Money Saving Gluten Free Tips

[glutenfreejenny]

I am a poor college student and want some tips on buying gluten free foods. I cook but it's expensive to invest in all the things you need for baking and cooking. And the pre-made gluten free foods are so expensive.

Does anyone have any tips on saving money?

[PattyBoots]

You really don't need to "invest" in gluten-free stuff. Just cook smarter (and better, IMHO).

Once I started thinking about being gluten-free (not yet, because I want the blood test, and actually eating more so no chance of a false negative), I realized how much we ate that was just ... gluten-free. I've always cooked and rarely if ever used packaged/processed stuff, so it's been really easy to make the (mental) conversion.

For example: Like sloppy joes (or Mexican meat or loose meat or steamers, depending on where you're from)? They're awesome on baked potatoes instead of buns. I have a great recipe (not that gross Manwich stuff) that is just naturally gluten-free.

We eat tons of zucchini - and just about every way I make it is gluten-free (not CF as that's not a problem). Saute it in EVOO with dried basil, and/or thyme, and/or oregano and then toss with some good parm (which even those CF can sometimes tolerate). Throw in some diced tomato or salsa! Mmmmmmm.

Cook rice, then toss with a bunch of salsa - add some Velveeta if you like. Goes great in a corn tortilla!

Baked potatoes with sour cream and nearly anything you can find to shove in them. Look! Here's leftover chicken - add it! Leftover shrimp? Add it!

Fritata - a quiche without a crust!

We've never been bread people and we've never understood bread people (sorry) - I used to make a pan of brownies, then forget about them, and find them moldy and uncut a week later. I'd been 4 or 5 years without a doughnut even before thinking about going gluten-free just ... because.

I guess my point is - don't focus on buying "gluten free" stuff. Look around your house/kitchen and see what you already have. Shop around the edges of the supermarket - 90% of the stuff down the aisles is either overpriced or bad for you. You didn't actually think that box of Hamburger Helper was good for you did you?

[wildwood]

I look at the Sunday grocery store circulars and see what meats, veggies, etc. are on sale and plan my meals around the sale items. If there is an especially good sale on meats or chicken, I buy a little extra and freeze. I do not buy very much processed food. The gluten free items are so expensive so I try to avoid them when possible. As a college student, if you have a crock pot that can be a great time and money saver.

[Tim-n-VA]

Once you find a product you like and have a feel for how much you will use, check the price online. Amazon has a subscription service where you can get things sent at scheduled intervals. The negative is that you normally have to buy a box of six or more items and might have to pay shipping. The positive is that the per unit price is usually a lot cheaper than buying one in a store.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in that online retailer.

[daphniela]

Eat beans and rice. There are a lot of recipes online. Even if you only eat it once or twice a week, it can save a lot of money. Cut up zuccini really thin (you may need to buy a special slicer or use a potato peeler) and use that in place of pasta in pasta recipes. You can use eggplant to replace lasagna noodles in lasgna recipes. I have heard of people using spaghetti squash for spaghetti. I've never tried it.

If you must have bread or cake or something, you can buy the gluten free flours at Asian and Indian stores. They may be hard to find unless you have Asian friends as Asian grocers don't advertise in the yellow pages. I haven't found one here; even though I know there are Asian and Indian grocers here.

Eat meat, vegetable, and a starch such as brown rice or red potatoes. That's all I can think of. I'm on a food stamp budget so I know how hard it can be.

[ranger]

You're so right about the ethnic stores. I drive by a little Indian store on a regular basis, but never knew it was there untill celiac. It was an unassuming storefront at a weird angle to the street, and I have never seen it advertised. Rice flour at our local health food store runs almost $4.00 per lb. At the Indian store, I can buy a 4 lb. bag for $3.99! That's a huge dif. I look for things like that.

Susan

[purple]

You can scoop "everything" up with tortilla chips...very quick and easy. I buy Mission, round ones. They don't break as easily. Get creative, no need to buy/make bread or cook pastas.

Sloppy joe, taco meat, bbq chicken, rice and beans, chili, egg/tuna/chicken salad...

add some tomatoes and green onions...yum!

Eggs are cheap. I can make 2 Albacore tuna sandwiches for the same price as a dozen eggs, for my dh's gluten lunches. It only takes 1 egg to make a sandwich (12 sandwiches). I hate egg sandwiches

Buy fruit and veggies that are in season.

Freeze food if you can. Sometimes I open a can of beans to put on a salad and freeze 1/2 the beans for later to throw in chili or rice...less is wasted.

A baked potato topped with chili is cheap and filling, you don't have to buy cheese for it.

Make meatless chili...add corn or rice for variation.

