Help me shop gluten free on a budget!

[cheesekate2005]

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.

Her crockpot macaroni and cheese is the best! The crustless pumpkin pie is a family favorite too!

 

[Pezdiva]

We are gluten free, soy free, and dairy free - I feel your pain!

I tend to order a lot of baking type items via Amazon. If you subscribe to the item you get an additional 15% off and free shipping - awesome deal on Bob's Red Mill AP flour too.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

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 DS does not have celiac, but he has diabetes. One of the dieticians told us the same thing when he was first diagnosed. She told us not to get hung up on sugar free stuff for him - just replace it with something else. We've gradually added back some of the high carb stuff (like pasta and bread), but swapped it for lower carb versions. Who knew my 2 year old would like quinoa, whole wheat pasta, etc???

An idea for the budget part - does your grocery store have coupons for the organic food section? Ours seems to have them a lot, and a lot of the GF stuff is in that section. I asked about it with the customer service people one day, and they put me on a mailing list to get the coupons mailed to me. They're usually for $4 off of any products from that section.

 

[figment41]

Hi sorry I can not help you on the budget part but I can share some ideas. My DD2 is allergic to wheat milk eggs sesame seeds peanuts and now soy. She has soy milk everyday with no problems so this one coming up in her test is a mystery to us.

We love Enjoy life products. They are completely free of the 8 major allergy ingredients. They make delicious snickerdoodle cookies along with many other falvors.. They also have candy bars and dairy free chocolate chips. My daughter also likes their breakfast bars. Apparently Disney is now starting to carry this brand also.. They also just came out with a cook book for cookies and there is another book on its way any day now.

Glutino pretzels taste just like other pretzels but are a killer at 6.00 a bag if you are lucky.

Amy's is a great brand too and not too terribly expensive compared to others. Her pizza is really good and she has many gluten free varieties including a dairy free one. It is very popular but available at Whole foods.

Ians is a frozen food company that we have just found. They make chicken nuggets and patties and have just come out with a maccaroni and cheese. They also make a pizza bread that my daughter enjoys.

The prolblem with a lot of the prepackaged foods is that they seem to overcompinsate for the fact that so many ingredients are taken out that they load them up with seasonings. If my DD has some of the italian dishes she can smell of garlic for at least 24 hours. Which is why do most of our own food preparation.

She likes rice pasta and I make that for her when we make spaghetti and we eat wheat pasta and she gets the rice. DeBoles is brand that is not too bad and our super walmart carries it.

Fritos are supposed to be pretty good for allergies but woth my daughter having so mnay different allergies we have not given those to her. We do buy ruffles naturals and tostitos natural corn tortilla chips they are 3.99 a bag. My DD really likes salsa so we give that to her. Pringles do have gluten in them so be careful with canned crisps as they are called. McDonald fries have come out and said they do have gluten in them but then they say they don't so be careful wth those too.

EnerG bread is the brand we use. It seems to be OK just a little hard and dry but it is all my DD knows so shes eats it. They also make crackers and pizza crust and english muffins.

It takes a lot of getting used to but you will get the hang of it. If you prepare it it will be less expensive and fresh and you will all probably start eating better like we have. We do like a lot of the pp options like fresh fruit vegetables and meats. Sometimes it nice to have something fast to cook though so these were some options we have found. I hope this helps you some and the best of luck to you.

 

[PaulaSue]

Any suggestion as to what to have at a b-day party for a guest who has this.

The last time she came over all she would eat was marshmellows. Sorry but that will not cut it for me while we are having pizza, popcorn and cake. She will need to eat more and I want to be prepared. I don't want to risk her getting sick by being tempted to eat the wrong stuff. I figure if I have plenty of safe foods it will not draw attention to her food allergy.

TIA, I can't get ahold of her mom or I would just ask her...

 

[cheesekate2005]

Any suggestion as to what to have at a b-day party for a guest who has this.

The last time she came over all she would eat was marshmellows. Sorry but that will not cut it for me while we are having pizza, popcorn and cake. She will need to eat more and I want to be prepared. I don't want to risk her getting sick by being tempted to eat the wrong stuff. I figure if I have plenty of safe foods it will not draw attention to her food allergy.

TIA, I can't get ahold of her mom or I would just ask her...

Hunts snack pack puddings are gluten free, so are most of the Friendly's sundae cups, so are philly swirls. These are easy things to have on hand for a child.

I always send DD to parties with a GF cupcake and an ice cream cup, and some lays chips or microwave popcorn. Good luck.

 

[natashag76]

Re: birthday parties -
Breyers Ice cream, Reddi whip, chopped nuts. Terra Chips, Lays (certain kinds) Hersheys Kisses.
Happy Birthday!!!

