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.
