Am I Alone In Feeling This Way?

[Guest taweavmo3]

Since there are so many newbies on this board.....just thought I'd post a question. I know alot of you have said that going gluten free doesn't have to be expensive, but I have found just the opposite.

Maybe the cost of the diet depends on age. Feeding my celiac toddler has been really expensive for us. It is well worth the cost, don't get me wrong on that one. But, I have to admit that our grocery bill has nearly doubled since going on this diet. She LOVES to snack on cereal, animal crackers, pretzels, etc. And as any mom knows, snacks are the key to toddler survival during outings, playgroups, church, etc. All the gluten free kid foods are at least twice as much as the regular brands.

Then, there's the added cost of having the variety of flours on hand for pancakes, cakes, pizza dough etc. I spent nearly $100 just on the basics alone in the first month. Part of the problem, is that since I didn't know exactly what to buy, I think I bought too much. Then there's the added cost of trying different pastas, breads, etc until you find one your family will eat.

One more question for you moms of little celiacs.......don't you think there should be some way to make this diet easier??? Like some sort of "survial kit" for the newly diagnosed child? This diet is SO overwhelming at first, and many moms don't have the time to read list after list. There are food basics that nearly every child likes, like the snack foods, pizza, pancakes, etc. But it is so hard to spend all that time searching online, buying in bulk, or driving to who knows where to the nearest healthfood store for flour. It just seems to me that there are so many children being diagnosed all the time, and that more could be done to make this diet easier for parents.

Anyway, that's my vent, and was just curious what you all thought!

[lovegrov]

My youngest is 12 so please discard any food items that might not be appropriatefor a 3-year-old. For snacks there's popcorn (don't remember if a 3-year-old can eat this), many types of regular chips., Cheetoes, and Lay's Stax chips. I'd try these instead of gluten-free pretzels, which are indeed outrageously expensive.

There are a handful of regular cereals that are gluten-free. Fruit (even my very picky eater has always liked fruit) or fruit cups. Pudding or Jello. Midel animal cookies are more expensive than regular ones but definitely not twice the price.

Cornbread isn't as expensive to make because you don't use as much of the expensive flours. If you have an Asian store nearby you can find some of the flours much cheaper. I saw potato starch (which is the same as potato starch flour but NOT the same as potato flour) yesterday for 1/5th the price. Same with garbanzo flour. Sweet rice flour is cheap there. Don't knoiw whether you can get your child to try stuff wrapped in corn tortillas but they're very cheap. I like it that way better than gluten-free bread, but a child might not.

Good luck

Richard

[tarnalberry]

I'll start off by saying that you should feel free to flame me if my ideas are dumb - I don't have kids yet so I had no idea how hard this would really be for a very small child, but I'm going to try to help anyway. :-) (And, if nothing else, it's practice for when/if I have kids and continue to be stubborn about this whole, natural foods thing. :-) )

I see that a lot of her snack food items are baked, packaged goods, but could you get her to switch some of them with cheaper, natural foods like:

• slices of avocado
  
• slices of apple (with or without peanut butter for added fat)
  
• sections of oranges
  
• pieces of banana
  
• cut up baby carrots
  
• cut up zucchini
  
• baby tomatoes
  
• jicama with hummus dip
  
• cut up hard boiled eggs
  
• pieces of rice cakes with peanut butter and jelly
  

And breakfast needn't be made with expensive items either. Naturally, pancakes and waffles made from specialty flours will be the most expensive, but Richard noted you can find the specialty flours much cheaper at ethinic markets. Also, you can get creative with breakfast - smoothies, rice grits, fruit and yogurt (soy yogurt, at this stage, I see), scrambled eggs with a vegetable, maybe a cheeseless pizza on a corn tortilla, or even soup! :-)

As for the baked stuff... I admit that I find muffins the easiest thing to make, by far. I don't think I've messed up more than one batch since going gluten-free (and I don't tend to follow recipes too closely, so I have lots of room for messing up :-) ). Whatever you find easiest, make the most of, as you'll throw out the least.

And don't forget that some of those basics will last for a while. Not to mention all the lessons you're learning in these early days. When you get the hang of gluten-free shopping and gluten-free cooking, you'll probably find it easier to come up with ways to keep the food bill down. (Don't forget that even if the gluten-free flours are more expensive, it's often still much cheaper to make you're own items than buy premade ones.)

And finally, don't be afraid to try wacky alternative recipes. I now make brownies from a raw foods recipe (dates, cocoa, nuts, cranberries - no flour) that is tasty, fun, and quick (no cooking), and requires no specialty ingredients.

