As the primary consumer in our household and the one who has ALWAYS bought all the food (excepting public school lunches and my husband’s lunch trips to the hospital cafeteria), I’m looking for advice/tips/HELP from those who have been GF longer than I.
What do you do to control the food budget? Trying to buy gf foods that I know I can eat safely is expensive – the packaged stuff. I wasn’t good with meal planning before this, and now it’s killing our budget. A lot of my attempts at gf food haven’t been all that stellar, and my husband and older son are picky eaters. When I make something gf and it’s not great, they end up eating something else. Then I either eat too much because I feel guilty wasting it all (NOT what I need), or I throw it out because it goes bad (NOT what my food budget needs). Produce, dairy, and meat are outrageous in the Northeast, as I’m sure it is everywhere. Tomatoes were $5.99/pound this weekend, and milk was $3.29/0.5 gallon.
My husband would be happy if I took over as Family CFO, but if I can’t get a handle on the food bills and still keep everyone’s palates satisfied, we might end up living out of a shoebox.
How does everyone else do it? Does anyone have a sample family menu plan that they would be willing to share? Not just dinners but lunch, etc, and how itt fits together on a budget? Thanks in advance for any advice 
Jenn
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February 26, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I typed “gluten free on a budget” into Google and these sites came up:
http://glutenfreefrugal.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiac.com/articles/835/1/Flexible-Spending-Accounts-and-Celiac-Disease-by-Dwight-Senne/Page1.html
http://www.budget101.com/gluten_free_mixes.htm
That last one looks like what you are looking for-homemade gluten free materials.
Let me know if any of them work out.
February 26, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I’m sorry I can’t really help you with family food budget: its just myself and Brett. I do try to keep my grocery bill down, but I’m sure its still much cheaper when there are only two people. It also seems that your groceries are far more expensive where you live than here in SouthWestern Ontario. We have many greenhouses and dairy farms around, it probably keeps the price down. One thing for sure: I don’t buy pre-packaged gluten-free meals. Ever.
I do find that I can stay within budget by a) planning ahead and b)keeping it simple. Its the fancy meals (baked pasta, pot-pies, quiche) that take up the time and the money.
Some other bloggers participate in a gluten-free menu swap in which you might be interested in participating: http://glutenfreemommy.com/gluten-free-menu-swap/
Since those menus don’t include breakfasts and lunch I’ll share mine:
For breakfast we have either 2 eggs (any style, I usually just boil mine) with a single GF waffle or slice of GF bread and a yogourt, or GF oatmeal or GF cereal (yogourt if no milk is used) I top the oatmeal and cereal with ground flax seeds for extra fibre. Yes the cereal is a little expensive (its $9 a box here!) but it lasts an entire week so its still cheaper than alternatives. A glass of juice or a small fruit accompanies the meal.
Lunches: On the weekend I make huge batches of at least two dishes, and freeze portions. Each morning we just grab a portion out of the freezer. Some examples: Chili, spaghetti with meat sauce, homemade chicken soup, homemade vegetable soup. Along with our portion we each get a piece of fruit (oranges this week) and a slice of homemade GF bread (because the store-bought variety tastes like cardboard) and a treat — you can make 60 GF cookies for a lot less than you can buy them AND freeze them so you only pull out 2 per person every morning when you put the lunches together. For us, a batch of cookies will last 15 days. On the weekend I’ll make a small GF pizza one day and I come up with something for the other day. Usually leftovers from a meal earlier in the week. If you (or your son) don’t have a microwave available for lunch, you should check out http://lunchinabox.net/ she makes really fun looking boxes for kids. Some of the meals I wouldn’t eat, but some are just really neat. The hotdog octopuses she posted last week were awesome — I would have been the envy of all my classmates back in the day if I had brought those to school.
I hope that helps!
February 26, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Bubbahiggins – you ROCK…..Exactly how can you find stuff on the computer. You are now officially my “online fairy goddess”. Rock bottom deals on milk online and now these…there’s plenty to work with there! Those websites have some good links…now I just need to start taste testing.
Shauna – thanks too…..that was actually what I was thinking – I think I’ve been looking at all these great gf blogs with the fancy pictures and have myself dreaming of gourmet meals and desserts (and our checkbook can’t take it – or our waistlines). Thanks for commonsense help.
February 27, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I rarely buy packaged gf food as well as it’s expensive. I will buy frozen gf pizzas from time to time for quick lunches at work. It’s hard, but remember, not everything you cook has to be made with “gluten free” packaged items. What I mean is, make a lasagna out of polenta instead of gf noodles. Simple chicken dishes with rice or potatoes. How about burritos with Mission soft corn tortillas (which are marked gluten free!). Or a simple stew? We rarely cook using gf flours except when I am in the mood to make bread. And when I do, it’s for french toast for the weekends. I guess what I am saying is it can easily be done, but just planning some menu items in advance. If you want some menu suggestions, email me!
March 19, 2008 at 2:34 am
Have you shopped on Amazon yet? Amazon has lots of gluten free food at good prices (better than my local stores) and if you spend over $25.00 the shipping is free. The drawback is that you have to buy a case of something. But if it’s something you really like or use a lot of there is a pretty good saving usually.
Also, don’t forget to check for lists of mainstream foods that are gluten free. Brands like Hormel that have lot’s of things to choose from.