 

[crisi]

Any suggestion as to what to have at a b-day party for a guest who has this.

The last time she came over all she would eat was marshmellows. Sorry but that will not cut it for me while we are having pizza, popcorn and cake. She will need to eat more and I want to be prepared. I don't want to risk her getting sick by being tempted to eat the wrong stuff. I figure if I have plenty of safe foods it will not draw attention to her food allergy.

TIA, I can't get ahold of her mom or I would just ask her...

The popcorn is fine if you are popping it yourself.

If everyone else is having pizza, make her pizza. A cheap way to do this is to take a corn tortilla and use it as crust with some spaghetti sauce and cheese (read labels, but those things should be safe).

If other people are having cake, serve her ice cream (most ice creams are fine, but again, read labels - and obviously anything described as "brownie chunk" is a bad idea), if you don't want to invest in a gf cake for her (most of them aren't great and are expensive). And frankly, marshmellows topped with frosting sounds like a wonderful kids goodie for a birthday party that wouldn't require anything special.

Make sure you have fruit available. Fruit is usually popular with kids and most fruits anyone can eat.

Nachos are another thing we end up with a lot. Corn chips with cheese and salsa - sometimes hamburger over the top. (and for me, but not the kids, black olives and jalapenos).
If you can get ahold of mom, mom may stash some GF goodies in the freezer for these occasions....or she may not.

 

[midwestdee]

My son in law was diagnosed with Celiac disease 2 years ago - he's not a kid but it sure made for an adjustment! He goes to a support group regularly and has found it very helpful. For those of you in Illinois, Aurelio's Pizza has a gluten free pizza - they are small sizer only, so you have to order a couple of them for a big appetite. Applebys is a chain that works hard to please folks that must follow a special diet. Also, with little ones, just because they don't like something the first time you try it - give it 6 months and maybe they will be okay with it. I bought my son in law a bread maker and he has found a few mixes he likes better than others. Walmart sells a gluten free brownie mix, you would never know it was gluten free - very good. Good luck with your little one. Maybe you can find a kids support group. As she gets older they get weird about having to follow special diets - THAT will be your real challenge.

 

[ambertides]

Here's how I manage gluten free on a budget:

1. Mostly eat naturally gluten free foods. Fruits, veggies, dairy, rice, meat, and nuts. For "sandwiches" I either make lettuce wraps for gloopy fillings like tuna salad or chicken salad (they are fun! you get to roll them!), use corn thins (~$3 for 26 "slices") for things like lunch meat or peanut butter, or make corn tortillas.

Making corn tortillas is easy - our Walmart carries Maseca corn flour 4+ pounds for ~$3. You mix 2 cups corn flour with 1.25 cups water and a dash of salt, roll or press them (I bought my tortilla press for less than $10 from the local Mexican foods market -- they also carry tapioca flour cheap), and cook them on a griddle or in a pan for a couple minutes on each side. You can also use them to make tostadas, enchiladas, taquitos, taco shells, quesidillas/grilled cheese -- and you can use the corn flour to even make ice cream cones and fortune cookies (check the Maseca site for recipes).

The premade tortillas you buy in the store just can't compare (and the Mission brand ones make me sick since they moved to a shared facility, anyway.)

I've yet to find or make a pizza crust that I find satisfying (Chebe is the closest, but it's $6 for 2 crusts, so I skip it), so I just use corn tortillas often as not for pizzas, too.

For brown rice, I mostly buy Steamfresh. It's more expensive than a bag of brown rice, but I've just never gotten a handle on cooking it.

2. For gluten free specialty items, I mostly only buy pasta and Pamela's baking mix, and that mostly from Amazon using Subscribe & Save, except cookies or something as a special treat. The easiest gluten free breads are quick breads -- pancakes, pumpkin bread, and banana bread I've made taste pretty close to gluten versions, and I think the pumpkin bread is even better. Check the Pamela's site for recipes. Also, you might need xanthan gum occasionally. I buy that from the bulk spice section of my local health food store and just a small amount lasts ages. Also, sometimes, I will buy the Glutino cheese crackers to use as a coating to make baked mozzarella cheese sticks. Pamela's + spices works for fried chicken/onion rings/other "deep fried" (I generally coat and bake) treats, but the cheese sticks need the crackers, IMO.

3. The Gluten Free on a Shoestring blog has some good recipes.

4. If you can, buy fresh spices from a local farmer's market or spice shop (or grow them). They make a world of difference.

Good luck!

 

[2bearsmom]

This site might help with occasional coupons: http://www.mambosprouts.com/ and they may even have some GF recipes.