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Realistic Gluten Free & Dairy Free Meal Plan (GF/DF Meal Plan)

Our family has been gluten and dairy free since September of 2023 (dairy free since 2021!). My son has battled food sensitivities since coming out of the womb, so when things were popping up again summer of 2023, we decided to do a food sensitivity test from YorkTest because allergy testing was showing negative. His top four triggers came back as: Gluten, Wheat, Dairy, and Cashews, so the eliminating began.

What We Eat

My kids are slightly picky eaters, and my daughter has sensory aversion on top of that, so a lot of vegan recipes are out already because of texture. We keep our food relatively simple to help with that (and to save on cost!) We eat a lot of eggs, chicken, rice, pasta, breakfast for dinner, and occasionally steak (when it’s on sale).

The Meal Plan

I like to have a general guide of what we’re eating for every meal. Here is what a week looks like for us!

Sunday

  • Breakfast: eggs or at church (we volunteer every Sunday and there is usually food out for breakfast)
  • Lunch: Out or pantry (usually our random food meal. Leftovers, cereal, whatever.)
  • Dinner: brats or chicken sausage, broccoli, and potatoes

Monday

Tuesday

  • Breakfast: yogurt + granola
  • Lunch: snack plates (another idea from Yummy Toddler Food)
  • Dinner: taquitos

Wednesday

  • Breakfast: breakfast smoothies (literally whatever I have floating around blended up)
  • Lunch: turkey sandwiches
  • Dinner: hot dogs

Thursday

  • Breakfast: muffins (leftovers from Monday)
  • Lunch: snack lunch
  • Dinner: GF vegan “cheesy” pasta

Friday

  • Breakfast: eggs (or for my daughter who doesn’t like eggs, probably toast)
  • Lunch: Mac + cheese (we get regular for the rest of us, but make my son a GF/DF box. Our favorite is from Thrive Market)
  • Dinner: leftovers

Saturday (aka the day I usually give up haha)

  • Breakfast: cereal/leftover muffins
  • Lunch: snack plates
  • Dinner: breakfast for dinner

What They Actually Ate

Moment of truth of what my kids actually eat off that list. My husband and I are constantly growing. We’re not always perfect with letting them listen to their bellies about when they’re full, but we never force them to finish a plate.

Sunday

  • Breakfast: eggs or at church (we volunteer every Sunday and there is usually food out for breakfast)
    My son didn’t finish all of his eggs but ate some tater tots at church. My daughter ate tater tots and donut holes at church
  • Lunch: Out or pantry (usually our random food meal. Leftovers, cereal, whatever.)
    Because they get to choose what they eat, generally they eat all of it.
  • Dinner: brats or chicken sausage, broccoli, and potatoes
    We get our brats from a friend’s farm. The kids love them! They don’t eat broccoli, but we always put a piece on their plate in case they change their minds. My daughter ate her potatoes, but my son didn’t touch his.

Monday

  • Breakfast: donut muffins
    A winner all around
  • Lunch: turkey sandwiches
    My daughter ate her whole sandwich, my son ate the turkey and some of the bread
  • Dinner: chicken, carrots, and potatoes in an Instant Pot*
    Chicken and potatoes were eaten by both. Carrots served for exposure.

Tuesday

  • Breakfast: yogurt + granola
    My kids love yogurt. The granola is for me.
  • Lunch: snack plates (another idea from Yummy Toddler Food)
    Another winner because they get to choose. I just make a charcuterie board thing and we all eat off it.
  • Dinner: taquitos
    For some reason they unroll them, but they eat them.

Wednesday

  • Breakfast: breakfast smoothies (literally whatever I have floating around blended up)
    My kids would probably survive off smoothies if I let them.
  • Lunch: turkey sandwiches
    Same as above
  • Dinner: hot dogs
    We get uncured hot dogs so that they are as clean as hot dogs can be. My kids love them with mayo or ketchup. Our side with hot dogs varies depending on what we have at home.

Thursday

  • Breakfast: muffins (leftovers from Monday)
    They’ll eat 2-4 each.
  • Lunch: snack lunch
    Again, an easy win since they get to choose.
  • Dinner: GF vegan “cheesy” pasta
    This one is hit or miss. Pasta is a win, but if they can see the sauce, then they won’t eat it. I try to stir in a little at a time to get them used to the taste. I often make pasta with chicken broth instead of water for extra nutrition.