[Guest taweavmo3]

Tarnalberry......no,no,no! You have EXCELLENT ideas! I love your ideas, I didn't mean to offend anyone at all.

Things always come across different in a post than if I was in person, I'm sorry.

I think my main problem is that in the past, I relied heavily upon premixed and packaged foods. Working and having 3 little ones doesn't leave alot of time to make things from scratch, nor did I ever really learn how. This diet has been a blessing though, because I realized how much processed food we really ate. Once I started reading the labels of the gluten free foods, which usually just have a few, natural ingredients, it's been getting harder to buy the processed stuff for my other kids. I feel like I'm cheating them somehow.....like one kid gets the healthy food, the others get the junk! So, I've been feeding the other two alot of the food I feed my celiac child. Anyway, that's why I'm going through my stock pile of basics so fast. I'll try to find an asian market nearby.....I always thought they would be more expensive. Thanks!

Now, If I would just get my butt in the kitchen instead of on this computer and start baking, I could probably save myself alot of money. Again, sorry if I came across as bytchy at all. I truly didn't mean too....I was just saying that for me, it was more expensive in the beginning. But, I realize it's my own fault for trying to keep the same foods she had before, just the gluten free version. I'll learn, eventually.

[tarnalberry]

You absolutely didn't offend me, I promise! :-)

I put that in there because, as much as I try, sometimes the suggestions I make for situations involving kids... let's just say they speak to my ignorance of what having kids is like. :-)

I certainly didn't think you were bytching at all! :-) It's a tough thing to get started, and in the beginning, it really is more expensive as we get used to what things we have to change and start changing those habits we can change. It's a big task! :-)

[debbie-doodles]

I just found out two days ago that my 2 year old is a celiac. And I have spent the last 2 days scouring info online and hanging out at grocery stores trying to figure things out.

I have to agree with you---it does seem so much more difficult and expensive when you have a child with celiac disease. She has only certain things that she will eat to begin with, but now I have to make it or buy it in the gluten-free version. VERY expensive. I spent $200 just in these 2 days trying to stock up items she will need.

I think it will just take us time to realize which items come in the regular stores that our kids can still have ( like are cheetos REALLY gluten-free???!!--wow). I initially thought that I had to replace everything.

Hang in there and just know that I'm over here going through the exact same thing!

[cdford]

Mine was eleven when she was diagnosed and I made the same mistake as you guys. I tried to replicate what she already ate just in gluten-free form. It was outrageously expensive since we had to keep a gluten-free household (she would sneak anything that was here, even if we tried to separate it or hide it). Once I got past the first three or four months and figured out what she would and would not eat, figured out what I could buy at the local grocery store, and decided that I did not have to replicate her former diet, we did much better. Our grocery bill is probably not more than $50 per month more than it was before. Since I am disabled, our total grocery budget is between $250 and $300 per month for a family of five. Yes, I have to think a little harder and I cannot buy a lot of extras, but we eat better now than we did before. I do have to spend about $100 every three or four months on a mail order of specialty stuff that I cannot pick up at the local grocery.

One thing I have fudged on are the gluten-free waffles. They are outrageously expensive at more than $3.00 per box, but they are an easy snack that she loves. I also buy gluten-free soda crackers. I am going to try a new recipe I saw on this site next week and see if we can cut that one out as well. Otherwise, I keep popcorn, fruit, applesauce, yogurt, and bake cookies or brownies regularly for snacks. I have not found a decent storebought gluten-free cookie yet so I am not spending any more money on them. They just get thrown away around here. Since she can now have dairy, we also keep cheeses around.

You might want to consider cooking larger quantities of items such as chili or soups and freezing them in small single serving packages for quick lunches or snacks. That has also worked well.

[pixiegirl]

Well I hate to get on the nutrition band wagon but I'm going to! I have a 13 year old daughter and so I speak from experience... if you feed your kids only processed snack food you do yourself and them such a disservice. Get them started early to good healthy foods.

Yes my daughter eats chips and cookies now and then but she loves fruit, cheese, veggies, yogurt and if you start them young I believe you have an easier time introducing these choices as snack food. As a very young child I fed my daughter all sorts of fruits and veggies (I would cut grapes into quarters to avoid any choking hazards and I even cut raisins in half when she was really little). We even had fun together making popscicles.. with fruit and fruit juice or fruit and yogurt.

