40 replies to this topic

[Juliebove]

We try to have meatless meals at least a couple of times a week. We outgrew our dairy allergies so we can have dairy twice a week. It is usually cheese pizza and macaroni and cheese.

The meat I do use is usually good ground beef that I get at Costco and canned chicken that I also get at Costco. I might use the ground beef in a pasta sauce, chili with lots of beans and maybe corn added, or a Spanish rice, also with added beans. That way I use less meat. I will also do a hamburger gravy and add plenty of finely slivered Swiss Chard for extra calcium. When I make meatloaf, I add a ton of assorted vegetables. And I make individual loaves. So a pound or two of meat makes a lot of little loaves.

The chicken might be put in soup, mixed with rice, or done up with pasta. I will add fresh onions, carrots and celery to the pasta and maybe the rice. Would add peas but daughter is allergic.

We used to get a produce box from a local CSA. That saved us a lot of money, but I found I was throwing a lot of food away because we just couldn't eat it all. There was usually stuff we wouldn't eat in there. Especially fruit. Husband can be a big fruit eater at times, but he will only eat specific things. And of course it is not what was in the box.

[Dixiebell]

Some of the meals that we have that I think are inexpensive are baked potatoes(baked in the oven, they taste better) with bacon, cheese and sour cream or manwich or broccoli and cheese really you can top baked potatoes with almost anything. Chicken thighs and legs are usually less expensive than breasts or tenderloins. Red beans(dried beans) and rice with sausage cut into small pieces and added to the beans. Ground beef and onion mixed with cooked rice and a can of tomatoes is really good too. Don't be afraid to try store brands, almost all of our food is store brand. Also, find out what day your grocery puts meats on clearance and then freeze the meats. Canned and frozen fruits and veggies last longer than 'fresh' and are just as good. Paper products we buy on sale or at discount stores and try to buy the larger packages, they last longer so less trips to the store. My daughter and son-in-law are on a military budget and she was asking about shopping and what to cook, I told her 'whatever is on sale is what's for dinner'.

[Gemini]

It is easy to tell a gluten intolerant they need to run their kitchen gluten-free to insure no cc but.. who in the world can afford that!? Our grocery budget has taken a hit with just me being gluten-free. Better meats, more produce not to mention the gluten-free flours and baking items. I know I can't be the only mom who can't afford to feed her whole family gluten-free. There are 6 of us by the way. My DH and I and our kids. 16,11,8 and 5. We struggle, dealt with 2 layoffs in 1 year and barely make ends meet some months.

Tiff... who is trying to learn a new normal

Edit to add I make meals and we all eat them but sometimes I have to make a different meal for the family and I eat on my own. So it's not like I am keeping the better meats and veggies from my family.

You do not have to make the whole house gluten-free at all! That is a misconception. What you do need to do is teach the older members of the family, including the 8 year old, about CC. Kids are not stupid and can learn anything. The 5 year old might be a stretch but the rest of them need to pony up and do things correctly so you will not become sick. I would suspect anyway that at least one other family member may eventually be diagnosed themselves as it's very rare to be the only Celiac in a family of that size. I have 3 siblings and they all show symptoms and have other autoimmune diseases so I know it isn't just me.

As far as cooking separate meals, the only time that really needs doing is when pasta is served. Everything else can be done gluten-free. I refuse to cook separate anything...if you eat at my home, the dinner will be gluten-free. It's kind of a pain cooking 2 pots of pasta but for a family of your size, it's necessary. Gluten-free pasta is way too expensive to serve to 6 people!

Relax and don't worry about what others may say. I do not have a totally gluten-free household but it's just my husband and myself. I have never been CC'd at home, except once and it was totally MY fault!