Friday

  • Breakfast: eggs (or for my daughter who doesn’t like eggs, probably toast)
    My son will usually eat this egg breakfast with a piece of toast. I don’t know what makes it different but he’ll eat it all that way.
  • Lunch: Mac + cheese (we get regular for the rest of us, but make my son a GF/DF box. Our favorite is from Thrive Market)
    Mac + cheese is always a winner.
  • Dinner: leftovers
    Another winner since they get to choose what leftovers they’d like.

Saturday (aka the day I usually give up haha)

  • Breakfast: cereal/leftover muffins
  • Lunch: snack plates
  • Dinner: breakfast for dinner
    The whole day is usually eaten pretty well.

What it Costs (usually about $150/week)

Gluten free and dairy free eating is expensive at times. We aren’t rolling in money here either. So let me break it down for you. We shop at Aldi and Food Lion in our area. (Kroger if I’m missing a couple things later in the week, but only because it’s closest.) This week I already had staples on hand, so it wasn’t a restock week. The only meat I didn’t buy was the brats (on hand already).

Aldi: $41.98

Food Lion: $38.57

Kroger: ~$18

Eggs from my egg lady: $10

Total: $108.55

What Works for You

At the end of the day, you need to do what works for your family. I wrote down all of the meals we like and we rotate out of that. I also know that grocery prices vary widely throughout the country. My totals probably won’t equal your totals. But if you ever need help with brainstorming or converting a recipe to GF/DF, I am here to help!

Our Kindergarten Homeschool Plans 2024/2025

It’s hard to believe that our baby girl is going to start kindergarten this fall. My heart is not prepared.

For the most part, we’ve always known that we want to homeschool our kids. With both of us working from home in creative careers and parents who live in different states, it just makes the most sense for us to have the flexibility we need.

Kindergarten Curriculum 24/25

Early in researching different homeschooling options, I fell in love the Charlotte Mason curriculum at Ambleside.org. It honestly seems perfect for my book loving, knowledge hungry, nature girl. While there is no official kindergarten (more about that here), we will be doing the Primer curriculum from Gentle + Classical Press.

I am by no means someone who is great at blindly jumping into things, and this program seems to be like it’s going to give me the guidance and flexibility we need! In addition, I have loved the transparency that Erin Cox (author of the curriculum) has shown. This curriculum is unashamedly Christian and she leads by example. While I don’t know her, what I have gleaned from the emails she has sent and the posts she shares, she is a wonderful example of biblical motherhood.

What’s Included

Gentle + Classical Primer is a complete program, you just add your own reading and math curricula! It includes:

  • Character formation
  • Fine arts
  • Manners
  • Theology
  • Literature
  • and more!

What I absolutely love is that each lesson is only 10-15 minutes long – perfect for mine and my daughter’s ADHD brains. We will not start right away with a formal math or reading, but will add it in as R seems ready!

Daily Schedule

I’m going to do a full overview of how we are scheduling, but we are year round schooling due to our unpredictable work schedules, so we are actually starting July 1, 2024! Essentially, I’m taking the week and breaking it up by day in a planner where I can circle the date that we did school on.

I hope this helps you and your homeschooling adventure! Be sure to follow along for how we continue on.

Sarah

May 2024 Mother Culture Readings

This fall we will start homeschooling my oldest. (Cue the tears.) During curriculum research, I found myself drawn to the Charlotte Mason way of learning. After digging more, I learned that she also encouraged mothers to continue educating themselves alongside their children.

I have lacked on culturing myself since R has been born (unless you count the hours scrolling Instagram during the middle of the night nursing sessions). I used to love books, devouring them as often as I could. Now that O is 6 months old, the desire to find myself again is growing from a want to a need. The best way I’ve found that works for me: participating in mother culture.

What is Mother Culture?

I’ll admit that I haven’t actually dug to find a common answer, but from what I’ve gleaned in the context of homeschooling and Charlotte Mason, is that mother culture is simply continuing to educate and nurture yourself; to keep your identity outside of your children alive. For me, that looks like reading 2-3 books a month and some sort of handicraft.

What kind of books to read?

