saving money with a mid disgnosis coeliac child no gluten/dairy/soya 13 June 2014 at 12:16PM in MoneySaving mums 19 replies 3K views

scotgirl

Aldi sunflower spread is 69p and dairy free!

The_fog_has_lifted

Nicki wrote: »

So really any meal which isn't pasta based, covered in breadcrumbs or in a cheesy sauce would be fine!

Cottage pie
Chilli
Meat of any kind with potato wedges
Curry
Baked potatoes

thanks for this but we actually already eat these things, just getting sick of having the same meals all of the time. will try the m and s sausages as soolin has suggested.

Mrs_pbradley936

I know someone that has a toddler with something similar. She paid to see a consultant because the GP and NHS were unhelpful. Anyway she spent £600 but thinks it well worth it because the consultant wrote to the GP and now she can get things on prescription.


As a baby he was always crying and being sick and she had to put Gavesgon in his bottles. He was not gaining enough weight and was miserable. She was back and forth to the doctor and in desperation paid (I think her father paid).


Now he leaves off gluten and casein and is fine. Very jolly and has recently started walking.

mumonashoestring

Do you have Polish shops near you? A lot of their sausages are gluten free and cheaper than the special gluten-free options in supermarkets. A friend of mine is gluten intolerant and uses sliced potato to line dishes for quiches, instant mashed potato instead of breadcrumbs to coat chicken or fish for frying, buys corn tortillas instead of wheat ones when she can find them, and the 99p stores near us have started selling Nairns gluten free biscuits and soya milk. Rice noodles from chinese supermarkets, leek sliced lengthways and blanched in place of lasagne pasta, and with a little practice polenta can be turned into a really tasty carb option whwn you're fed up of spuds.

Holland and Barrett do gluten free and dairy free ranges as well and a lot of their stuff is long-life/long date so use their buy 1 get 1 for a penny sales and stock up on anything you find really useful/hard to live without.

BAGGY

When i was trying to cut my carbs, I found that green string beans were a good substitute for spaghetti ( with tuna and tomato sauce) and blanched cabbage leaves/spinach for lasagne sheets. I made the bechemel with cornflour and olive oil and soya milk (you could use rice/nut milk?), alas for you, I was heavy handed witht he cheese which i only ever put on top. Could you have a cumb and parmasan mix for the top made of gluten free cereal crunched up.
Have you tried asian shops for alternative flour? Chick pea flour (is that ok?)

clairec79

By mid-diagnosis do you mean he hasn't yet had his biopsy - if so he can't stop eating gluten or he will get a false negative (which ends up with not getting precriptions or bone density scans etc) - or having to go back onto gluten for 6 weeks (which having done that makes you feel worse as your body has adjusted)

kboss2010

If your son likes pastry/cakes etc. you can use cornmeal (fine polenta) instead of wheat flour (btw it's not the same as cornflour which contains gluten, it's yellow and you can get it for £1 per kg bag in the Indian food section in Asda):

1 medium quiche base/2 small quiche bases:

200g cornmeal
100g margarine
Rub together until breadcrumb consistency then stir in a little water until it just balls together (not sloppy) then press into a Pyrex dish.

As pastry it's difficult to roll as it's crumbly but can be easily pressed into pie/quiche dishes and makes lovely crumbly pie crust also, cornbread is great (savoury or sweet) as a side dish to chilli (savoury) or as cake (sweet).

As someone said, ethnic food shops are far cheaper for gluten free foods than supermarkets who make them speciality products and hence charge a small fortune!

Rice noodles are cheaper from Chinese supermarkets and you can buy in bulk.
Cornmeal is cheaper from ethnic food sections/Indian supermarkets.

adouglasmhor

kboss2010 wrote: »

If your son likes pastry/cakes etc. you can use cornmeal (fine polenta) instead of wheat flour (btw it's not the same as cornflour which contains gluten, it's yellow and you can get it for £1 per kg bag in the Indian food section in Asda):

1 medium quiche base/2 small quiche bases:

200g cornmeal
100g margarine
Rub together until breadcrumb consistency then stir in a little water until it just balls together (not sloppy) then press into a Pyrex dish.

As pastry it's difficult to roll as it's crumbly but can be easily pressed into pie/quiche dishes and makes lovely crumbly pie crust also, cornbread is great (savoury or sweet) as a side dish to chilli (savoury) or as cake (sweet).

As someone said, ethnic food shops are far cheaper for gluten free foods than supermarkets who make them speciality products and hence charge a small fortune!

Rice noodles are cheaper from Chinese supermarkets and you can buy in bulk.
Cornmeal is cheaper from ethnic food sections/Indian supermarkets.

You can often get white cornmeal AKA maizemeal as well in the ethnic section or Asian or African shops, might make a child feel the food was more "normal". Appropos of nothing a Chappatti made from corn meal is a Maki Roti

The_fog_has_lifted

sorry ive been away for a while, ive been dissertation planning/ writing and forced myself to stay off MSE otherwise I procrastinate on here instead of doing my work!!!
He is off gluten as he is far too poorly when he is on it. The plan is to conduct the bopsy later in life for him (consultant dieticians idea) as he has spent a long lime not knowing what was wrong so now he needs a break from the gluten. Now he has been gluten free for over a year he is able to tolerate small amounts of cheese/ yoghurt, the consultant thinks the damage from the gluten in his bowel was causing his dairy problems and the soys problem which apparently is common.
been experimenting with zucchini/squash pasta ( pasta made from veggies) and its amazing, I have found some great advice from coeliac uk and now we are enjoying the variety of gluten free foods more than with it. tBH im not buying loads of gluten substitutes like the GF cakes/bread/flour as we are cooking lots of meals with potatoes, rice and loads of veggies.
thanks or all of the tips though, he will probably have a coeliac biopsy in a year or so when he is a bit older as at 2years its a bit to much for him to cope with and TBH apart from the dex scans etc I gain nothing more than some prescription food.