Making Your Home Gluten Free- Without Breaking the Bank: Beginner's Guide to Going Gluten Free- Part 2

Gluten free corn tortillas I made from scratch

When my friend Daniella's son was diagnosed with Celiac, I told her I'd help her transition her son to going gluten free, with a series of posts on my blog, and I did part one-  the Beginners Guide to Going Gluten Free: What is Gluten and How to Avoid It, which did a very thorough job of explaining that aspect, but part two, the part that actually tells people how to make the transition... never got written. However, now another friend's kid is most likely going to be diagnosed with Celiac, so what better time than to put out part two of this guide.

So, you or someone you love has been diagnosed with either Celiac or gluten sensitivity, or otherwise told to avoid gluten by a medical professional. Generally when someone is told something like that, it is scary and overwhelming and people don't know where to start. On top of that, these diagnoses are nearly always are not temporary (though some say gluten sensitivity can be reduced via certain gut healing diets, but Celiac is not one of them), so it isn't just a temporary change people have to make, but a change that will be for the rest of their lives.
Nearly anyone "in the know" will tell you that gluten free diets are much more expensive than gluten diets. People who tell you otherwise are not comparing like with like. A processed food filled diet that contains gluten will be much cheaper than a gluten free processed food filled diet. An all natural made from scratch gluten diet will be much more affordable than a from scratch gluten free diet. Those who say going gluten free saves money or doesn't cost any more are only accurate if you switch from a processed food filled gluten diet to a more frugal, made from scratch, gluten free diet, but that isn't a fair comparison. I know that when my family switched to a gluten free diet for our family of six, most of the extremely frugal things that I did in the kitchen became much more expensive. Yes, our family size grew, but that doesn't account for the nearly doubling of our grocery budget. Gluten free living is expensive.
People often go to health food stores or health food aisles to find their gluten free items, which typically mark up the prices of their gluten free items.

But, I'm here to tell you that while it is expensive, there are ways to make a gluten free life less expensive than it would be otherwise, and without needing to shop in overpriced places catering to those gluten free. However, I'll admit that much of this takes a lot more work. Life is a trade-off though. In life you can typically save money, or save time, but saving both at the same time is much more rare. (Though I do have a post coming up on how to save money while very short on time.)

How To Make Your Home Gluten Free -- Without Breaking The Bank

Tips to Drastically Lower Your Family's Grocery Bill

In a local group I'm in someone today asked if it is possible to spend $575 a month for a family of six. Of course everyone pointed them to me because I do that exact thing. Only I do so for $375-575 a month and that's with eating gluten free and mostly processed food free, my eating paleo, etc. So yes, at least locally it is possible. Here's how one can feed their family for pennies. Ok, not pennies exactly, but less than $1 per person per meal on average. In fact, if you follow these tips, you may very well be able to do it for 50 cents a person per meal....

However there is one thing you have to know. While something may be possible it doesn't mean that you'll love doing it. You can't have it all. To have the exact same diet and foods for less money usually takes more time. If you don't have that extra time, to cut back on grocery costs you'll need to change what you're eating and you may find that hard. There is a saying "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." That is true when it comes to grocery bills. If you want to keep your shopping habits and menu identical then there's really no way to lower your bills. However, if you're willing to make changes, at times drastic, then it is possible.

I'll start off with tips on how to do that, with a focus on how to do so without spending so much extra time doing money saving things, followed by "extra credit" ideas for people with extra time and motivation to do things even more extremely, followed by frugal meal suggestions. I'm pointing out already that this isn't necessarily the healthiest diet. There's a reason I spent more money on health food items. And hopefully if your time or financial situation improves you can switch to healthier (still frugal) options, but when people are really struggling, fed is best. I'm going to make sure all the meals on the menu plan have produce and protein, etc. And no total junk other than white sugar, vegetable oil, and non whole grains.

