How to be Frugal, Healthy, and Gluten Free
The universe seems to keep throwing new challenges at us, just when we get a handle on the latest challenge. I have adapted to a gluten free & dairy free life, but the challenges continue to come. I have many food allergies and the game seems to be changing all the time. One thing I know is that simpler foods can be healthier, cheaper, and gluten free. I have had a good bit of recent success finding ways to cut out dairy as well. I hope to provide ideas and resources to any and all who are looking to eat healthy and save money.
If you don’t already have a refrigerator/freezer in your garage, I highly recommend it. Funny story…a few years back, we thought our refrigerator had totally died. It defrosted itself, then just wouldn’t ever come back on. Until, of course, we ordered a new one. That new refrigerator was delivered, but the delivery men dented the door getting it into our kitchen. Yep, that is correct. No bueno. Luckily, they hadn’t hauled away the old one yet, so we decided to plug that old one in in our garage. It worked!! We couldn’t believe it. The company delivered us another new one (without a dented door), and now we have two refrigerators. Both refrigerators have a freezer.
Buy quart and pint containers that are freezer-friendly. I found mine on Amazon. They’ve been terrific.
Soups are obviously a terrific choice. They are almost always freezer-friendly also. You can control the sodium, as well as avoid gluten, dairy, or other ingredients you want/need to avoid. I love having several quarts of soup in the freezer. I try to make 2 big batches of soup at a time. Some of my recipes are for the slow cooker, while others are for the stove top. I check out the ads from my favorite stores to determine which ingredients are on sale so I can make decisions that are frugal and healthy. Check out the Soups and Stews section for some easy recipes you will love.
Chicken breasts & thighs, ground meats (chicken, beef, pork, turkey), pork butt/pork shoulder, beef rump roast, turkey breast, whole turkey, and whole chicken are all great for cooking, then using in many different make-ahead, freezer-friendly meals. If you make the pork butt/pork shoulder, or bone-in chicken/turkey, save the bones in a freezer bag to make stock later.
Watch for fruits & berries to go on sale, and freeze some for later. I prefer organic, so it really saves money using this trick. I keep quart and gallon freezer bags at all times. They definitely help with avoiding freezer burn.
Freeze in portions that work best for you. I freeze servings in a quart container, and that’s perfect for supper for my husband and me. I use pint containers for individual portions, like I take for my lunch at work.
Chicken salad, tuna salad, and turkey salad are all great for feeding a crowd, or lunches for the week. I also love these meals in the hot summer months. I avoid heating up the kitchen as much as possible during June, July, and August. It’s going to be 102 in Dallas! Check out these recipes in the Healthy & Light section on my website.
Save veggies in a freezer bag for making stocks. Homemade stocks are the best! Fennel fronds, celery, carrots, onion, and garlic are all great stock additions.
Bone broth can be expensive, but making it is pretty easy and inexpensive. I keep a gallon freezer bag in the freezer with ingredients and I add to it all the time. Kroger has a bone broth that is good, and way more affordable than others. Low or no sodium broths and stocks are way better in my opinion. You can always add salt when cooking. I like to control the sodium intake.
Slow cookers and stock pots are perfect for batch cooking and meal prep.
One of the best ways to save time in the mornings is to prepare a baked frittata for the week. Once cooled, I slice into 8 pieces, place them in sandwich bags, and we have breakfast for 4 days ready to go. Baked frittatas are perfect for using leftover veggies from your crisper or previous meals. They can have just a few ingredients, or lots of veggies and proteins. You can substitute egg whites or use a combination of eggs and egg whites. Check out the breakfast/brunch section on the website for lots of yummy ideas.
Chicken is a terrific ingredient for slow cooker meals and freezer meals. Check out the Chicken & Turkey section on the website for some helpful and very frugal meal ideas.
In my Mexican/Tex-Mex section on my website you will find several options for inexpensive meals that can be frozen for future meals or made to feed a crowd. The Slow Cooker Chicken Verde is especially simple and popular. There are companion recipes in the same category and the breakfast/brunch category.
I have a few inexpensive, digital cookbooks that are available on my cookbook store that are filled with recipes that can be used for your potlucks, parties, or frozen for future meals. I recommend checking out these three in particular: 1. Make Ahead Freezer-Friendly Dinners Cookbook, 2. The Quintessential Gluten Free Summer Potluck Cookbook, and 3. The Quintessential Gluten Free Gameday Cookbook.
If a store has beef roast, pork chops, pork roast, chicken breasts or thighs or any other meat such as these on sale, I buy them and keep them in the freezer for the future. I save lots of money this way. A vacuum sealer is a great purchase for freezing food also.
