Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Tips On Eating Gluten Free On A Low Budgetand Somewhat Low Preperation Time?


MikeOhio

Recommended Posts

MikeOhio Rookie

Hi. I'm new to these boards. I have Celiac disease but not all that much money to spend on gluten free groceries. I also don't have a whole lot of time to prepare food. Does anybody have any tips for me? I've been eating a little bit of breaded foods like popcorn chicken and fishsticks to save money and be able to eat with the person I live with sometimes. I guess that's probably not a good idea.

I also live in a rural area with a little access to gluten free products but not much.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



nursenation2 Rookie

Whole foods are cheaper and farmers markets for produce, you can get it cheaper most of the time that way. Even frozen chicken breast that doesn't have breading is cheaper most of the time. Naturally gluten free food is cheaper than trying the replacement gluten free stuff. Another way to save is buy gluten free items that you like on sites like amazon. Then it comes to you and usually at way lower prices.

tuxedocat Apprentice

I'm with nursenation, my trick is to just not even try to replace gluteny foods. I used to be on Atkins and just eat close to paleo (except for white rice). Things like soups, I make large pots of then freeze in Tupperware containers.

Think... green salad topped with meat of some kind (leftover chicken or canned tuna will work in a pinch) and a homemade dressing (lemon and olive oil will also do in a pinch).

Eating at home isn't the tricky part if you already know how to cook.

BabsV Enthusiast

Along with eating natural foods and avoiding all the gluten-free replacement foods...get a crock pot. They aren't very expensive and they save you tons of time. Also, cheaper cuts of meat cook up better in a crock pot. Many of us on the forums are big fans of this site for crock pot recipes: Open Original Shared Link The blogger's daughter has Celiac so all recipes are gluten free.

scaredblossom Rookie

I've been doing lots of fruit, I mean lots, applesauce, pepperoni, corn chips for my lunch at work! I never have time to really prepare anything so fruit works well! I buy my at a small grocery store already cut up and packaged, quite a bit for only 2 bucks! At home potatoes are a great life saver so many ways to fix them and they're filling! Eggs, bacon, hamburgers with no bun! I live way out in the sticks and right now I'm the only one working and we have 3 kids so I know how hard it is! It can be done, just don't give up and remember this is your health you're dealing with...spend lots on toilet paper from eating the wrong things or little on things you can eat that go a long way =)

AHemlock Newbie

Seconding the above recommendations. Go for foods that would never require wheat in the first place. Paleo diet is one way (more meat and veggies) as well as alternative grains like rice or corn if you don't want to go strict paleo. I always love making my eggs and bacon with fresh butter in the morning. Steak and eggs are good dinner too, as well as whatever vegetable happens to be cheap down at the farmers' market.

Fried rice is a good quick and easy way to make something cheap and filling. 1 egg, 1-2 cups rice prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge, then cooked at medium heat over a normal temperature with seasoning of your choice is just perfect! Rice noodles are great too.

Mexican food like corn tortillas and tortilla chips are perfect snack foods too. If you don't live in the American Southwest it could be hard to find some good corn tortillas.

Christine0125 Contributor

Chex cereal is cheap and you can easily make snack mix with it by throwing in some nuts, raisins or other dried fruit. I keep a bag of the frozen shredded potatoes in the freezer - store brands are very inexpensive and they are so versatile. Great breakfast with some scrambled eggs and cheese or veggies thrown in. More hearty if you make it with cut up sausage, chicken or whatever you like best. I keep frozen lunch sized containers or soups, chilis and stir-frys in the freezer to grab for work. With the chili, I usually microwave a baked potato and then top it with the chili for a filling meal. Some of the smart ones frozen entrees are gluten free so I keep a couple in the freezer for quick meals.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Mom23boys Contributor

Like the others have said, "keep it simple".

You don't have to eat breaded items (I'm assuming frozen?). Buy the plain. A plain frozen fish or chicken strip cooks just as fast as a breaded one.

I keep my double steamer on the counter with my rice cooker. Pop a couple veggies in and some rice. Do a load of laundry or something and come in and supper is ready!

Got a crockpot? Put some potatoes in (nothing else or oil, salt, garlic) and bake them in there. Yum and easy. Makes a great, quick breakfast (we don't do eggs either).

sa1937 Community Regular

Hi. I'm new to these boards. I have Celiac disease but not all that much money to spend on gluten free groceries. I also don't have a whole lot of time to prepare food. Does anybody have any tips for me? I've been eating a little bit of breaded foods like popcorn chicken and fishsticks to save money and be able to eat with the person I live with sometimes. I guess that's probably not a good idea.