Tips to Drastically Lower Your Family's Grocery Bill

Homemade Aquafaba Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe With No Ice Cream Maker- Dairy and Egg Free, Allergy Friendly, Vegan Option

Have you ever heard of aquafaba? I hadn't until recently. It's all the rage in vegan circles, and essentially, what it is is bean water, as in the water used to boil beans. I have no idea who figured it out in the first place, but if you take the water in which your beans were boiled- the standard to use is the water from cooking chickpeas or white beans though kidney beans and other beans also work- you can use it as an egg replacer. It is even able to be whipped up to make vegan meringues!

I don't have a mixer, so even though I'd wanted to try out aquafaba recipes when I first heard about it, I only tried it out for the first time a few days ago, when I went to my friend's house to borrow her mixer. I'd said that if it worked nicely, I'd want to buy my own mixer, and she was shocked- why just for this? Well, it isn't just for this, but even if it were, there are just sooo many desserts you can make with aquafaba, from ice creams to meringues to marshmallow fluff to nougat to mousse... and since we're a gluten free household and I can't either eat eggs or dairy, it limits my dessert making capabilities, but aquafaba widens them.

And so, here's how I made my aquafaba strawberry ice cream. It isn't vegan, but can easily be if you replace the honey with a vegan sweetener. It is allergy friendly, and if you buy your strawberries in season it can be super cheap as well. And just like with my other dairy free strawberry ice cream recipe, you can make this with whatever fruit you like and can get cheaply and/or in season, such as pineapple, mango, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, nectarines, etc...

I used the water that I used to cook my dried chickpeas in, but you can also strain a can of chickpeas and use that liquid.
If you want to keep this GAPS diet legal, use the water from cooking navy beans for this.
This is not Paleo, so if you're 100% off all legumes, you can't use this recipe. But I found that even though most legumes give me stomach issues, I don't really get stomach issues from aquafaba ice cream. I wouldn't overdo it, but some here and there isn't a problem for me.

And if you're wondering about the taste... Well, my friend (who's house I made this at) and her kids aren't into weird tasting things, and her verdict was that it smelled funny but tasted great, and her kids who were raised on pretty junky food thought it was delicious. So I'll take that as success. You don't taste the bean at all.

Homemade Aquafaba Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe- Dairy and Egg Free, Allergy Friendly, Vegan Option

Homemade Lacto-Fermented Sprouted Hummus Recipe- Probiotic and More Digestible! (Non Dairy)

You know the ditty "beans, beans, they're good for your heart?" Well... There are many reasons why beans are known to cause flatulence, in large part because they're not so digestible due to their phytic acid, among other things.
However, I like serving legumes because they're cheap proteins, and my family enjoys hummus... so I wanted to figure out how to make hummus that would taste good, be easy on the budget, and... wouldn't come with the standard side effects. To do that, I decided to combine two different methods that I learned reduce the amount of phytic acid in things and therefore increase their digestibility- sprouting, and fermenting.
So this is what I came up with. Sprouted, fermented hummus.
Mmmm, it's delicious.
Yup, no side effects. A hit with my kids. And yes, frugal too!

Added bonus? Fermentation has two main benefits- not only does it make the food more digestible, but it also adds a healthy dose of probiotics, beneficial bacterias and yeasts, into your body.
And sprouting legumes increases their amount, so you get a larger quantity of food for the same amount of money.

Drawbacks? These things take time and a few days advanced preparations, so no making it on the spot to eat immediately.

It's a worthwhile trade off, in my opinion. Especially since the lacto-fermentation helps preserve the hummus and it will therefore last a longer time in the refrigerator than regular homemade hummus, even without any added preservatives. So make it, and enjoy at your convenience.

I find lacto-fermented condiments often are lacto-fermented with the assistance of whey, which is dairy and makes the condiment no good for vegans or dairy free people, so this recipe is completely vegan, and doable even with no special ingredients.

