Saving Money On Gf Shopping

[sarah513]

Hello all,

I was just diagnosed as a celiac and have been on the gluten-free diet for a week. (I'm already feeling better, it's amazing.) I'm working, paying exorbitant NYC rent, supporting a grad student partner and paying off student loans: in other words, I'm broke. I'm trying to stock my kitchen with gluten-free supplies, but WOW is everything expensive.

I have found a few ways to save money:

-Indian grocery stores, which we are fortunate to have here in Queens, sell every kind of rice, lentil, chickpea flour etc. for much lower prices than health food stores. They also have snacks and desserts made from rice and chickpea flour for low prices, and they're really tasty too.

-Subscribe to your local mailing list at freecycle.org-- this is a group that operates on the idea that one person's trash is another person's treasure. You can get rid of things you don't need anymore by giving them to someone else, or ask for what you need. I found someone who had a bread machine they no longer wanted! No money is exchanged and there is no barter, it really is free-- they ask only that you not resell anything.

-I'm not a vegetarian, I loooove meat, but meat is expensive. I've found that cooking with tempeh, tofu and vegetarian Indian food can save quite a bit of money. Fortunately, my partner is an ex-vegetarian and a fantastic cook, so he's teaching me how to cook with these sorts of ingredients.

-99-cent store sell very cheap tupperware for those of us who carry food everywhere we go.

-For New Yorkers, the Strand carries several gluten-free cookbooks at half price.

-Whole Foods is like a wonderland, but it's easy to get in there and start buying things you could get more cheaply at the corner bodega. Better to do your regular grocery shopping first, then go to WF for whatever you can't get elsewhere.

That's about all I've figured out so far, but I'm still spread thin financially trying to keep myself fed. Does anyone have more suggestions on how to save your cash while staying gluten free? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Sarah

[Jnkmnky]

Corn tortillas are cheap and come in a bag of a million or so . They can be used for egg burritos in the morning rather than buying expensive loaves of gluten-free bread. Make quesadillas with cheese and meat or lunch meat roll ups. My son loves bacon, egg and cheese burritos in the morning. Someone here posted that if you heat each side of a corn torilla with a dab of butter, it softens up the burrito to the consistency of a four tortilla. They weren't lying. I began doing that this week and it's a huge improvement. Tacos are healthy and affordable. We use old el Paso taco sauce in a jar for the seasoning, some lettuce, tomatos, cheese and beef or chicken. My son also puts sour cream on his.

Finding tasty food rather than buying gross stuff during the trial and error phase will save you money. I think I have pretty basic taste buds... so let me tell you what I've found to be good. Kinnikinnick white tapioca bread, toasted. Kinnikinnick donuts are great (a little pricey, but eat half. I can't eat a whole one. They're soooo filling. Kinnikinnick pizza crusts are good, but we've discovered Chebe bread for our pizza crust needs. More on Chebe in a minute..... Tinkyada pastas are the ONLY ones we think taste good. Actually, they taste exactly like regular pasta and most people here agree that Tinkyada is the premier pasta.

Chebe bread is worth the money. Buy a case and save. We make corn dogs with chebe, pizza crust and buns and bread sticks and everything. It's great. Really great. Requires a little oil, 2 eggs and a few tbs of milk. You can omit milk if you want. Also suggests adding cheese...I've done it without and it's the same as far as I can tell.

Chili can be made gluten-free. Foods by George makes excellent corn muffins. Buy on line. Pricey.

Pacific brands broths are mostly or all gluten-free. We use them as the base for all stew, soups or seasoning for plain rice. Cook your rice in it rather than water. I made beef stew the other day with the vegetable Pacific brand broth and it was excellent.

I think you can get all of this stuff on line. Of course Whole foods is a good resource. But my whole foods is inconsistant at best. Sometimes they have what I want , other times they DON'T have what I want. It's so annoying. I'm a dedicated online shopper at this point because of the hit and miss aspect of gluten-free food shopping. Your whole foods might be better....must be.

Best thing to do is keep checking in here. There's so much good advice going on here. In one month of being here, I've found sooooooo much out.

Classico sauces, the alfredo and all of their sauces are gluten-free. They make an excellent cream base to cook with and are great over pasta, too.