I bought a 14oz. bag of tapioca flour at the Asian store for 75 cents.

If you need a sandwich or a hamburger bun then try the microwave bread posted on here. Read all the tips to see how you can adjust it to suit your budget. You only have to make a serving at a time so no need to freeze or throw out any bread. Link:

https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.php?showtopic=56641

[lcbannon]

Open Original Shared Link

This is a link to Angel Food Ministries where you can get a box of food for about 1/2 normal price and they just started doing the allergy box and its GLUTEN FREE... There are no requirements to meet, no matter what you make you can use this service, just put in your zip and see if there is one in your area.

My daughter used to use this till she had to go gluten-free but with this new change, she will be ordering a box next month.

[Crystalkd]

I freaked out when I first started the diet. I understand. I buy 1 "special" item a month that is a gluten-free goodie quick fix other than that it's meats fruits and veggies for me. If you have a Trader Joe's near you thier gluten-free pasta is good and about 1.99 instead of 4.99 for the same stuff under a diffrent brand name at Whole Foods. Also if you're really stuggling look into getting Food Stamps. Before the diet I could make $50 last a month. Not any more. Also because of changes in my health I've had to get more quick stuff than usual but even there you can be smart. When you cook cook more than you'll eat and store them in single servings freeze what you can so when you're in a hurry it won't take long. Don't be too hard on yourself. You will figure out what works for you. Also with angel food you can get the gluten-free box and the fresh fruit and veggie box for about $50

[Gobbie]

Buying pre-made stuff are more expensive in the long term than cooking from the scratch.

Yup, ready to eat gluten free stuff or in fact any alternative foods are ridiculously expensive for students to afford.

I buy fresh products from the supermarket and cook them up differently for every meal.

It is safer, more flexible and money saving.

I tend to buy the ingredients for the week on Sunday cos otherwise if you go whenever you run out of food, you end up buying unnecessary stuff without realising. Through this way, my cooking ideas improve as well as I have to adjust according to the ingredients I have.

[emcmaster]

Lots of good tips above so I'm probably restating some of them.

- Don't buy many pre-packaged, processed gluten-free foods. They're really expensive and usually not nutritionally sound or "worth it". You can make your own treats for much less and with better results.

- Buy in bulk. Amazon is a good source. Sam's club and Costco are also good.

- Focus on non-meat for protein: Eat a lot of eggs/egg whites and beans. Eggs are very cheap sources of protein and stay good in the fridge for quite a while. They're also very versatile (google egg recipes). Same with canned/dry beans.

- Buy your produce based on what's on sale. You can peruse Sunday ads in the newspaper to plan for your meals for the next week before going to the grocery store to take advantage of huge sales. Produce is usually on sale when there is an abundance of it, and there would only be an abundance of if it's in season and fresh.

- Buy store brands when possible. Wal-mart will mark their "Great Value" brand products gluten-free when they are. Not only are the GV brand products much cheaper than name brands, they're almost always indistinguishable in taste/quality.

- Shop at Wal-Mart or similar stores. As much as shopping at the nicer grocery stores (and Target for that matter) is a more pleasant experience, you always, always end up spending more even if it doesn't seem like it when comparing individual item prices. I'm not sure how it happens, it just does.

Good luck!

[lovegrov]

For pizzas or sandwiches use corn tortillas. Very cheap and better for you. Or roll sandwich fixings in lettuce.

richard

[glutenfreejenny]

Thanks for all the help!! I also don't eat soy, corn, tomatoes, and most dairy. I eat cheese but don't like eggs or milk. I think it will be meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, beans, and rice for me for a while.

[Pegleg84]

Hi Jenny

I'm also a poor student adjusting to living gluten free. I eat a lot of fresh produce, and a lot of rice. But gluten-free baking is definitely an investment. However, I'm finding that once you go out and spend the money on that bag of rice flour and gluten-free oats and all the other little essentials, you probably won't have to get any more of a while. If there's a bulk food store, organic or non, in your area, I recommend buying smaller amounts of flours and such at first, try some recipes and see what works for you, then you'll know that if you buy a bag of something, you'll actually use it. Asian food stores are great, but be careful as the concept of cross-contamination is often not taken into account. (Chinese stuff can be slightly sketchy at times). If you eat a lot of rice, try to get a big bag for your asian grocer. It seems like a lot, but if you can get a 10kg bag for under 20$, that'll feed you for months.

I always cook enough of something for supper that I can take the leftovers for lunch the next day.

so, yeah, it's definitely more expensive and more time consuming. Trust me, I'm on a strict budget. Grocery shopping is no longer a one-stop affair.

But, once you figure out where you can find all the things you need for the best price, it'll get easier.

good luck

Peggy