Homemade Lacto-Fermented Sprouted Hummus Recipe- Probiotic and More Digestible! (Non Dairy)

Chili Cornbread Skillet Recipe- Gluten Free, Vegan, and Refined Sugar Free Options

Sometimes my husband looks at the mess in the kitchen, and he says "Where'd all these dishes come from? You just made a one pot meal!" Well, sometimes those one pot meals can use a lot of dishes, even if in the end you have just one dish to serve on the table...
This is one of those recipes.
One skillet, filled with all sorts of goodness.
Deceptively delicious.
Looks deceptively easy, but does make quite a few dishes, I'll admit.
But worth every dish, since it is both super yummy and super frugal.
What is it?
Chili cornbread skillet.
Which essentially is- chili on the bottom, then a layer of cheese or vegan cheese sauce, then a layer of cornbread baked on the top. (If you have leftover chili and prepared vegan cheese sauce/cheese, then the mess is much more minimal. If you have to prepare each component separately, then the dishes add up...)
The resulting combination is heavenly!
And can be super cheap!

Chili Cornbread Skillet Recipe- Gluten Free, Vegan, and Refined Sugar Free Options

Pressure Cooking To Save Money

After my recent post about my drama with my pressure cooker, my friend Becky sent me a message, wanting to know if pressure cookers actually save enough money by shortening cooking time to be worth the expense. It's a good question, because while pressure cookers take less time to cook, and therefore use less money by way of utilities, pressure cookers aren't the cheapest piece of kitchen equipment, especially locally, where they cost upward of $140 dollars for a cheap one.
Becky, knowing my love of doing all sorts of crazy calculations regarding money savings wanted to know if I did the calculations, figuring out how much money was being saved and over how long, by minimizing cooking time using a pressure cooker, and if I compared that to the cost of a pressure cooker to decide if it was worth it.
To be honest, I've tried calculating how much I spend on each minute of cooking time with my gas stove, but I haven't managed to figure out how much money it costs per minute or even how to start figuring it out (we have large and small tanks of gas delivered here, but I have no idea how many whatevers it is gas is measured in, in each of those tanks), so no, I haven't compared the money saving with utilities by using a pressure cooker with the expense of the pressure cooker.
However, I do know for a fact that having a pressure cooker saves me money. Big time. Enough that I don't need the utilities calculation to find out if it was a justifiable expenditure. I even recently bought a second pressure cooker!

Here's how I use a pressure cooker to save money:

Homemade Yummy Refried Bean Enchiladas Recipe- Vegan, Gluten Free Options

I decided that I'd be making vegan food tonight for supper, and wanted to change it up from the lentils I've been making a lot lately when I decide to cook vegan. In my freezer, I had frozen cooked kidney beans, which I cooked in large batches and froze in can sized portions.
My kids are not bean fans, and I'll be honest, beans aren't my favorite food either... but my wallet loves them, so I decided to try to make them into a fun and tasty dish, that would be so flavorful and appealing that you'd forget that it's made with beans instead of meat.
Enter enchiladas.
Awesome filled tortillas, baked with a delicious sauce and cheese..
Typically filled with gluten, dairy, and meat. Though I figured out how to make them with egg in place of the gluten. And then discovered that egg makes me sick.

So, this is how I made my gluten free, vegan enchiladas.
They're pretty versatile.
And of course, while I made mine entirely from scratch and gluten free and vegan, you don't have to make yours vegan if you don't want to. And you don't have to make them gluten free if you don't want to.
It's just a general idea more than an exact/precise recipe.

Homemade Yummy Enchiladas Recipe- Vegan, Gluten Free Options

Mock Baked Beans Recipe- Vegan Option, Refined Sugar Free

I cooked up a bunch of navy beans, and wanted something tasty to do with them, something that my kids would enjoy. Growing up, some days in school, the lunch ladies would serve everyone hot dogs and baked beans and I thought those were the yummiest kinds of beans. Baked beans still are one of my favorite ways of eating beans. The stuff we had growing up was usually Busch's or Hunts' canned baked beans, but those aren't really available locally, so if I want them, I have to make them myself.
I thought to make baked beans, hoping my kids would like them just as I did when I was a kid... except I'm not sure if I'm really able to call them baked beans if they're not baked at all? And all the recipes I found online for baked beans call for ham hocks or bacon grease and molasses... and I used none, though I think I got the taste close enough even without them. I used chicken fat in mine, but it would work just as well with oil in its place. And I used jaggery in the recipe, which is unrefined cane sugar, which has molasses "built in" to it (since molasses is the leftovers after they remove white sugar from cane syrup), but if you want to use a different sweetener, you can use date syrup or maple syrup in place of the jaggery syrup, or coconut sugar or sucanat with a bit of water, or white sugar with a little molasses. Just add the sweeteners to taste.

