Author: Nicole Burch

Nicole Burch lives in a small, rural community, in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. She is the wife of a disabled veteran and they have been married since 2008. She is the mother of 6 children, with #7 coming in September 2020. Her days are spent homeschooling her oldest children, cooking gluten free foods to keep her kids with severe food allergies safe, and working on her family’s 3-acre homestead-in-progress. She can be found on Instagram @lifeinthetreehouse where she shares little bits of her day in a large neuro-diverse family, and on Facebook @NicoleBurch

Gluten Free Menu Plan

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. If you click them, I may earn a small commission. It does not cost you anything extra, but this commission helps support the work of running my site. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

Are you a gluten free household, and following the Trim Healthy Plan? I got you, Lovely Lady!

I am sharing our weekly menu plan for our family of 9, for the week of March 19-25, 2023.

If I had the freezer space to do it, once a month cooking would be my ideal way to manage meal preparation, but most of our freezer space is tied up in our home-raised meats and frozen fruits and veggie stash to help us in our rural western Montana life.

We also plan our food days to coincide with our Saturday sabbath, or Shabbat, and our Leftover day is Sunday.

This helps us eat our way through our leftovers, while also giving this Mama a day off from cooking….WIN!

If you don’t have a routine with your leftovers, I would implore you to develop one to save your sanity and cut down on your cooking, or steal mine. You can read about it here.

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What do you feed a Gluten Free family of 9?

I’m so glad you asked…here we go!

****I will be using recipes from Various Cookbooks that are Compatible with the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle, along with recipes from around the internet. I will link the book and give a page number, or website, where applicable****

**I also cook with my Leftover days in mind, and double almost every recipe that I make. My shopping list will reflect single recipe amounts as we have a much larger than average family to prepare for. **

Sunday-

Monday-

Tuesday-

Wednesday-

Thursday-

  • Breakfast: Keto No-Bake Cookies
  • Lunch: Travel Food
  • Dinner: Travel Food
  • Snack: Travel Food
  • Snack: Travel Food

Friday-

Saturday-

Printable Menu

Here are my favorite products, should you wonder where to find them, gluten free. And, if you would like to know what’s going on the Treehouse, please sign up for my newsletter!

Thank you for stopping by!

If you want to know how to Cook Less and Eat More, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

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Gluten Free Menu Plan

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. If you click them, I may earn a small commission. It does not cost you anything extra, but this commission helps support the work of running my site. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

Are you a gluten free household, and following the Trim Healthy Plan? I got you, Lovely Lady!

I am sharing our weekly menu plan for our family of 9, for the week of March 12-18, 2023.

If I had the freezer space to do it, once a month cooking would be my ideal way to manage meal preparation, but most of our freezer space is tied up in our home-raised meats and frozen fruits and veggie stash to help us in our rural western Montana life.

We also plan our food days to coincide with our Saturday sabbath, or Shabbat, and our Leftover day is Sunday.

This helps us eat our way through our leftovers, while also giving this Mama a day off from cooking….WIN!

If you don’t have a routine with your leftovers, I would implore you to develop one to save your sanity and cut down on your cooking, or steal mine. You can read about it here.

Pin This

What do you feed a Gluten Free family of 9?

I’m so glad you asked…here we go!

****I will be using recipes from Various Cookbooks that are Compatible with the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle, along with recipes from around the internet. I will link the book and give a page number, or website, where applicable****

**I also cook with my Leftover days in mind, and double almost every recipe that I make. My shopping list will reflect single recipe amounts as we have a much larger than average family to prepare for. **

Sunday-

Monday-

Tuesday-

Wednesday-

Thursday-

Friday-

Saturday-

Printable Menu

Here are my favorite products, should you wonder where to find them, gluten free. And, if you would like to know what’s going on the Treehouse, please sign up for my newsletter!

Thank you for stopping by!

If you want to know how to Cook Less and Eat More, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

2

Cheesy Grits Casserole

I’m cashing in on fond memories of meals my grandma used to cook for our family, with this recipe. It probably doesn’t hurt that I’m pregnant and craving grits too.

The original included copious amounts of cheese, and sausage, which is not something I wanted to pair with my grits, but I knew how to fix this!

I removed the dairy, and a secret ingredient to help decrease the carbs per serving. it worked so well that my southern husband thought it was nothing but corn grits. That means “Mission Accomplished” around the Treehouse.

