Budget gluten free?

[bbrandonsmom]

Is there a thread-I found a bunch of mixed gluten threads. I thought there would be a sticky
We are going to start gf, and some stuff I realize I can buy bulk from Amazon at good deals. For those of you who eat a lot of bread-do you make your own? It's about $5 a loaf from what I can find and that's too exp for us. Also cereal is exp-the kids eat it a few times a week.
This is all new for us. We are doing dairy free with one ds, but he's also starting to get a dry/waxy skin build up, which when he was an infant, we were told was because of too much wheat in his diet. I though to go wheat free, but I might as well go gluten free as much as possible to see if it makes a difference.
I'm curious also to see if there is a difference in behaviors and health in general. But budget wise, gf seems so exp. I don't know how anyone does it.

[tanyalynn]

There's a recipe thread in the Allergies forum, it's a long thread, search for it (it has the word recipe in the title) and you'll find it. It's a combo of generally tasty recipes, plus GF (and often dairy/egg/soy free) recipes that are good substitutes for comfort foods.

We've seen health and behavior differences, different ones for everyone in the family--they make this worth the time and expense.

After you get used to the change, and you find gf products you like and you find ways that you can use other, naturally gluten-free foods, the price does become more reasonable--at first, we spent a ton. But, for us--we like corn tortillas and breakfast tacos using corn tortillas are very workable for us. Other folks may hate corn tortillas but like something else. And I'm trying to get back into the habit of making idlis, they're fermented rice and lentil cakes, not sweet but very bread-like, like a biscuit almost. Cheap if you have a food processor. Finding that type of stuff, the stuff that works for your family, is key.

In general--if you're willing to cook more, then you can just sub in potatoes, rice and other GF grains as part of a meal and your costs will be fine. It's the convenience food that stretches our budget.

[kjbrown92]

My DS would eat spaghetti sauce over cauliflower instead of noodles.
Trader Joes, if you have one has the cheapest prices for almond flour and rice noodles that I've found. I can't remember what else I got there.
Rice Chex is gluten free and can be bought in a regular grocery store with coupons (we get some from amazon in bulk too - puffed millet, and used to get one that was like Cocoa Krispies but gluten free - can't remember the name). I get coconut oil from amazon too (nutiva brand - I use it for frying eggs and using in baking). Asian markets have good deals on rice noodles as well, and some alternative flours - like tapioca starch, and coconut milk. At the Indian market, I get pre-made dosa batter (fermented lentil/rice that's used to make a savory flatbread you can use as a wrap), sorghum flour, etc. At the beginning we just cut out gluten, and didn't do a lot of substituting, until we figured things out. If you get the mixes and prepared foods, it gets pretty expensive. I experiment a lot with things, so I tend to spend a lot on it, but you certainly don't have to.

[texaspeach]

I try not to buy specialty products. no gf bread or cookies except on special occasions. we use rice or potatoes instead of pasta, corn tortillas instead of flour, etc.

[maxwill129]

Originally Posted by texaspeach

I try not to buy specialty products. no gf bread or cookies except on special occasions. we use rice or potatoes instead of pasta, corn tortillas instead of flour, etc.

I agree. I never buy anything premade. We don't do bread at all. I make homemade GF tortillas and crepes and we fill them with almond butter and homemade jelly or thinly sliced veggies, etc instead of using bread. I always make my cookies, cakes, etc, and we do that rarely. We eat a lot of nuts and yogurt, green smoothies, raw veggies, grass-fed cheeses, etc.

It's overwhelming, but in all honesty I spend way less money now that we're GF than I did when we weren't! I think I budget better now.

[lil_earthmomma]

Prefab is deinitely hard on the budget. We just don't buy any gf stuff.

There is a whole world of naturally gf options out there!

[Sandrine]

I wait until the gf products that I uses goes on sale. I have seen them be 1-2$ off at times. I would buy like 6 boxes that last us a few mths. I'm almost figure out how many boxes I need to buy when on sale to last until the next sale time.

Now, we don't use them everyday but a few times a wk. In the winter time, I will bake bread for dd3 but right now it's too hot and she has been asking for it. So I think that the savings i do during the winter, I can buy a few loafs for summertime.

[DashsMama]

I save money by not using any special mixes.

I use all my regular pancake, muffin, cookie recipes, I just substitute 1 cup brown rice flour, 2 T corn starch and 1/2 tsp guar gum for every cup of wheat flour the recipe calls for. Or, if it is something like stew, I just leave the flour out altogether.

