Being able to feed your family well when you have very limited amount of money to spend is something close to my heart. My oldest child was diagnosed with severe developmental delay (and later with autism) right as the construction economy collapsed in 2008. Western medicine wasn’t helping her, and we found that dietary changes helped the most.
As we started dietary intervention to try to get through to this child who wasn’t sleeping, screaming all day, and opening and closing doors excessively, we also had only one car (a red ’91 Izuzu Rodeo that required ratchet straps to keep the back doors from flinging open as we drove), a mountain of credit card debt, food assistance that provided a bazillion gallons of milk and cereal for my child that couldn’t eat dairy or grains, an infant… and a job layoff that lasted for more than 6 months.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
This is us, enjoying the outdoors (free) after she had been on GAPS for a year.
Invention was necessary. I had seen the benefits of eating a grain-free diet for this child, and I wasn’t willing to watch her regress just to save money on food, so I figured out how to do the GAPS diet on a very limited budget.
What is the GAPS diet and how can it help with autism? Click here for an overview of how autism starts in the gut, and here for an overview of the GAPS diet.
You might be in the same position- overwhelmed because you see the need for GAPS or eating grain-free but all the ingredients and recipes look like they’re out of your price range.
Or you might just have a temporary setback where you’d like to cut your grocery bill in half for a month or two so that you can pay down debt, cover a big car repair, or stock your emergency fund.
Either way, if you follow these step-by-step directions, you will see the number in your bank account grow, and your family’s health thrive.
That’s it- I’ve laid it all out below, and if you just DO it, you will be eating well, while saving possibly hundreds of dollars THIS month.
Poor is a state of mind, broke is “I’m just passing through” ~ Dave Ramsey
Let this class be the change that you need to help you pass through being temporarily broke.
Freezer Cooking Saves Time
Time is another area where people struggling to make ends meet run into trouble. Whether it’s having to do all your errands on your one day off a week due to sharing a car, working multiple side jobs to try to cover the basic bills, or dealing with crisis after crises that comes with living paycheck to paycheck- where there is limited money there often is limited time as well.
That’s why this class is designed to be ‘one and done’. It’s a longer cooking session than my other freezer cooking classes, but once this food is all in your freezer, you will have peace of mind knowing that you have 16+ meals in the freezer that will feed your family dinner for the next two weeks or longer, without causing them health problems.
Equipment & Groceries needed
This class is designed to work with kitchen equipment that you most likely already have, or can borrow easily. The groceries are easy to find in most large supermarkets, and for a low cost, they pack in loads of flavor and nutrition.
Recipes
These are all delicious meals that are staples in our family. Thankfully with a little creativity you can still have delicious food on the cheap that you’ll be proud to serve to company, and will nourish you and your family.
If you are strict paleo (no legumes or dairy), there are some adaptations for you.
These dishes are packaged to serve an average family of four, adjust as needed for your family. The chilis have enough in each package to be used for lunch the next day.
We are making:
We are making:(3-4) Beef-Sausage Stuffed Winter Squash for a gourmet all-in-one meal using all the best flavors of winter.
(4) Shepherd’s Pie Casserole to enjoy this classic comfort food, without the grains.
(3) Napa Chicken Salad gives us one meal to eat on cooking day (you’ll be tired, and thankful that dinner is ready!) and two for the freezer.
(3) Lentil Chili, for those who eat legumes we sprout the lentils for better digestion and then watch as everyone is surprised at how much they actually do love lentils- when they’re seasoned well.
(3) White Chicken Chili, this comforting chili makes enough for company and goes from freezer-to-Instant Pot or slow cooker in a snap. This chili is light, warm, comforting, and filling. My kids love taking it to school in thermoses the next day.
And there are extras as well!
Chicken stock is made to use up the last bit of fantastic nutrition from our chicken, and becomes the base for easy soups or even is enjoyed heated and salted.
Roasted winter squash is a nutrient-dense and delicious side dish, or it can be pureed into chicken stock for a quick soup.
Roasted Squash Seeds provide crunch, saltiness, and a perfect portable snack or addition to your meal.
