Help me shop gluten free on a budget!

[princessbride6205]

I'm sorry your DD was diagnosed and needs to be GF. I'm sure that's tough on a 2-year old! I have a family friend who owns a GF bakery/food factory, which I can attest tastes better than other GF foods I've tried, but it's not exactly budget-friendly to mail order.
I like to turn to the library - so I would suggest finding any books about GF kids and recipes. Hopefully you can find a store in your area that has some good options.

 

[fireworks fan]

Hi-

I have celiac disease and I feed my family gluten free as well. Its hard to do on a budget, especially if you are buying ready made g-f food. The cheapest way is to make the bread, cookies, etc yourself.

In addition to the ideas already suggested, some naturally gluten free food that my kids like for snacks:

popsicles
homemade popcorn
apple peanut butter sandwiches (very thinly sliced apples with peanut butter between them)
nachos (many corn chips are gluten free)
quesadillas (again-most corn tortillas are gluten free)
nuts (my kids like the honey roasted flavored kinds-really good at Trader Joes)


Also, if you have to buy the ready made products, try a super center, like Target or Walmart. Both of those in my area carry different gluten free products at decent price. It will never be as cheap as gluten products though. I am still coming to terms with this-especially when you read the threads on the Budget Board about people only spending $200 a month on groceries. Its just not the same with a special diet.

 

[bridget]

Our gi doctor told us when you start dairy start with yogurt, because it is easier to digest and processed differently. Once my daughter was able to eat yogurt, that was a huge step for us!

 

[jennyopenny]

I have a three year old with celiacs. It is crazy expensive.
Amazon.com has a thing where you sign up for auto ship, and get a 20% discount, plus free shipping. It has saved us a great deal on pasta, granola bars, and the few ready made things we use.
Also, get the gluten free grocery guide. You can look up all the regular products, instead of trying to read labels.

I am enjoying everyone's tips. Keep posting!

Oh, I have some gluten free bread in the bread maker. If it turns out decent, I will post the recipe. (so far, all attempts have been baaaaaaaad.)

 

[emdav]

I have made sandwiches with rice cakes. Much cheaper than GF bread. My son readily ate them.

 

[antree]

My Mom and Aunt have Celiac, some Shop Rite's have Gluten free frozen macaroni a lot cheaper then Health food stores. Wegmans has a gluten free isle with a lot of items. My Mom and Aunt swear buy Against the Grain Breads. They said it is as close to the real thing as you can get. They have never eaten so many sandwiches since they found this bread. Betty Crocker now has cake mix and brownie mix and cookies mix all gluten free. My Mom replaced the butter with Olive Oil in the cake mix and said it was a lot better and more moist that way. French Meadow at http://www.frenchmeadow.com/products/gluten-free has gluten free items their brownies according to my 7 yr old son is GREAT! he has a peanut nut allergy and we find these in Disney, My Mom and son were thrilled they can buy a brownie when they were out.

My son has a peanut nut and tree nut allergy and I tell my Mom all the time for her Celiac bring your food and snacks with you, like I do. Don't rely on people even family, just always pack a bag and you will always have something to eat. I know it hard my mom is still adjusting after 5 yrs.
We went to the Miley concert last night and my Mom and son both packed sandwiches and snacks for the concert. She even goes to sandwich shops or even WAWA and have them make a hoagie or steak withot bread and then gets home and puts its on her own bread, so she still gets to eat out with us.

If I can think of anything more I'll post back. Good Luck.
I know it's hard.

 

[Darcy03231]

A co-worker eats a gluten free diet and I know she buys quite a bit of stuff at our local GNC.

 

[cheesekate2005]

DD and I are both GF. Gluten Free is expensive, there is no getting around it. The cheapest gluten free snacks I make (especially for a crowd, to send to school or for a party) are meringue cookies, flourless peanut butter cookies, and rice crispy treats made with cocoa or fruity pebbles instead.

Get her used to eating rice instead of rice pasta - much cheaper!

