Wow!

[ShayBraMom]

So today we went shopping for Glutenfree stuff. I had asked yesterday waht the main stuff asked for is for making your own bread. I got gluten-free Bread Mix, gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, gluten-free Brownie Mix, gluten-free All Purpose Baking Flour, Tapioca Flour, got a Box of Egg-REplacer (oh my how expensive 7$ for 1lb, got Glutino Honeynut Cereal, I got the pure Gelatin some had recommended here, and Guar Gum as well as one pack of PastaJoy Fussili noodles!

Is it true that Guar Gum does the same as X-Gum (Xanthan)?

then, on the gluten-free Bread Mix it says on what you need 1 Egg and enough Eggwhites, aehm, i screened and sscreened it's to go in the batter not on top of the bread or so , so I wonder how much are enough EggWhites?

Has anyone ever tried noodles from bionaturae Organic Glutenfree noodles (from Italy) made with rice, potatoe and soy? Beware, those are by far the most nastiest noodles I've ever had. Even overcooked so they'd be softer they still tasted undercooked and like cartboard! Any recommendations for better ones?

Overall I gotta admit, the diet for Celiac is VERY expensive, oh my! No wonder that in Italy diagnosed Celiacs get all their food for free in Pharmacies, that ought to help out a lot, they even get extra funds a month AND two days of a month for appt.s preparing and shopping for food! Having a Celiac of even two in your family here with low income families gotta be extremely hard!

[dandelionmom]

It is pricey. One thing that helps is to search these boards before buying a new product so that you can find out if it is awful or not before spending the money. Another thing is to try eating more naturally Gluten-free foods instead of the replacements.

[Lisa]

I rather like Bionaturae.

Two years ago the gluten free foods were just awful. Trust me, there have been MAJOR improvements in taste, texture and availability. Hopefully, the price will be next.

[blueeyedmanda]

I do hear the Glutino cereals are decent. Pricey though. The noodles I found which I like the most are Tinkyada.

[taweavmo3]

It can be pricey....I think everyone spends an arm and a leg in the beginning, I know I sure did. I remember spending close to $100 at Whole Foods, for one bag of groceries!

I have a family of six to feed gluten and casein free, and I am now doing it for around $150 a week. I think the key to not spending a fortune on this diet is to not try and replicate what you ate before. Our dinners are much more simple now, but I have found that kids really like simple, lol. I don't buy many specialty foods anymore. I'll buy a bag of pasta a week (Tinkyada rocks!), one Namaste mix a week for dessert, and once every couple of weeks I'll buy a bag of Bette Hagmans featherlite mix ($9). I mostly make a meat, veggies, and rice or potatoes for dinner. Lunches are pretty much the same.....but faster meats, like sausages or just leftover chicken with microwaved veggies. Not the most elaborate meals by any means, but the kids don't seem to mind.

Tonight I made salmon patties and the kids loved them. I used instant potato flakes instead of bread crumbs, they worked out great and they were much cheaper. I made extra so the kids can have them for lunch tomorrow....luckily they don't mind taking leftovers. They were taking sandwhiches everyday, but I was spending a small fortune on bread at the rate the kids were flying through it. I finally just quit buying it, and now they fill up on other things, lol.

Hope that helps some, I know it's so hard in the beginning. You'll figure out how to spend less, it just takes some adjusting!

[ptkds]

Yep, Tinkyada is the best gluten-free pasta. You can order it from Vitacost.com for about $2.69 a pkg, and shipping is a flat rate. So if you order alot at once, you save a bundle. We usually use asian noodles, though. You have to play around to find the ones you like, but they are less than $1 a bag. Just be careful because some of them do contain wheat.

I prefer to make my cookies, cakes and brownies from scratch. They are cheaper and taste better. I do have some mixes, but I only use those if I am in a hurry or I don't have all the necessary ingredients for my "from scratch" recipe. Pillsbury frosting is gluten-free (read the label in case they change the ingredients!)

Find an Asian grocery store, and stock up on your rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch. Each package is less than a dollar for a pound of flour or starch. It is triple that price from a regular grocery store.

Buying bulk may seem expensive at first, bur later you will only stock up on 1 or 2 things a month, and the cost evens out over time. The only things I buy from health food stores (or online) is Xanthan gum, potato flour (which is rare since I don't use much), brown rice flour, and egg replacer. Everything else is a special treat (such as cookies or mixes). When I go to asian stores, I get the rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, sweet rice flour (they sometimes call it glutinous rice flour, but don't confuse that with gluten!), and noodles. Everything else I buy is naturally gluten-free.

I can send you my collection of links to my favorite online shops if you want! Just PM me.

ptkds

[kbtoyssni]

It's pricey at first because most people are going to buy a bunch of substitutes or specialty gluten-free foods. It's so much easier to buy something that says gluten-free on the package than to try to call every company in the first week. And it's hard to figure out what to eat at first - you want to continue to eat your morning cereal and lunchtime sandwich and pasta for dinner. But now that I know the safe brands, I don't even bother with the specialty stuff. Too expensive and I don't want to make a trip to a different grocery store - I don't have time for that! If I can't get it at Super Target or Cub Foods, I don't eat it!