Special diets on a budget

JennyP

I would like to go gluten-free (and possibly sugar and dairy free too) because I have been told it could help my migraines and also an autoimmune problem that I have that affects my liver. Hubby is veggie so we mostly eat veggie food. I don't eat nuts except almonds and pine nuts.
I find books like Deliciously Ella inspiring but then end up spending a small fortune in niche ingredients from special shops. Usually try them once, think yuk and end up throwing it away.
This time, I would like to try it without spending a fortune on weird ingredients.
Anyone else trying this? Any hints and tips? I really like Michael Mosley's guts book and would like to incorporate some of his ideas.

Tink_04

I'm gluten free and just try and eat foods that are naturally free from gluten - I've never bought special bread or pasta etc just reshape my diet around it. It's hard to get your head round try doing one at a time tho as if you do all you may be taking on too much.

Good luck

GreyQueen

I'm GF and don't bother with 'special' foods, just eating unprocessed things like veggies, nuts, fruits, seeds. A Mediterrean diet is very healthy and, with minor adjustments, very easy to do GF.

For me, the trick isn't to try to replicate a conventional diet with expensive imitations of bread-y things, just to go for those things which are natural - it's pretty cheap, too. HTH.

Islandmaid

As GQ and Tink have said, I don’t eat many carbs in general, never found it an issue - I am not veggie, but eat a lot of veggie meals, I tend to stick to protein (meat or veggie) and veg that grows above ground as a general rule - have also never tried GF bread/pasta etc. I cook as usual for the family, just don’t have the carb bit myself.

But, If they fancy pasta, for example, I would have a cheese omelette and salad

NewShadow

A couple of weeks ago the eat well for less episode was with two gluten free kids - all of the recipes the family trialled on swap week were gluten free and, other than a polenta pizza, were with basic staples.

http://www. dailymotion .com/video/x6489fs

I'm planning on trying the fish curry at some point myself

Linda32

Hi,

Have a look at this link

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/get-ideas/our-ranges/our-ranges

A few years ago, because of IBS I went milk free in all foods and all forms. I found that supermarkets give a list of foods that are naturally free from certain products, rather than 'special' food.

I'm sure that Tesco and Asda will give out a similar list.

Floss

Asda do GF flours that are indiscernible from regular flours for bits of baking. As others have said it is mainly tweaking your diet if you are happy to cut out baked carbs & pasta.

JennyP

Thank you all. Feeling that it might be do-able now.
One thing I would like to try making is gluten free soda bread. Has anyone managed that?

greatwidesomewhere

We've been DF and GF for years with no real impact on the budget. Biggest tip is to avoid the free from aisle as much as possible. Some of the stuff in there is often "free from" anyway, e.g. pasta sauce, rice cakes, plain tortilla chips, etc.

For meals, we tend to use whole foods that are naturally free from. We do eat meat but on the veggie side - eggs, beans, rice, potatoes, all other vegetables, herbs and spices, etc. It's usually only the processed stuff where gluten/dairy creep into things, avoid that and it's quite easy.

Cereal wise, oats are naturally GF but can't be labelled as such as they're at very high risk for cross contamination from other grains in processing. Depending how strict you need to be though, they may be fine to use and are extremely cheap. Certified GF oats are available but are still a bit pricey.

The two GF specific items we buy are bread and pasta. We only have pasta about once a month and have a small portion so it lasts ages, bread we go through one loaf a week and use an own brand one at about £2 a loaf. Which is expensive compared to normal, but a lot cheaper than DH going and buying GF sandwiches from M&S!

Dairy, we use own brand soya milk. It's about the same price as real milk, and much cheaper than the trendier nut based milks. Vitalite margarine is usually around £1 a tub and very similar to Flora. We never ate a lot of cheese or yoghurt anyway so have just gone without.

As for sugar - it's tough, but best in the long run is to train your tastebuds to go without. I see so many "sugar free" people replace sugar with honey or (very expensive) maple syrup but one is not really better than the other. In season fruit is very cheap and very sweet for when you do want something on the sweeter side.

JennyP

I did sugar free for a year and my taste buds did get used to it. Then I slipped one day and that was that.
Honey and other naturally sweet things aren't great for me - I need to avoid spikes in blood sugar. Apples, pears and berries are OK.
I will eat yoghurt as the yoghurt process gets rid of lactose.

Islandmaid

I avoid sugar too - if I get a massive sugar craving I have either a couple of squares of Mega dark 85% chocolate or my favourite, a few strawberries with marscapone - I do still drink, either gin and slimline or a bone dry white wine - when I first went hard core low carb, about 10years ago, I gave up sugar, caffeine, carbs - OMG for about 2 weeks I had flu like symptoms but felt so much more energised afterwards