[Juliebove]

Some of the meals that we have that I think are inexpensive are baked potatoes(baked in the oven, they taste better) with bacon, cheese and sour cream or manwich or broccoli and cheese really you can top baked potatoes with almost anything. Chicken thighs and legs are usually less expensive than breasts or tenderloins. Red beans(dried beans) and rice with sausage cut into small pieces and added to the beans. Ground beef and onion mixed with cooked rice and a can of tomatoes is really good too. Don't be afraid to try store brands, almost all of our food is store brand. Also, find out what day your grocery puts meats on clearance and then freeze the meats. Canned and frozen fruits and veggies last longer than 'fresh' and are just as good. Paper products we buy on sale or at discount stores and try to buy the larger packages, they last longer so less trips to the store. My daughter and son-in-law are on a military budget and she was asking about shopping and what to cook, I told her 'whatever is on sale is what's for dinner'.

My husband is in the military. When we lived on Cape Cod, there was a PX right there on base. This is where I did most of my grocery shopping. Luckily we had no food allergies (or at least didn't know of them) at that time. Good thing because it wouldn't be of a lot of use to us now at least in terms of gluten-free stuff like bread and pasta.

I don't know if that store was typical or not. But quite often the food for sale was very limited. Good fresh produce wasn't always there. And once, the only form of fresh meat was ham! So when we lived there, we often ate whatever was available.

Luckily after we had lived there for a while, I discovered some other places to shop. None were close enough to warrant a trip very often though.

[MelindaLee]

I'm one of the odd ones who's food budget went down after turning our house gluten-free. I'm blessed to live near Bob's RedMill, so I can buy in bulk without the shipping costs, but even when I was having it shipped to me, it ended up being less than 1$ per pound--buying 25# bags of the flours... I do bake all of our bread and pizza shells from scratch. I bake many batches of muffins each week--5 min to mix, 20 in the oven while I'm in the shower and getting dressed... Dinners have rices, quinoa, gluten-free noodles (I also buy in bulk), corn tortillas, etc... We have a very small yard, but we've had a garden for the last 2 years and I hardly have to buy any veggies at the store. Most of what I buy-produce and dairy-wise-I buy organic. I buy when stuff is on sale and they get what they get! We eat very seasonally. We hardly eat out anymore. We went from 3x a week to maybe 3x a month, so that helps the budget too.

If I can help in any way, I'd be more than happy to. I've been doing this for years now

Where do you get noodles in bulk? Where is Bob's Red Mill? I might need to take a road trip!

[eKatherine]

Where do you get noodles in bulk? Where is Bob's Red Mill? I might need to take a road trip!

I, too rarely buy specialty gluten-free foods. I eat meat, poultry, vegetables (including lots of potatoes), fruit, nuts, and sometimes rice or beans. I get my vegetables in an Asian store that sells lots of produce cheap. I also get my pasta and rice flour there. Asian rice pasta is very little different from some types of regular pasta and only costs a little more.

[SaraKat]

I find the really expensive stuff to be the processed items that are labeled gluten-free. Glutino brand is expensive. Since I have gotten my diagnosis, I have been eating so much healthier. I totally cut bread out- I wasn't a big bread person so I never by the gluten-free bread. I have had pasta twice in the last 4 months. I don't buy the processed stuff that much. I am still buying the same meats and vegetables though- just more of them since I can't have pizza one night, Chinese one night, Mexican out, etc.

[Pac]

I need to have a gluten-free house and I was collecting all the bills for past 4 months to get an idea how much more we spend on food because of it. It seems like we spend the same or even a little bit less than when all 4 of us ate gluten at home. It can be either a mistake or a byproduct of being more aware of what we are buying and how much it costs. I started a detailed financial diary to get more reliable results - no evidence of extra costs so far, only that we are spending 1/4 of our food budget on dairy. (and I'm pretty sure we are eating less cheeses and yogurts than before )

There's many ways to save money on gluten-free foods, even if you buy only good-quality fresh food. No matter how sensitive you are, there's no need for all family members to eat 100% gluten-free at home. You can still buy food labeled "may contain wheat" or containing barley malt for them if the gluten-free alternative is too expensive. Don't buy specialty products and flour mixes, focus on 'traditional' naturaly gluten-free food instead. Home-made gluten-free bread and pizza cost only a little more than regular bread in the shop if you use cheap flours. Buy shelf-stable goods like flours, cereals or spices in bulk, it saves you time as well as money. Plan your meals and use what you have at home first, don't buy perishables on sale if you're not sure you will eat them before they get bad. (I don't strictly plan my meals ahead, instead, I go to the shop to see what they have and plan meals while shopping.) Eat seasonaly and localy, this way you eat better quality too. Cook and especialy bake more things at once to save time and electricity - Baking fish and potatoes for dinner in the oven? Bread and extra pizza crusts can be made there at the same time, then just lower the temperature and put some cake in.