I also live in a rural area with a little access to gluten free products but not much.

Welcome, Mike! You've gotten several suggestions already. Your best bet is to buy a lot of naturally gluten-free foods and avoid the expensive processed stuff.

You might also want to use the google button in the top right hand corner and search for cheap meals or budget meals to get some ideas. We are periodically asked your same question and you'll probably find some recent threads on this subject.

1974girl Enthusiast

I ordered the gluten free meal plan from www.emeals.com It gives you recipes and the shopping list for 7 complete dinners...sides included. I save tons using those and not just going to the grocery blind. Breakfast...yougart, fruit, cinnamon chex, eggs, gluten-free toast.

Lunch- chili (check for gluten-free...Vietti is gluten-free)and Fritos, or refried beans, cheese, Fritos and sour cream. Grilled chicken salad with chicken left over from the night before.

bartfull Rising Star

George Foreman grills have come WAY down in price, and they are a great way to cook meats AND vegetables. If you're used to eating the breaded and deep fried stuff, baking in the oven or crockpot isn't going to give you that satifying crunch. But food cooked on the George gets really crispy in the outside and stays tender on the inside. As someone who used to live on fried chicken and cheeseburgers, finding a way to cook whole, naturally gluten free foods and having them TASTE GOOD, was a problem. The George made it easy.

Now that I've been at it a while, I have gotten used to eating my bowl of "mush" every day. I cook and shred my meat, mix it with rice and finely chopped veggies, and I cube up some Monrerray Jack cheese in the mix. Then I microwave it an put a little butter on it. I make a gallon zipper bag fullevery couple of days and whenever I want some, it's ready in one minute. Tastes petty good too.

(Of course lately I've been eating yams instead of the rice. Baked or microwaved, they are full of nutrition and taste SO good. :rolleyes: )

jeanzdyn Apprentice

tostitos corn chips are labeled 'gluten free'. I use them to supplement a meal where other people might eat bread. Like tostitos chips and cheese, and then whatever else I want that is gluten free. This is relatively low cost. I travel a lot, so I try to find things that are easy to bring with me. Baked beans, anything that is really portable, maybe does not need to be heated and is low cost. Idahoan makes some very tasty potatoes --it is a powder and you add water -they are delicious and about $1.00 a cup, which they call 2 servings. I eat eggs more often at home, that is a low cost meal.

keep it simple is good advice and try looking for gluten free foods on the Internet -- you may be able to find some bargains and they ship it to you.

and like others have said --eat more vegetables. potatoes are pretty adaptable, you can combine them with almost anything. I eat a lot more potatoes than I did before being diagnosed with celiac disease.

MikeOhio Rookie

Thanks everybody for your suggestions. I think I have gotten some good ideas.

MikeOhio Rookie

Welcome, Mike! You've gotten several suggestions already. Your best bet is to buy a lot of naturally gluten-free foods and avoid the expensive processed stuff.

You might also want to use the google button in the top right hand corner and search for cheap meals or budget meals to get some ideas. We are periodically asked your same question and you'll probably find some recent threads on this subject.

Thanks

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      126,421
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    AleksK
    Newest Member
    AleksK
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69.4k

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):




  • Who's Online (See full list)