My daughters friends eat only junk, I'm amazed when they come over here, my daughter will eat chips with them but also cut up an apple, or have some cheese and they all say, "oh gross". She eats anything avocado, asperagus, beans, papaya, mango, everything.

So at the very least offer your kids a wide variety of things to snack on, expand their taste buds!

Susan

[ianm]

My son will eat junk food but he much prefers fresh fruits and vegetables. Broccoli is his favorite believe it or not. The sooner you start your kids on healthy foods the more likely they will develop good eating habits.

[Guest taweavmo3]

Oh, I completely agree about the junk food. If I had only offered fresh fruit and veggies in the beginning, that's all they ever would have known. Well, aside from the junk they get at the grandparent's house, but I figure a part of childhood is being spoiled by your grandparents!

I didn't feed them total junk all the time, my oldest is actually pretty good about eating alot of fruit, cheese and yogurt. My celiac daughter has never tolerated any kind of fruit, nor does she like yogurt at all. But, she loves her veggies, so I use those quite a bit to make up for the loss. But I have to admit, that in the past they did eat alot of crackers and chips, and frozen foods. We never ate alot of McDonalds and such, but now I've pretty much cut out fast food all together for our whole family. This new diet, in combination with seeing "Super Size Me" pretty much ended our fast food days!

I'm lucky in that my kids are still really young, so eventually they won't miss the junk food as much. I have done my fair share of bytching and moaning about this new diet, but I have to say it feels great to know exactly what I am feeding my kids, without the additives, preservatives and dyes.

[lbsteenwyk]

My daughter is also 3 and has been gluten free for over a year. I consider her a very picky eater. She eats no fruit and only limited vegetables. I do think I spend more on groceries now, but it's mostly for the special flours. I splurge for gluten-free tomato soup and cookies occasionally. I make all of my own baked goods since you can do it cheaper from scratch than buying them premade. Also, they really are better homemade and fresh! Plus, I like to make them more nutritious with things like flax seed, sesame seeds, rice bran, mashed bananas and pumpkin. I've experimented a lot and found found or developed recipes that we like. It does take some practice, especially if you aren't used to baking. Remember, any new skill takes practice -- keep working on it and you will feel like a pro in a month or two.

Some things my daughter enjoys:

*Cottage cheese

*Yogurt (Stoneyfield vanilla)

*Peanut Butter mixed with honey (we call it peanut butterscotch) on gluten-free Bread, muffins, crackers. Sometimes she eats it out of a small bowl with a spoon.

*Hummus (it's cheaper to make your own) as a dip for tortilla chips, or spread on a tortilla, add cheese and make a grilled quesadilla.

*Fresh sweet Potatoes, peeled, diced and steamed. Then I add butter and sprinkle with brown sugar.

*Corn bread with honey or maple syrup

*Homemade gluten-free pancakes, waffles. I make lots and freeze them.

*Boiled eggs, deviled eggs or egg salad

*Cheddar cheese cubes - cut them yourself to save money

*Steamed baby carrots with honey for dipping (as you can see, my child really likes sweets - it's just about the only way I can get her to eat veggies. Sometimes she even wants honey on peas or broccoli!)

Feel free to email me if you need recipes. I'm glad to share.

[Sharon C.]

Hi-

I can definitely relate to what you are going through. My son is 8 and was diagnosed last September with Celiac. He is also allergic to peanuts.

Part of my problem is that I do a minimal amount of cooking- my dinners are pretty basic and was the easiest part of our meals to make gluten free. Breakfast, snacks, and lunchtime at school were my hurdles.

My son is a snacker (even though I don't let him overdo it) he does love his snacks. I tried to substitute everything he couldn't have anymore with something similar he could have. It is expensive. I find myself baking more than I ever did but I'm not naturally a baker- baking feels like a chore to me.

I was afraid that he would feel like celiac disease was a punishment if suddenly he could no longer have his snacks and treats. I wanted to show him there was a whole world of food he could still enjoy. So, now I will bake brownies or cookies, and it's good that it feels like a chore because I don't overdo it.

Many of the prepackaged things I can't buy anymore were never good for him in the first place. When my son gets wistful about old foods, I remind him that I understand how he feels, but there's plenty of good things to eat and those foods weren't good for him anyway. Those foods are put on store shelves so companies can get rich and American kids pay the price by becoming obese and unhealthy. Now, there are hardly any transfats in his diet and most of what I'm making and buying do not contain food coloring and chemicals like the stuff in the past.