In general, the whole basis of Charlotte Mason’s educational style was to learn through living books. That extends to mothers as well! There are four genres that are mentioned in The Mother’s Educational Course by Mrs. Anson that are good to keep on rotation:

“Firstly. Divinity. “To help mothers to give their children such teaching as should confirm them in the Christian religion.” 

Secondly. Physiology and Health. “To give the knowledge necessary for the care and development of children in sickness and health.” 

Thirdly. Mental and Moral Science and Education. “To show the principles of education, and methods based on these principles. 

Fourthly. Nature Lore and the Elements of Science. “To enable mothers to awaken their children’s interest in Nature, and to give them their first ideas.””

May 2024 Mother Culture Readings

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This is my first month really leaning into this, so I’m keeping it simple while I ease into it. Here is what I’m reading:

Divinity: The Bible Recap – this is my daily devotional

Physiology and Health: I don’t have a reading for this month but have been checking out books on herbal medicine.

Mental and Moral Science and Education: Habits for a Sacred Home: 9 Practices from History to Anchor and Restore Modern Families – I am really excited to start reading this alongside @storiedmotherhood on Instagram.

Nature Lore and the Elements of Science (or the fluff book): Anne of Green Gables – I have been wanting/meaning to read this forever. I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed, but I did wear out my church’s VHS tapes of the movies when I was in elementary school. I may have dreamed that Jonathan Crombie was my husband once or twice.

In addition to these, I am also listening to Home Eduction by Charlotte Mason as an audiobook when I can, mostly in the car.

I’d love to know what you’re reading this month! I hope this inspires and encourages you to invest into yourself. Happy May!

Season of Trust

Y’all, I want to start by saying I know in my heart God is good. I’ve seen His hand through many seasons of my life. Can we acknowledge how hard it is to hold onto that when it seems, to our eyes, that there is a season of nothing in front of us?

My husband and I have recently made the decision, at the Spirit’s prompting, that he was to resign from his position after having been there for three years. We are so incredibly grateful how God orchestrated that job, it truly was an “only God could’ve have done this”, but we heard Him say it was time for more.

September is 100% covered plus some, and half of October has been taken care of, but beyond that, we don’t know what he is doing — or at least it hasn’t been revealed to us yet. I won’t lie, I am laying down fear every day.

Backing up a little bit, I will openly admit that I struggle with feeling anxious over finances. As our pastor puts it, every marriage needs a How and a Wow. J is the Wow and I am the How, no doubts about it. Fast forward to this past March (2023), we started hearing that whisper of “It’s time for more.” It has taken me five months to be at peace with God’s plan in this. We applied to so many different positions for J, most near my family in another state, and some here in Tennessee, but every door and window was closed, except for the ones that were working for ourselves.

Do Not be Dismayed

We recently felt release to share what is going on with his job about a week ago. The outpouring of connections and congratulations was so much more than I anticipated. J got connected with some people outside of our personal area and I am trusting those seeds are going to bloom.

The support that has meant the most to me, that I will keep in my heart, actually comes from someone we don’t know. She commented this verse on a share of my husband’s post on Facebook. Oh how this is what I am clinging to and speaking over our family.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Wildflowers

Along those same lines, my verse for the past couple years of my life, that I continually have to speak so that my head and my heart are in agreement, is Luke 12:27-28. (I actually had this verse embroidered by a friend, Thistle & Leaves. She’s amazing.) I don’t read this as an admonishment, rather I can hear Jesus tenderly whispering it.

Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

Luke 12:27-28

Can I be honest? I don’t know why my faith shakes when it comes to His provision. We see time and time again how he is a good God who cares for his children. Heck, He’s a king, we are his children, we have access to those heavenly riches should he see fit.

Luke 12:28 Phone WallpaperDownload

Conclusion?

I am no theologian and this part of our story hasn’t concluded yet (but I needed a way to break up this paragraph from the rest). BUT I do know in my heart that God is good. He loves His children. He cares for us more than we can comprehend. It does NOT mean life is all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, but it does mean He’s still there walking with us when it is dark.

Also because I find myself easily moping when I listen to slow songs that are meant to be encouraging, here is the hype song that has been on repeat in my head to get my head and heart in agreement (it’s also in the Spotify playlist linked in the side column):

Biblical Affirmation Cards (Free Download)

Something that I truly believe is that our words have power and influence over our heart. My church talks about it as a form of speaking in the prophetic, which I admittedly still don’t quite understand the concept. However, I do know this: my head and my heart don’t always agree.

