More and more people are being diagnosed with Celiac disease and it is theorized that many more have a mild form and don't realize it as the symptoms are being attributed to something else. I myself have Fibromyalgia and am contemplating a gluten free diet just to see if it will make a difference. However, as a chronic frugalist I'm worried it will become a real "budget buster"!
Here are some Frugal Gluten Free Tips:
- Learn to Cook - or "relearn to cook gluten free"! The first tip is a no-brainer. Learn to cook your own gluten free meals and you'll rely less on costly gluten free products. Develop a catalog of go-to gluten free recipes to make things quicker and simpler. Think Soup - Soups are simple, filling and economical.
Make GF cookie dough ahead of time and freeze for future use, this will help keep you away from expensive mixes.
- Concentrate on Naturally GF Foods- Rely less on pre-packaged GF products and more on fruits, vegetables, meat, beans, rice, potatoes, milk, cheese and more. Anything marketed as a "Gluten Free" product is going to be expensive. Cut as much of this out of your diet as possible, by using step one...cooking more of your own products you'll save lot's of money and you'll know exactly what is going in.
- Invest in a Good Food Vacumn Sealer - When you make your own gluten free products try to cook/bake in bulk and Vacumn Seal & Freeze to cut back on time & waste.
- Make a list of Staples - Make a list of your shelf stable naturally gluten free products and then keep track of coupons, sales and promos for these products. That way you will be buying them at the lowest price possible. Buy them in bulk when you can get them at their cheapest.