Kombucha SCOBY Kombucha provides probiotics and is easy to make… if you have a SCOBY (the starter that is used over and over). Here we make a Kombucha SCOBY using store kombucha.
And finally, Coconut Macaroons use the egg whites that are leftover from the yolks that we use to thicken the Chicken Chili, and are an inexpensive sweet treat after a meal that won’t harm your health.
Cost Breakdown
My goal with this class was to have you get as much food as possible made for around $100. The total for me came to $114, but I did purchase organic meat. If you need the total to be lower, you can use conventional meat- your body will do better avoiding inflammatory foods (grains) in most cases than avoiding conventional meat. Do the best with what you have, and let go of the guilt associated with it.
It is assumed here that you have some seasonings (salt, pepper) and other basic ingredients on hand. If you’re starting completely from scratch, add another $10 to the total, and make sure you compare prices as you shop.
After eating these freezer meals for the next 2-4 weeks, you’ll have freed up enough money to purchase organic meat next time.
That’s the beauty of freezer cooking- we use everything and eliminate waste and food purchased outside the home, so the savings really snowballs.
| Dish | Ingredient | Cost |
| Lentil Chili | Lentils, 2 lbs | 1.69 |
| Lentil Chili | Salsa, 1 quart | 1.99 |
| Macaroons | Parchment Paper | 3.59 |
| Macaroons | Honey, 10 oz | 5.49 |
| Macaroons | Shredded Coconut, unsweetened, 12 oz | 5.99 |
| Multiple Dishes | Sweet Onions, 10 lbs | 6.49 |
| Napa Chicken Salad | Chicken Thighs, bone-in skin on, 5 lbs (about 12 total) | 9.98 |
| Napa Chicken Salad | Raisins, or other dried fruit, 1 cup | 1.99 |
| Napa Chicken Salad, to serve | Cabbage, Savoy, 1 | 2.99 |
| SCOBY | Kombucha | 2.99 |
| Shepherd’s Pie | Green beans, 1 pound frozen x 2 packages | 2.78 |
| Shepherd’s Pie | Cake Pans, 4 | 1.30 |
| Shepherd’s Pie | Cauliflower, 2 lbs | 7.58 |
| Stuffed Squash | Apple, 2 large | 2.24 |
| Stuffed squash, Roasted Squash side dish, Squash Seeds | Winter squash, small, 6 total | 9.96 |
| White Chicken Chili | Celery | 1.16 |
| White Chicken Chili | Peppers, Anaheim, 4 | 2.86 |
| White Chicken Chili | Yogurt or Coconut Milk | 1.99 |
| White Chicken Chili | Peppers, Jalapeno | 0.57 |
| White Chicken Chili, Chicken Stock | Chicken, 1 whole | 13.95 |
| White Chicken Chili, GAPS version, to serve | Cheese, shredded, 3 packages | 8.07 |
| White Chicken Chili, Macaroons | Eggs, 18 | 4.29 |
| White Chicken Chili, not paleo version | Navy Beans, 2 Lbs | 2.49 |
| All Dishes | Zip-top Gallon Freezer Bags, 16, to store dishes in | 3.49 |
| All Dishes | Sea Salt | 2.49 |
| Stuffed Squash | Bacon, 1/2 lb | 4.99 |
113.4 |
Cooking overview, printable recipes, and video demonstration
Everything you need to get started with this class is free. The video is above and you can Click Here to Download the Recipes and Instructions (it’s free!). This is my way of giving to those who might not be able to afford a paid class.
This class is also in my Freezer Cooking Class, and if you’d like more variety while continuing to save hundreds of dollars and countless hours every month by freezer cooking, you can learn more here.
If you’re not ready to take on this much hands-on time at once, you might enjoy some of our other classes, like the Paleo Packed Lunch class, Soup Packs, or Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. We currently have 10 different freezer cooking classes up, with more planned for 2017 (you get access to all of them!) Click here to check out the Freezer Cooking Class!
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Oh how I wish! Finding something like this that also is AIP and eliminates FODMAP’s would be a God send. Hopefully we can heal enough to eventually do this, it looks amazing!
