How to not get discouraged when switching to gluten-free lifestyle

Trying out all these new ways of cooking can be very exciting and depressing at the same time. Finding gluten-free foods can be somewhat tricky at times.

If I stick with fruits, vegetables, and lean meats, my grocery bill is not too high as long as I buy what is in season and on sale. When I am craving pasta or a sandwich, paying $5 for a 10 oz bag of gluten-free pasta or a loaf of gluten-free bread is discouraging.

I can have rice, quinoa, oats, and corn for grains. So depending on where you shop for your groceries, these grains are not overly pricey. I do a ton of shopping at ALDI for the bulk of my groceries. I then finish shopping at a local health food store for the other things most box stores do not have.

For these grains, they are under $4 per package. Each package has a significant amount that lasts for a month or more. I save the pasta dishes for those special times since the packages are a little over $5 each. I could buy gluten noodles and make two pots of noodles when we have pasta dishes to cut costs, but that is more work, and who wants to make separate meals when you have a family? Not I.

Thankfully my family has been very supportive of trying all these new recipes and dishes that include a lot more vegetables than in the past.

With fall here and wanting some warm comfort food, I am leaning into the soups a stews side of Pinterest and Tik Tok for inspiration. I have also been looking at many more Asian dishes, as most of those have rice noodles and lots of vegetables.

Soups and stews are great options as they can be completely gluten-free and gentle on your pocketbook. The second benefit of soups and stews is you can throw all the ingredients in a crockpot before work or at the start of your day and dinner is ready when you are all done with work or your day.

I have also found that making my own dressings is cheaper than buying gluten-free premade ones. My family's favorite dressing is ranch; they put that on everything or just use it as a dip.

I have been testing out some vinegar and oil-based dressings and have liked the flavor combinations I have been coming up with lately. I will do a separate post sharing those soon. To keep these dressings in the fridge for a while, I went to the dollar store and found some plastic sauce bottles; you can get a 2 pack for $1.25.

Am I happy they are plastic? No, I would prefer a glass bottle, but when you have to watch your budget, you do what you can to make it work. I will slowly start getting a supply of glass sauce bottles when I have extra funds. There are a few things that I did switch over to in my diet that I will not be going back to the old ways, and they are more expensive, but the benefits for my family and me are worth adding to our monthly grocery budget.

We switched to a mushroom coffee with adaptogens. We love the taste, how it makes us feel, and its health benefits. We use Four Sigmatic; no, this is not a sponsorship; I do not have those yet; I love this brand and want to share it with others because it is fantastic!

My 13-year-old and I love tea. We buy all our tea from the local health food store as it is cheaper to buy all the ingredients to make different teas than a bagged tea that is not as potent and possibly has additives that are not good for our health.

When it comes to baking, since I have to have gluten-free flour, I found that Bob's red mill 1 to 1 is our favorite. It works just like regular flour and does not have a weird taste. We do not bake a lot, so even though a 22 oz bag is $5, I will also have to figure into our grocery budget for when we want something that requires flour.

If you need to live a gluten-free lifestyle, there are options. Meal planning, buying in bulk, watching sales, and rearranging your grocery budget can help with your lifestyle change. When you feel like you are in a rut and eating the same dishes over and over, look to Pinterest or social media for inspiration.

You can watch reels or pin recipes that are not gluten-free and substitute the gluten for a gluten-free option. You can do this, and it does get easier with time and knowledge.

I want to know. What do you think?