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. If you click them, I may earn a small commission. It does not cost you anything extra, but this commission helps support the work of running my site. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

Cheesy Grits Casserole. Nicole Burch

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Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Corn Grits
  • 3 Cups water
  • 1teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 Tablespoons minced, dry onions
  • 2 teaspoons mineral salt, from here or here
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast, from here or here
  • 1 – 12oz bag of frozen cauliflower florets, blended while frozen into a fine “powdery” texture while frozen.
  • 1 Cup egg whites

Method

  • Cook 1 Cup of the corn grits in 3 Cups water, with the nutritional yeast. Then, add all other ingredients and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 55 minutes in a 9×13 casserole dish.

**This recipe falls into an E meal setting on the Trim Healthy plan if you eat more than 1/6 of the recipe. Otherwise it hits the maximum amount of net carbs for a Fuel Pull or S meal if this is split into 6 servings. **

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If you want to know how to Cook Less and Eat More, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

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Basic Gluten Free Shopping List

Sometimes I don’t meal plan the way I want…

It could be because of an illness that hits our family, a first trimester season of nausea, or we just got really busy and the end of the month snuck up on me. These are the things that I will grab from the grocery store to replenish our storehouse, and to have for the most basic of gluten free meals.

I do this type of grocery haul knowing that the next time I get to the store, usually quickly, my list will be much more specific, or I will place orders at trusted online place to fill in the gaps until I can get to a place like Walmart, US Chef Store, or Costco again.

This doesn’t include toiletries, but those will be purchased too during this trip, because nobody wants to run out of a toilet paper, right?

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. If you click them, I may earn a small commission. It does not cost you anything extra, but this commission helps support the work of running my site. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

Want to watch me outline the list below?

I have recorded a video and posted it on my YouTube Channel.

Please Like and Subscribe to see when I post another video!

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Fruit

  • Bananas, usually only about 3-5lbs at a time because they turn so fast. But, if I find overripe bananas for a good price I will buy them out and freeze them for That’s Bananas Shakes and Sourdough Banana Bread or Banana Bread Quinoa.
  • Applesauce, I usually buy 12 quarts per month which keeps us in stocking and eating quantities
  • 1- 3lb bag of frozen fruit (mixed fruit or blueberries are easy to find and very versatile)
  • 1 bag of whole apples (this is usually for a Faster Food lunch in the car)

Meat/Protein Products

  • 1 large roll of ground meat (in our large family this is a 10lb roll of higher fat meat, usually 80/20) or an equivalent size in a ground meat that I find for close to $2/ pound, which is my goal for all meat in my home.
  • 1 large package of chicken breasts (this is 10lbs for our family)
  • 1 package lunch meat (this is for Non-Wiches for a Faster Food lunch in the car)
  • 1 package of hot dogs, I choose all beef or turkey
  • 5 dozen eggs…unless the chickens are laying and then I don’t need them
  • 2 Quarts of egg whites…unless the chickens are laying

Dairy Products

  • 1- 5lb bag of shredded cheddar cheese or other blend that is available
  • 1- 5lb bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 – 16 to 24 slices package of cheese slices (for the Non-Wiches, because we can’t forget to eat while we grocery shop)
  • 4lbs of butter, usually the large pack from Costco
  • 2 quarts of Greek yogurt, if I buy it at all because we don’t use it daily.
  • 1 quart of Half & Half, because my husband can only do coffee this way.

Spices and Condiments

  • Any spices I KNOW we are low on, I am in my cabinets enough to have a pretty good idea of which seasonings we are in need of every month
  • 1 bag (sometimes 2) of Nutritional Yeast – because I’ve ran out of this and it was painful
  • Mustard, because it is such a versatile condiment for our family
  • 2 bottles Olive Oil cooking spray – my kids use this on their popcorn snack
  • 1 package of Pure Stevia Extract Powder or Pure Monk Fruit Extract Powder, I usually need on or the other

Nuts and Seeds

  • 2 packages (4 jars) of natural peanut butter from Costco
  • 1 can (from Costco) of peanuts

Produce

  • 1 package Celery
  • 1- 5lb bag of carrots 9 unpeeled and uncut)
  • 1 large bag of potatoes
  • 1 head green cabbage
  • 1 head red cabbage
  • 1 package mini peppers, because i can get them by the pound instead of per pepper prices
  • 1 – 2lb package mini carrots (for a Faster Food meal in the car)
  • 10 bags frozen cauliflower florets
  • 6 bags frozen broccoli florets
  • 6 bags frozen kale
  • 1 large bag frozen peas
  • 1 large bag frozen corn

Grains and Beans/Legumes

  • 1- 25lb bag Gluten Free Rolled Oats
  • 1 large (usually 10lb) bag of a dry bean or legume, I have a pretty good idea of what we use the most and what needs to be restocked
  • 4 pounds of popping corn, because this is frequently a snack for our children

Misc.

