How to Begin a Gluten-Free Lifestyle and Stay on a Budget

I have spoken with many people lately who were either thinking of going gluten free, needed to be gluten free, or have kids who needed to be gluten free. Some have found out they have Celiac Disease, some that their kids have allergies, and others are doing it for health benefits. It has also been suggested that children with autism can benefit from a gluten-free lifestyle.

Whatever your reason for a gluten-free diet may be, I hope I can help shed some light on the subject. I've been gluten free for just over 3 years, so I'm happy to share all this information that's been rolling around in my head for so long. It's definitely a more expensive lifestyle, but it's often healthier than your current way of eating and you can still stay on a budget.

A little info about me first. I am gluten intolerant. There are hundreds of symptoms for gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease and they manifest themselves differently in each person. I got severe migraines several times a week for many, many years and was also always tired. When I was in college I’d take a nap every day when I got home from school…and not just because I was a college student. It was out of the ordinary. Once I saw a nutritionist and cut gluten out of my diet, I not only stopped getting food-related migraines, but I also had more energy and felt better all around.

I remember feeling extremely overwhelmed when I found out I couldn't have gluten. It’s a hard transition, especially since it's not just temporary. It's a whole lifestyle change. I didn’t even know what gluten was and what I could or couldn’t eat at first. But however overwhelmed you may be right now at the beginning stages, I PROMISE it gets easier! It must be especially hard when it's your child who can't have gluten—you just want them to be “normal.” You want them to be able to have a sandwich for lunch at school and a cupcake at a friend's birthday party. I’m here to assure you that your child WILL fit in and be "normal."

If you are not sure what gluten is, the simple explanation is that it’s a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Here’s a general guideline: anything with flour has gluten. Breads, baked goods—anything that is made with traditional all-purpose flour because flour is made from wheat. Of course there are many exceptions to this because gluten is in wheat, barley, and rye, and hidden in things you’d least expect. Like soy sauce—it’s made with wheat. But you can buy Tamari wheat-free soy sauce at any health food store, and even your local grocery store now. You also need to watch out for malt flavoring. Most of the time it’s made from barley. For example, most granola bars and cereals use malt flavoring (but not all). It doesn’t say wheat or barley or rye or gluten, but you just have to know that malt is made from barley. You need to learn how to read labels, and read EVERY label.

On that note, the book Living Gluten-Free for Dummies was a LIFE-saver! The author, Danna Korn, has a son w/ Celiac Disease and she started a Celiac foundation for kids. She's hilarious and makes the transition so much easier. I promise. Buy the book. (I’m not endorsing it, I just know how much it helped me!) She gives a background on gluten and what it does to a body that can't process it, tells you what to look for on labels, shares recipes, and lots more. If you’re on the fence about going gluten free for health reasons you should read it…she covers that topic as well.

Another must-have is a good baking book, because you can’t just go to the bakery and grab some cookies or cupcakes anymore. I recommend Gluten-Free Baking Classics. It has not let me down. It includes cookies, cakes, breads, scones, and everything in between—and everything I've made has been fabulous! The beginning of the book explains alternative gluten-free flours. I won’t go into detail because Annalise explains it so well in the book—but basically you can make an all-purpose gluten-free flour by mixing brown rice flour, tapioca flour, and potato starch along with Xanthan gum (the binder since you don't have gluten). These flours are more expensive than regular flour, but they're becoming readily available at many grocery stores now, as well as health food stores. If you have an oriental market near you, you can often find them pretty inexpensively. And if you want to buy in bulk, Amazon carries them—Bob’s Red Mill is one of the more well-known brands. Arrowhead Mills is another. Rule of thumb for GF baked goods: they go bad faster than "normal" baked goods—homemade or store-bought. Freeze what you can.

If you’d rather not bake from scratch, Betty Crocker has 4 gluten-free mixes now—chocolate cake, yellow cake, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. All are yummy. If you live near a Trader Joe's, they also have a good brownie mix and pancake & waffle mix.

Trader Joe’s is my personal favorite place to do my grocery shopping; they have lots of GF options. If you just go in and ask, their staff is usually very helpful and can point you to a lot of options. Some staples in my house include:

• Brown rice pasta—it’s inexpensive (I also like corn or quinoa pasta but TJ's doesn't carry them and they're more expensive—Amazon carries them in bulk though, and now some chain grocery stores have them). Any GF pasta is actually going to be healthier than plain ol' spaghetti—and the whole family will enjoy it. Edited to add: TJ's now has corn pasta and it's less expensive than brown rice and is delicious :)
• Onion & chive corn crackers—great with cream cheese, hummus, or plain Edited to add:I have not seen these in a while :(
• Ginger snaps—try as the crust for cheesecake!
• Cheese puffs—less fattening that other brands
• Corn chips—I like the blue ones, but they’re all good. A general rule of thumb is that corn chips are gluten free, as are corn tortillas.
• Gluten-free granola
• Black bean and cheese rolled tacos—freezer section. Chicken rolled tacos are also GF, but I like the black bean ones better. (Careful—the beef ones are not GF!)

