I shaved $397 off of my allergen-friendly grocery bill!

[mamaheids]

And this was including holiday baking supplies/food. AND we continued to eat mostly organic/sustainably. Some of you may remember that I posted here last month for ideas of how to cut my family's grocery bill. (Was upwards of $1000/month.) I'm eating a very special diet because of a sensitive nursling and while that kept us out of restaurants, it had me frequenting Whole Paycheck a little too much. Anyways, I just wanted to share my sucess! This is how I did it.
I planned 4 weeks worth of meals. I put each meal on a little sticky note so that I could re-arrange as needed within the week that meal was in.
All of the recipes I chose required no special diet-friendly ingredients.
I used my crockpot quite a bit, and we ate leftovers even if we didn't "feel" like it. I also combined coupons (often printed off the internet) with sales at our co-op. I made a price book for our Coop, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Costco and a local grocery store. I now only go to TJ's and WF once a month each instead of once a week. The biggest saver tho, I'd say would be the meal plan. Knowing what we were eating, and when in general saved me so much "winging" it in the grocery store, which meant I wasn't spending aimlessly on foods that I thought I could make a meal out of "sometime".
I'm so so so happy I did this....on to plan another month's worth of meals!

[2cutiekitties]

Congrats

Could you post your meal plan ?

[bjorker]

Thanks for the motivation! I have to eat gluten free, and DP has to eat for diabetes and heart disease, so we have a lot of trouble with our food budget. I am soooo not a planner though, and not very knowledgeable in the kitchen (and am slowwwww at everything I make), so I find it really hard to meal plan and stick with it. We need a total overhaul with the way we eat and prepare food. Especially because we are having issues with money right now. Anyway, reading this is helpful, so thanks.

[mamaheids]

Thanks ladies! If I can do it, anyone can. I finally admitted to myself that I HATE to cook, (which is really weird because I love food and love to eat, and even read cookbooks/magazines/food blogs) but I really have no choice about cooking with the intolerances thing. The only place we can eat out at is for sushi (without soy sauce) and I think I can order one thing with modifications at Noodles. So my meal plan is really really simple, easy stuff. I'll post it later when I have more time- like when my girls are resting/sleeping.
A blog that has helped me/alerted me to coupons is moneysavingmom.com- ocassionally there will be links to coupons from Muir Glen, Newmans Own etc.

[annethcz]

Woo hoo!

[mamaheids]

Here is my meal plan! Next to each week I have listed my grocery errands for that week, in prep for the meals. I only plan dinners, see below for what we generally eat for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. As I said before, I put the meals on sticky notes and re-arrange them if I need to within the week. (Sometimes we need to eat up leftovers etc.)
I wrote down everything I serve, though I personally don't eat the extras like bread or cheese on certain meals since the nursling is intolerant. I hope this helps!

Week 1 (Co-op, Trader Joes)
Mon- Ground Turkey Spaghetti over brown rice noodles, steamed veg.
Tues- Salmon, steamed/roasted veg and rice/quinoa
Weds- Chicken Tortilla Soup (crockpot) with cheese, chips, sour cream
Thurs- Leftovers
Friday/Sat/Sun- Burritos (pork or chicken) w/wheat and brown rice tortillas, salsa avocado, tomatoes, sour cream and refried beans


Week 2 (Woodmans and Whole Foods)
Mon-Chicken Caccitore (Crockpot) over brown rice noodles or rice
Tues- Takeout sushi
Weds- Lentil-sweet potato soup
Thurs- Shrimp and ham jambalaya
Fri/Sat/Sun- Leftovers

Week 3 (Co-op, Costco)
Mon- Rotisserie chicken (Costco) potatoes, vegetable
Tues-Chicken and rice soup, salad (bread)
Weds- Breakfast for dinner (bacon, gf pancakes, eggs)
Thurs- Turkey chili, cornbread/rice
Fri/Sat/Sun- white fish, potatoes, veg

Week 4 (Woodmans/Copps or Co-op if not week before)
Mon- Chicken Curry (Trader Joes simmer sauce), rice, veg
Tues- Sloppy lentils/joes (crockpot), bread, salad
Weds- Leftovers
Thurs- Roast turkey breast, sweet potatoes, veg
Fri/Sat/Sun- Pizza (I eat leftovers), salad


Breakfasts are: Frozen waffles/pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, yogurt/granola, quinoa, brown rice cereal, dry cereal and fruit
Lunches: Leftovers, salads with chicken, Annies mac n’cheese, raw veggies/hummus and fruit
Snacks: fruit, nuts, crackers
We drink water, tea, organic fair trade coffee, coconut milk, organic cows milk, organic apple juice mixed with H20, and sometimes orange juice, oh, and 3 buck chuck wine! (Occasional beer for DH)

I am dairy, soy, gluten, egg, corn, oat, beef and pea-free. Other solid-food eaters include my husband and 3 ½ year old. They don’t have any dietary restrictions, although DH has high cholesterol and we are trying to limit DD’s dairy intake. (She has been complaining of tummy aches after dairy consumption.)

ETA: we usually eat at other's houses once per weekend and eat up leftovers which is why Fri/Sat/Sun has only one meal loosely planned

[MangoMommy]

Awesome!! I so need to do this!

[bjorker]

Thanks for sharing your meal plan, too. That's also a big help.

[kittywitty]

Thank you so much for this. It seems like I'm on an elim diet every other month!

It says cheese and sour cream in your menu-was that just for dh? Or did you find dairy and soy free kinds?

[Violet2]

Just FYI Angel Food Ministries sells a pack of gluten, dairy, nut, egg free frozen breaded meat. Don't know if it will work for you or how it compares price-wise to what you do now, but I thought I would mention it.

V

[mamaheids]

Originally Posted by kittywitty

Thank you so much for this. It seems like I'm on an elim diet every other month!

It says cheese and sour cream in your menu-was that just for dh? Or did you find dairy and soy free kinds?

Nope, sorry to get your hopes up! The cheese/sour cream IS indeed just for dh. I find the avocado does a good job making up for the creamy texture that the sour cream/cheese would normally provide.

[mamaheids]

Originally Posted by Violet2

Just FYI Angel Food Ministries sells a pack of gluten, dairy, nut, egg free frozen breaded meat. Don't know if it will work for you or how it compares price-wise to what you do now, but I thought I would mention it.

V

Most breaded anything has corn it it too! So it won't work for me, but thank you for mentioning it Violet, because it may help other mamas who have to eliminate but can still eat corn.

[_ktg_]

Thank you for posting your meal planning... I'm trying to plot out just going gf and this is a huge help!