Lastly, I use digital coupons from my favorite stores. I save anywhere from 10%-30% at each visit. So far this year, we are just halfway through, and I’ve saved $803 at one retailer using digital coupons. It’s easy to do. I just make it a habit to load coupons onto my app before going shopping every weekend. If I’m super busy, sometimes I will go through the app for coupons while sitting in my car in the store parking lot before I shop. I enjoy the fuel points some of my favorite stores offer as well. The savings really add up. With food prices going higher and higher lately, these simple money-saving tips can really help.
9 Make-Ahead, Gluten Free & Dairy Free Meals For A Busy Week
Food prepping and making meals ahead of time is one of the best ways to reduce stress, control food portions, save money, and save time. I’m a huge fan of all four of those reasons. This post is all about making meals ahead so you only have to cook once or twice in a work week. Don’t get me wrong, I adore cooking, but I work a busy job. As a teacher, I’m on my feet most of the day. Even though I love cooking, after a day at work I want to come home, workout, take a shower, and relax with my hubby. Since we both manage our own websites, the evening time is important for working on posts, blogs, recipes, and social media.
Once I realized that I needed to stop eating gluten and change my diet completely, food prepping, make-ahead meals, and batch cooking became a new normal for me. I prefer to make all of our meals on Sundays. Sometimes I cook again on the weekend, but that is because I choose to do so.
Here’s what I’m making this week (click the recipe title for each recipe):
Overnight Oats With Fresh Peaches (6 breakfast servings)
Vegetarian Stir Fry (6 lunch servings)
Gluten Free Fish Nuggets in Cassava Flour Tortillas With Roasted Heirloom Tomato Salsa, and Vegan Mexican Slaw (4 supper servings)
Felicia’s Tuna Salad with a healthy, garden salad (6 lunch servings)
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potato Mash (4 supper servings)
BBQ Chicken Nachos (2 supper servings)
GF Egg and Plant-Based Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches (6 breakfast servings)
Salmon With Mustard Horseradish Sauce with Roasted Carrots, Fennel, and Garlic (6 supper servings)
Vegetarian Baked Frittata With Greens And Veggie Sausage (8 breakfast servings) *bonus recipe to get your next week started
The other good news is that all of these meals allow you to stay under 1600 calories per day as well! I don’t know if you are like me and you are trying to lose weight, or if you just want to maintain the healthy weight you are now, but it’s a struggle for most people. I am no exception. I include nutritional information on these recipes for your convenience. As always, the ingredients affect the nutritional information, but the information provided will help you have an idea of the basic nutritional information for each recipe.
Here’s how I organize my day of cooking:
First of all, the menus are planned before the day of cooking. I usually browse my favorite grocery store apps to download digital coupons and check out the weekly ads on Wednesday evening and make the grocery list. I usually do the grocery shopping on Friday evening or Saturday morning.
I start the day by getting dressed comfortably with my most supportive shoes.
If I didn’t get a chance to make the slaw and salsa yesterday, then I make those first. In my opinion, both dishes are better after being in the refrigerator overnight.
I get the oven preheating for the sweet potatoes (325 degrees). I wash and scrub the sweet potatoes, then place them on a sheet pan covered with aluminum foil and season with sea salt. Once preheated, I place them in the oven and set the timer for 90 minutes.
I put the BBQ chicken into the slow cooker first, so it is done by mid afternoon.
I make the breakfast sandwiches, then eat one for breakfast/brunch.
I make the tuna salad and garden salad next.
Once the sweet potatoes are done I set them aside to cool so I can remove the skins before putting them into the refrigerator.
At this point, we are probably getting hungry, so we eat lunch. I usually make something for lunch on Saturdays that we can eat on Sunday for lunch as well.
At this point, I’m done cooking until Thursday. I make the Vegetarian Stir Fry With Plant-Based Ground Meat.
I will make the Salmon With Mustard Horseradish Sauce and Roasted Carrots, Fennel & Garlic on Friday, then eat it again on Saturday and Sunday evenings.
On Saturday I will make the Vegetarian Baked Frittata With Greens And Veggie Sausage, which will be our breakfast again on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday also. We love frittatas with salsa and diced avocado and a side of fresh fruit.
Other tips and advice:
I make sure that the dishwasher is empty before starting my day of cooking so I can clean as I go. The last thing I want is a kitchen full of dirty dishes at the end of the day.
For the same reason, I start the day of cooking with an empty kitchen trash can, a clean kitchen, and fresh kitchen towels.
I like to watch TV or listen to music while cooking. Not surprisingly I mostly watch cooking shows, but I also love sports, so sometimes I have football, baseball, or hockey games on the TV.
If I need to remember to thaw something from the freezer, I put a reminder in my phone calendar or my planner. For instance, this week I need to thaw the salmon on Wednesday to cook it on Friday.