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Kathleen JJ
      Thank you very much for the reply! As to the cheese sauce - I am not the cook at home, I'm very lucky that my husband takes on this monumental task. But how does one make a gluten-free cheese sauce? Isn't it always based on a mixture of flower and butter? I never achieved actually making it without burning it myself, but he makes it this way. Is it a question of just replacing with a different kind of flower?
    • trents
      Jula, welcome to the forum. What possible benefit would having an official diagnosis give you at this point in your life? You already have medical test evidence that you are a celiac (antibody tests and genetic testing) and the symptom improvement when you went off gluten confirms what the testing already pointed to. Why on earth would you risk damaging your health by going back on gluten to get further confirmation of what you already have proved? You are now 15 years older than when you first went gluten free and your body will not tolerate the abuse it would back then. Call your GI doc and tell him you have decided to proceed as you are without the gluten challenge. If you want to go forward with the endoscopy to check for upper GI health in general, I can understand that but I certainly would not go back on gluten just to enhance the chance that you will receive additional confirmation of what you already know to be true. Are you having any other upper GI issues that you want to get scoped for? Having said all that, it sounds like you may need to double down on your efforts to eat gluten free and now have the freedom to do that since you aren't any longer caring for your parents.
    • Jula
      I will admit that when I was told I would have to eat gluten before getting the biopsy that would definitively diagnose Celiac for me, I was kind of psyched when I thought of all the things I would eat and enjoy since going gluten free in 2009. I was diagnosed that year after the results of tissue transglutaminase testing combined with persistent anemia (blood work also measured this) and a skin rash that definitely turned out to be gluten related (dermatitis herpetiformis) although it was never biopsied. For various reasons, I was never able to go for any follow-up testing, including the biopsy, as recommended by the diagnosing physician. I did, however, immediately go gluten free as much as humanely possible. There were a number of contaminations over the years as I was caring for parents who were not gluten free and who were going through enough so I did not feel good about depriving them of many of the things the loved to eat. I am about to have my first endoscopy, primarily to assess any damage that has been done to my small intestine over the years and to establish a baseline, but I thought it would also be a good time to do the biopsy and get the definitive diagnosis. My gastro doc agreed. But then his office called to say I would have to consumbe gluten for 6 weeks prior to the surgery. I freaked. I couldn't imagine feeling that bad for that long and couldn't figure out how I would function. I thought I would have to eat a meal or two, especially being that I have become more sensitive and can feel the impact of someone stirring my gluten-free pasta water with the spoon from their lots-o-g pasta. It usually takes 2-3 week to get rid of all of the symptoms, but if the dermatitis herpetiformis comes back, that remains for months or more, depending on the weather, my stress level (I tend to give in for the need to scratch the insane itch more) and a few other things. I spoke to my Gastro and we negotiated down to 7-10 days of gluten eating, but he was not sure it would give him all of the info he needs for the biopsy/diagnosis and I am increasingly worried that, judging how eating gluten shut me down, caused my asthma to get worse, my moods to swing wildly and to become so bone tired and joint sore that I couldn't make it up the subway stairs and so sat down and immediately fell asleep for about 10 minutes before someone shook me awake ---- all of which caused me to have someone look into what was going on with me, being that my doc at the time kept diagnosing different symptoms as issues and trying to give me more pills to treat them all. None of that helped. Going gluten free did. I also found out I have at least one of the genetic markers for celiace. I was adopted, so I didn't have that info before. I know this is not a unique story for people with Celiac pre-diagnosis. My question is: Will having an unquestionable diagnosis from the biopsy be worth ending this and starting next year feeling like crap, barely being able to function, likely depressed and a bit manic, and too tired and sore to move much at a time I have been battling to have my life back after being a very long term, 24/7 caregiver for my parents and getting lost in the serious shuffle of all that? Thank you to all of you who take the time to read and especially to those that take the time to respond and help me out of my vacuum! I need some perspective on this, please, because I am becoming increasingly anxiety-ridden about this but I want to do what will be the most beneficial to me in the long term. Thoughts?
    • trents
      Welcome to the forum, @ellieb13! The third party commercial celiac test kits are reliable but suffer from the same shortcomings that the average physician ordered celiac testing does. Namely, the number and kinds of tests included is pretty limited, usually just one or two antibody tests as opposed to a complete panel. Some who do have celiac disease have immune systems that respond atypically to the usual tTG-IGA testing that most docs order and so are missed. If IGG antibody tests would have also been ordered they might have been detected.  I could be wrong but I think there is also the issue that sometimes those with dermatitis herpetiformis do not have enteric involvement and do not produce serum IGA antibodies of the kind the tests are looking for. These people can only be diagnosed by skin biopsy during a dermatitis herpetiformis outbreak. Perhaps another forum member with more knowledge in this area can check my thinking here. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to discourage you from opting for the commercial third party do it yourself kit. If you can afford it, go for it! I'm just trying to help you understand the limitations of such testing, particularly in your situation.
    • ellieb13
      Hi, I've feel like I've hit a brick wall. I've had eczema as a child and have mostly grown out of it, with an occasional flare-up (once a year at most). However, this time around none of the usual tactics work. I use a soap substitute, use 100% cotton clothing, even changed my mattress. The topical steroid given by the doctor usually does the trick after a few days but everytime i stop, it returns quickly. This doesn't feel like eczema to me as it is on my back, buttocks, neck and elbow whereas all my other flare-ups have mainly been on the backs of my knees and inside of elbow. My Grandmother is being tested for celiac disease in the coming days due to her "eczema" not responding fo treatment also. There are some celiac in the family but not close (grandfather's sister). Is this a possibility? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. I would like to add that it's incredibly hard to get a GP appointment at the moment too so would the online home testing kits be a reliable testing option, or just a quick buck scheme?   Many thanks 😊 
×
×
  • Create New...