From A Newbie

[heatherjane]

I was diagnosed just yesterday. I'm so glad you guys are out here!

I'm well aware that my entire life is about to change drastically. I need help. I'm a single adult with little time during the week to devote to cooking, and I know this diet can be hard on the budget. Does anybody have any tips for eating economically? Are there particular meals that will last through the week that I could make during the weekends? I have trouble eating fresh foods up before they go bad, since I'm just feeding myself.

I appreciate any advice!

[caek-is-a-lie]

I eat lots of tuna salad for lunch at work all week. It's quick to make and yummy with Best Foods mayo, onion, tomato, and served on Corn Thins. The Corn Thins give it a very nice flavor and make it more filling so I don't have to make as much tuna each day. That helps the tuna last longer (I buy a big pack of cans at Costco every payday.) Costco has some great gluten-free sausages, like Hans. Oh they are to die for!

Then for dinner we just put some frozen chicken or burgers in the oven with frozen veggies, bake, and have with mustard or something. It's quick and easy. When I have time on the weekends, I do a bit of fancier cooking, like making spinach omlettes for breakfast, etc. I can't eat rice, so my gluten-free options get really limited when I can't use rice, rice pasta, rice cereals, etc. (but there are some great corn cereals out there I love.)

There's always fruit, too.

Your best bet is to stick to plain whole foods for awhile and do lots of research before you shop because gluten is everywhere! There are also food guides to help you find gluten-free products and most store chains have their own lists of gluten-free store brand products that makes it a lot easier to shop. Just start googling and it will get easier as you learn more. There are even blogs out there with lots of gourmet gluten-free recipes that look extremely tasty. I'm still pretty new to this too, but 2 months into it I'm finally starting to relax. I still make dietary mistakes, but things like washing my hands after feeding the cat are habit now, not a constant stressful emergency. lol

[caek-is-a-lie]

I just remembered one other thing I used to do when I was in college. I'd go buy ground beef in bulk--those 2lb packs on clearance at the grocery store--get some Classico spaghetti sauce (not all flavors are gluten-free so check first) and I'd cook up the beef and mix in the sauce and then split it up into a whole bunch of reusable storage containers. I'd have lunch for the week and all I had to do in the morning was throw it in my backpack. It was really good, although I don't know how healthy it was, it was definitely affordable and better than eating gluten (at the time I was just trying to avoid all grains in general...didn't know it was primarily gluten intolerance....)

[sandejosgirl]

We love this recipe for a quick dinner:

4 cups of rice cooked in our rice cooker

Instead of adding water we add a quart of mushroom broth (watch for gluten!) and then fill up the

rest of the liquid needed with water

1 bag of frozen broccoli thawed in micro.

1 lb of ground meat of choice

cook the meat til browned

we like to add: salt, pepper, dried parsley, marjoram

When the beeper goes off on the rice I dump the cooked broccoli & ground meat in, stir it up and serve! This feeds my fam of 5 for dinner and lunches for my husband for the rest of the week.

Let me know if you like it. I have a 4.5, 3, & 1 year old so we do lots of quick & easy meals at our house.

Stephanie

[sbj]

I'm well aware that my entire life is about to change drastically. I need help. I'm a single adult with little time during the week to devote to cooking, and I know this diet can be hard on the budget. Does anybody have any tips for eating economically? Are there particular meals that will last through the week that I could make during the weekends? I have trouble eating fresh foods up before they go bad, since I'm just feeding myself.

I would suggest you NOT look at this as a drastic life change! It's not drastic at all - you simply can't eat one type of food anymore. Only one little type; it doesn't have to be a big deal. You still get to eat meat, veggies, fruit, dairy, rice, potatos, etc.

You still get to eat out: think Mexican, Thai, Wendy's, Pei Wei.

As far as tips for eating economically? Don't bother with the gluten free substitutes at all! Stick with the same old things you are still allowed to eat - that includes a whole heckuva lot. Don't bother with the overpriced breads, cookies, frozen meals, pizzas, etc; they're pretty much a ripoff and really don't taste very good. (My experience only.) Buy a rotisserie chicken or two and eat throughout the week. The one I got at Costco says gluten free right on the packaging. Potatos are cheap, filling, and cook quickly in the microwave. Rice is cheap and easy. Tortillas can be used for so many things you can't even imagine right now. Tuna in foil packs and Thai-style instant rice noodle soups are great for lunch. Frozen veggies are great when prepared in the microwave in those special ziploc-like bags they have now. Try pre-cooked/smoked sausages or ham or cold cuts for quick meals.

To prevent fresh foods from going bad I try to cook them all at once. For instance, if I've bought a bunch of fresh veggies and can't possibly eat them all at one meal I cook them all anyway. Many foods are easier to store and keep after they are cooked. So cook them and put 'em in the fridge or freezer. And that way you'll always have some leftovers for lunch the next day. Use your fresh veggies in all sorts of dishes: add zuchinni to pasta sauce, put squash in stews, add spinach to omelets.

This stuff is easy - you'll be a pro in no time at all!

[missy'smom]

I have a family but cook alot of meals for just me and used to work and bring cooked lunches. Finding multiple ways to make/season/repurpose something is helpful as is freezing extra portions. I have used leftover wild and white rice as a salad the next day. Add fruit-raisins, apple etc. and nuts and vinagrette and chicken. I roast bone in, skin on chicken breasts alot and will roast an extra one to be shredded and put on a salad or tossed into a pilaf the next day. Boil extra potatoes and eat some with butter for dinner, then slice or dice extras and pan fry as hash with ham. onion and peppers and warm up for breakfast the next morning(or with hot dogs for lunch or dinner) or chop and prep the night before and pan fry in the am. Still more extra potatoes can be made into a quick potato salad. Meatloaf can be shaped into smaller individual one meal loaves and baked at the same time and frozen. I bake them in muffin tins or on pie plates. Make a batch of seasoned taco meat and freeze. Then you can have tacos or taco salad anytime. You can keep shredded cheese in the freezer. Many sauces and other liquids can be frozen in icecube trays then put the cubes into ziplocks.

I use the pyrex lidded freezer to oven to microwave containers to freeze stuff and nuke at work or home.

[missy'smom]

On another note. Is there another single co-worker that you could share with. My Dh is not gluten-free but likes some of the things from the bulk store and no-one else in our house can eat it so he found a single co-worker that he shares with. They trade packages or partial packages of rosemary bread for croissants, mozarella cheese for provolone etc.

[heatherjane]

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions! I'm looking forward to trying them out.