Road Trip Tips For People With Celiac or Gluten Intolerance
Traveling can be tricky for anyone, but if you have any food restrictions, allergies, or intolerances it can be downright frustrating! A few summers ago my husband and I were traveling from TX to the Florida Keys for our 20th wedding anniversary. I had snacks packed, but nothing that could serve as a meal. There was an 8-hour portion of the drive in which all we saw was a Subway. There were no other restaurants. We stopped because I thought that surely I could find something safe to eat at Subway. When I asked the young lady behind the counter if they had any gluten free options, she looked at me like I had 3 heads. I was familiar with that look and knew I better just eat the snacks I brought with me. I’d rather be hungry than glutened! We still had a long road ahead. I gained some helpful information from this situation:
If at all possible, bring a cooler with actual meal options.
Thank goodness I had GF snacks!
So many people still don’t know about Celiac & gluten intolerance.
Research restaurant options before traveling so I don’t get in that situation again.
Nowadays whenever I’m going out of town for a week or more, I will take 2-3 bags of food and a cooler. I will share with you the contents of those bags and cooler to help you plan your next road trip. Luckily, I love to cook, so if we are going to a place with a kitchen, I take food items with me for cooking (GF flour, GF rice, GF pasta, my herbs and spices, etc). If I can buy certain items at a grocery store where I am vacationing, then I do that. I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and even here I can’t always find what I need. If in doubt, I pack it. Here are some of my favorite snacks that I take with me when I travel.
Cooking when travelling is one of the best ways to avoid being glutened. I have some favorite products that I pack that make cooking easier. We also save a lot of money bringing food and cooking our own meals. Here are some of the products I take with me when I travel.
In the cooler I pack premade sandwiches. I like to bring my own condiments (like dijon, ketchup, plant-based mayo, and relish). Things like premade guacamole, hummus, and salsa are perfect also. Add some bottles of water and iced tea and you’re all set. Before I started minimizing the dairy intake I would travel with cheese cubes.
Like I said I love to cook, but I also love to go out to dinner. Since I’m a lifelong foodie, I love learning about food, recipes, and other cuisines. I love reading menus and observing how a chef/owner runs their restaurant. I always research the restaurants beforehand. That way I can download the pdf of the GF menu ahead of time if possible. I seek out people on Instagram from the city to which I am traveling to read their advice about their home city’s gluten free restaurants. If I am having trouble finding Instagram accounts to follow, then I search for hashtags. For example before traveling to New Orleans I might try #glutenfreeNewOrleans or #NewOrleansGlutenFree.
As you can see planning, preparation, and research are key. Once you find places to shop and eat in the cities to which you travel, keep a journal or photos of those places so that when you visit again you remember what you learned the first time. I hope this has been helpful to you. Happy traveling!
The Quintessential Gluten Free Summer Potluck
Hi everyone! Felicia May here from Dishes For The Senses. I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited it’s summer. I love entertaining friends and family. After all that everyone in the world went through in 2020 and the first half of 2021, I’m so happy that the outlook is looking more positive.
If you have Celiac Disease, or are gluten sensitive/intolerant, then you know what it’s like to go to a party, cookout, or wedding reception just hoping beyond all hope that you can find something you can eat besides lettuce and a celery stick. The great thing about hosting a party yourself is you control all the variables. Well, most of the variables. You never know what your cousin, Larry is going to say.
This post is all about hosting a potluck that is completely gluten free. By the way, your guests wouldn’t even know if you didn’t tell them. I am going to walk you through the steps to throw a fun allergy-friendly potluck and I’m going to give you the free e-cookbook and food label place cards if you subscribe to my mailing list. You can sign up at the bottom of the page.
If I’m hosting a party on a Saturday, I begin food prep on Friday. If something can be made ahead I do so on Friday. In the summer, people love cold pasta salads and coleslaw. In my e-cookbook I have recipes for both of those. If you have people in your family or group of friends who are vegetarian or vegan, then this e-cookbook is perfect for you also. The macaroni salad, coleslaw and sloppy Joe’s are all vegan. For your carnivorous friends & family I include a slow cooker BBQ chicken recipe.
On the morning of the potluck, I get the BBQ chicken into the slow cooker first, then work on setting up the food station and dining area for guests. If you have kids, this is a great way in which they can help.
Don’t forget to give yourself time to get ready. Yes, I schedule that in also. Here is a sample of a schedule I might use to make sure I’m ready for my guests when they arrive.
Wednesday
Make the grocery shopping list. This is when I check out the grocery store app for the weekly ad (sales) and clip digital coupons.
Thursday
Do the grocery shopping and tidy up the house.
