Arthur Ashe was once quoted, “Start where you are. Use what you
have. Do what you can.” I love quotes, but sometimes they go above
my head and don’t sink in. This quote came across right when I
needed it, right when I started buckling and thinking about what’s
going on in my life. Don’t worry I’m safe—it was my diet.
But now when I think
about my trips about going gluten-free, things are making more sense,
yes going gluten-free is in some ways huge shift in how you eat, I
was sure I felt earth shift below my feet, I had a list of things I
couldn’t enjoy anymore (at least I was sure I couldn’t eat
anymore), just because of gluten. In all reality, it’s not like
that all. You will reinvent meals, you will scratch old meals. But
when having a life-changing dietary change, you ‘Start where you
are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” It’s now going to be my
motivation.
On this road the
last few weeks alone I learned a lot about becoming gluten-free and
what to do. Because I felt overwhelmed, both price wise and having
foods I loved ripped from my arms. Taco Bell used to be one of my
favorite places to eat, but after some amazing tips I’m going to
survive and not worry about Taco Bell or what I can’t eat
anymore.
Here are 5 tips to make gluten-free eating 10x’s easier :
Here are 5 tips to make gluten-free eating 10x’s easier :
Tip 1: Learn to Pinterest: Pinterest has many gluten-free recipes and options to try. I love looking around there are so many cheap gluten-free recipes on Pinterest and gluten-free ideas that even I became overwhelmed.
Tip 2: Take a shopping date, shopping field trip or whatever you want to call it with your spouse and/or kids. Just to get an idea about what gluten-free foods your store orders and the price of the items. It’s a lot easier than going blindly into the store to find out they don’t have anything that you’d eat, or that it’s higher priced.
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| A homemade gluten free muffin (I'll post the ingredients Saturday) |
Tip 3: Stay clear of the “gluten-free section.” The gluten-free section is nice, they have gluten-free food conveniently placed so that that consumer will flock to a certain area and spend their money there. But there are many other places in stores that sell gluten-free food. I walked around my local Meijer and Wal-Mart to notice there were other foods that were listed as “gluten-free”, it just takes time to look.
Another huge reason to stay way from the gluten-free section is that, with the right incidents that cost a lot less, you can make your own cookies, bread, pasta, or whatever it may be. Just like the regular part of the store, you can pick up a box of cookies, but the ingredients to make it are a ton cheaper. It takes time to look.
Tip 4: Learn what other foods are gluten-free: Start looking at foods that are gluten-free, fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, some vegetarian foods are even gluten-free! A prime example was when my husband and I were talking about our meal plan this week. I brought up wanting to have stir-fry, both vegetarian and gluten-free. Meijer, where I went to get my ingredients, both had had GF, soy sauce and GF and vegetarian beef strips, making my meal plan not too far off my old vegetarian stir-fry, it’s just going to hurt my stomach (hopefully)
Tip 5: Check stores like Aldi’s and dollar stores to save money. A little over a month ago, I had no clue that Aldi and some of the other dollar stores actually have gluten-free food! Yes! Gluten-free food! From cake mixes to bread, and even on to cookies, rice, pasta, and bagels. There are so many options at Aldi, and a lot of the options are a lot cheaper than an actual grocery store.
With these 5 basic tips for shopping gluten-free, I hope you will make going gluten-free a ton easier. I wish everyone on a gluten-free journey, good-luck!
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