When I make cupcakes for my DD to take to parties, I send one and freeze the rest. I take them out when I need them. Whenever I bake anything, I freeze some for later (for variety and so I don't waste them all - eating them on a not special occasion). As for bread, I use a bread machine sometimes but my daughter doesn't really like the bread much. For her lunch box, I usually send her sandwich fixins in a ziplock baggie and a small corn tortilla in another baggie for her to make at the lunch table. I know your DD is too little for that ! We also eat corn thins with PB on them - they are like rice cakes only much thinner. They sell them pretty inexpensively on Amazon.com.

Good luck!

 

[Ava]

I don't have any direct experience with Celiac but I know our local food co-op carries a good bit of GF foods. If you have a co-op or natural food store in your area, you might look there. Our co-op usually has better prices than places like Whole Foods as well.

I do have a friend with a gluten intolerance & she has not been able to find a GF bread she likes. She said most GF pasta she's tried is pretty good though.

 

[irish_trip_mom]

I don't have personal experience, but my friend has celiac and has created a gluten free flour that I have heard from others is the best they've had. She has also written cookbooks and a book about the first year on the diet. She sends out weekly emails with recipes (I just got one...that's what reminded me!) I don't know if I can post her website but her name is Jules Sheppard, so if you google her, it will give you info on her.

 

[antree]

Thank you for sharing. I've been so upset about my dd lately and her situation. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad she doesn't have it, but yet we are back to square one with trying to figure out what's wrong. Good luck to you and your daughter.

jojo0612 I am so sorry to hear about your DD, has she been test for Chron's Disease? My cousin has it and her Mother has Celiac, and they told her Chrons is a family of Celiac too. My cousin did end up with Celiac too, after 12 years of Chrons. It something to look into if she wasn't tested for it.

Good Luck

 

[TinkfromTX]

My son and I are both Celiac.

We really like Sami's Bakery for bread...I cannot stand most GF products. I usually do the veggies, fruit, seafood........

But, Sami's Bakery is by far the best for "bread" products....

Alison

 

[DVC_Princess]

Hi! I was diagnosed with celiac last year and have been gluten free ever since. It is really hard in the beginning and was a budget buster at first. However, once you get to know the diet, what you can have and what brands are the best - it really gets much more manageable. One of the cheapest GF pastas is Tinkyada and it also tastes great (more expensive than regular pasta of course, but way cheaper than the $4+ brands). Another tip is to use Amazon and buy things that you like in bulk (I buy Bakery on Main Granola and put it in ceral sometimes; I also like the Pecan Lara Bars; and I buy Pamela's baking mix - this is the best deal that I've found and you can use it for so much stuff - it makes really good pancakes!)

One other suggestion is to practice baking. I wasn't really a great baker, but I forced myself to learn and that helped a lot. I use Annalise Robert's Gluten Free Classics recipe book (the flour she recommends is expensive at first but I only have to buy it like 2x/yr and it's worth it for the superfine blend). The cookie recipe is really simple and makes a lot so you can always freeze it and have some on hand for unexpected company, etc. I also love that cornbread recipe (so simple!) and then I make turkey stuffing out of that (it comes out great and my family likes it better than regular stuffing). It also has a great pie crust recipe that really comes in handy. Tons of others too, but I would be lost if I hadn't had those to fall back on.

In the supermarket, I buy mostly stuff that is naturally gluten free (fruits, veggies, corn chips, meats without marinade, etc.). Mexican food is yummy and mostly gluten free (use white corn tortillas for quesadillas and corn tacos are great). Amy's makes good frozen meals which are expensive but so convenient to have in a pinch (the hardest thing is not being able to order a pizza on a moment's notice).

Hope some of that was helpful! Good luck w/ everything and I hope your DD starts feeling better ASAP

 

[natashag76]

also something to think about - since you have a diagnosis from a doctors office saying that you have celiac disease, all your "special foods" are a tax deduction come April 15th! Keep your receipts and anything that you have to buy special (eg: rice flour vs. wheat flour, etc.) the difference in price is considered tax deductible! A bit of work, but it saved our family members literally thousands last year.
Also, I don't know if this was mentioned yet, but the University of Chicago has a Celiac disease research center. If you contact them you can get a goody box with all kinds products, recipes and helpful stuff.

