Ways to save

We are always searching for ways to save eating GF, right? I just stumbled across a few things that will decrease costs. :)

Newly diagnosed Celiacs are an amazing resource. Sometimes we get in a rut of what is known and reliable, whereas newbies are on the lookout everywhere. Thanks to one of these experiences I was able to get gluten free (GMO free too!) pasta for $2.00/pound. Seriously! Oh, and rice free too. Big Lots, of all places! Apparently, Big Lots carries all kinds if GF products. It is hit or miss, but I have seen Bob's Red Mills products and GF pasta. Worth swinging by there to see what they have. But, don't look for the pasta this week....I cleaned them out. (as I shirk behind my GF pasta stockpile. Hey, I have boys to feed.) :)

Another sah-weeeeet deal I found was on Amazon. Now, they may change this, but it is worth a shot. If you search for a Bob's Red Mill product, millet flour for example, look to the right of one of the pages to see a list of other sellers. There I saw that Millet Flour was less than $2 per bag from Vitacost. Plus, free shipping if you order $49 in products. Easy to meet the shipping minimum if you buy GF flour components in bulk like I do. Tapioca flour, potato starch, millet flour, sorghum flour, xanthan gum...they were all at least $1 cheaper than going directly to the Vitacost site. Makes no sense, but it works for me!

The final deal idea is going through LivingSocial.com and buying a $50 gift card to GlutenFreely.com which costs $25. Most of their stuff is more expensive than you can buy locally with coupons and sales (ie. Chex cereal), but if you are looking for Better Batter flour blend, it is a deal! $35 total for 12 1/2 lbs of flour. That is 5 of their 2.5 pound boxes. If you can eat rice flour based flour blends then give that deal a try. (if you can't eat rice flour, try my flour blend recipe and buy the ingredients from Amazon!)

More deals as I find them! :)

GF Bagels!!!!

Anyone that knows me knows how much I LOVE bagels.  In grad school, Sunday mornings before church consisted of stopping by the bagel shop for my chocolate chip bagel.  Then, after I graduated, I would stop by the bagel shop on my way to work for breakfast...a fresh, warm bagel.  Needless to say, a good bagel has been sadly missed.  But no more!  These bagels meet my criteria for "a real bagel" unlike any other GF bagel I have had.  I'm still tweaking, so I'll update this as I improve.  Since I said I'd post it, here it is...   Btw, that's an actual picture below!!!

GF Bagels

1 1/4 cup warm water
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups Jules Inspired Rice Free Gluten Free flour mix

Boiling solution:
4 cups warm water
2 T sugar
1 tsp molasses (not necessary, but might add some color)

1 egg white, beaten with a bit of water added

Easy Directions: Mix wets(water/yeast/sugar), mix drys(flour/salt), combine wets and drys together, beat until smooth, divide into 6 on floured surface, form bagels with floured hands, refrigerate overnight, boil in sugar water, brush with egg, bake and enjoy.

Detailed Directions:
- Measure warm water in a measuring cup, add yeast and brown sugar then whisk to combine and dissolve yeast and sugar.  Let rest to be sure yeast is active.
-Measure out flour and add salt.
-Pour water mixture into mixer bowl, add flour mixture and beat for 3 minutes (or until it is smooth).
-Lay out a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap, and heavily sprinkle with flour.  Put dough onto flour sprinkled sheet and fold over a few times to work it in.  It will be pretty sticky at this point. 
-Get a knife and cut (or mark) the dough into 6 even parts. 
-With floured hands, flop one part of the dough between your hands forming a ball.  Poke your finger through to make the bagel shape.  Make the hole larger than you want it to be in the end.  Remember, the dough will rise and the hole will shrink by more than half.
-Place bagels onto parchment lined cookie sheet.  You could even sprinkle with cornmeal.
-When all 6 bagels are on cookie sheet, cover with saran wrap and place sheet into refrigerator overnight.  Putting it into the refrigerator overnight helps it to rise slowly, but it also allows the next step to happen easily.
-In the morning, turn oven to 425 degrees, and boil 4 cups of water (or a small pan full) and sugar.  Adjust to low boil and slide bagels one or two at a time into the boiling water, allowing to boil for about 30 seconds on each side then return to parchment lined cookie sheet.  When all the bagels are returned to the cookie sheet, brush tops with egg whites and place bagels into preheated oven.
-Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until golden.
That's it!!! :)  Enjoy!!
They are wonderful with eggs for a breakfast sandwich, toasted with butter or jam, or just eaten plain.  They will stay fresh about as long as a "real" wheat-filled bagel.  (I didn't like stale wheat bagels so I always froze whatever I didn't eat...so I'll do the same with these).
Seriously, these are amazing!!!  Gluten free, dairy free, rice free....but every bit as tasty as the "real" thing. :)

