I'm hungry. . .

There's no way I can afford to start feeding a family of five the way I would ideally like to.
How nice it would be, to only buy organic foods. How proud I would be to serve my children only free-range chicken and eggs.
But that isn't realistic for me right now. So, I have to start with little changes.

Truthfully, I don't really know where to start.

The two younger bebes don't really drink milk or eat cheese; or really even consume dairy, for that matter. Blue does, but if I don't keep it in the house it doesn't seem to bother him. But, Dman (the little guys' daddy) could easily go through a gallon of milk a day. He isn't so big on raw cheese, so that's something.
I used to buy only Rice Dream or Almond Breeze for cereals and cooking, but it became a huge drain on us. We simply cannot afford to supply to amount we would need.

And then there's the issue of gluten.
Oh, sweet heavens. I feel doomed.

On the bright side, Lucky tends to naturally gravitate towards foods that are gluten-free. He favors rice noodles, plain steamed rice (white or brown) and potatoes over other carbs.
However, he still loves crackers, oatmeal, flour breading.

And of course, there's the matter of protein.
Lucky doesn't eat meat, with the occasional exception for white fish. And eggs, which isn't a 'meat' but in my family we say it is. He likes to eat nuts and some seeds, but these aren't allowed at his school as there is another child with a severe nut allergy. And, again, the cost issue with buying large amounts of nuts is a major factor.
The other two children eat meat without any inhibitions. Personally, I could live as a vegetarian and be happy. But, Dman is very much a meat and potatoes kind of person. I could have a very hearty mushroom pasta thing on the table and he would still worry that he wasn't getting enough food. It's really a mental thing with him, but pointing that out doesn't do any good.


So, I am going to wind this post down by saying this is what I'm working with. Finding a balance that nourishes and satisfies everyone isn't going to be easy.
I'm always open for suggestions and advice!