Dh went without bread for a long time but we've just discovered a brand called Udi's that is relatively inexpensive for gf and tastes great. We've started buying 1 loaf of Udi's a week so my dh can have sandwiches and toast again.

Mostly I do what others have said and just make normal recipes from scratch that don't have gluten in them, like enchiladas, baked chicken and rice, steak and potatoes, etc.

[Koalamom]

GF, DF, EF over here. We don't eat bread anymore and don't buy specialty mixes. I sure miss bread though as I could eat a whole loaf of sourdough bread. Instead I get my fill with muffins and pancakes. I don't find it very expensive at all. I have a basic GF, EF, DF muffin recipe I use and just add whatever I want to it like berries, zuccini, banans, raisins, etc. I grind my brown rice for flour and that is cheap and the bulk of the flour. Tapioca flour is really cheap and you don't need much anyway.

[damona]

my 2 younger boys have been gfcf for about 5 years now. when we started, i had no idea what i was doing. i panicked and bought anything that said it was gluten and dairy free because i hadn't a clue. 5 years of practical experience and research later...

we do a lot of potatoes and rice, once in awhile i buy the tinkyada brown rice pasta. i make a big tray of baked potatoes once a week (about a dozen) and then we can do all kinds of things with those for the rest of the week. or a big pot of rice and then i work off of that for 3 days or so.

i do buy the asian rice vermicelli or bean thread noodles fairly regularly. my kids like those just plain with sweet and sour sauce (homemade) or thai sweet hot sauce (thai kitchen brand).

i do a lot of one dish meals like rice with salsa and chicken that i can just put everything in the rice cooker and let it go. i also like to make homemade soup.

i make corn bread, muffins, pancakes, cookies, etc., from scratch.

the only baking mix i buy regularly is bob's red mill gluten free homemade bread mix b/c it's the only bread my son really likes. i was given a bread machine and i keep it exclusively for the gfcf stuff. i add ground flax seed and unsweetened shredded coconut to the mix, and maybe some pumpkin puree or applesauce and i usually use coconut milk to make it.

my boys can tolerate goat and sheeps milk cheeses, in small amounts, so i'll buy a block of peccorino romano and grate it and keep it in the freezer, since it's very strongly flavoured, i don't need to use much. it lasts a long time.

i buy olive oil and coconut oil and use those in place of butter, most of the time. once in awhile i buy earth balance or another vegan spread, but only if i'm making something that calls specifically for it.

now and then i buy the tofutti cream cheese or sour cream (our sitter is vegan so i like to keep a few things that she likes on hand, too) or the cheese slices, but they're not cheap.

there are tons of things that are naturally gluten free and/or dairy free. you just have to read labels like crazy. mayo, peanut butter, jelly/jam, honey... lots of things that you normally use are going to be just fine.

rice chex, corn chex, cinnamon chex, and honey nut chex are all gfcf. i don't know about the generic versions, tho. corn tortillas are gfcf (read labels!) and you can often buy them in bulk. i use these to make our own tortilla chips and bean burritos scrambled egg burritos and lots of other stuff.

fruits, veggies, meats, eggs, beans, nuts... stick with the basics and it's hard to go wrong.

hth!

[glutenfreebaker]

Budget Gluten Free

I have been making my own gluten free dairy free sourdough bread for 4 years. I devleloped the recipe for my own many food sensitivities, as well as my daughter's. It's also free of eggs, soy, yeast, sugars, chemical leaveners and gums. It's easy on the digestion, has great taste, texture and shelf life, unlike many gluten free breads.

You can download the starter recipe to see if it's right for you:
http://www.sanctuary-healing.com/food-recipes.html

Good luck with it all,
sharon
glutenfreebaker

[crunchy_mommy]

I am currently GF, soy-free, corn-free, & vegan -- so most processed foods are out -- but I do find 'investing' in some GF substitutes for the first month or two makes the adjustment a little easier. I hate spending the money but I spent a whole lot more on medical tests & treatments that didn't work, so to me an extra $20 at the grocery store to get things that will make sticking to the diet easier is totally worth it. It's critical to me that I stick to the diet right now, and until I'm feeling fully better it's hard to be creative with meals...

That being said, we do focus primarily on foods that are naturally GF. Fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, quinoa, brown rice, a little garbanzo bean flour, buckwheat, apple cider vinegar, home-grown herbs... None of those things are generally expensive.