*again, sorry for the poor picture. :)

Making meal prep easier and cheaper

Looking for ways to save money and time?

1. Buy boneless chicken breasts in bulk packs, usually about $1.99/lb.  Grill the entire package at one time.  Then, when cool, slice and put in freezer bags.  Use for grilled chicken salads, or dipping in BBQ sauce for an easy lunch (cheaper than lunchmeat and all natural!), or in any recipe calling for chicken.  Saves time and mess! :)
2. Buy mild Italian Sausage in bulk packs.  Cook the entire package at one time.  Freeze links when cool.  When you need sausage, slice, crumble or use whole.  Cuts down on prep time, and fewer dirty dishes when prepping for dinner.
3. One thing I'm not sure I recommend.....buy a 5 lb bag of onions, chop entire bag and freeze (double bagged or your entire freezer will smell of onion!).  This was quite the experience.  I am glad to have the chopped onion, but the crying was horrible (as I used end of the year, very potent onions). :)  Does save time...but need to compare this to frozen chopped onions you can buy.  Those are amazingly cheap. :)
4. Prepare baking mixes ahead of time.  Cornbread is an excellent one to have on hand.  Mix all dry ingredients into a zipper top bag.  Label the bag with what it is, what needs to be added, and possibly the cookbook page number.  Preparing your own mixes is waaaaaaaay cheaper than buying gluten free mixes.

Gluten-Free Coupon and food sites

Have found several neat websites that have great coupons and money saving ideas for gluten free and natural products.

EarthFare is a store that is not local, but many of their coupons are manufacturer coupons. Be sure to check.

Mambo Sprouts often has printable coupons that add up to significant savings.

If you use the SoDelicious coconut milk products, be sure to check out their website now. They are offering coupons! And, good ones too! $1 off.

The GFCF Pantry is a blog by a lady eating gluten/casien/soy free. It is a well put together blog with good money saving tips and other information.

The Allergy Superstore has some great products, and just had a special. Unfortunately that special seems to be gone now, but they have a clearance section where they appear to put food items that are close to their expiration date. Worth keeping an eye on.

Don't forget Amazon.com. We order our Glutino pretzels through them. Great prices, but be sure to double check with your local grocery store. I've been finding local grocery store prices on gluten free items to be more competitive lately. Yeah for that! :)

Cheaper GF flour ingredients

Eating GF isn't cheap, but there are ways to cut the budget.  One way is to mix your own GF flour blend.  Recently I read that in doing this you risk buying bags of ingredients that may actually have a high gluten content (stinkin' cross contamination).  The suggestion was to purchase a ready made product.  I choose to mix my own flour blend, but by experience I have learned to only purchase ingredients labeled gluten free tested (got burned by one labeled a "gluten free grain"....um duh).  I admit though, I buy regular cornstarch off the shelf.

