It’s so hard to believe that we are past the ides of January and moving quickly into the twenties! 2010 is off to a pretty good start for me, aside from a really nasty head cold I had been battling since last week. I finally started feeling better after taking some zinc today, and after a few more doses of supplemental zinc, I feel no conjestion! Who knew? Anyway, back to the pantry challenge update:
The fridge is looking delightfully less crowded, and I’m able to maneuver a bit more into the freezer.
Everyone is still happily eating whatever is serve (thanks to a nice arsenal of nitrate-free hot dogs I got on the major cheap at Grocery Outlet awhile back).
There’s still plenty of frozen fish and beef in the freezer, and frozen vegetables as well. We have a CSA vegetable pick-up this week, which should add some fresh variety to our plate!
I’ve been really craving liver (probably because of the high amount of zinc) lately and fished out a frozen liverwurst from US Wellness Meats to eat. I also have a pound of pastured duck livers I’m looking forward to making into a delicious pate.
All in all, there are plenty of goods left to go around easily through the end of the month. I’m even hoping to keep to my low-spend month and do my daughter’s 5th birthday party pretty much for free! (I will update on that next week!)
No Spend Update
So far, there’s been a little more spending than I had originally anticipated. An unexpected car repair and an unforeseen need to purchase a set of bunk beds for my children (the person we were borrowing my son’s crib from needed it back, hence the need for a bunk bed!). Fortunately, we got an amazing deal on a very high quality set of beds that will last as long my kids are in the house! They were already priced reasonably, but were on sale for $100 off, with an additional 17% off!!! Our car repair was also much less than we had anticipated.
All things told, our spending has been significantly reduced this month thanks to the Pantry Challenge. Food purchases have been very limited to organic cream and raw cheese (the former of which we found on a fantastic price reduction at Fred Meyer the other day!) We’ve been buying only the basic household essentials, which we’ve been able to get fantastic deals on with coupons at Walgreen’s!
If you haven’t already, check out my recent post on Organic and Thrifty Coupon Deals where you can find coupons that actually help you save on REAL food and green products!
Here’s the menu plan for the following week:
Monday:
B: almond flour pancakes with cinnamon-apple kraut
L: salami & raw cheese, apples & almond butter
D: cabbage burger bake (in crock pot)
*make dehydrated crackers
Tuesday:
B:eggs fried in butter and coconut oil with cortido
L: leftovers/liverwurst/veggies
D: Mustard Roast with Green Beans (slow cooker)
Wednesday:
B: squash pudding
L: miso soup, sardines
D: Crock Pot Honey Lentils with Sauteed Spinach
Thursday:
B: almond flour muffins
L:deviled eggs, tuna, salad greens
D: leftover buffet
*begin soaking navy beans
Friday:
B: Grain-Free Granola
L: leftovers
D: navy bean & kale soup (in crock pot)
Saturday:
B: hazelnut-vanilla pancakes (almond flour)
L: leftovers/soup
D: shredded beef (use leftover roast) with BBQ sauce and green beans
Be sure to visit The Organizing Junkie for more menu plan inspiration!
Very creative menu plan! Love how you use the crockpot so often, sure makes life easier! I need to clean out my freezer, too. Thanks for inspiring me.
I’m really enjoying seeing your menus! We’re doing the Eat From Our Pantry Challenge now and gearing up to start the GAPS diet in a couple weeks. It’s nice to see that it is possible to do both. The GAPS diet is so intimidating to me that it’s reassuring to see someone succeed at both!
Your cinnamon-apple kraut sounds very tempting…Would you mind sharing the recipe?
Thanks
.
Greetings,
Regular reader, first time commenting:
I have a two year old who basically shuns anything with meat/chicken/fish/eggs…. He often just eats bread and butter with milk when we have a dinner that includes these high quality proteins. He has a major sweet tooth, but I really don’t keep much junk in the house. I should probably just toughen up and let him get really hungry. What’s been your experience with training your kids’ palettes? I don’t want to cater to him, but I don’t want to be unreasonable either. Thanks for any input!
@Janice,
Yes,it is possible!!! I know GAPS seems overwhelming at first, but it’s amazing how it really does work! Keep us posted on how things are going!!!
@Nicole,
Nice to hear from you!!! I totally know where you’re at; my daughter was there until she was about 3. She was very carb-addicted. When we went “cold turkey” I did just have to toughen up and let her get really hungry….for a day or two. By then, she wanted to eat whatever was served and gobbled it up. It’s funny; she is now the biggest meat eater there ever was! She loves her veggies too….because those are the only options around here! Nuts and some fruit are also available, but initially she didn’t even eat fruit when we were getting her off of starches and sugars.
It’s hard at first, but really worth it. I think it’s reasonable. I think of my brother, who is now almost 20, but was totally carb-addicted as a kid. As the youngest of 4, he pretty much got to eat whatever he wanted. I used to say he loved to eat anything “white”.
I can tell you right now that looking back, he wishes he would have been broken of the habit earlier before he got to the point where he was suffering from asthma, lethargy, foggy brain, etc. He’s suffered from candida as well. So, as with all things concerning kids, it’s always easier to do things earlier than later!
I would recommend soups (homemade with real stock) during the transition timej. Most kids who aren’t big meat eaters will still eat soup with small bits of meat and veggies. The broth makes the meat more digestible as well. It’s also very filling and seems to satisfy carb cravings. Coconut oil and good fats also really help keep kids satisfied.
If you do have bread, it can be served after the meal is eaten to your satisfaction. What will happen over time is that the child’s body will actually crave the nourishing food. Bread doesn’t have to be totally taboo….but it can be a “motivating tool” for getting the other food in.
Please keep me posted on how it goes!
Carrie
@Alchemille,
I will share it soon!!!!
Thanks!
Carrie
Thanks for your perspective on toddler nutrition! Sounds like a little tough love may be in our small guy’s near future.
I’ll keep you posted. Thanks again.
Ooh, I can’t wait for the cinnomin-apple kraut recipe! I just started the GAPS Diet, and I appreciate the thrifty inspiration.
I would LOVE to know what type of crackers you are making that are GAPS allowed. I am just starting this diet and would love a cracker recipe. THANKS!
Paula,
You bet! I will share them in an upcoming post!
Stay tuned….
Carrie
Hi! I am getting ready to start GAPS with my kids (4, 6, 7) and have been scouring your blog for recipes.
THANKS for sharing all these helpful menus! I checked out the recipe for honey lentils in the crockpot (we’re huge lentil fans here) and saw that it calls for garbanzo beans/chick peas which I saw listed on the “foods to avoid” list on the gaps diet website. Do you think it’s OK to use them, or did you substitute something else? Also, what did you put in your cabbage burger bake? I use my crockpot almost daily, so I love these ideas!
One last question, have you been able to make the 24 hr. yogurt in a crockpot?