Having a completely gluten-free house makes many things a lot easier. Just the time alone you save on cooking and avoiding cc is worth it. You don't need to be constantly aware of what you are touching, if you are using the right fork or spoon, or if it's safe to kiss your husband. When you feel constantly sick and can't find any reason why, knowing that cc at home is almost impossible helps tremendously, especialy when you know some family members are notoriously unable to follow simple rules like not using your butter or cutting cheese with a clean knife.

[sassiskull]

We are a family of four and luckily just my 3 year old is gluten free. I am however heavily considering turning our whole house gluten-free. We however are lucky to live in WNY (we have Wegmans) They have the speciality gluten-free isle, however on any of their Brand items they list initial for allergans on front of packacges ex (G is gluten free) so while shopping all you look for is the G Its a godsend esp with a newley diagosed child. Many times their brand is cheaper than a name brand even with coupons. Again I am only feeding one lil one so a pan of lasagna lasts months, but costs will be up when we all make the switch. Our older child is 14 and we will probably do the switch when he is older and she will be also which means she will be eating more. Honestly we probably spend the most on milk, I think it may be cheaper to just buy a cow! But I agree Gluten free is def more expensive. Im just hoping more companies realize the demand and maybe substitiue the gluten for gluten-free if they can (like chex)

[okieinalaska]

Thank you for all the tips and ideas on feeding the rest of my family and me. I was just looking online at the gluten free pastas and got all excited till I noticed...they won't ship here to Alaska! I just bought a breadmachine (to make my own gluten free bread) from amazon for goodness sakes and got free shipping on it to Alaska, why won't they ship 12 boxes of spaghetti? It's crazy!

As for coupons, the coupons we get here are not the same as say my mom gets in the lower 48. She get's great coupons, I get coupons for windex and toothpaste. : ( And very few at that. Plus no one doubles up here.

I shop at the commisary on base mostly but also Fred Meyers (they have a pretty good health food section) and now I will be shopping some at Natural Pantry (expensive). The base is good for meat and frozen items...the fresh produce isn't the greatest, but it's not too bad. I am in Alaska though so the produce isn't usually great anywhere.

We have had a garden for a while. Last year was the worst gardening year ever. We had a nonexistant summer, we had 32 consecutive days of rain here! (that's more than 1/3 or our very short summer!) It was awful, LOL.

I plan on cooking a lot of meals and freezing them on Sat or Sun for the following week. For lunches to take to work and for my husband (he just retired from Coast Guard and is going to school full time) to put in the oven. I need to use my crockpot more too. Anyone have any favorite crockpot recipes?

[FooGirlsMom]

Hi,

We're doing ok but feeling the pinch slightly in the checkbook as well. DH has been unemployed since July & I'm working PT to make ends meet in the meantime.

Doing gluten-free cheap helps a lot when you are a SAHM. If you work (even part-time) esp. with the numerous kids, time and energy can be a challenge. If you have lingering health problems due to your gluten problem, it gets harder.

Prepackaged mixes are expensive. The real savings is what other posters have mentioned - focusing on naturally gluten-free foods. I just bought a huge bag of jasmine rice at Walmart for about $14. I'm sure an asian market might even be cheaper. I have cooked rice with gluten-free broth & a package of carrots/peas for a side dish. I have cooked rice with coconut milk & raisins for breakfast, where everyone adds their own sweetener. You get the idea. Rice is really versatile and takes about 20 minutes to make even a large amount.

