Our 2 youngest girls have the worst food allergies, in my opinion of course I am sure every mom that has a child with food allergies feels this way. Amarissa is allergic to dairy, soy, wheat and gluten. Annaliese has severe eczema and is also allergic to dairy, soy and raspberries. Thankfully we have been able to cross carrots off her list. I get alot of questions about what food products we eat and how we afford a gluten free lifestyle so I thought I would share some tips and favorite products with you.
Favorite Products:
Hickory Hill Whole Unhomogenized milk
Gluten Free Bisquick
Pamela's Gluten Free Cake Mixes
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix (chocolate only)
Almond Breeze Almond Milk
Gluten Free Pantry Bread Mix (you have to tweak it to taste but it has the best texture out there.)
Mi-Del Gluten Free Cookies
Udi's Gluten Free products (when needing a gluten free muffin for birthday parties at school or day care that is store made). You can also throw in cans of frosting and send in for cupcake decorating.
Gluten Free on a Budget:
Favorite Products:
Hickory Hill Whole Unhomogenized milk
Gluten Free Bisquick
Pamela's Gluten Free Cake Mixes
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix (chocolate only)
Almond Breeze Almond Milk
Gluten Free Pantry Bread Mix (you have to tweak it to taste but it has the best texture out there.)
Mi-Del Gluten Free Cookies
Udi's Gluten Free products (when needing a gluten free muffin for birthday parties at school or day care that is store made). You can also throw in cans of frosting and send in for cupcake decorating.
Gluten Free on a Budget:
- We only eat breads with our meals on special occasions or special meals. (ex. Brunch on Saturday, holidays or with soups)
- I make cornbread baking mix by blending pure ground yellow cornmeal and gluten free bisquick.
- When we want a starchy side with meals I serve rice, white or sweet potatoes instead of pricey gluten free noodles. Spaghetti Squash is good for alfredos, spaghetti, etc.
- We avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup also so I make our jellies and jams using either seasonal fruit or juices that are unsweetened. It is very cost effective and lets face it when there are little ones around you go through a ton of jelly. I don't trust my canning abilities so I use the freezer method for preserving jellies and jams.
- Cucumber slices, that are seasoned to taste, are a great stand in for crackers and in my opinion taste much better.
- When we want/need a store bought cookie we buy Mi Del's, Pamela's Cookies. or Glutino, ****Glutino is new gluten free fave, their chocolate sandwich cookies are better than Oreo's*****
- And one of the biggest money saving tips is the fact that I cook 95% of all our food from scratch, just like grandma used to. It maximizes the nutrients and minerals my children get and lowers the budget, it also lowers their exposure to harmful chemicals and food processing practices used by processed food companies a win-win for sure.