  • Coffee – Decaf and regular
  • 2 packages of herbal tea
  • Discount Store items – these are unpredictable and I typically grab things for stocking the pantry
  • 1 large package of corn tortillas (from Costco)

Canned Goods

  • 6 – 28 oz cans each of diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce
  • 6 cans of “Rotel” tomatoes and green chiles, mild
  • 6 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 6 – 6oz cans of tomato paste
  • Up to 4 – 101oz cans of green beans
  • 1-2 gallons (glass, because we can reuse them for Kombucha and storage) of pickles

Printable Shopping List Here

Thank you for stopping by!

If you want to know how to Cook Less and Eat More, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

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Creamy Apricot Oats

Sometimes those pregnancy cravings strike like lightening, am I right?!

And, the resulting recipes can either be a stroke of brilliance, or a kitchen urban legend that gets passed on at baby showers for the rest of your life.

I think this recipe is in the brilliant category, AND its secret ingredient gives it added protein and creaminess, without dairy! THIS makes my heart happy, after the many years we spent dairy free for our kids’ health.

Why apricots? Because I have been looking into foods that support pregnant women and apricots give vitamin A, some fiber, and sweetness that we all need in our lifestyle. A little goes a long way here, and I don’t think you will miss ANY flavor because dicing them up gives you a little bit in every bite without adding too many carbs.

Want to watch me cook these up in my kitchen? See it here on Instagram!

The full recipe can be found below.

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. If you click them, I may earn a small commission. It does not cost you anything extra, but this commission helps support the work of running my site. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

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Ingredients

  • 3 unsulfured, dried, apricots diced up
  • 1/2 Cup, dry, rolled oats
  • 1 1/2 Cups water
  • 1/2 teaspoon Pure Monk Fruit Extract Powder, or use any sweetener you love to taste.
  • Pinch of Nutmeg, we get ours from here or here
  • Pinch of Mineral Salt, from here or here
  • 1/4 teaspoon Apricot Extract, from here or here
  • 1/4 Cup Liquid Egg Whites, either carton or fresh

Method

  • Dice the dry apricots as small as you’d like. Add them to the pot along with all other ingredients EXCEPT apricot extract and liquid egg whites.
  • Boil for a few minutes, stirring well and watching for boiling over (ask me how I know). Then, turn off the heat.
  • Add 1/4 Cup liquid egg whites once the heat has been off for a few minutes, but it is still hot, stirring constantly while pouring them in slowly so that they do not become scrambled but emulsify into the oatmeal and provide a creamy texture.
  • Add 1/4 teaspoon of Apricot extract last, and allow the oatmeal to continue to sit and thicken up for about 10 minutes.
  • Enjoy with some additional protein if desired, and if you follow the Trim Healthy Plan this falls into an E meal setting.

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If you want to Browse My Recipes, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

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Black Bean Chili

I really love soup…I especially love soup when it comes together quickly, like this chili does!

If you use canned black black beans, or cook them from dry and have them ready to go, this is the ultimate 30 minute or less meal for a busy night.

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. If you click them, I may earn a small commission. It does not cost you anything extra, but this commission helps support the work of running my site. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

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Ingredients

Method

Blend all together until smooth, or reserve some beans for a chunkier texture.

Add 6 more cups of cooked black beans and 4 more cups of bean water or plain water

Thank you for stopping by!

If you want to know how to Cook Less and Eat More, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

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Kit & Caboodle Cookie

Sometimes you just need a single-serve, low-carb sweet treat that you can make use of anything in your pantry with, right?

That is why this is called a “Kit & Caboodle” Cookie…We’ve got everything but the kitchen sink in here!

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. If you click them, I may earn a small commission. It does not cost you anything extra, but this commission helps support the work of running my site. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

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Ingredients

Method

Mix all dry ingredients together, and then add all wet ingredients. Spread onto a parchment lined baking sheet, at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Allowing the cookie to cool before picking up will help it to hold its shape and not fall apart.

Thank you for stopping by!

If you want to browse my other Gluten Free Recipes, or if you want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

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Hot Egg and Ranch Salad

I know, I know. this doesn’t sound like a winner…but I promise it IS!

I stumbled across this mixture one afternoon when I was pregnant, and in a hurry. I made the eggs and just threw everything together. As we know, desperation is the mother of invention, and even my husband loved it so we know it wasn’t just pregnancy taste buds winning the day.

If you are dairy free this could easily be done with a dairy free ranch and cheese shreds of your choice. My favorite dairy free cheese of all time is the Hello Cheese from the Trim Healthy Mama Coookbook, I did a video on how to simplify the process Here.

