Help! Food allergies (and celiac disease), trying to find affordable food that's safe!!

shaumom

I've had a recent downturn in income and it feels utterly impossible to find allergen free food for me and the kids that doesn't cost nearly as much as the mortgage - and I wish I was kidding about that, but that's no exaggeration. There are three of us, and we all have different foods we have to avoid. :-(

For folks who have to get allergen free foods, or organic foods, or grass fed meats, or gluten free foods...how do you find cheaper food? How do you afford it?

In the family, depending on the person, we have to find foods that are some combination of gluten free, egg free, dairy free, soy free, fish free, shellfish free, legume free, potato free, chicken free, pork free, sulfite free, grain free, and/or a few other minor 'free's' for good measure.

Meat for one of us has to be organic, and not involve grain for feed (grass fed beef or buffalo, basically), or it causes a reaction. Nuts and legumes have to be GF or certified GF, because when we were just eating brands that didn't have a 'also processed with wheat' labels, one of the celiacs started having problems and turned out to be reacting to them enough to test positive on blood tests again. It's crazy, you know?

I have been trying to keep the grocery budget down to $600 a month (yeah, that's 'low' for us) and just getting enough protein for everyone is an insane amount of money. I keep ending up spending about $800 a month, or I just get protein for the kids and go without much of it myself, which obviously isn't a sustainable practice.

Seriously, anyone have any ideas? At this point, I think I'm in the 'find another way to make more money just to feed you all' state of mind. But maybe that's the stress talking. :-)

jgnatca

There are a few strategies you can employ.
- buy foods that are naturally free of the allergens
- do more home/bulk cooking
- Don’t buy pre made substitutes like GF bread or vegetarian hot dogs. These are the most expensive items in the store.
- I did a Venn diagram to help a college roommate figure out foods that the whole household could enjoy. Do one for your family and see if any useful patterns emerge
- Learn to make home made sauces.

You can all eat fruit and vegetables. I think you have effectively wiped out all inexpensive protein sources. You may have to get premium beef (grass fed organic) and reduce the portions to the minimum. Can you eat turkey?

The Venn diagram may group two diet styles. You then could reduce the meal planning to two options per meal (instead of individual).

Buckwheat is a seed, not wheat, and not a legume. See if it is tolerated by everyone.

Cbean08

What are some examples of things you can eat?

For meat, see if there are any local farms or wholesale places that will sell you the meat. It might be cheaper to buy a whole cow from a farm and freeze it. And then the farmer can tell you exactly what it's been eating.

Hamsibian

-Don't buy gf or paleo substitutes. They're expensive and don't taste good.
-local markets. Talk to the meat vendors, ask them questions about how the animals are fed and raised. Negotiate prices (you can do this produce too).
-organ meat is cheap. I buy lamb liver for 4.99/lb as opposed to lamb chops being 14.99/lb. I eat them like mini steaks. Beef heart makes for good jerky. Chicken overall is even cheaper.
-always check out the discounted meat section in stores. I bought a whole local chicken for 1.87/lb. The butchers will urge you to cook the meat right away, but I still freeze them. They taste fine.
-buy whatever produce is in season. Have fun with something newevery week. Go to fields/farms for picking. The kids will love that.
- can you grow any herbs in your home? Some like mint are super easy to grow, and can go a long way with your dishes.
- bulk cooking, canning, anything to make multiple meals a week. The slow cooker or pressure cooker will be your ally in the kitchen.

hroderick

warehouse size bags of rice and beans cost pennies per serving and good nutrition

WholeFoods4Lyfe

My biggest piece of advice if you are looking to avoid allergens is to try to stick with whole foods as much as possible. Shop the perimeter of your grocery store. If nut butters are a staple in your house, make them yourself, it's less expensive and then you know exactly what the ingredients are. I do a lot of my shopping at Aldi. For example, regular ground beef 85/15 in the value packs at my grocery store is $4 per pound, but at Aldi I can get Grass Fed and Finished Organic Ground Beef for $5.29/lb, so it's not stretching my budget too much. Buy the whole chicken instead of pieces. Here Organic Boneless Skinless Breast is $8-10/lb, but I can get a whole chicken for $1.79/lb and then I also have the bones to make chicken stock. Also, find out what days your grocery store marks down their meats. I can often get meat for 50% off the marked price and then just freeze it. For fresh fruits and veggies, go to the Farmers Market near closing time. They don't want to take anything back with them and you can often get things for 50% less than what they were charging at the beginning of the day. Buy in bulk and batch cook and freeze leftovers to ensure you aren't wasting any food. Costco/BJs/Sams Club for bulk items like oil, rice, beans, meats, coffee, eggs, just don't be lured in by the other giant bags of foods, make sure you price compare, bigger isn't always cheaper. In the summer, when fruits and veggies are affordable, I buy in bulk and freeze or can for the winter months.

Hamsibian

I would also add to save everything! Buy a whole chicken - save the bones and vegetable scraps (stems and peels, also ones that are about to go bad) to make bone stock. Use that stock as a base for gravy and other sauces. Save the fat from meat to cook other things like stir fry and roasted vegetables.

RodaRose

shaumom wrote: »

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Meat for one of us has to be organic, and not involve grain for feed (grass fed beef or buffalo, basically), or it causes a reaction. Nuts and legumes have to be GF or certified GF, because when we were just eating brands that didn't have a 'also processed with wheat' labels, one of the celiacs started having problems and turned out to be reacting to them enough to test positive on blood tests again. It's crazy, you know?

Can you add more lots more safe fruits and veggies to the meat dishes to make them go further?

Maybe butternut squash, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, apples, pears, greens,
How much protein do you need?

shaumom

wow - I must have been so sick when I wrote this, LOL. Totally forgot about it, to the point that months later, I posted the same question, ha.

So just wanted to say thanks to everyone to responded last year, and sorry for not responding!