I do find that my food bill has gone up because I do buy gluten-free waffles, and frozen loaves of bread, and $5 brownie mixes. I do my gluten-free shopping at Whole Foods because they have a big selection of gluten-free foods. I buy frozen gluten-free pizza, frozen gluten-free fishsticks and chicken nuggets, gluten-free macaroni and cheese. I just want him to feel normal and not different from other kids. If he were older, I think it would be different, and if he were younger, he wouldn't know any different and I could just raise him gluten-free and he would be used to it. But, at 8, after being able to have all these items all of his life, I think he may have been depressed or felt different, or felt deprived to suddenly be cut off from these foods.

One thing I lean on is that Kraft and General Mills both follow a policy of listing ingredients upfront and not hiding them in other ingredients like "natural flavor." These companies are huge and own alot of little companies- for example, Breakstone's Cottage Cheese is really Kraft. So I read every label and bring my cell phone when I shop and try to screen stuff as I go.

For breakfast I supply: an egg with gluten-free toast, or a gluten-free waffle and syrup, fruit, Breakstone's Cottage Cheese and Fruit, yoplait yogurt (Dannon refuses to say if their's is gluten-free or not), gluten-free cereals from the healthfood store (which are way healthier that that garbage on the store shelves), and Quaker makes a hot Rice cereal that you can add fruit to or honey or cinnamon and brown sugar. With eggs you can do alot- make an omlette with melted cheese, or sunny side up, etc, or scrambles with cut up pieces of fried baloney.

For lunch I supply: Soynut butter (for you, peanut butter) and jelly on gluten-free bread, Oscar Meyer (made by Kraft) ham, turkey, or baloney sandwich, Thumann's lunchmeats (announced on a radio commerical that they are gluten-free) and maybe a big banana with a Kozy Shack Rice pudding for a fun lunch. Also, tuna or egg salad with gluten-free crackers. Ener-G brand makes a cracker he likes. There's also carrot sticks or cucumber sticks that you can add as a side thing. gluten-free bun or gluten-free roll cut in half and made into a mini pizza (watch the sauce- call the manufacturer.) Wacth out for shredded cheese- wheat is sometimes used so it doesn't stick. Kraft doesn't use wheat on thier shredded cheese. But it's easy to just shred your own.

At Walmart one day I saw a plate that resembled the frozen kids meal plates from the supermarket (like a TV dinner plate) and I make his lunch on that sometimes and he loves that.

Also, there's fun stuff you can do like buy that chocolate melting pot ($20) and dip strawberries in chocolate.

Get Breyers vanilla ice cream and have it plain or put it in your blender with a banana.

I made donuts for my son (he really missed having a powdered donut) using that Chibi dough mix, and baked them and then put on my own powdered sugar and he was thrilled.

Homemade mac and cheese is really easy to make and much healthier than the powdered kind from the store.

It's fairly simple to make your own chicken nuggets, and the one breading mix I found is really delicious, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for days after I made it. It's called Homestyle Golden Coatings and I just love it. No MSG, no Casein, No transfats, no gluten but TASTY.

The Bob's Red Mill Brownie mix is excellent and most people think they are better then a brownie mix you get at the store. I add Hershey's semi sweet chips to mine and also put on some Duncan Hines dark chocolate icing for an extra touch and my son goes crazy. I brought them just baked to a party and people's mouths were watering just smelling them. Many Duncan Hines icings are gluten free but watch out for Betty Crocker because most Betty Crocker contains wheat clearly listed on the ingredients.

Jello puddings both bought and home made are gluten-free, and there are tasty things you can do with pudding, as well as their jello. Also, cool whip and the kind in the can are gluten-free.

Most ingredients for cheesecake are gluten-free except for the crust, so you can make a crustless cheesecake in a pyrex pie dish and when done, top it with blueberries or whatever you want.

In the beginning the expense bothered me, but only momentarily. I am grateful that I even have options for my son, and I like to thank all those who went ahead to manufacture these health foods and these food allergy foods so that people can have choices.

[debbie-doodles]

You have some fantastic ideas Sharon. I was wondering where you got the gluten-free coating mix for chicken nuggets. Is that at Whole Foods? Also, do you have a recipe for homemade gluten-free mac n cheese?

[ianm]

I ate very little fruit when I was a child because it would bother my stomach. It turned out that I can't tolerate fructose very well. If a child won't eat fruit that is probably why. The only fruits I can eat now are mostly berries because they are relatively low in fructose. Tree fruits are very high in fructose and I can't eat those at all.