Since my son was born in 2021, I have been in a battle with depression (which is a whole other post for another day). Some days are worse than others, but during those bad days, I find myself having to constantly remind my heart of what my head knows. Getting them back in sync, per se. Speaking what I know to be true of my identity in Jesus.

I wanted to incorporate this into my everyday life and practice it with my children, so after I took down our advent calendar, I made cards that fit the clips that have biblical affirmations on them for us to read every day.

Isn’t that New Age?

Now, before you call a foul, that this is new age, let’s take a look at a couple places in scripture.

  • First up we have Joshua 1:8. Moses has just died and Joshua has taken leadership of the Israelites. While God is charging him, he calls upon Joshua to meditate on his law day and night so that he and the Israelites can adhere to His ways.
  • Second, we have Philippians 4:8 which says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

    We see the purpose of thinking on these things when we look back at Luke 6:45, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”
  • Finishing up with Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Now guys, I don’t know about you, but Satan has the best foothold to whisper lies to me when I keep my thoughts in my head and don’t verbalize them. Saying, out loud, who I am in Christ through His redemption, there is an incredibly lower chance of lies making it to my ears.

Or think of it like this: if you constantly tell someone that they aren’t good enough, they start to believe it, right? So why wouldn’t we affirm who we are and what Christ has done for us? Let me know if you still need the dots connected.

Our Rhythm/Routine

I have our cards strung up on our living room wall where I can easily read them with my children. We usually eat breakfast with an episode of Sesame Street or Scooby Doo (because nostalgia and I love hearing my two year old try to say Scooby Doo). We then read a page from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young and then read over the affirmations. I try to shuffle them once a month, but life happens and we’re currently going on month three of the same cards being hung up. We finish by praying over our day.

Does my four year old always say the phrases correctly? No. Does that matter to God? Not at all.

Download + Print

I designed these to be printed as 5×7 or 4×6 cards. I believe ours are 4×6. Scale them to whatever size you need in your printer menu! To fit two cards per page, you’ll usually go to wherever your page layout setting is and switch it from one to two.

Biblical Affirmation CardsDownload

Salvation

One question that I know will probably come up at some point is “Don’t your children have to receive the Holy Spirit for any of His promises to hold true?” To be completely honest, I don’t know, I’m not God.. But here is what I do know: God loves His children. He protects those who haven’t accepted Him yet. I know that my children will have to make their own decision to accept Christ into their hearts, but for now, they’re going to walk with me on my own journey with Christ. They will hear the truth about who we are and have those promises spoken over them.

Hey Mama

This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to start a blog. Or the second. Or the third. But God isn’t letting this go in my heart, so I’m diving in.

There are so many wonderful people out there sharing their life experiences that I’ve questioned why there’s a pull on my heart to share mine. Don’t we all have similar experiences and stories? Yes, and no.

My goal is that you find love and welcoming here. I certainly don’t know everything there is to being a mom. At the time of writing this, I have two toddlers and one baby on the way. Lord knows I still have a lot to learn. But in an age of social media, comparing ourselves to others, striving for something that feels impossible to achieve, I think we all just need that person who we can sit down and just be together. To know that we’re doing okay.

journal on a bed with bible and coffee

What to Expect

While part of this journey to hold myself accountable and to be slightly therapeutic, I want you to know that you are known, seen, and loved. (Rachel if you’re reading this, yes I’m borrowing that from you.) I’ll be sharing about what I struggle with being a mom, my wins, our homeschooling journey, and Lord willing, start sharing stories from other mothers and what their motherhood journeys look like.

Jesus

I’ll be straight from the get go: your girl loves Jesus. He’s going to be all up in this blog/journal.

What Unfiltered Means to Me

One thing that turns me off from other mom blogs (let’s call them what they are, including this one), is how every sentence is perfect. Now, from a technical standpoint (SEO, grammar, etc), I get it. What you say needs to sound correct. But as one of my low-key favorite bands, twenty one pilots, says, “Don’t trust a perfect person and don’t trust a song that’s flawless.” I promise to do my best to not sound like I’m sugar coating things, because that’s the last thing we need.

With all that being said, Father take this and use it for your glory. Be magnified through the conversation that comes from the words you give me. Let them see you.

LET’S BE SOCIAL

@mytransparentmotherhood