The most recent cost savings way to get Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour mix components is to go through Amazon.  Amazingly, buying from Vitacost through Amazon saved nearly $1/bag with a bonus of free shipping if you purchased $49(double check to see if that promotion is still available to be sure).  Search for your item and choose one, then look to the right of the screen where it shows other vendors.  Vitacost should be listed as another vendor.  Compare the price. :)


Here are some ways to get GF flour ingredients super cheap, usually around $1.09/lb (generally in 12 oz packages).

(text pasted with liberties from highlighted website forum)

These flours are commonly available from local Asian grocery stores:

Chinese Grocery Store (usually labels include the english translation)

• white rice flour
• sweet rice flour (labeled glutinous rice flour-though it contains NO gluten)
• tapioca flour
• corn starch
• potato starch (NOTE:potato starch and potato flour are NOT the same!)

Indian Grocery Store (along with their Hindi names)

• millet flour ...is Bajri (pearl millet)
• sorghum flour...is Jowar or Juwar
• Buckwheat flour ...is Kuttu
• Chickpea flour ...is Chana or Besan
• Potato ...is Aloo
• ***FYI: "Atta" when alone describes wheat flour***

I can find cornstarch at a local orchard that sells bulk foods for $0.79/lb, which is cheaper than store brand at the grocery store. But the Chinese grocery sells it by the bag too so if you're already there buying other flours, the cost of gas may not justify making a special trip for one ingredient.

Little Cereal Boxes for Stockings using GF cereal!

Another idea to make Christmas "normal" for your little allergen-free eaters. :)

When I was little, we always got a little box of cereal and a "belly button" orange in our stocking on Christmas morning. That was the one time we got sugar cereal (besides when we visited Grandmom) so it was really special. We've continued doing that with the boys and they look forward to it as much as I used to. I realized this year that I won't be able to put little boxes of cereal in the boy's stockings. Then, I got a brilliant idea...I'll just make them! (yeah I know, but I credit this part of me to my mom. If 'they' can make it, so can we!) :) So, I found this webpage called Mr. Breakfast.com where you can design your own using their template, and print it out on cardstock. I'm going to scan it in, change it in photoshop and customize it even more. For the boys' stockings I'll buy some gluten-free sugar-type cereal to put in a baggie, which will then be put in the little boxes. I think they'll love them!

GF CF Vegan Bread

Ever since I found this bread recipe, it has been my exclusive recipe. I have started making it in english muffin rings which makes 24 'rolls'. Just perfect for a little boy sandwich.

This recipe is amazing because it doesn't have any rice flour in it. It has high protein and high fiber. It has real bread texture too. Amazing stuff!

I usually mix up several batches of the dry mix and put them into a gallon zipper bag. Then when I need to make bread, I pull out a 'bread mix', add oil and water and we're good to go. This whole recipe makes two loaves, or 24 english muffin ring rolls. You can halve the recipe to make one loaf.

Elizabeth Barbone has the best tip ever in her cookbook (yes, if you don't have it, go buy the cookbook!). To find out whether bread is done or not, use your digital meat thermometer and test the internal temp. Cook to 208-211 degrees F for bread (I go to 205 for rolls when I'm impatient). Amazing! No more guessing and hoping that it's cooked, or worse yet, overcooking GF bread. Thanks Elizabeth!

Here's the recipe:

Mark Engelberg’s Gluten-Free, Vegan Bread
Recipe for 2 loaves—it is okay to halve the recipe if you want to make just one
Note: If you are using a mixer that doesn’t have a great engine, you may want to mix it by hand at the end to ensure it’s all mixed. Since there’s no gluten to get tough from overmixing, you can mix until you’re confident.
In a large mixing bowl combine:
1 1/2 cups millet flour

1/2 cup teff flour

1 cup sorghum flour

1 cup cornstarch (or double the potato starch if you can’t eat corn)