[mommida]

I found joining a co-op was a money saving option that has worked for me. You can check Open Original Shared Link . You can start your own group or join an existing group, if their guidelines are suitable for you. I was lucky to find a more experienced gluten free family that helped steer me towards better tasting products. We split cases of products and enjoy the savings of buying in bulk. Takes some more long term menu planning but it saves so much money in the long run. You can also read every label on-line,when you have the time.

Having kids and working out of the house is stressful enough and you shouldn't feel guilty buying a a special gluten free mix. I usually need the gluten free alternatives for birthday parties and social gatherings. At least I know its organic gluten-free pizza and fruit muffins for cupcakes. ( I think gluten free cupcakes turn out better when I add fruit.)

Save your time and do a double batch of whatever you make and put half in the freezer. Ask the teacher to keep some cupcakes frozen for your child for birthday celebrations at school. Your kids are probably eating healthier because they are on a gluten free diet.

L.

[lbsteenwyk]

Sharon:

Where have you found gluten free fish sticks and chicken nuggets? What is the brand name? Does whole foods carry them? We don't have one close by, but occasionally I am able to visit one in another city.

I also want to point out that even though the cost of many gluten free foods is higher, we are saving money by not going out to eat nearly as often. My family used to go out a couple of times a week. Now, we rarely go out. If you compare what you used to spend on meals from restaurants/fast food to your grocery bill now, the expense is probably about the same.

[lbsteenwyk]

Someone earlier in this post mentioned the documentary "Super-Size Me." I recently watched it, too, and found it very interesting. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it follows what happens to a man when he eats nothing but McDonald's meals for 30 days. I think it's currently running on Showtime. If you have a chance, do watch this. It will help you realize that we really are much better off not being able to partake of much of the fast food scene. Our kids will be a lot healthier in the long run by avoiding frequent fast food meals.

[debbie-doodles]

The thing that kills me about the cost is that we never used to go out to eat because I hated to spend the money, and I never even bought name brand items in the stores because I hated to spend so much money on things. Now I have to spend so much more. freaks me out. But I budgeted today and found other ways to cut back in our spending on other things so that I can put that extra money in to the grocery bill. If I could stop stressing about the extra money spent, then I think this whole thing would be easier to take.

[aili]

tarnalberry, thanks so much for your tip about raw rood recipes. I had just decided to throw out my attempts to recreate baked goods (dd and me cannot have dairy, gluten, soy, eggs, or sucrose) and thinking in that direction is perfect for us.

[tarnalberry]

lol! and I do it because I'm lazy! ;-)

you may find, if you google "raw food recipes" a number of websites with some tasty recipes that you can have - like brownies (made from only dates, cocoa, and nuts), pizza (made from buckwheat, nuts, tomatoes, and herbs), and so on. my yoga teacher (not a celiac) has been more and more interested in a raw foods diet (though she doesn't follow one strictly) and when I looked up some of the recipes, found that they worked well for many of us will intolerances since there's no wheat, dairy, eggs, or usually even soy, and if there is added "sugar" it's in the form of dried fruit or honey.

[Guest taweavmo3]

Regarding the documentary Super Size Me.....it was shocking to see what that guy went through. Of course, everyone says that it as an extreme example, that no one would eat fast food everyday. But it floors me what damage it did to his body after just 14 days. That was enough for me to decide that even one meal of it is too much. I can not bring myself to buy food from there anymore, and I really can't buy it for my kids.

What really floored me was the experiment he did to determine how long it took for regular food vs. McDonalds food to break down. Freshly made french fries started breaking down within a couple of days......but the McDonalds fries NEVER broke down. I think they lasted something like 8 weeks, and still looked brand new. I can't imagine what they do to your body.

Like someone else said, it is definately a must see! It will make you think twice about fast food.

[Guest nini]

when my daughter and I were first dx 2 years ago, my grocery bill skyrocketed... but I have since found ways of reducing the cost. One thing I did was started writing articles about living with celiac for the local co op's newsletter and I get a 20% discount on entire purchase for each article that is published. Also I volunteered to be a taste tester for any of the new products that the reps bring in samples of. Also just becoming a member of the co op saves 5% on Thursday's and Friday's and 10% whenever they have one of there seasonal festivals (usually 4 a year) ...