Mock Boston Baked Beans Recipe- Vegan Option, Refined Sugar Free

Getting Pickier Eaters to Eat Legumes and Cheaper Foods

Lentil beef bolognese

I used to be able to say that my kids were not picky and would eat anything I put in front of them. That really helped financially, because I could make what my finances allowed, and all would be well and good.

Well, yea. All good things come to an end. My kids definitely developed their food preferences and let me know, sometimes quite vocally, that they "hate that food" and "never ever make that again, Mommy!"

Too many times, supper was a battle, my making a food and the kids flat out refusing to eat it, and my getting frustrated, and sometimes making a second supper, one they'd be willing to actually eat... 

Endless frustration.

My older son, Lee, drew me a picture the other day of the foods he was "always willing to eat" and "whenever you don't know what to serve us, just make us that, Mommy!" It was mashed potatoes, hot dogs, and scrambled eggs.

I don't know about the prices where you live, but I can't afford to feed my family mashed potatoes, hot dogs, and scrambled eggs daily, or even every other day. Eggs and hot dogs are expensive here... and hot dogs not exactly prime nutrition. I buy hot dogs that aren't filled with all sorts of garbage, but they still are far from a health food.

I want my kids to be healthy. I want them to have good nutrition. And I don't want our grocery bills to be sky high because of their being picky.

So- how do you balance frugality, healthy eating, and kids who are picky about what they want to eat and what they won't?

Keep in mind that my kids are now just garden variety picky, not super picky eaters who would rather starve than eat anything other than the 10 foods they are willing to eat. And its not sensory issues with them, just a matter of personal preference... This won't apply to kids who have real eating issues, just the average kid who "doesn't like that"....

Flourless Chickpea Blondies Recipe- Egg Free, Refined Sugar Free, Vegan Option

Bean desserts, cakes and cookies made from black beans, navy beans, and chickpeas have taken over the healthy eating bloggosphere. The problem with most of those recipes is that, while they are gluten free and grain free, they tend to be with eggs, and as someone who gets sick from eating eggs, they simply don't work for me.
I've found a few recipes without eggs, but they often have white sugar in them. And white sugar is another thing I avoid- also for health reasons, and also because lately I've discovered that it makes me nauseous. So it's not worth it to even think about cheating.
But then I found this recipe for chickpea blondies which I adapted a drop to suit my tastes, and was very excited about it. It tasted awesome! It was best fresh, but even a day or two later, it was still delicious! My kids devoured it, not knowing how healthy they really were, how much protein was in it, and that it was refined sugar free.
If you're gluten free but don't want to spend lots of money on gluten free flours for dessert, this is a good option, especially if you cook your own chickpeas instead of using canned stuff. It's also great if you're hosting a gluten free family and don't want to need to stock up on gluten free staples.
The original recipe called for chocolate chips, but I don't eat them because I haven't found sugar free ones, so I ended up dividing the batch into two, and mixing chocolate chips into only one of them, which my kids ate. (Sorry, pic is without the choc chips.)
This makes two 8x8 pans of blondies.

Golden Black Eyed Peas Recipe- Vegan, Gluten Free, Grain Free

If I had to list legumes from favorite to least favorite, black eyed peas would definitely have to be up there somewhere at the top, since they are quicker to cook, and have a very pleasant, mildly sweet taste, and a decent texture. Because of their basic flavor profile, I especially enjoy black eyed peas with something sweet instead of savory- with cinnamon and butternut squash is one of my favorites.
My friend, Robin, recently shared her recipe for golden black eyed peas with me- she loves it so much that she refers to it as caviar. She told me that I can't credit her for this recipe since she got it on the internet somewhere... so I'm including that info just because my friend Robin is so humble. :-D

I make this in a pressure cooker which makes it even quicker, but you can cook it in a regular pot on the stove top- it'll just take a little longer to cook. This can be served either cold or hot. And the liquid in which it is cooked is so delicious that it's a good idea to keep it for some other use- like as the base of a veggie soup, or to use it instead of water to cook rice.

