meal planning challenge-help please

[paganmum]

OK long story short due to a bunch of bills coming up for payment things are tight for the next couple of weeks. Right now I have a crockpot of soup going and I'm not turning it off until I feel that we can get through otherwise with out it, I just keep adding too it to change it up a little for each meal. Not exactly the healthiest way to go but I figure it will keep our bellies full.

My challenge is this, I have a Ds who is alleregic to coconut (doesn't really cause a problem with meals) and due to an adversion to certail textures will not eat veggies or fruit he will eat meat and carbs, there is Dd1 who has her issues that restrict her diet to raw veggies, some cooked veggies, some cooked meat, almost no bread but other carbs and she can't really let her have any artifical colors/preservatives/etc or her behavior issues really flare up, Dd2 will eat anything still (especially if it is on my plate and Dh is pretty picky but will eat if it is put in front of him.

I have been trying to make everything from scratch so I make the bread and all that stuff. I have pasta (spagetti and tricolor rotini) stashed and that will help to get us through the next couple of weeks, I also have ground beef int the freezer and if used sparingly that will last us until Dh's next paycheck as well. I have some dried beans and that about covers what I have stashed other then the remainder of my spices. I know I'm going to need to buy flour and milk. Should I just keep the soup pot going and buy veggies? Or do any wise mommas have some tip for other restricted diet freindly meals and maybe snack ideas for the three walking stomachs I have to keep at bay? Any advice is more then welcome.

TIA

[moondiapers]

If you let me know what's in your pantry I can come up with some ideas. Also I just posted in another thread where someone asked for help with a 7 day menu. See if you have the stuff to make any of those meals.

[moondiapers]

Oh, and YES. I'd buy frozen veggies because you get more bang for you buck that way. I might not keep the soup pot going though because the oldest ingredients will start to scorch. I'd Start it over each day before meal time and add the left over ingredients back in when the new ingredients are almost done cooking.

[paganmum]

I have pasta (four boxes of spagetti and about three meals worth of tricolor rotini), ground beef in the freezer, some dried beans (about a pound of white/navy beans actually), a can of stewed tomatos, 5 eggs, a box and a half of cereal, enough oats and flour for one more big loaf of bread that the family likes and less then half a gallon of milk currently.

I have to watch preservatives etc so that makes things hard or I would hit Aldi and get cheap stuff but most canned stuff can't be fed to Dd1.

[moondiapers]

I'd try to stick to the basics. beans, rice, pasta, veggies. You should have at least one beans meal a week, two if your family won't rebell.

1: beans and tortillas (hillbilly housewife has a tortilla recipe with flour)

2: pasta and stewed tomatoes

3: beans and rice

Those are just some ideas. So maybe you should buy Milk, flour, rice.....left over cooked rice with milk and cinnimon is a fave breakfast for my kids. Check the churches too. There is a local church in my town that cooks a lunch from scratch and serves it to the community for free once a week. You may have some resources like that. The kids and I volunteer to help out once a month and the volunteers always get fed as well.....and get to bring home the left overs.

[Treasuremapper]

Just one more thought: in my mind, food comes first, so when I see a lot of competing expenses on the horizon I sometimes buy grocery gift cards and dole them out every few days. It helps me stay on budget and keeps things clear since dh and I share a joint account.

[paganmum]

I'll look at hillbillie housewife's tortilla recipe. Thanks for the heads up on that.

I don't think that it would have been so bad if it wasn't the choice between utilities (all the utilities are on one bill through the city) with the cold weather or food. I might see if Dh could be talked into going to a food bank or something.

[terrordactyl]

you don't need to talk your dh into it just go and if he has a problem be like "well i already went" especially if you need the food. feeding your children is your first priority. (hope i didn't offend)

[wife&mommy]

I think rice is really cheap and good for filling you up, you could add that to the soup for sure. Then do one of rice and beans with your spices. Then you could do a "fried" rice just a little different with some of your veggies. Sometimes too I just like a bowl of rice with some salt... I don't know why I like that. Mushroom gravy with rice would be good too. You could make a stroganoff type thing too with your ground beef over rice. Meatballs would help your ground beef go a long way. Good luck mama!

[Treasuremapper]

Never mind, they don't serve Illinois, but you can double check:

http://www.angelfoodministries.com

[Treasuremapper]

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/states.asp?st=il

OK, I double checked myself, and I was wrong! The list of pickups in Illinois is above. This is a great bargain, no qualifications necessary. Since you are named paganmum I have to guess that you are not Christian, but I would not let that deter you. Food is food, and you need food.

I hope all goes well.