gluten sensitivity! yikes!

I purchased a bag of brown rice flour and a box of g-f baking mix. I've not anything else from the "specialty section" of the grocery store. So no replacements.

I'm using corn tortillas instead of bread and for now, I'm not replacing my flour-y things with anything other than veggies, fruit and lean meats and some healthy fats.

I will play around with baking later this spring when I have more time but for now, this is good.

I am in the process of watching every, single label on the bags and cans of products we use. So far, I've not had a ton of items that won't work for me, but I cook and don't do a ton of processed stuff anyway. Some for convenience but not a ton. I'm figuring out which convenience things I use that will no longer work and I'll make my own home-made equivalents when I have more time. I'll also do some gluten-free baking of my own so that I can control the contents and the costs!

You do not really need to buy a lot of substitute products. Most whole foods are fine: meats, fish, cheeses, fruits, veggies, rice, etc. You may like to some rice pasta instead of the wheat, and most stores have that readily available now.

Of course, read labels like a hawk - wheat hides in many places, but the good news is there is often a competing wheat-safe brand right on the shelf next to an offending brand. Beware of caramel coloring and additives as always - chemicals are never good for you anyway.

You may like a cookbook called Wheat Free Recipes and Menus by Carol Fenster - it has a recipe for 3 alternative flour blends that you can make up and keep in the freezer - just use your alternative flour blend for any recipe calling for flour. I like the corn flour blend best myself, and find it to be superior in taste and texture to all pre-packaged blends I've tried (most of them contain garbanzo flour that I don't care for).

In restaurants, ask for a gluten-free menu, or if unavailable, ask your server to confirm which items on the menu are safe. NEVER ASSUME.

blessings.

^^Sticking to gluten free on a budget really isn't hard, as others have said, most whole foods (lean meat, fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit, corn, rice) are all okay, processed foods are mostly all out, as wheat and gluten are often added in as binders and such. I was diagnosed coeliac in the 90's, and it was much harder than; awareness and food availability is quite good now, and it's getting more affordable to buy the GF pasta substitutes and other 'special' dietary food. I turn to rice more than GF pasta, as it's cheaper, I also use a lot of rice vermicelli/pad thai noodles as they're cheap, pretty instant to cook and versatile. I also use corn thins/corn cakes as a sub for bread if I feel like a sandwich. There are great GF options for crackers and almost anything now, but they often do cost a little more, if that's a real issue, basic sakata rice crackers (packs that are marked GF) are cheaper as they're not specifically for the diet.