Print the food label place cards and fold them into tents to place in front of every dish you are serving.
Friday
5 pm Make Gluten Free & Vegan Macaroni Salad
5:30 pm Make Vegan Coleslaw
5:45 pm Make Fruit Bowl with Vanilla Orange Glaze
6:00 pm Make Watermelon Refresher
6:20 pm Chop onion for Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken and Vegan Sloppy Joe’s, then chop the bell pepper for the Vegan Sloppy Joe’s; brown your plant-based ground meat, onions, and bell pepper if you want to avoid doing so the day of the potluck. Put all dishes into the dishwasher and run them so you can put them away in the morning.
6:45 pm Rest and relax, because you want to be able to enjoy your friends/family tomorrow
Saturday
7:00 am Put the GF Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken ingredients into the slow cooker. That should take you 5 minutes since you chopped the onion last night.
11:00 am Start your Vegan Sloppy Joe’s; if you browned the plant-based ground meat last night, this will only take 5 minutes.
11:15 am Unload the dishwasher and clean the kitchen.
2:00 pm Get dressed and ready for your guests.
3:00 pm Set the table or buffet area by setting out plates, napkins, utensils, cups, garnishes for your watermelon refresher and drink station, and serving spoons. If I am serving dishes in different bowls/platters than they are being stored in the refrigerator, then I put those out at this time. Don’t forget water. You can have pitchers of water or a cooler with bottled waters. Place your food label place cards in front of the spot where each menu item will be served.
4:40 pm Set out food so it is ready when your guests arrive.
5:00 pm Great your guests and have a great time!!
When My Gluten Free Journey Began
Hi. My name is Felicia May. This is my first official blog post. I am a recipe creator. I focus on creating gluten free recipes for people like me who cannot eat gluten. This is my story.
In 2014 and 2015 I began to notice that I thought something was wrong with me. I had no idea what it was and honestly I think I thought I was imagining it. I told myself I would focus on eating well and taking vitamins daily to try to see if I could feel better. I have been prone to infections since I was a little girl. I was one of those people for whom doctors prescribed antibiotics for urinary tract and sinus infections on a very regular basis. My immune system has never been very good, but in 2014 and 2015 it was absolutely awful. I began noticing dots/spots on my cheeks. At the time I thought I was allergic to a cosmetic or face care product I was using. In response, I took a break from all face products for about a month. Nothing changed. There was no effect, except my face was dry from not wearing moisturizer for a month!
I went to the doctor with a urinary tract infection and had to be on antibiotics for about 3 days. After a few weeks, I had to go back to the doctor. This time I had thrush and my mouth was a mess. I was so confused. The doctor told me that I had to take action. I had the immune system of a newborn baby, cancer patient, or elderly person! He said I needed to take probiotics and change my diet to lose weight and get healthier. I said I ate yogurt almost daily and had been working on my diet. He told me in my condition that probiotics were absolutely necessary and that yogurt was not going to do the job alone.
I went home, told my husband, and we began to research probiotics and how to lose weight. Looking back now I think this was leaky gut syndrome. This is also about the time I started going to the chiropractor again. I filled out a multi-page questionnaire for the chiropractor. She recommended bloodwork be done to try to figure out exactly what was going on with me. She’s the only one who ever even mentioned gluten sensitivity being a possible cause for my health problems even to this day. Still I was resistant. I really didn’t understand what gluten even was. Thank goodness I started reading and researching.
I started cooking Paleo recipes and was feeling much better. For a few months, I stuck with the Paleo diet and did not have as many symptoms. In the fall of 2015, my husband and I went out to dinner and broke our Paleo diet with a blue cheese burger and a beer. Before I was even finished eating the burger and drinking the beer, my face starting getting spots and itching. I looked at my husband and said, “It’s the gluten!” He quickly agreed that must be what’s happening. My stomach was a mess for days. I started reading everything I could find about gluten intolerance and celiac disease.
Then began the 5-year journey to figure out how to totally cut out all gluten sources from my diet. Yes, I said five years! I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been standing in a grocery aisle staring at a can or package of food looking for the GF or Gluten Free designation. Grocery visits turned into expeditions. What would’ve taken 45 minutes in years past, now took 1-1/2 to 2 hours. I was excited, hopeful, but at the same time downright frustrated. There was not one single grocery store that had all of the products I needed anymore. Now I had to visit multiple stores to get all the items I needed.
Luckily I have always been interested in reading recipes and recipe creation, because I quickly came to accept that the only way I was going to stop getting sick from food was for me to cook it myself. In future blog posts I will share recipes and some of my important discoveries about where gluten can hide. I am determined to create food that is yummy and healthy. I am excited to share my findings with you.