide to write it the blog is a day I felt particularly unmotivated to cook. But I thought why not blog about this? When I first started trying to feed our family Gluten Free feeling unmotivated to cook was something I had to just get over. It was not much of an option. I had already fed my kids cereal that was $6/box for breakfast, nuggets that were $8/box for lunch, and for dinner I needed to cook because I did not have many other options. But we have been gluten and dairy free for almost a year. I am finally at a place where I can take nights off of "real" cooking.
Yesterday I went to a gluten free expo in Dallas and it was expensive (like everything gluten free) but fun. It turned out to be well worth the money in "free" goodies. I have half a year of lunch bag goodies to send my son to school with! Also he had a great time getting to sample all the treats and I loved not having to stress about hidden gluten.
The expo reminded me of when we first went allergen free. There were a lot of items there that I tried and turns out we did not like. Many of them very expensive and hard to consume.There were also many new and tasty items as well as some that have become tasty staples in our pantry. I will say the best part was just getting to try a lot of things without buying them. When we first changed our diet the hardest part was trying very expensive food just to find our kids did not like it. We spent over 4 times our normal grocery budget the first month. We have managed to get it down quite a bit since (by cooking mostly from scratch), but we still struggle to keep it at twice what it was before we made the switch. Also cooking most meals from scratch was incredibly hard when we first started since a lot of the recipes turned out to taste terrible. Now a year later we have our favorite recipes that the parents and kids love. It is much easier and honestly not too big of a deal now that we have been doing it a year. The nights when no one feels like cooking we have a small list of options which are not the most delicious but work for a meal on a long day. Also on nights we do cook we have found many recipes we all like that are not too time consuming. We try to do some major cooking about one day a week such as baking, making waffles or frying and we try to do enough for putting extra in the freezer. All in all our time in the kitchen has decreased dramatically since first changing our families diet, and our spending has also gone down by over $1000/month (Which is really great since I have quit "working"-for income, and we have had a baby in that time).



Please take a moment to answer in the comments (and add any comments on the post of course!)
What do you do for dinner when you do not want to cook?