You don't have to go completely gluten-free in your home. You just might want to segregate your pots & utensils & buy a cheap toaster & label it or keep a towel over it so no one else uses it.

Let's face it. gluten-free pasta costs more than wheat. gluten-free bread costs more, etc. The only way we're keeping our heads above water is by finding the meat sales & using rice & produce on sale (or frozen).

I'm feeling your pain, girlfriend. We're having difficulty feeding 4 people on $150 a week including household paper goods, toiletries etc.

FooGirlsMom

[WW340]

We actually save money on food now, and eat better since going gluten free. I don't use prepared foods. I cook everything from scratch. We use corn tortillas a lot, along with lots of chicken, hamburger, potatoes and veggies. Rice is a great substitute for pasta.

I also buy pasta in bulk from amazon or use asian noodles (cheap). I use corn starch, potato starch and tapioca flour mixed with rice flour, corn meal and corn flour. Those are all pretty cheap for baking.

[glutenfreeresistant]

It is easy to tell a gluten intolerant they need to run their kitchen gluten-free to insure no cc but.. who in the world can afford that!? Our grocery budget has taken a hit with just me being gluten-free. Better meats, more produce not to mention the gluten-free flours and baking items. I know I can't be the only mom who can't afford to feed her whole family gluten-free. There are 6 of us by the way. My DH and I and our kids. 16,11,8 and 5. We struggle, dealt with 2 layoffs in 1 year and barely make ends meet some months.

Tiff... who is trying to learn a new normal

Edit to add I make meals and we all eat them but sometimes I have to make a different meal for the family and I eat on my own. So it's not like I am keeping the better meats and veggies from my family.

I agree with many of the other posts. If you concentrate on replacing gluten, it will be more expensive. I find it's a little harder to plan easy meals with variety. I have subscribed to cooking light and the Tablespoon and some others I can't remember. I browse those recipes that are gluten free. I have found many very tasteful recipes. I do agree that if you are trying to replace gluten containing meals with gluten free products, it does get expensive.
As I've stated in my other previous posts, that it's the inconvenience when you are not home that I struggle with most.
I have some staples that I keep stocked which is brown rice flour, gluten-free breadcrumbs and Quinoa. Quinoa is expensive, but I love it and use it as a pasta in soups and in place of rice when I get sick of rice. I use corn tortillas at times but only like them occasionally Rice tortillas are good too for wraps.

I too am an avid coupon shopper and am somewhat resentful at how expensive gluten-free products are. I do find some very useful coupons also, as another person posted things like corn tortilla can be very cheap on sale with coupons, there are many coupon blogs that do the work for you. Just read them.

[cap6]

We are 98% gluten-free in our home as I will cook only one meal. But, i have to add that this is for myself, partner & adult son which makes a huge difference. My son can go out he he doesn't want gluten-free. I have one counter in the kitchen that can be used for gluten ( their bread etc) so I know everything else is still gluten-free clean. I don't envy anyone trying to do this with small kids and can understand the desire for an entire gluten-free home!

[teresasupermom]

I can sympathize on this one. My dd celiac antibodies were not going down so we finally made the switch to the whole family being gluten free almost a month ago. We have a large family as well - 7 kids, 6 living at home. I got picky eaters to boot so it's been interesting to say the least. You don't realize how much you live on bread and pasta until you make the switch. We buy gluten free pasta in bulk from Amazon. Bread has been a different story. I buy Udi's sandwich bread for my dd for her lunches, but the rest of the family no way can I afford to buy gluten-free bread for everyone. We've kind of just given up sandwich bread in the house for now. I am working on baking my own hamburger buns. For the most part though we are trying to cook things that are naturally gluten free. They go over much better anyway. Chicken and rice, tacos, tator tot casserole, mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy. Those are a few of our staples now. We use cornstarch for our gravies where we used to use flour. Maybe if you gave us some ideas of what you used to eat and what meals you are struggling to replace and maybe we could help you with some replacement ideas.