Also, I have to jump on the health food bandwagon and say that it's much healthier to stick with fruits and veggies as snacks, and limiting the amount of prepared snacks. Although we do like popcorn, pudding cups, and things like that. For school I do provide her with gluten-free versions of animal crackers, pretzels, and cookies and such... but I divide the bags up into smaller zip-loc type sandwich bags and dole it out sporadically. Also I freeze a lot of stuff in my drop in freezer, that saves on the cost.

gluten-free Chicken Nuggets and Fish Sticks are by Ian's under their Allergen Free line...

[Merika]

Our grocery bill was outrageous the first 6-8 months after diagnosis. I spent forever at the store each week scouting for gluten-free items, and tried just about all of them, lol, eventually. I gave myself a sort of freedom with it for trying out new things each week to find ones that I like. Even items I would never normally get, I tried, just to know it was out there and to know that if I wanted X or needed it for a special occasion, I wouldn't be desperate and searching at the last minute.

I live in a major metro area, so I haven't tried the mailorder stuff yet, just what's at Whole Foods, and the local stores. It's been a bit over a year now, and our grocery bill is maybe slightly higher than before, but way lower than when we first went gluten-free.

Staying away from processed foods is the easiest way to stay gluten-free. My son (who is also 3 and eats gluten-free though he hasn't tested for celiac yet) is allergic to soy, even tiny tiny amounts. Staying away from soy and gluten has eliminated many of the pre-made gluten-free products out there (pretzels, waffles, brownie mix....)

At times I wish it weren't so, but then I remind myself that paying attention to his allergy and my need for gluten-free doesn't let me get lazy about feeding him cr&p. So ultimately, the diet is doing us both a favor. He grows up with healthy food made from real ingredients, woohoo all kids should be so lucky, lol!

The special gluten-free items we buy regularly are gluten-free bread, gluten-free pasta and Pamela's baking muffin mix (for pancakes, muffins, waffles, etc). The mix is $$ but it's the best I've found, including mixing my own (which I promptly threw in the trash, yuck). We also buy gluten-free rice puffs, which ds likes to eat in the morning, and which make really good rice crispie treats for birthdays, etc. Oops, one other, we also buy gluten-free rice-crust pizza crust. Ds likes his with pesto and cheese, I like mine with tomato sauce and cheese and sometimes one other topping (can't put many on rice crust).

Hth,

Merika

Ps. Easy mac and cheese is corn elbow pasta, cook, add monterey jack cheese cubed, stir, let it melt, and eat. mmmmmmmm

[Guest BellyTimber]

I don't have children either - I live singly - I often say I'm my own parent and my own carer!

You mentioned is there a body of information to guide parents new to this area. (In addition to what's just been posted)

I would stick my neck out slightly and say that if you consult the replies to the post about a 3 year old with autism, the basis of the information would be of relevance. If casein is not apparently a problem for your child just ignore the references to CF. (Apparently people with coeliac disease and similar often have a period needing to avoid lactose so for those dairy free is of relevance. Live yoghurt has the lactose turned into something else and can be of value if there isn't a casein problem) The hassle and the feelings about having to do things differently and the details of what to do is practically the same whether the child is autistic or not.

Best of wishes!

[cdford]

I cannot afford those expensive mixes even for sweets. If you look around this board, you will find a world of recipes that are generally easy and not outrageously expensive. Assuming many of you can have dairy as well, I have placed some at the bottom of this post. Those who can't have dairy will know how to adjust them.

One thing I would strongly suggest is that you purchase a bread machine and make your own bread. Our breads tend to dry out quickly and are often terrible by the time they get to the store, much less home. It is much easier to put everything in the machine every two or three days and let it go. There is a post on milling your own grains that will make it even less expensive.

Frozen vegetables are less expensive than fresh and are easy to cook. Once you have made the transition, hopefully you will get into a routine that is easier and not so tough on the budget.

Well, here are those recipes...

gluten-free Bread

2 cups gluten-free flour (I use B. Hagman's - 2 parts brown rice flour, 2/3 part potato starch, 1/3 part tapioca flour)

1/3 cup ground flax seed

3 Tbs Sugar

2 tsp Xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

1.5 tsp yeast

2 Tbs Oil

2 Eggs

1 cup gluten-free buttermilk

This bread turns out great every time. It is great for grilled cheese sandwiches or just toasted with jelly or cream cheese. I make a large batch of the dry ingredients except the yeast and then take 2 1/2 cups of that for each loaf of bread. That way it is already together and the bread is quick and easy to put together in the bread machine.

Brownie Recipe (Gluten Free)

Note: this recipe is a modification for the gluten-free diet of a recipe in the Hershey