Frugal Gluten-Free

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Food is very expensive, especially gluten-free food. When I ask new patients what is their biggest struggle going gluten-free, most of them list the higher cost as being the most difficult. Throughout my blog I have focused on mostly naturally gluten-free foods to make up the bulk of the diet, to keep the costs down. But surprisingly, the most important thing is universal with gluten-free and regular diet people; that being the higher cost of food is related to how much we throw away. If people were to keep a list of what foods get thrown away every week and totalled it up at the end of the year it would shock them. It is definitely in the hundreds of dollars.

I will admit that I used to throw quite a bit away. I was always cooking and shopping, trying new recipes. I still do those things but I focus more on not stocking up on perishable foods, using all of my garden bounty and planning for my leftovers. I also make smaller portions of some things.

Here are a few tips from my own kitchen this year:
1) The dish pictured above is a Tuesday dinner made from leftovers of my crock pot Monday. I layered potato, carrot, onion with boneless chicken breasts on top in my Crock Pot. I seasoned it with some salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder and poured a can of Progresso Mushroom Soup over it. It was a delicious meal when I came home from work. The next night I thickened the leftover juice with a little corn starch and water, chopped up the leftover carrots and chicken, added to the gravy and simmered. Meanwhile I cooked a little penne pasta and mixed it all together. Another delicious meal, actually better than the first one! Plan your leftovers. If they sit in your refrigerator for a few days you will not eat them! Turn them into something else right away or freeze them.
2) Keep your kitchen clean, but don't throw out the little bits of things. I have a recipe on the blog for granola and also oat free granola. Now I have started saving the bottoms of the bags of cereals and adding them to the granola when I bake it. You would never know that this pan of granola contains bits of Corn and Rice Chex. Making granola is a great way to clean out your pantry of all the partial bags of nuts, seeds, coconut, quinoa flakes etc. Another recipe on the blog is for stuffing using heels of bread. Crumbs of any GF foods can be stored in the freezer for other uses. Those crumbs are golden!
I am buying new flours this weekend for my winter baking. Today I dumped all of my partial bits of various flours into a big bowl and turned them into my muffin mixes. Start fresh.

3) Don't make larger portions than you need. When I mix up meat for meatloaf I fill 4-6 mini bread pans and freeze them raw. If I made one huge meatloaf, much of it would go to waste. I first line the pans with plastic wrap and after they are frozen I can remove my bread pans for other uses. When I want meatloaf I can just take a frozen one out, unwrap it and place it in the pan and leave it in the frig to thaw.

4) Think about what you regularly throw out. Raw fruit and vegetables? If you shop once a week, only buy enough fresh for a few days and buy frozen for the rest. Don't stock up on sale items that are perishable. You really are not saving anything if you toss them.

5) A few spoonfuls of cooked vegetables or meat thrown out every night really adds up. Many people put them into bowls in the frig thinking they might eat them, only to throw them out later. Keep a container in the freezer and dump spoonfuls of vegetables in one and meat in another. When they become full turn the vegetables into soup and the meat into Bar B Q.

6) When shopping for appliances bigger is not always better. We purchased a counter depth refrigerator last time. It takes up less space in the kitchen and uses less energy. But the biggest bonus has been that we no longer over shop. We also can see what's in there easily so things don't get lost!

7) Label bins and drawers in your refrigerator. OK, I catch flack for that...yes I am too organized.  But if family members put things back in the right places nothing gets lost and you save money.

8) Do a lot of small things get lost. There never are enough drawers in cabinets or refrigerators. I bought some plastic baskets with handles that I use all over my kitchen. No more finding lost outdated yogurt and expired cheeses. It makes it easier to put the newer items in the back.
Do you have any food saving tips? Leave them in the comments. I'll get back to you soon with my onion ring recipes! I made them last night.