Tips, tricks, and saving money
Here are some tips that make things slightly easier and less expensive.
Many people complain about the high cost of a gluten free diet. Gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free is even more challenging. We are fortunate to have a wide variety of gluten free items available for purchase, but it is difficult to find ready-made items that are gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free. That means most foods must be made at home from scratch. That's the down side. The up side, is that home made food is less expensive, tastes better, and is better for you. Hooray for silver linings?
Remember it doesn't have to SAY "gluten free," it has to BE gluten free. Read the labels. Many items that don't say "gluten free" don't contain gluten. Some gluten is hidden. Avoid foods with the following list of ingredients: triticum vulgare, triticale, barley, wheat, rye, spelt, hydrolyzed wheat protein, wheat starch, wheat flour, bulgur, malt, couscous, farina, wheat germ oil, vegetable protein, hydroyzed vegetable protein, modified starch, artificial flavor, modified food starch, dextrin, maltodextrin.
Shop at the Asian market. In the United States, "gluten free" is a specialty item which makes it more expensive. In Asian cultures, many gluten free items are every day food. Rice noodles, brown rice noodles, bean thread, and other gluten free noodles are very inexpensive and they're very good. These are not slushy-trying-to-mimic- "regular"-noodles, these are just good noodles made by people who really like to eat noodles. This is also the best place to buy coconut milk because it's not a specialty item, it's used every day. I can get coconut milk for about a third of the price that I would pay at a typical grocery store. This is also an excellent place to buy soy sauce. Most soy sauce contains wheat, which obviously is not gluten free, so you'll have to read the labels, but Asian markets usually have a wide variety of soy sauce brands to choose from. Mama Sita's, made in the Philippines, is one brand that doesn't contain wheat.
Grind your own gluten free flour. Purchasing gluten free flour is obviously more convenient, but grinding your own flour is less expensive and has higher nutritional value. You know it's whole grain, because you watched it happen. Also grains begin to lose their nutritional value after they've been ground, so the fresher the flour, the higher the nutritional value. For more information see my post on home ground gluten free flour. Don't try to use a hand grinder, you'll hate it. Invest in a good quality electric grain mill.
Buy in bulk. Often I have found that I can get a large bottle or package for the same price as a little bottle or package. The expensive little bottles frighten people into thinking that this lifestyle is more expensive than it has to be.
How to convert your favorite recipes
You have your own recipes that you love. Convert them to "gluten-free" by replacing gluten products with non-gluten ones.
To thicken soups and sauces, replace flour with corn starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch.
Prepare an all-purpose flour mix to replace wheat flour in other recipes (see recipe below)
Sugar can be replaced with honey or agave.
Milk can be replaced with non-dairy milk. There are a wide variety of soy milks, nut milks, and coconut milks available on the market.
Cheese can be replaced with "daiya" non dairy cheese shreds or "Cheese" sauce (see recipe and instructions included)
"Tofutti" makes a dairy free "cream cheese" and "sour cream" that are quite good.
"So Delicious" makes delicious dairy-free coconut yogurt. Choose the varieties that have the least sugar.
Read the labels and find soy sauce that is gluten-free.
The best success comes from moving away from sugary, creamy recipes that require lots of substitutions toward recipes that don't contain those items anyway. There are many delicious options out there. There is also hope that these diets don't need to be permanent. Please click here for more information.
You can do this.
To thicken soups and sauces, replace flour with corn starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch.
Prepare an all-purpose flour mix to replace wheat flour in other recipes (see recipe below)
Sugar can be replaced with honey or agave.
Milk can be replaced with non-dairy milk. There are a wide variety of soy milks, nut milks, and coconut milks available on the market.
Cheese can be replaced with "daiya" non dairy cheese shreds or "Cheese" sauce (see recipe and instructions included)
"Tofutti" makes a dairy free "cream cheese" and "sour cream" that are quite good.
"So Delicious" makes delicious dairy-free coconut yogurt. Choose the varieties that have the least sugar.
Read the labels and find soy sauce that is gluten-free.