 

[jojo0612]

Thanks so much to the OP who got this thread started and everyone else who has been contributing with great advice and ideas!

My dd will be going back to the endocronoglist on Friday and I'm going to speak with her then about starting the gf diet. But meanwhile, I am going to be prepared and get some recipes and ideas! Thanks so much.

 

[Gramma Barb]

My daughter sent me the link to this because I was diagnosed at 72, 5 months ago, and wanted to add what I could. I, too, had negative blood tests but had an endoscopy with a biopsy of the small intestine. None of the bread I have tried is like the real thing but I do well with Pam's or Bob Red Mill mixes which I make in a bread machine. I got an inexpensive one at Walmart which does very well. I do have to toast the bread to make it taste good so it would not work for kids who have to take sandwiches to school. I love the Betty Crocker mixes. I think they all are almost as good as the real thing. And I use a lot of the Chex cereals which I never did before GF. We live in a rural area so don't have access to a lot of the places that have been mentioned and I use Amazon to save the most and, since I only have myself to feed, I can manage the cost. I do put a lot of things, including the bread, in the freezer so I can have some variety.

I hope your daughter can eat dairy soon. I used to be milk intolerant but find I can eat it now so there is hope.

 

[erinmomof2]

Thank you for your replies. It is getting a little easier. The rest of thefamily is getting tested for Celiac today, and we're all pretty sure I have it too so the grocery bill will be growing more. But I am finding more normal foods for my DD to eat. The hardest thing is she is picky and she's getting sick of eating the same foods over and over. But it's getting better. I'm trying all kinds of different fruits, which isn't going great, but I've found a few new things she likes. I'm going to try using corn tortillas for sandwiches, so far the GF bread hasn't gone over well. We did make her some Bob's Red Mill and that was a huge thumbs down from her.

Thank you for your help with this. It's been a little overwhelming. I think one of the worst things is dealing with other people and their opinions. My MIL is constantly telling me things she found online and that my doctor is wrong. She calls several times a day now, to "explain" things to me. So that's fun. I'm hoping things get easier with her too. She's always been a little overbearing, but it's getting worse now. This is off topic though... sorry.

Again, thank you everyone!
Erin

 

[crisi]

If she doesn't like corn tortillas (I don't) try lettuce wraps. I like my "sandwiches" as lettuce wraps. I'll also do rollups (lunchmeat, filling, like a pickle or avacado, or lettuc or just mustard, roll it up, put a toothpick through it). And I have a lot of sandwich fixings as salad.

I don't like Bob's Red Mill - I've discovered I don't like bean flour - to me its bitter. It is better if you bake it completely.

With a kid, I'd skip all the substitutes for six months. Just don't do bread and baked goods. Go for sweets like puddings (once she can have milk) and custards. Go for starches like rice and potatos. After six months, introduce the GF products - she'll have 'forgotten' what 'real' cookies and bread taste like.

My kids like the chebe brand of 'bread' - if I make that I need to eat it first or its GONE! I like the Udi's for sandwiches, but its really expensive, expensive enough that I rarely have a sandwich, but when I do, its Udi's bread.

 

[shefor24]

Check out the website www.crockpot365.com !! She has cooked in her crockpot 365 days and has many Glutin free recipes that are very good! The website is awesome, great crockpot meals! We are big crockpot people.

 

[dzorn]

We have a lot of Tinkyada rice pasta. We order it on amazon by the case, much cheaper than the stores. We also use EnerG Light Tapioca Loaf also ordered through amazon. The bread we find if slightly toasted in the toaster to warm is much better, still not great but you get use to it.

It is a more expensive diet till you adjust. I found the best way is to try to make most things from scratch. Meat, fresh fruits and veggies.

Denise in MI