Meals for the week

Ever since going gluten free, one of the most common things I hear is "Isn't that expensive?" or "that seems like too much work." While I can't make up Hamburger Helper or just grab a frozen pizza (Actually Amy's makes one that is GF), its not as hard or pricey as it sounds. Here are our meals for this week.

In no particular order (b/c we usually decide what we want to make the day of):

1. Cookout Meal: Baked Beans with Ground Beef, Coleslaw, and Potato Salad
The nice thing about these dishes is that they can be made ahead. You can make them when convienient and then just pop the beans in the oven to heat up.

Baked Beans
1 lb ground beef
1 lb bacon
2 cans of Bush's Original (22 oz)
Medium Onion-diced
1/2 cup Montgomery Inn or favorite barbecue sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
mustard

Brown bacon and remove from pan. Drain most of the bacon grease. Add onion to pan and cook for 3-5 minutes, then add ground beef and cook till brown. Add in other ingredients with just a squirt around the pan of mustard. (I also add hot sauce) Transfer contents to a 9x13 baking dish and put in oven for 30-40 minutes at 350. You can also put in a crock pot. The longer this sits the better it gets!
( I only made a 1/2 recipe of this and we still had a bunch of leftovers)

Creamy Carolina Cole Slaw-from the Southern Living 2005 Annual Recipes Cookbook

1 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp hot sauce
2 (16 oz) pkgs of shredded coleslaw mix

Stir together everything but the shredded mix. Then add slaw and cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Bacon Potato Salad-from the Southern Living Cookbook
Note: I modified this b/c I already had so much bacon in the beans

6 to 8 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled (left out)
6 green onions
2 celery ribs (left out)
2 Tbsp. diced pimiento (left out)
3/4 tsp sale
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
things I added: capers, fresh parsley

Cook potatoes and cool. Mix together all other ingredients and toss gently with potatoes. Cover and chill for at least an hour.

2. A Southern Gumbo Night

Southern Gumbo-from Allrecipes
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southern-Gumbo/Detail.aspx

Cornbread- package of Bob's Red Mill Cornbread Mix + 2 Tbsp. of sugar

Key Lime Pie for dessert- Allrecipes ( I made this the night before so it had time to sit in the freezer)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Key-Lime-Pie-I/Detail.aspx

3. Pizza Chicken and Pasta

My friend Kim makes this and always tells me about it.

Bake chicken in oven until mostly done. Add spaghetti sauce ( I used Ragu) and any toppings you would put on your pizza. I used mushrooms and pepperoni. Top with shredded mozzerella and put back in the oven until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese melts.

We serve this with a GF pasta with butter and parmesean tossed in.

4.Lemon Thyme Chicken Wings

You can serve this with french fries and apple sauce or something healthier like a side salad.

5. Ham and Swiss Breakfast Pie-from Southern Living 2005

Because my husband loves brinner (breakfast for dinner) I usually make one a week.

1 2/3 cups water

1 cup whipping cream

2 garlic cloves, pressed

2 Tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2/3 cup uncooked quick cooking grits

1 1/4 cups shredded swiss cheese

8 large eggs

1/2 bl cooked ham, diced

4 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup milk

Bring 1st six ingredients to a boil. Whisk in grits vigorously or they will clump. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 yo 7 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cheese until melts. Remove from heat. Lightly beat 2 eggs and still into grits mixture and pour into a 10" deep dish pieplate.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, remove and increase oven to 400.

Saute ham and onions for 5 minutes. Layer mixture over grits crust. Whisk together milk and remaining six eggs; pour over mixture. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup cheese.

Bake at 400 for 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minues, and cut into wedges.

Serve with fresh fruit.

Sorry about the double spacing all of a sudden. If anyone knows why blogger suddenly started doing this please let me know! :) Oh and another thing, my grocery bill for the week, including some other stuff I bought for breakfast and lunches, was only $51.49. I did already have chicken from Sams, and a lb of ground beef in the freezer, but as you can see, you can easily do 5 meals for under $75 for the week.