The best success comes from moving away from sugary, creamy recipes that require lots of substitutions toward recipes that don't contain those items anyway. There are many delicious options out there. There is also hope that these diets don't need to be permanent. Please click here for more information.
You can do this.
"All purpose" gluten free flour
You can make your own "all purpose" gluten-free flour to replace regular flour in your favorite recipes.
You will need: gluten-free multi-grain flour, rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and xantham gum.
Mix 3 C multi-grain gluten free flour, 1 C rice flour, 1 1/3 C potato starch, 2/3 C tapioca starch, and 2 tsp xantham gum. Store in an airtight container for up to 30 days or up to 6 months in the freezer. If your recipe says '2 Cups flour' just use 2 Cups of your all purpose mix.
Using a combination of gluten-free grains gives a better texture and flavor than using rice flour alone. It also improves nutritional value. Please see "Why some people need to avoid gluten" for more information.
You will need: gluten-free multi-grain flour, rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and xantham gum.
Mix 3 C multi-grain gluten free flour, 1 C rice flour, 1 1/3 C potato starch, 2/3 C tapioca starch, and 2 tsp xantham gum. Store in an airtight container for up to 30 days or up to 6 months in the freezer. If your recipe says '2 Cups flour' just use 2 Cups of your all purpose mix.
Using a combination of gluten-free grains gives a better texture and flavor than using rice flour alone. It also improves nutritional value. Please see "Why some people need to avoid gluten" for more information.
Where is the best place to buy...
Here is a list of where to go to get the best prices for certain items where I live (SLC, Utah):
Almond milk - Winco, Walmart, or Reams* (my favorite is a coconut-almond blend)
Agave - Costco
Better than Bouillon (Beef and Chicken) base - Costco
Chia seeds - Costco
Cinnamon - Costco
Coconut oil - Costco
Coconut milk - any Asian market
Corn starch in bulk - Kitchen Kneads* or Against the Grain*
Curry paste - any Asian market
Dried coconut - Winco or Kitchen Kneads*
Gluten free flours - Bob's Red Mill or Kitchen Kneads*
Gluten free whole grains in bulk - Kitchen Kneads*or Honeyville Grains
Honey - Costco
Jasmine rice - Costco or Asian market
Nutritional yeast - Kitchen Kneads*
Potato starch in bulk - Kitchen Kneads* or Against the Grain*
Raw cashews - Winco
Raw sunflower seeds - Winco or Kitchen Kneads*
Real vanilla extract - Costco
Rice noodles - any Asian market
Sea salt - Wal Mart, Costco or Kitchen Kneads*
Soy sauce - any Asian market - read the label to make sure it's gluten free
Sushi nori - any Asian market
Tapioca starch in bulk - Kitchen Kneads* or Against the Grain*
Xantham gum - Kitchen Kneads*
(*sorry this isn't a national chain, so look online. There has to be a good place near you.)
Almond milk - Winco, Walmart, or Reams* (my favorite is a coconut-almond blend)
Agave - Costco
Better than Bouillon (Beef and Chicken) base - Costco
Chia seeds - Costco
Cinnamon - Costco
Coconut oil - Costco
Coconut milk - any Asian market
Corn starch in bulk - Kitchen Kneads* or Against the Grain*
Curry paste - any Asian market
Dried coconut - Winco or Kitchen Kneads*
Gluten free flours - Bob's Red Mill or Kitchen Kneads*
Gluten free whole grains in bulk - Kitchen Kneads*or Honeyville Grains
Honey - Costco
Jasmine rice - Costco or Asian market
Nutritional yeast - Kitchen Kneads*
Potato starch in bulk - Kitchen Kneads* or Against the Grain*
Raw cashews - Winco
Raw sunflower seeds - Winco or Kitchen Kneads*
Real vanilla extract - Costco
Rice noodles - any Asian market
Sea salt - Wal Mart, Costco or Kitchen Kneads*
Soy sauce - any Asian market - read the label to make sure it's gluten free
Sushi nori - any Asian market
Tapioca starch in bulk - Kitchen Kneads* or Against the Grain*
Xantham gum - Kitchen Kneads*
(*sorry this isn't a national chain, so look online. There has to be a good place near you.)