Gluten Frugality

Last weekend I mentioned spending $60 on flour/GF baking ingredients.

Then this past week, I was experimenting with what I can eat etc, and made a very yummy spaghetti dish.


*side note - after much hunting, I have finally found a GF spaghetti noodle substitute that I like! Actually, it's the same brand as all the other noodles that I like. Really, it's hard to tell the difference between these brown rice noodles and regular wheat-filled noodles. The brand is
Tinkyada Pasta, and I really enjoy all of them. For awhile I was despairing of ever being able to eat spaghetti again because all the spaghetti noodles were disgusting.

Back to the yummy spaghetti...well, it made me sick. So in looking back through the ingredients to figure out what set me off, I discovered that when things say "natural flavorings" that can oftentimes mean - you got it - GLUTEN! GRRRR. So it was the tomato sauce that made me sick.

So, my only option was to find an organic, basic tomato sauce (and pastes). So, off to the health food store again...and $9 later I walked away with - count them with me - 4 cans of sauce/paste.

I made it my mission this weekend to do some research and find a cheaper way to make this work. Otherwise we were going to be broke just trying to buy food that doesn't make me sick. After much hunting and price comparing, I think I have found that the cheapest way for me to order most of my gluten free food is actually going to be...........Amazon!

I never thought I would reach the day when I would be grocery shopping on amazon.com, but there you have it. I can buy, generally in bulk, the ingredients/pasta/foods I need for about half the price as the health food store. Are they still expensive? More so than regular store-bought stuff, but for half the price, I can deal with it.


Also, another friend of mine introduced me to this great flour from a company called
Domata. They make this great flour that basically I can use cup for cup in place of any regular all-purpose flour (not sure about when a recipe calls for bread flour - I have a recipe which combines different flour types that should work for that, but I don't think this flour would substitute). The key is that it already mixes things like Xantham gum (a vital ingredient for getting the gluten free flours to stick and taste like regular bread) all into the flour. So although it's still priciyish, it ends up being cheaper than buying 5 different kinds of flour/gum/etc and combining them myself. Xantham gum by itself costs $10 for 6 ounces, so this flour comes out as way cheaper.


So, guess I need to rearrange my cupboard because I need to bulk order some food for me.

Pizza by Scratching

Brownies and Pizza. What else can one ask for in life?

As I have had neither of those delectable substances for about three months now, I was especially appreciative. Basically I've been experimenting with just regular recipes but using the gluten free flours, etc. And I'm quite impressed. And it's definitely cheaper making it at home than buying the gluten free mix or actual dessert/bread from the store. Tastes better too.

I found a really easy pizza dough recipe that is absolutely amazing. Fluffy and tasty all rolled into one happy crust!

I think I'm finding though that too much sugar in anything does tend to bother me. Not like the gluten does but just upsets my stomach. A little bit in a day is fine, but if I have to many sugar laiden items, I can definitely feel it. Might start looking at using more sugar substitutes (no, not Splenda or anything half as killing as that) like rice syrup, etc. And, I've found that most recipes can actually take less sugar than is called for and be just fine. So combine the usage of less sweet amounts and no sugar and we'll see how that works out.

Bruised, Broke, and Bread

No, this is not a sermon or any such; although, I thought it would be a great title for one! That is the summary of my past couple weeks and my adventures in food.

So, two weekends ago, I managed to narrow down the wheat/gluten question to, sadly, gluten. And so, last Tuesday, I took the dive and voluntarily went to the doctor’s to get poked with a needle (very anti-needle). And of course they couldn’t do it right, and I’ve wound up with bruises on my arms, one of which is quite nasty looking!

Why did I volunteer to be poked with needles? Well, I’ve always know that if it came down to a gluten problem, I needed to be tested for celiac disease – the serious end of a gluten intolerance problem. And since it’s hard to test for celiac if you’re on a no-gluten diet (I had to hope that by eating gluten products a few times for a week previous that would be enough to indicate it on the blood work), I had to torture myself by continuing to eat gluten filled things for a few days.

Talk about making yourself ill!

Anyhoo…the test results have come back. Thankfully, celiac did not show up. However, gluten intolerance is still a problem that I now I have to learn to deal with on a regular basis.

So, after sulking and feeling sorry for myself for a week (had to get it out of my system!), I took the plunge on Sunday and spent an obscene amount of money at the health food store to buy myself flours and other gluten friendly baking products so I can start working on making myself breads, etc. I have lived without bread now for about two and a half months. And let me tell you, even though I’m not a big bread fan, I’ve missed it!

Chris was picking on me though, at the store, because I had been really frustrated that morning for breakfast having absolutely no easy access foods I could grab (problem being compounded by the fact that I’m still testing out other foods as well as dealing with this issue). So we went to the store and bought some of those along with the baking supplies, and after all my hard work recently at saving money on shopping, etc, seeing the price for what we bought, was very disheartening. However, he informed me that I couldn’t have it both ways – I couldn’t be upset over having nothing to eat and be upset over the cost of getting food! I told him I’m a girl and I could if I wanted to.

Why is that argument never impresses him?

Any ways, I’m blessed with two very sensible friends who have had experiences in this area, and so quickly was given some helpful websites/recipes from them. I made a recipe titled “Sticky bread” first. And let me tell you, it’s sticky all right! However, it’s also fantastic. I would eat this bread even if I didn’t have too! So that cheered me up quite a bit.

And now, the time has come for me to work at getting my food/eating back to what will be for me, “normal”. It’s been pretty rough the last few months (blessings on a patient husband who’s put up with my lack of normal cooking and weird eating), and now that I know what one of the biggest problems is – it’s time to deal with it.