So much to do... so little time

Seriously. Where has the time gone? Last week I was comforted in the knowledge that our trip was "so far away" and suddenly this week I realized that we will be buying the plane tickets in a few weeks.

To bring you all up to speed:
Alex and Ethan decided that they do not want to go this summer and instead want to spend the summer in Ohio, with grandma. Now the plan is that I will take each boy the summer after they turn 18. Yes, it is a sacrifice, but a sacrifice I am willing to make. :p So now, the plan is that we will drive them to Ohio 2 weeks before we leave, stay for a week, and come home to a peaceful house just in time to get ready for our trip. Well, that is the plan, anyway.

Being the paranoid mom that I am, and knowing how stressful it was for us right after we were diagnosed I am trying to make feeding Alex easier for my mom. Here is how I hope to do that:
~ Prepared by me and frozen meals
~ Prepared by others and frozen chicken products
~ Teaching my mom and brother how to cook for a celaic
~ A list of brand specific gluten free products
~ iPod app that allows you to look up specific brand names


We will be in Germany for roughly 90 days. Alex and Ethan will be in Ohio for a little longer, so I decided that 115 dinners was my target. Luckily, Alex is the kind of guy who could eat the same thing for days in a row, so that really made planning easier. I am trying to keep the food relatively healthy and not just processed frozen meals. I asked him for a list of some of his favorite things and here is what we came up with:

10 - Sandwiches (lunch meat, tuna)
35 - Made and frozen by me (10 salsa chicken, 10 taco meat, 10 pizza crust, 5 red beans and rice)
10 - Pasta and sauce (either jarred or frozen home made)
20 - Chicken from Angel foods box [2 boxes]
30 - Family (hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ, etc.)
10 - Grilled chicken (thighs w/ bbq sauce; 2 pieces per meal)

There is a Whole Foods in Cleveland, so I will stock up on things like gf bread, gf cookies, gf rice cakes, and gf oatmeal. I don't want my mom to have to drive to Cleveland for bread! I will also buy enough cereal, lunch meat, peanut butter, and other gf things that are available in the regular old grocery store to get him through the first 2 weeks.

For breakfast, Alex is perfectly happy eating Honey Nut Chex every day, but I will also buy him some gf oatmeal and gf pancake mix. For lunch, he can make quesadillas and sandwiches. Sides will be frozen vegetables, potatoes and gf pasta.

Luckily, I have a FoodSaver and my mom has a giant freezer.