1 cup potato starch

1 cup tapioca flour

4 tsp xanthan gum

1 Tbsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp active dry yeast (not rapid rise)
Add:
4 tsp olive oil

3 1/4 cup warm water (not hot)
Mix with electric mixer–using paddle attachment, NOT regular beaters or bread hook–for two minutes. The bread dough will be more like cake batter than traditional bread dough.
Two options for the rising:
For the best rising: While mixing the bread, create a proofing box from your microwave. Microwave a small mug or ramekin with water until the water boils. Leave the water in the microwave. Pour the bread dough into two nonstick or well-greased pans. Tuck the loaves into the microwave with the water—the container of water should not be touching the pans. (I have to remove the turntable in my microwave to do this.) Allow to rise until batter extends a bit over the top of the pans–generally 30-50 minutes.
Standard method: Pour into two nonstick or well-greased loaf pans, place on a warm surface (such as on top of the pre-heated oven), and cover with a towel. Allow to rise until batter extends a bit over the top of the pan–generally 50-70 minutes. (Batter should take up about half the loaf pan before rising.)
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove loaf pans from oven and cover with aluminum foil. Return to oven and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes, depending on your oven. (Insert a toothpick or knife into the center to see if it comes out clean or doughy, if you aren’t sure when you pull out the bread.)
As with most breads, it is easiest to slice if you allow it to fully cool. But who can wait that long? I usually let it cool for a little bit, and then remove the loaves from the pans and place them on a rack to cool more while I slice it up. The bread tastes delicious warm, dipped in olive oil and herbs or spread with honey and ghee. It also works well for sandwiches after it has cooled. If you won’t be eating it within 2 days, after it’s cooled, slice it, wrap it in a couple of layers of plastic wrap, and freeze it. Never refrigerate this or other bread—it will get dry and hard if you do. If you leave the bread on the counter (wrapped), it will be good for all purposes for a couple of days. After that, it will be best used for bread pudding, French toast, croutons, etc.
Enjoy!

• I will post my mix label for this another time. :)

Make your own Baking Mixes

Here's a time saving tip. Make mixes for the foods you regularly eat. It saves time, energy and $$$ making them instead of buying GF mixes from the store. Not to mention they actually taste good. :) I usually mix up GF muffins, cornbread and bread on a regular basis. Occasionally I also mix up brownies, chocolate cake and cookies.

The process I follow is lining up about 6 baggies and measuring out ingredients one at a time into all the bags (ex. flour mix into all the baggies, then sugar into all the baggies, etc.). Then after all the baggies are filled I zip them up and put them into paper bags. To label them, I use mailing labels preprinted with the "wet" ingredients and cooking instructions, as well as a pretty picture (remember 'free' food can be beautiful). I will post the label templates later, when I post the recipes. :)

Make sure you keep track of ingredients as you add them. If I have to measure out 1/2 tsp 4 times (because the 1 tsp has walked off with the kids...) then I make sure to put each measurement in a different part of the bag. Clockwise is a good rule of thumb. It's so easy to lose track when you have distractions!

These mixes are awesome when you have no time to think, or need something fast.

Homemade Coconut Yogurt

We were thrilled to find SoDelicious Coconut Yogurt. Finally a yogurt everyone could enjoy without causing any reactions. And, it tastes normal! (imagine that!) :) The coconut yogurt also has those great fatty acids, and acidopholus. The biggest downside is cost. They are about $2.00 per container. Yes, the same size container that you can regularly get for $0.40 if you are buying regular dairy yogurt. See the dilemma? You can imagine my elation when I found this recipe to make it at home for a fraction of the cost. Coconut milk is still more expensive than regular milk, but using that to make yogurt that we can all enjoy....wow! :)

Now, I haven't tried this recipe yet. I have to mull over recipes before I try them. I guess they just intimidate me. After I think through the whole process and assemble the ingredients, etc., then I'll be ready to tackle this project. Until then, when I update this post, I'll leave you with the link. http://funkyfoodallergies.blogspot.com/2009/02/allergen-free-yogurt-recipe.html