Money saving tips for gluten free people?

gionnetto

Hello,
I am coeliac, so I need to be strictly gluten free. Does any of you have money saving tips for gluten free groceries and meals?
Thanks!

MovingForwards

Do you get your bread / pasta on prescription? If so, do you prepay for your prescriptions?

Have you tried buying gluten-free flour to bake cakes, bread, biscuits etc?

Keep an eye on the reduced sections in the supermarket as quite regularly there is bread products, buy as much as you can and freeze it. Occasionally pasta / cakes etc are reduced too.

What kinds of foods do you eat as we may be able to suggest things what you like and can make.

Have you joined any social media sites to get hints and tips from fellow GF's?

gionnetto

To answer your questions:

1. No, I don't get them on prescriptions
2. I usually don't bake much because I'm not superfond of bread or cakes. Biscuits on the other hand do me in...
3. I'm doing this already
4. Kind of foods I eat is the trouble. I love sausages and cereals but gluten free ones are dear! Gluten free ready meals also are dear. Unfortunately I live by myself and have a very physical job, so I don't have an awful lot of time to do the cooking. Was thinking of taking the slow cooker route, but I don't know where to start.
5. Fellow coeliacs usually buy gluten free ready meals, which are expensive. Plus, I need lots of food given the job I have - hence the question in this forum. My job alone makes me burn anywhere from 800 to 1300 calories a day, and cannot eat super heavy foods for lunch, or food without proteins. It's challenging.

PasturesNew

This week's Eat Well for Less was a house of students, one of whom is GF, so there were a couple of recipes done on there to feed them all + they made him make his own bread (which he'd done before but it'd been a disaster).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0006pj1/eat-well-for-less-series-6-episode-5

Wicked_Lady

I have a couple of friends with Coeliac disease and they cook mainly from scratch. Main meals would be casseroles etc; very easy to do with GF stock cubes or cornflour to thicken. Could you do this and batch cook then freeze some for another day?

Lots of fresh fruit and veg. Source it from your local market for cheapness and freshness or try greengrocers/loose produce in supermarkets.

To be honest fresh food is your friend here. Maybe get a slow cooker book out of the Library or browse some in the shops.

Do you belong to the Coeliac Society? There are a lot of good recipes out there so have a hunt around for some that suit you.

greenbee

There are plenty of things to cook that don't require gluten - it just gets difficult to think of them the moment you need to be gluten free!

E.g. breakfasts can be eggs, bacon, roast veg or cheese/cold meat/salad like the Europenans do or yogurt and fruit.

Lunch can be salad with fish/meat/eggs/cheese

dinner can be veg/potato/meat or fish

Grains/gluten aren't that difficult to avoid until you have to think about it and then they seem impossible to avoid!

I eat very little meat/gluten/dairy, but the moment I have to cook without them for friends I'm stuck!

One of my favourite meals is chicken baked with lemon and fennel, which I tend to serve with steamed broccoli and spinach. No gluten involved.

Pooky

Most supermarkets sausages are now gluten free, the Lidl and Asda ones are lovely with a good range of traditional and flavoured varieties. Lidl meatballs and burgers are all equally tasty and are labelled gluten free, I don't eat them often but they are nice.

I tend to have a loaf of GF bread once a week for toast for breakfast and then a box of GF cornflakes whilst expensive go a long way.

Lunches we tend to stick to oatcakes (Aldi rough oatcakes are not labelled as GF but I don't react to them) or rice cakes with various toppings. Maybe some left overs from the previous night.

Evening meals haven't really got to be expensive. We avoid pastas, I've yet to find a GF one I like so stick to rice/risottos or potato/squash based for carbs and add whatever meat is kicking around.

We have an allotment so grow loads of veg which supplements the cost of a few premade GF products.

This coming weeks meal plan

Breakfasts: Toast/cornflakes or scrambled eggs and beans (we have Branson which are GF but I'm not sure on other makes)

Lunches: rice cakes with peanut butter and fruit, oat cakes with soft cheese, cheese on toast. Home made soup.

Evening meals: tray bake (any veg that needs using up, roasted off with some pork steaks on top), veg risotto, egg and chips, GF sausages with mash and veg, chicken and chickpea curry in the slow cooker, slow cooker chilli with nachos, left over chilli on jacket spuds.