Thank you for this! I’m pregnant and prepping for when the baby is here and we don’t have time to cook good meals. I’ll be spending a day next week putting these together.
I’m working on this right now! I’m super excited to find a freezer meal plan that is simple and meets our diet/taste preferences! And it’s super easy to modify to our needs without messing up the flow of things (we still have too many Christmas cookies to make the macaroons!). My only question is this: I don’t see when to start the broth or how much water to start with. So now I’m not sure how much broth should be in the bags with the White Chicken Chili. I assume just fill the bag (allowing room for expansion when it freezes)? Thanks again for sharing this meal plan!!
You’re making a batch during the cooking day to add to the white chicken chili (about 1 quart in each bag, less is okay, just divide what you have evenly) and then a second batch that you do the same with for the lentil chili. For the White Chicken Chili you’ll add 4-5 cups of water to the chili before putting it in the crock pot to cook as well.
The grocery list doesn’t list the ground beef. I bought all the groceries and didn’t read all of the instructions before starting, so had to stop in the middle and send somebody out for ground beef.
I’m sorry! I’m out of town right now but I’ll fix it as soon as I get home.
Thanks! I’m also not sure how to heat the stuffed squash when we are ready to eat it. I guess in the oven? Thanks so much for this! I’m on food stamps and this was as inexpensive as you said and everything looks delicious! I completed day 1 yesterday at 11:30 pm so haven’t tasted anything yet.
Yes, in the oven covered. I need to write the reheating instructions for this one ASAP. I’m really glad that it worked well for you.
Cara,
Thank you for all your hard work putting this together. I’m wondering how much ground beef is needed for these meals. I watched the video and I think I saw you use 6 packages of the Costco organic beef, which would be around 7-8lbs. I can’t remember if their packages are 1.33llbs or 1.5lbs.
Also, just a heads up, the title says 64+ meals instead of 16.
Hi Katie, it’s 64 individual servings :) I just looked at again, and it looks like I did forget the ground beef! Let me look at it again and I’ll make up a grocery list. I thought we already had it- sorry about that!
I’m just confused about what to do. Every solution seems to turn out to be no solution at all for me. I cannot eat the beans. And lentils are one of the very few foods that I truly duslike enough to just not usually be able to manage to make myself eat them. This says it has paleo adaptations but when I clicked on the chili recipe to see if it looked workable with whatever adaptation was offered I never saw anything but the ingredient list and directions for white beans. Did I just miss it somehow? I’m so weary. I’ve beeen in this healing journey for 12years now at least. I’ve done 2 strict years on GAPS, mostly on stage 2 GAPS more than anything else. I did nutritional balancing intending to never give up but my financial situation changed drastically two years ago and is still greatly limited, so there is not only no money for the supplements there’s increasing debt just to stay alive for these last two years. And with all the stress of these last two years it’s like nearly every symptom and medication I’ve ever conguered in these last twelve years is coming back with a vengeance. And then I see “help”that just ends up leaving me in the position of being the person who continually says “but that won’t work for me.”how much more discouragement and roadblock can keep coming? And now I am basically journaling (vomiting) my personal stress where I meant to just leave a quick question in your comments section. Now I have an official diagnoses finally. Not chronic fatigue as I’d long suspected but fibromyalgia. And yet I still have less what to do than ever before even after all the progress I’d previously made.
Hi Sheril, I totally understand, it can get so overwhelming!
For the paleo adaptations, you’ll omit the white beans from the chicken chili (it’ll only make half as many servings) and the lentil chili recipe completely.
For GAPS, many people have to make tweaks, you may find this useful: https://healthhomeandhappiness.com/when-the-gaps-diet-isnt-working.html
Thank-you, Cara!
I know this is a year old…If it’s okay, I just wanted to offer a suggestion. I usually add butternut squash (peeled, deseeded and cubed) to chili dishes as the substitute for beans. I figured out one of my sons had histamine reactions to any legume, but we really wanted chili! My family (includes three hungry boys) always goes for seconds with this substitution. I hope that helps!