Saving Money and the "what's for dinner" blues

Being new to the whole coupon scene I find saving any amount of money a good day. We don't really stock pile much food and the items that are on coupons we really can't have due to the Dairy allergy or just to much sodium. Prepacked foods that fall under the coupons most if not all have some form of dairy in it, or are just so unhealthy for toddlers that I can't justify purchasing it for when I am to lazy to cook.

I have been trying to cook simple, quick and of course dairy free meals. How has been possible for us since we live on pretty much a single income and I have been taking care of both our food allergy son but also his non food allergy big (15 months older) sister? Some days are a simple pasta dinners or more interesting crock pot meals, for days where i am either to busy or to tired to try to take care of dinner.

Here are some ways that I am able to save money and maybe some of them might help your or your friends family to be able to provide food.

1) Wic- Now I know that there is a stigma to this government program, but let me say that they have been a very important part to our success as providing food for both of our kids. My son was allergic to not only animal dairy but all animal dairy including my breast milk. We went through 6 different formulas till we were able to find one that he was able to keep down at least some of when he was eating. He was born with a few medical issues making feeding him and giving him nutrients he needed to survive. The most expensive of these trail formulas was $75 a bottle and the bottles were smaller then the size of a small Gerber formula container. Wic was always able to give us the formulas we needed and now that he  is over a year old they are now giving us his toddler formula as well. His current formula is $19 a can sure that sounds doable but he was going through 5 cans a month and still is that formula alone cost roughly $95. That is JUST his formula they also give my daughter her milk, beans, bread, eggs, juice, and we get a monthly allowance of $16 for fresh fruits and veggies. If you qualify for Wic and are having issues with being able to provide healthy vitamin filled foods I suggest really looking into this program. Because of them my kids and my family are able to eat fresher better foods in a processed unhealthy world.

2) Rewards cards- I use Winn-Dixie for a majority of my shopping. Though it is more expensive then Aldi which I also shop at and Walmart that I refuse to shop at due to quality, Winn- Dixie has a great baby perks system and the amazing FUEL PERKS. The perks system is really simple sign up for the free Winn Dixie card. I signed up for both fuel perks and baby perks. For every $50 or if you purchase items that have fuel perks attached you get money towards gas off at Shell locations. Baby perks gives you coupons every month for items that you purchase a lot plus coupons for Diapers, Wipes, baby food, and baby item/bath product every packet. As well as every $25 you get money towards baby perks. With this alone I save tons of money, not to mention reward members also get certain foods on sale like fresh fruits and veggies even meats.

3) Coupons and Coupons site- I also use coupons from coupons.com as well as coupons that come in the smart source we get in the Thursday paper. I also have started to use Saving star which has a fresh fruit or veggie as a featured product for coupons. Today the healthy item is 20% off broccoli. This site is connected to my Winn Dixie card so when I purchase the item it gets taken off at the register.

4) Pinterest- I bet some of you are thinking, "How can a site that makes you want to put pom poms on pine cones for a Thanksgiving centerpiece help you save money on food?" It is really simple and one of my biggest money saving secrets. When I go shopping I stop at the Meats section and see what is either on sale or cheap. Then I log onto pinterest through the stores wifi and type in the piece of meat and recipes. If I find something that sounds good, that I have either all the ingredients for or most of them, and if it is a dairy free or easily turned into a dairy free meal, I buy it. Not only does it keep cost down but keeps the kitchen interesting. Just yesterday I made a meal of Pork Neck bones in a Jamaican style int eh crock pot with onions, vinegar and spices. I only had to buy the ginger, onion and pork neck bones at the store everything else i had. The neck bones came 2 to a package it was $3.58 for one and the other was $3.18. It feed 6 people and the whole meal was under $9 for everything. And the most amazing part is that it was really really good and fresh.

Hope that this list of things you find helpful. I really love using pinterest. It works with all diets and that is pretty cool if you think about it.

In the end everything I do is so I can see these two amazing people smile and I know that we may not have much but I know that they are eating well and not all this unhealthy cheap easy foods. I don't like being on government assistance but I will do what ever it takes to keep my kids healthy. That is what is most important.

Dairy free in the kitchen

My husband has been back to work now for a week. With the company he works for he can be home anywhere from 5 to 8pm and sometimes though not many even later. I remember one time before he deployed he came home after 10pm. Anyway, due to his work eating out is not as easy as it was before he went back to work. It has made me cook a lot more at home then ever before. It is more then that though, I now spend a minimum of an hour at the grocery store most of the time I am reading labels, of some of our old staples then standing their in the store trying to figure out how to make my husband's favorite foods into something our son can eat. This is not easy. I wish that there was an app that you could just scan the barcode of and it would flash green for its dairy free, yellow if it is used on shared lines or in a place that has dairy and red for it has dairy in it. To bad i am not in anyway techie enough to do this.

This past week I have made a number of dairy free meals some keepers some tweaks and some never again. So far my greatest success has been the chocolate pudding.

Using nothing but 1/4c sugar, 1/2c dark chocolate Hersey's cocoa powder and 1 box of silken tofu. All you have to do is put it in a blender and then let it sit in the fridge. Everyone loved this, my daughter a picky 2 year old, my son the dairy allergy child, myself, my mom and my dad. The only one who did not like it was my even pickier husband. After a quick consult with my vegetarian best friend, I figured out that the "sour" taste he was having was due to his not liking of dark chocolate. He is willing to try it again but with a "milk" chocolate substituted for the dark. I like dark chocolate, so if you do to then you should really try this delicious dairy free dessert.

I know think I am going to post some of my more fun meals once a week. Maybe tasty Tuesdays or something like that.