Some other gluten-free foods worth mentioning:

• Target has Odwalla bars in the vitamin/health bar section that are GF. I like the mixed berry. Edited to add: I have not seen these in quite some time.
• Most Clif bars are GF and they also make a kid's size. (These “health” bars are on the expensive side though...they're a special treat for me!)
• Sometimes Costco has Naked Nuggets. I haven't seen them at my Costco but my sister has gotten them for me. They're chicken nuggets without the breading. Very tasty, and much healthier than McDonald's!
• If you have Fresh & Easy by you, they have a lot of gluten-free foods.
• I love Glutino crackers—they are similar to Ritz. They're a little pricey but I’ve found cheapest at Fresh & Easy. I’ve found anything from Glutino to be good.
• Glutino also makes pretzels, but they're about $7 a bag! When I first found them just a few months ago, however, I didn’t care how much they cost—I was just excited to have them after 3 years! 
• Udi bread is the best GF sandwich bread I’ve found (I've tried lots). This is what I mean when I say your kids can be “normal.” You can still make them sandwiches for lunch at school and they’ll look just like the other kids. (Just make sure they don’t make any trades!) I get it at Whole Foods.
• Rice Chex and Kix cereals are naturally gluten free! I just saw Honey Nut Chex for the first time at Target that is GF also. But not ALL Chex is gluten-free, so be careful! It's labeled clearly on the box. Edited to add: Cinnamon Chex and Apple Cinnamon Chex are new gluten free cereals now.
  
• Whole Foods has TONS of options—including ravioli(!), but they're very pricey. When you want to splurge go there.
• PCC is in my area in Seattle, they're another great spot for lots of GF options if you have one near you. They have the best price on Udi bread that I've found.

You'll find that many foods you are already used to are gluten free, such as beans. This is one of my favorite chili recipes. Not all chicken stock is GF, so make sure it’s labeled. Costco carries GF chicken stock in boxes. Many recipes that may not be gluten free can often be adjusted to become gluten free. Here are all my favorite GF recipes that I've posted on my blog. Corn meal is safe and a great way to “bread” things instead of using bread crumbs. You’ll see an example in the popcorn shrimp recipe. You can also make your own bread crumbs by putting pieces of gluten-free bread in a food processor, then freeze or dehydrate the breadcrumbs to store for future use. Trader Joe’s carries a gluten-free bread (a small loaf in pink packaging). It’s good for breadcrumbs, however I don’t like it for sandwiches—it’s too dense. But it does toast well for breakfast.

Lots of restaurants are now recognizing the demand for gluten-free menus. Some that I enjoy are: PF Chang's, Pei Wei and Old Spaghetti Factory (they sub corn pasta). Most Mexican food is safe because they usually use corn. Thai is another good option too—lots of rice noodles. You can buy rice noodles inexpensively at an oriental market and make your own Thai food also. Just be sure that whenever you go out, be sure to mention to the waiter/waitress that you can't have gluten, and he/she should know what it is and can make sure what you are ordering is safe. If you go somewhere like Thai food where they may not speak the best English, ask if there is soy sauce...that is usually the culprit in their cooking. I love Thai food, especially Pad Thai...it's GF about 3/4 of the time. Better to be safe than sorry!

I still have moments where I just want to be able to get a pizza at a restaurant, but I've just gotten used to not being able to. However, I have found a few restaurants that offer gluten-free pizza. If you are in LA, Pizza Fusion is great. And if you are in San Diego, Borrelli’s is by far the best gluten-free pizza I’ve had. My family lives in San Diego, and whenever I visit I stop in and buy some of their pizza crust if they can spare it (if you do this, I suggest letting them know in advance). I also sometimes make my own pizza dough (this is my favorite recipe). You’ll find that with gluten-free baking, the dough tends to be stickier than normal dough. When making your own pizza, you will probably have to spread the dough onto the baking tray with a spatula. Edited to add: You can often find gluten-free pizza crust at health food stores, including Whole Foods. Check the freezer section. Also, more and more pizza chains are offering GF pizza. In Seattle, where I live, Garlic Jim's and Luciano's recently added it to their menus.

It's always hard to find gluten-free options when traveling—it can take a lot of research ahead of time. But you will get used to it, you just need to know what to look for. I have found several bakeries, restaurants, markets, etc. by Googling "Gluten Free [city]." If you have a smartphone, download the Yelp app. I usually just type in “gluten free” and it will find restaurants nearby that have gluten-free options (if there are any). I can usually find something on any menu that I can eat…it just may not be the first thing I’d choose. Salads are often safe, but you do need to watch out for salad dressing. Flour is often used as a thickening agent, which is why you always need to ask when eating out. You can also get burgers without the buns, but be sure they don't use breadcrumbs as a filler. Also watch out for blue cheese—it contains wheat. (I used to often order blue cheese burgers!) I personally like cooking myself so I always know what I’m eating, plus I enjoy it…but I do like going out to eat if I know what I’m getting is safe.

I hope this information is helpful for you. If you'd like to share your own tips to living a gluten-free lifestyle, please add them in the comments below so we can all benefit.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions. Welcome to gluten freedom!