Tips for Inexpensive Gluten-Free / Casein-Free Living

Maintaining a Gluten-free/Casein-free diet isn't an easy task. The foods are often expensive and hard to find. As a stay at home mom, I don't have a lot of money to spend. Here are some tips that I've found to curb the cost of Gluten-free/Casein-free living.

Tip 1: Go back to good old fashioned meat and two vegetables. Meats (that haven't been processed or infused with artificial ingredients) and vegetables are naturally gluten free. In our home we often have pot roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions. My kids love it! For the "gravy" for my pot roast I use cornstarch instead of flour. Other favorites are baked pork chops, corn, and broccoli.

Tip 2: Beans and rice. Rice and beans. This is a term that financial guru, Dave Ramsey likes to use when talking about how to eat "cheap" while getting out of debt. However, it is also great advice for people who are looking for inexpensive gluten-free/casein-free options. We often have a pot of dried beans around here (I save leftover roast bones to flavor the beans). I make rice in many different variations. Some of our favorites are fried rice (made with a scrambled egg, chicken, peas, and carrots, and wheat free soy sauce), red beans and rice (sometimes I will put in some gluten-free sausage if I have it), or chicken and rice (boiled chicken, rice, and homemade cream of mushroom soup).

Tip 3: Cookie and cake mixes. This is a tip I got from a good friend of mine. Bob's Red Mills makes some great cookie mixes and Pamela's has an awesome cake mix. I bake the cookies up in batches and flash freeze them. Then when I need cookies for the kids, they are ready to be popped in the microwave for a few seconds to defrost and serve. With the cake mix, I make cupcakes. These freeze really well and are great to send to school when there is a party.

Tip 4: Rice Noodles. I don't know about anyone else, but our family is a "noodle" family. I tried many different rice noodles from the grocery store, but found the texture to be a little off or the taste was a little off. One day a friend suggested trying an Asian market. I found a great little Vietnamese market that sold Thai rice noodles. These noodles are great! They come in various sizes from thin enough for spaghetti to wide enough for lasagna. Our favorite is to make Lo Mein style noodles served with stir-fry veggies.

Tip 5: Know your snacks. Sometimes convenience is a must, so knowing which snacks are safe is important. Here's some of our family's favorites

If you're looking for a yogurt, be VERY careful. While some yogurts say they are soy, they are not gluten free. The best we've tasted is Whole Soy. They certify that their products are both casein and gluten free.

Frito-Lay has a wide variety of chips that are both gluten and casein free. Our favorite is the Lays Stax Regular Chips.

For a cool snack we like Del Monte's Fruit Chiller's. They are gluten free and delicious. Just freeze them and eat. A great alternative to ice cream!

I hope that these tips will help your family on the journey to inexpensive gluten-free/casein-free living!