Eating wheat-free on a shoe string

At times, it can be a real challenge to eat wheat free and to try and do that while being friendly to your wallet can be difficult. Although the health shops are packed full of wheat-free goodies and have such a great variety of different foods – grains, flours, pastas, crackers, it can put a fair dent in the wallet, so the key thing is to be sensible but yet get ingredients that can go a long way and can be versatile.

The main ingredients that can get you by, not cost a fortune and you can get in both supermarkets and health shops are wheat-free and gluten-free flours and pastas – those that taste good and mix well with sauces are brown rice pasta, spelt pasta and corn pasta.

Flour is probably your best friend. You can use it to bake bread, quiches, pizza bases etc. All you need to patience, time and a little imagination. Try experimenting with different flours like bean flours, amaranth, and spelt flour. A bag of flour will cost you half the price as a loaf of wheat-free bread, but yet you’ll probably manage to make 2 loaves out of it. Use herbs and spices, they can really make a big difference and give loads of flavour. For example, add in mixed herbs into bread dough before baking, or add in dried fruit and cinnamon into dough before baking a fruit loaf.

And if that all seems too daunting for you, some brands even do ready mixes where you just add in milk or water before baking.

The beauty of eating wheat-free is that is doesn’t all have to be carb based. You can make your own sauces too. Make in batches that’s how you really save money. You can then freeze in portions.

Tinned tomatoes are cheap to buy but yet so tasty and versatile. You can make a simple tomato sauce with tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic and onion, salt and pepper and a spoon of sugar. You’ll have it made in 10 minutes. Use this with your pastas or add in mince to make a bolognaise or a lasagne. Homemade sauce is much kinder on your wallet and your health than buying jars.

So before you go shopping, plan your meals and write a list, it will really help. Happy shopping and baking!