Grocery Crunch

[Worriedtodeath]

HI!!

Now that the first initial months of getting used to gluten free/dairy free and finding out what we liked, I am now trying to whittle down the old grocery bill. I

[GlutenGalAZ]

I have a Sam's Club card through work. My husband and I mainly get snack food there. Sam's is a lot different from Costco, it has a lot of "snack" type foods. If you have a Costco in your area (we don't) I have read more about people shopping at Costco on this website than Sam's club.

We get Jennie O Turkey at Sam's that we cut (deli meat), chips (they have a big box of Lay's Chip single servings), beef jerky and Naked Fruit Juice (ours just got an 8 pack yumm). They have meats but we only get those off and on. Ours has Chili that is gluten free (not special chili just normal).

We do majority of our shopping at the regular grocery store. During the last year we have gotten really good at reading labels so we buy pretty much everything at the grocery store.

There is a really nice health food store in my town that I can order the spaghetti noodles I like from and since I order a case (12 in the case) I get 10% off. If you have a health food store in town try talking to the manager about if you can get a discount if you order a case of the flour you like. Some cases are 6 and some are 12 depending on the item.

There are some online stores that will give you a discount for ordering a case at a time but then you have shipping on top. Some stores (even grocery stores) will special order items.

Good Luck

[blueeyedmanda]

I dont do any of the bulk stores since it is just me who is gluten free and in our house its just me and my hubbie so the bulk route wouldnt work as well for us. I buy a lot of naturally gluten free items like fresh fruit and veggies.. The only real gluten free items I buy that are pricey is pasta, and the bags of glutino pretzels. It is rare for me to buy a baking mix or even cookies...that is how I have been saving. Hope this helps.

[lizard00]

I don't buy much specialized stuff either. We are members of BJs which has been worth it for a few reasons:

Chicken breasts (Fresh, boneless) there are somewhere around 2.00-2.50 lb, which is pretty hard to beat.

The price on diapers alone...

GAS!!!! Is always cheaper there.

Their produce is good for certain things; ie bananas, avocadoes (if you happen to love them), and there's other stuff I've bought but don't remember.

The prices for dried fruits and nuts and overall snack foods are better.

Like the other poster, I wasn't crazy about Sam's when we checked it out. But if it's all you have, check it out. When our membership to BJs runs out, I may check out Costco. I hear their food is better, but the membership is more.

And as for non diary milks, if you have a Trader Joe's nearby, that's the ticket. I get a big 2 liter, (I think it's around that size) of soy milk for 2.50 there, at the regular grocery store near me it's $5. They also have rice milk and almond milk I believe for cheaper than regular places. BJ's has Silk, but I've found it's no cheaper than buying it in the store. The advantage is that in comes in cardboard containers, so it's easier to store and you get 12 1 liter cartons. So if nothing else, you aren't buying as often.

Hope that helped a little!!

[tarnalberry]

I generally don't buy a lot of gluten free flour or pasta. Corn tortillas, rice and quinoa is cheaper. Yeah, it means not bread, but bread isn't necessary (and you can adapt fairly quickly). (Not saying it's the right answer, just one option.) Meat (plain meat) MUST be labeled if it has anything added to it, per USDA regulations. The Sam's Club near us in Washington has a fair amount of produce and meat (none of it organic ), but reasonably priced. But they really didn't have much else that was gluten free.

[RiceGuy]

Since you have an Asian store, you should be able to buy sorghum flour there, which will likely be labeled as either Jowar, Juwar, or Juvar. A similar flour (though not exact) is millet, which is usually labeled Bajri. I've purchased these from an on line Asian store, but they were a bit different than what Bob's and others usually sell. There are a number of varieties of millet and sorghum (which many consider to be related), and I suspect that the difference I noticed was due to variety and wherever it was grown. About the most reasonable site for sorghum that I'm aware of is Open Original Shared Link

If you can do soy, you can make soy milk from the flour, or you can use soft silken tofu.

If you can do peanuts, a generic natural peanut butter is likely available to you, which would be a good source of fat and protein. Natural ones are usually just peanuts and salt, thus are gluten-free and no fillers or artificial junk. Plus they often cost half what the name brands do.

[Phyllis28]

I have seen soy milk at Costco. I think the brand was Silk. I don't drink soy milk so I am not sure if this brand is gluten free.

Costco has a good selection of meat, fish and poulty. The selection of fruit varies by the season. The only fruit I almost always see is apples. The vegetables are limited in variety although they alway have bagged salad.

Other food items I buy are canned pinto beans, Mission Tortilla Chips, spices and pre-cooked chicken. The have other basic canned goods such as tomatos and tomato sauce.

Check with both Costco and Sam's about a one day visitor pass. I have seen them available.