If you follow the Trim Healthy Lifestyle plan, I would encourage one of the dressings from either Rhonda’s Ranch from Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook (not dairy free) or the Trimmy Ranch (dairy free) from Trim Healthy Table.

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. If you click them, I may earn a small commission. It does not cost you anything extra, but this commission helps support the work of running my site. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.

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Ingredients

  • 2-3 Fried Eggs
  • Romaine Lettuce or Spinach…a plate full
  • Ranch of your choice
  • A sprinkle of cheese or the Superfood Salad Sprinkles from the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook

Method

Prepare your dressing, and your dairy free cheese if you have not purchased one. If you would like to stay within the parameters of the Trim Healthy Plan, choose a dressing with less than 2 grams of sugar per serving. Then, prepare the greens on your plate. Fry your eggs and place them on the plate while they are still hot and top with your dressing. That’s it!

This super simple, no special ingredient recipe is a winner, I promise. It falls into an S meal setting on the Trim Healthy Lifestyle plan.

Thank you for stopping by!

If you want to know how to Cook Less and Eat More, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

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Nicole’s Bread Mix

Do you need an easy low-carb, and low-fat, loaf of bread, and sometimes you just can’t wait to order the mix, or you run out at the last minute? Yeah, me too!

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts with Trim Healthy women asking for a DIY version of our favorite easy bread mix, and so I went to my kitchen to begin testing, because I love a good baking challenge these days.

It took a few tries, but it totally paid off!

I made this bread mix from a similar ingredient profile to that of the Trim Healthy version, so this loaf has a similar fuel source and ALL the details are below! Man, I LOVE this lifestyle!

**I have included links to the products mentioned in the recipe below to make it more convenient for you to find them. If you choose to make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you. This blesses my little, large, family and allows me to continue to make free recipes available here for you to enjoy.**

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Ingredients:

Method:

Mix all dry ingredients together very well. This can be mixed in advance for even faster, and more convenient bread-like baking. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put 1 1/3 Cup egg whites and 3/4 cup cool water into a blender and have it running on a low setting while you pour the dry ingredients into it. Let it run for an additional 30 seconds on low, and then pour it into a prepared loaf pan. I prepared mine with parchment paper to make it come out cleanly for the cooling process.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour in a preheated oven. Turn the oven off once the timer goes off, without opening the oven door, and allow it to sit in the oven for an additional 20 minutes while the temperature comes down some. Then, remove it from the oven, and the pan (parchment makes this part a SO EASY) and allow to cool on a cooling rack, completely before cutting into it.

** I got 18 slices, approximately 1/4in thick off of this loaf. 1/12th of this recipe is right at the limit for fat in a fuel pull meal on the Trim Healthy Lifestyle plan, so keep that in mind when you are using this in an E or FP setting. **

I have an Easier Easy Bread recipe too if you are out of egg whites, or don’t enjoy keeping them around.

Thank you for stopping by!

If you want to know how to Cook Less and Eat More, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

4

Shelf Staple Bread Mix

Do you need an easy low-carb, and low-fat, loaf of bread? Yeah, me too!

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts with Trim Healthy women asking for a DIY version of our favorite easy bread mix, and so I went to my kitchen to begin testing, because I love a good baking challenge these days.

It took a few tries, but it totally paid off!

I made it easier, because it is completely shelf stable, AND only uses WATER as the liquid. How much easier could it get, right?

**I have included links to the products mentioned in the recipe below to make it more convenient for you to find them. If you choose to make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you. This blesses my little, large, family and allows me to continue to make free recipes available here for you to enjoy.**

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Ingredients:

Method:

Mix all dry ingredients together very well. This can be mixed in advance for even faster, and more convenient bread-like baking. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put 1 3/4 Cups of water into a blender and have it running on a low setting while you pour the dry ingredients into it. Let it run for an additional 30 seconds on low, and then pour it into a prepared loaf pan. I prepared mine with parchment paper to make it come out cleanly for the cooling process.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour in a preheated oven. Turn the oven off once the timer goes off, without opening the oven door, and allow it to sit in the oven for an additional 20 minutes while the temperature comes down some. Then, remove it from the oven, and the pan (parchment makes this part a SO EASY) and allow to cool on a cooling rack, completely before cutting into it.

** I got 18 slices, approximately 1/4in thick off of this loaf. 1/12th of this recipe is right at the limit for fat in a fuel pull meal on the Trim Healthy Lifestyle plan, so keep that in mind when you are using this in an E or FP setting. **

Thank you for stopping by!

If you want to know how to Cook Less and Eat More, or want to look into my Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coaching Services, you’ve come to the right place!

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