[CookieLee]

Tomorrow morning I have to drive to the next town over. I can go grocery shopping while I'm there but realistically I won't be back home until noon / 1 o'clock (possibly even 2pm). DD comes home from school at 4pm and I have to feed her and get her to another activity at 5:30pm then she goes to another activity after that until 7pm. I have no idea when hubby will be home. He is supposed to come home at 3pm but he has been working tons of over-time and sometimes doesn't get home until 5pm or later. To make the 5:30pm activity, DD and I might have to leave before he gets home (it is about 20 minutes away).

We go to bed around 8pm so dinner after we get back home is out of the question.

Because I might have to go grocery shopping before cooking, a crock pot meal is out. We're in a rural area so making two trips tomorrow morning would be silly (and not frugal). Normally I'd open a can of Spaghetti-O's for DD (she'd love that) and make pancakes for hubby (he'd be in heaven) but I might not be home to cook for hubby and pancakes don't keep.

Any ideas for what I can make? I prefer something gluten-free so I can eat, too. The whole family tends to be dairy-free so nothing with a lot of cheese. Tonight we're having pasta so I don't want to duplicate "Italian".

 

[frugalwarrior2]

1st off I disagree regarding the pancakes. I would just make a pot of macaroni and cheese and be done w/ it. One day wont kill any one.

 

[CookieLee]

Thanks. Pancakes, macaroni (both wheat based) and cheese (dairy) are all things I can't eat. Help!

I'm thinking chili beans over rice. I have a rice maker that will keep the rice warm.

 

[joyofsix]

My go tos for those kind of days are a pot of chili or taco meat. Easy enough for dh to heat up. You can eat it on corn tortilla's. Kids like it. It's quick. As a matter of fact it's what I'm making tomorrow because my day looks like yours.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Pancakes keep fine. Spread them on a cooling rack, then put them in the fridge when they're stone cold. Reheat in the toaster. You can freeze them in a single layer for longer storage and then stack them in a plastic bag.

In the future, I would suggest putting some single-serving meals in the freezer for days like that. Then it's easy to grab something as needed.

I don't know if you can have mayo, but when I was doing South Beach Diet earlier this year I liked tuna salad scooped up with celery sticks. Use whatever tuna salad recipe you like. I would think egg salad would work just as well, too. That avoids the whole bread issue.

 

[oheoh's momma]

I would say mac and cheese and a salad.... or taco meat that can be heated up with the fixings...hate days like that..

 

[madhen]

Chili beans would be good just by themselves. No need to add more carbs to the meal. Maybe a side of some sliced fresh veggies - carrots, celery, etc?

 

[SueBee49]

I make tuna salad with just a little dab of mayo and then add a bit of olive oil.
Anyway, I vote for salad with maybe some chicken or beef strips quick fried, maybe toss in a bit of cheese for those who can eat it or boiled eggs, any kind of raw veggie - squash, zucchini, cauliflower - you might have on hand. But will a kiddo eat that? I don't know.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Mmmmm, chili beans! Add Worchestershire sauce, Tabasco, liquid smoke, and butter to taste and serve with crackers if desired.

Oh, dang, now I want some...

 

[peanut]

I'm gluten free, dairy free and sugar free. Also low fat with a raft of other intolerances.

My question is what do you have in the house that is fast?

I often use collard leaves and mix rice and beans in them, top off the rice and beans with a sugar free salsa, roll up the leaf and eat it! I make beans in big batches and freeze them in smaller amounts just for times like that. I also make more rice than I need at any one time so I have lots of leftovers for quick meals. And I make my own salsa each fall too. But you can buy sugar free salsa. Just check the labels carefully.

You can make gluten free, dairy free and sugar free pancakes and freeze them for later use. I do it all the time. I prefer to heat mine in the microwave. DH prefers his heated in the toaster. I top them with fruit or unsweetened applesauce.

Do you have any gluten free, dairy free bread in the house? You can pull together a sandwich with gluten free, dairy free, sugar free mayonnaise... if you've got the mayo. I modify a recipe from "More with Less Cookbook".

What about a quick gluten-free dairy free curried muffin with tuna mixed in it? I use an internet drop biscuit recipe for that and just add a teaspoon of curry powder, and bake in muffin tins cuz it spreads a lot otherwise. I make a white sauce with alternative milk, rice flour, grapeseed oil (can use any vegetable oil that can be heated), sea salt and pepper. If you can handle it, toss in some worcestershire sauce for flavouring...if it's gf. Most isn't.

Hope something there helps.

 

[CookieLee]

I talked to hubby last night. He said he'd grab something for himself on the way home and that DD and I should make do or eat out. Funny, there is one place to stop on his way home. DD and I have no where to eat out in the direction we're going - seriously - unless we want to stop at a gas station.

I apologize because I wasn't clear. I was looking for something I could cook and hold so it was hot when hubby arrived home. He won't heat up stuff for himself and hates "leftovers". As a matter of fact, I suspect he'll make himself a huge bowl of shredded wheat cereal for dinner. It isn't that he can't use a microwave (he heats up his sandwich everyday at work), it is just that he won't when it comes to dinner.