If you have a gluten allergy, or you opt to eliminate gluten from your diet as a lifestyle choice, one of the greatest challenges you will face is having to bear the cost of gluten-free food. However, going gluten-free doesn’t necessarily have to break your bank. Here are a few tips on how you can go gluten free on a budget.
Stock natural foods that are gluten-free
You will need to build your diet around natural foods that are gluten-free. You should, therefore, stock up on beans, rice, root vegetables, and other seed based foods. There are many varieties of rice that you can buy, including wild rice, brown rice, basmati, and long grain rice. Beans also come in many different varieties, including lima beans, black beans, pinto beans, butter beans and many others. When it comes to root vegetables, you have all types of potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, sweedes, carrots and parsnips among many others. Of course this still leaves an array of other beautiful vegetables, fruits and proteins.
You can find a plethora of recipes online that make use of these natural gluten-free foods. You will be able to develop your taste by experimenting with different recipes and food combinations.
Try gluten-free baking
Whether you blend your own flour or you buy readymade mixes, you should take the time to experiment so that you can identify the ones that you really like. Doing your own gluten free baking can be drastically cheaper than relying on your local bakery, if you have the time. This can be a great opportunity to enjoy homemade treats on special occasions, like a birthday cake, that you know is definately gluten free.
Gluten-free snacking
You can make homemade gluten-free snacks to carry around rather than spending money on expensive ready made gluten-free snacks every time you feel hungry. Dried fruit, nuts and seeds should be the main ingredients in your gluten-free snacks. You can find lots of gluten free snack recipes online, including cracker recipes, and snack bar recipes. Making your snacks in big batches can save you so much time and you’ll be able to eat them for days or even weeks.
Shopping for gluten-free foods
Gluten-free natural foods are available in most supermarkets and at specialty health foods and wholefoods stores. If your local stores have limited supplies, you can even buy gluten-free flour online and have it delivered to your home.
Remember that the key to going gluten free on a budget is learning to prepare your own meals. You can find many easy gluten-free recipes on the internet, some of which take little time to prepare.