Honey isn't vegan, but to make this recipe fully vegan, just choose the vegan sweetener options.

Golden Black Eyed Peas Recipe- Vegan, Gluten Free, Grain Free

Curried Chickpeas and Tomatoes Recipe- Vegan, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free

This curry recipe is a very easy and cheap dish to make, but the flavor is terrific, so you don't feel like you're missing out on the expensive ingredients. You can serve it hot or cold, plain or over rice or over pasta, with chutneys or by itself, etc... It's pretty versatile. The only part of it that is time consuming is cooking the chickpeas- but I like soaking and cooking a few pounds at a time and freezing them in smaller portions to defrost for use in specific recipes. You can use canned chickpeas for this as well, it's just more expensive and less healthy.

Curried Chickpeas and Tomatoes Recipe- Vegan, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free

Cajun Dirty Rice Recipe- With Cactus Paddles- Vegan Option

I have to thank my friend Ashley for introducing me to dirty rice. I know, the name is really weird and unappetizing, but I wasn't the one who made up the name, so it'll have to stay. If I would make up my own name for this, it would be "really yummy Cajun rice with cheap meat" but oh well.

Ashley sent me this recipe when I was looking for a good recipe to make with chicken livers. Dirty rice traditionally is made with the cheapest types of meats, like liver, hearts, gizzards, etc...  and the Cajun seasoning combined with them and rice makes for a winning meal. Though I'll admit, my kids still weren't a fan of liver prepared that way, but liked all the other cheap odds and ends in this dish. Feel free to use whatever chicken or poultry or meat parts that you have- if they're not already cooked, pre-cook them. Or just use up leftovers this way.

Dirty rice typically is made with green peppers, but since peppers sometimes bother people's stomachs, I tried it out with cactus paddles, which have a very similar taste, and it worked beautifully that way as well.

You can also make this vegan if you like, by subbing the meat with red beans and mushrooms.

Cajun Dirty Rice Recipe- With Cactus Paddles

Mashkichiri Recipe- Tajikistani Mung Bean Stew- Gluten Free, Vegan

Most people don't know what mung beans are, but have eaten them plenty of times. You know those bean sprouts commonly found in Chinese food? Yea, those are mung beans. Even though people generally use them sprouted, you can also use them as a bean.
I make Korean mung bean pancakes by blending up whole soaked mung beans; I make mung bean crepes with mung bean flour.
But the other day I wanted something different with my soaked (and partially sprouted) mung beans, and so I discovered this recipe for Mashkichiri- Tajikistani mung bean stew- thanks to my friend Andrea. I played around with the recipe and came up with this version that was really delicious.
I loved it. My husband loved it. My kids loved it. My mom thought it was good, but needed more spice, but she and I disagree a lot on matters of seasoning, so I'm not sure that counts. (She often thinks the food I make is either over spiced, over salted, or under spiced, and I often think her food is under salted and under spiced.) Especially since I had many many bowls of this mashkichiri because I couldn't stop eating it. And my kids who have said that they don't like beans and lentils asked me if I could make this again.
This is traditionally served with yogurt or sour cream and something crunchy, like radishes or cucumbers. I served mine with cashew sour cream. It is also fine without them.

Mashkichiri Recipe- Tajikistani Mung Bean Stew- Gluten Free, Vegan

Green Banana Empanadas Recipe- Gluten Free, Vegan Options

I was visiting my friend Debbie today with my kids, and while I was there, my kids helped themselves to bananas from her shelf. "Make sure you take bananas from the bottom, those are ripe- the ones on the top aren't," she warned them. Debbie told me that her kids, roughly the same age as mine, often take bananas from the shelf, without paying attention to see if they are ripe, open them up, take a bite, and get grossed out by the chalky taste of the unripe bananas. They end up going in the garbage, which is a waste, but Debbie felt that that was inevitable, because nothing could be done with those open green bananas that wouldn't ripen?

