Angel Food Ministries

When we were expecting the arrival of our children, I shopped! I bought every bright colored plastic toy and activity center in existence! I was so happy to finally have our kids! Over time, medical costs and adoption costs curbed my spending sprees. Then I found garage sales! Did you know you can buy brightly colored plastic toys for 90% off? Then four months later resell them for at least your original investment?

I was hooked. So much so that when my mother in law stopped by, she saw the kids playing “garage sale”. They were cleaning their toys with baby wipes and lining them up on the driveway! Too cute!
 
Now my kids are 9 and 7. Their toys aren’t easily found at garage sales. My latest obsession is to see how I can save money on their outrageously expensive foods. Yes, you can cook from scratch, but that is expensive too. And face it, as you kids grow up, you are not home as much as when they are young.

There are some great prepackaged foods. I will be sharing those as the weeks go on. Today I want to tell you about Angel Food Ministries. Angel Food ministries was founded as a ministry to those who were hurting financially. It is a buying coop. You can read all about the ministry here. You do not need to prove financial need, and the ministry is for everyone. Angel Food ministries uses its bulk buying power to offer enough food for a family of 4 to last a week for $25.

While I have a hard time accepting a “handout”, I was intrigued about this ministry. Everyone today can use a little financial help! However, the box of food for the week has gluten and casein. So, I never ordered one. February 2009 Angel Food Ministries started offering an allergen free box! I was SO excited! What they offer is a box of 5 pounds of chicken breaded in an allergen free coating. Included is one pound each of chicken nuggets, chicken tenders, chicken breast patties, mini chicken drumsticks, and cube steak.

This box is processed to eliminate Peanuts, Soybeans, Milk, Eggs, Fish, Crustacea, Tree Nuts and Gluten. Now you make think. Wow, $25 for 5 pounds of chicken. BUT the best alternative for me on the market is Belle and Evans chicken strips. I have two problems with Belle and Evans. First, their coating has soy in it. So recently we gave it up anyway. Second, their chicken strips are gluten free by industry standards (under 20 pmm of gluten) but many GFCF kids still have seizures, or other reactions to foods that are not completely free of gluten. Also, ANY gluten will hurt a person with Celiac disease.

Even if Belle and Evans was still ok for my kids, 5 pounds of their chicken tenders costs $50. So the Angel Food Ministries box was ½ price. You know where I’m going with this, right? We bought one. YEAH!!!! The kids like it!

In April I bought 2 boxes. Next month I will buy 3. I am planning on leaving frozen chicken nuggets at our family’s homes. That way when the kids are over, there is always something they can eat – that will fill them up!

Go read about Angel Food Ministries and see if it would be a good fit for your family too!