So the only GF specific products this week are the sausages, one loaf and the cornflakes.

We sometimes have porridge in the colder months and I do buy GF oats as some can be a bit tricky but on the whole it doesn't have to be expensive.

Just get used to cooking in batches and using simple ingredients.

wort

I am coeliac, and it's a lot easier once you get used to what might have gluten in.
Reading labels is quite easy in this country, as they have to high light allergens. So don't just stick to the free from range in supermarkets, curry is usually gfree, pasta sauces also, I find pasta is fine and non coeliac s don't know the difference.
I keep a packet of flour mix in to bake cakes which I just follow a normal cake mix 4 oz of each and 2 eggs, using gfree baking powder. As the ones in shops are way to sweet and expensive.
I don't tend to buy biscuits ,so treat myself to a choc bar if I fancy a sweet snack! I like aldi s fruit and nut also like their aero style mint bubbly bar, and break a piece off to have with a cuppa. Or a flake!
Anything made like stews and roast dinners are gfree if use a gfree stock cube again check labels or Google. Make extra and freeze for another day .
I buy bread ,and use 1 a week for toast. I buy m and s gfree fish fingers (I love a fish finger butty)
Cornflakes , some supermarket ones are gfree .
Coeliac uk has an app but you do pay to join and I find it easier now to check myself. Always look at the may contain box as well!!! Many companies like to cover them selves against cross contamination by sticking a warning in the box!!!!!:eek:
I don't buy any ready meals that are specifically gfree .just spend a little time reading the labels and you will become better at it.

wort

As a P'S, packet rice from home bargain or aldi is cheap and easy to bung in for lunch with some cooked meat and and salad or veg. On days I have pasta I make twice the amount and have for lunch day after.
Cook a batch of jacket potatoes and freeze to take out and micro for a quick meal, with cheese or tuna.
Look at your fav ready meals and batch cook your own and freeze lift out the night before and it's a quick meal the day after. Good luck.

CurlyTop

Lots of good tips on here. I am not coeliac but am intolerant of wheat based foods and dairy so I follow FODMAP.

I eat porridge oats, oat cheerios but only when on offer or rice Krispies for breakfast.

Lunch is usually egg muffins baked in oven using any leftover bits of veg or odd ends of meat. They keep for 3-4 days in airtight container in fridge and I take out what I need. I also have soup and eat it with oatcakes.

Snacks are nuts or almond butter on a rice cake or even mashed banana on rice cake or a smudge of jam if I hit a sugar dip in afternoon.

Rice for tea is okay for me as is shepherds pie or chicken chorizo red pepper pie with Nash on top.

As others have said, you do have to apply yourself but due to Internet, it's a lot easier fnding foods nowadays. Cooking from scratch and batch cooking will be your friend as you can control what goes in what you eat.

QueenCarrot

My husband is coeliac, allergic to eggs and on a low FODMAP diet.
I bought a large slow cooker with a metal insert that you can use directly on the hob then transfer into the slow cooker. Chicken & veg curry, bolognese, stews and casseroles all work well. I do a beef bourginon and add potatoes to the meal to bulk it out as a meal on its own. There are 6 of us at home and the big slow cooker means I can freeze at least an extra couple of meals each time.
Soups - carrot and coriander with tin of chickpeas added for extra protein then blended up.
I avoid most bakery items as a lot have egg white in them. Stick with rice, rice noodles, jacket potatoes and corn tortilla chips/tacos.
Mexican is eaten a lot at our house along with Thai/Chinese style meals. Ramen, pad Thai curry. I have recipes for curry pastes make a big batch and freeze in ice cube trays ready to pop out (recipe off the Internet)
Home bargains often have cheap rice noodles in there and can make a homemade 'pot noodle' and add shredded chicken for extra protein. Soup in a flask for lunch.
Baked chickpeas for a snack at 30p a tin are cheaper and higher protein than crisps.
I do chicken breasts in parcels with different flavours for a snack, again high protein and last a few days in the fridge.
3 ingredient flapjacks with banana, oats and peanut butter.
Home bargains have pre made gf snack bars for 89p for 3 at the moment.
At Christmas Aldi usually have a big gf selection of treats at a lot less than the other supermarkets.
Glutenfreeonashoestring website has a lot of recipes.