I told Debbie about making fried green bananas, a really yummy and easy thing to do with unripe bananas, and she liked the idea. I mentioned that you can use green bananas in place of plantains in any recipes that call for plantains. O, a Puerto Rican friend who was there also shared that she used to have a lasagna type dish made with fried plantain and ground beef and tomato sauce- you could use green bananas for that as well. And then I remembered a recipe my friend D shared with me recently- gluten free vegan empanadas made out of plantains- I had wanted to try that recipe with green bananas as well, but haven't been buying bananas much lately because they haven't been too cheap.
But then later on today I got a bunch of bananas (reduced rack quality) free, some of them green bananas that needed to be used up ASAP because they wouldn't ripen as they were partially open.
Perfect- why not try out those empanadas?

Empanadas are filled dough pockets, similar to pierogi, usually fried, but sometimes baked. Empanadas sometimes are filled with meat or vegetables or cheese, etc... They can be made vegan or not, sweet or savory. Often empanadas are made with a wheat dough outer, but there are recipes where the outside is made out of mashed plantains.
I had to change up the recipe somewhat because I was using green bananas instead of plantain, but they worked beautifully. I made them gluten free, but you can make them with gluten if you like.

This recipe is very versatile- its the concept that is important more than the exact recipe and details.

Green Banana Empanadas Recipe- Gluten Free, Vegan Options

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop

Welcome back to yet another edition of the Hearth and Soul blog hop.
This is where you get the chance each week to share your favorite food related posts with the other visitors to the hop, and you get to check out theirs as well. The Hearth and Soul Hop is about food that not only nourishes our body, but also nourishes our souls.

Here's a recap of some of the rules for participating:

Recipes should include healthy ingredients and can be old or new recipes or posts. Articles on real food, slow food, foraging, herbal remedies, local food, sustainable food, organics, gardening or any healthy eating information written in a positive and loving light are also welcome.
As much as many of us are interested in frugality and green/natural living, this is a food blog hop; there are many other blog hops where you can share those posts of yours. Please keep your non food related blog posts off the hop.

All the hosts at Hearth and Soul care very deeply about this blog hop, and make an group effort to be sure that every post is commented on. We also Pin and Tweet many of the entries. You don’t find this with every blog hop, and in exchange for our efforts, we respectfully request that you include a link in the actual blog post you are sharing back to one of the hosts, either by worded link or using our badge. It is not enough to link using a communal blog party page. People rarely click on these links and it is unlikely they will find the Hearth and Soul hop using these sort of pages.

Homemade Chickpea Hummus Recipe

Picture from wikipedia.
My camera ate up my picture, sorry!

Once upon a time, I didn't care much for hummus. I thought the only way to eat it was spread on sandwiches, and bread was never my thing, even before I became gluten free. In fact, I went to far as to tell the caterer for my wedding specifically not to serve hummus, even though he typically did, because I didn't care for it.
But that's because I was eating the store bought stuff, which locally, is not just chickpeas, but actually mixed with a lot of soy and hydrogenated oils, which really affects the taste.
Homemade hummus? Now that's another thing entirely- I absolutely adore it! And, if you have chickpeas already cooked (I cook up a large batch and freeze it so I have it on hand, but canned also works for this), its a cinch to make.
No, I still don't care for hummus on bread with tomatoes, but its great as a dip for veggies, mixed with tuna fish in place of mayo, or smeared on a flatbread which then gets filled with various other fillings.
P.S. Yes, I know standard hummus is made with tahini sauce, but I prefer mine without. Its cheaper that way too.

Homemade Chickpea Hummus Recipe

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop

Welcome back to yet another edition of the Hearth and Soul blog hop.
This is where you get the chance each week to share your favorite food related posts with the other visitors to the hop, and you get to check out theirs as well. The Hearth and Soul Hop is about food that not only nourishes our body, but also nourishes our souls.

Here's a recap of some of the rules for participating:


Recipes should include healthy ingredients and can be old or new recipes or posts. Articles on real food, slow food, foraging, herbal remedies, local food, sustainable food, organics, gardening or any healthy eating information written in a positive and loving light are also welcome.
As much as many of us are interested in frugality and green/natural living, this is a food blog hop; there are many other blog hops where you can share those posts of yours. Please keep your non food related blog posts off the hop.

All the hosts at Hearth and Soul care very deeply about this blog hop, and make an group effort to be sure that every post is commented on. We also Pin and Tweet many of the entries. You don’t find this with every blog hop, and in exchange for our efforts, we respectfully request that you include a link in the actual blog post you are sharing back to one of the hosts, either by worded link or using our badge. It is not enough to link using a communal blog party page. People rarely click on these links and it is unlikely they will find the Hearth and Soul hop using these sort of pages.

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop

Welcome back to yet another edition of the Hearth and Soul blog hop. Today is the 2 year anniversary of the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop! Head over to Premeditated Leftovers for a giveaway in honor of this occasion! Next week is the 2 year anniversary of the blog hop. Silly me.

This is where you get the chance each week to share your favorite food related posts with the other visitors to the hop, and you get to check out theirs as well. The Hearth and Soul Hop is about food that not only nourishes our body, but also nourishes our souls.

Here's a recap of some of the rules for participating:


Recipes should include healthy ingredients and can be old or new recipes or posts. Articles on real food, slow food, foraging, herbal remedies, local food, sustainable food, organics, gardening or any healthy eating information written in a positive and loving light are also welcome.
As much as many of us are interested in frugality and green/natural living, this is a food blog hop; there are many other blog hops where you can share those posts of yours. Please keep your non food related blog posts off the hop.

All the hosts at Hearth and Soul care very deeply about this blog hop, and make an group effort to be sure that every post is commented on. We also Pin and Tweet many of the entries. You don’t find this with every blog hop, and in exchange for our efforts, we respectfully request that you include a link in the actual blog post you are sharing back to one of the hosts, either by worded link or using our badge. It is not enough to link using a communal blog party page. People rarely click on these links and it is unlikely they will find the Hearth and Soul hop using these sort of pages.

Making Sneaky Pizza

Just a normal slice of pizza... or is it? Sneaky pizza #1.

Alternative titles:
How to use up leftovers, get your picky kids to eat foods, or lower the cost of your meals, and still have yummy food.


Pizza is one of my kids' favorite foods. Its the favorite food of most kids I know. In fact, make that most adults. I know few people who actually dislike pizza. There's just something about the combination of crust, sauce, and toppings that makes it a winner in so many people's eyes.

I remember that growing up, pizza would cost $1.25 per slice at the restaurant across the street from my school. Now, pizza costs closer to $2.50 or $3.00 per slice in the US, or so I've heard. And for me, one slice of pizza was never enough- it would take closer to 2 or 3 slices to satiate me. And when you add in the rest of your family, even if you buy pizza by the pie, it can be pretty darn expensive.
Even before I went gluten free, buying pizza rarely happened; pizza was something we made at home.

Of course, now that my whole family is gluten free and dairy free, its a no brainer that we don't buy pizza in a pizza shop, regardless of price.

I've put together some tricks to make homemade pizza as cheaply as possible and as healthy as possible without compromising on the taste (too much). I call it sneaky pizza, because what you see is NOT what you get. Its a good way to "trick" your kids into eating foods they might not be willing to eat otherwise, or use up leftovers so they don't spoil.

My older son, Lee, recently decided that he doesn't like lentils or beans. (Not that he actually dislikes the foods made with them, I think he dislikes the concept of eating them, and I think he picked this up from his very picky eater friend. If he doesn't know he's eating beans, he enjoys the dish.) This is a bit problematic for a gluten free dairy free frugal household, because we use a lot of beans and lentils as protein. Fortunately, sneaky pizza is a great way to get beans into him without him being aware.

Here's how you make "sneaky pizza":