Chapter 8
In This Chapter
Developing strategies before you head for the shops
Working out what you want to buy
Finding your best source of supplies
Getting the most for your gluten-free dollar
H eading home the day she was told she was a coeliac, Margaret stopped off for a coffee to collect her thoughts. ‘I knew I had to give up gluten but decided to have one last, ceremonial treat before I started the diet. My favourite treats with coffee at the time were jam doughnuts — those large, sugar-coated numbers with a dollop of raspberry jam in the middle that floods the palate when you bite into the first mouthful. I sat down with my coffee and doughnut, shut my eyes and savoured that first bite. The shop was busy and I was sharing a table with another shopper. I felt the need to mark this occasion in some way, so I turned to the lady beside me and announced, “This is the very last doughnut I will ever eat!” Now I had lost a lot of weight and was looking decidedly skeletal and maybe she thought I was going to die — soon. Maybe in front of her eyes! She stared at me in silence for a long second, grabbed her cup of tea, turned her back and stomped off to a distant table!’
Margaret’s next trip to the shops was not so dramatic. ‘At that stage, I knew very little about gluten — in fact, no-one knew very much about gluten. And no-one knew anything about special gluten-free food because there was none! We’re way back in 1980 here, before rice cakes had been invented, before anyone had mastered the art of baking gluten-free bread that didn’t taste like mouldy cardboard. I had no idea what I was going to eat to replace bread, toast, pasta and all those basic ‘fill-you-up’ foods. Although I had joined Coeliac Australia, my starter kit was not to arrive for several days and my appointment with a dietitian was two weeks away. I began by reading labels on familiar foods — soups at first, because it was winter and I was sadly underweight and truly starving. That first trip was a huge eye-opener, as the stark reality of my new diet hit home. Just about everything I looked at contained flour. What on earth was I going to eat? The relief that I had felt when I first got a diagnosis and realised I was going to get better went down the gurgler pretty fast. This new diet, I decided, was just plain bad news.’
The good news is that, these days, finding gluten-free products really is easier than you may think and, thanks to new labelling laws, increased demand and manufacturer awareness, it’s getting easier all the time. You can even get accurate information on how to avoid gluten, right in the shopping aisle, through your mobile phone.
In this chapter, we start by helping you work out what you want to buy. Then we offer some guidance on where to shop, how to shop and — this is important — how to save money on gluten-free foods. You can find important shopping tips to save you time, money, frustration and the embarrassment of snivelling in the bread aisle.
One of the best things you can do to make shopping easier when you’re enjoying a gluten-free lifestyle is to plan ahead. If you try to wing it, especially at first, you end up spending hours in the supermarket walking in circles, trying to decide what to eat, what to buy and then worrying whether the food’s gluten-free.
Not only do planning meals ahead of time and making shopping lists save you time and headaches in the supermarket, but these steps also give you the peace of mind that the meals you’re planning are, in fact, gluten-free.
Most people think planning meals sounds like a great idea, and they’re even able to pull it off once or twice. But for the most part, they’re spontaneous and impulsive. They see something in the supermarket that looks particularly appealing (and, because they’re usually hungry while they’re shopping, everything looks good) and they toss it in the trolley. But sitting down to plan meals for the week helps you to focus on the things you actually need.
Sitting down and making a meal plan is tough, but it pays off when you’re at the supermarket with only 45 minutes to get everything and be back home for the next event in your busy day. You may find some of these tips helpful:
Your spontaneity is exactly what food manufacturers are banking on. They want you to be impulsive and that’s why they tempt you with the delicious-but-oh-so-bad-for-you, high-profit-margin foods at the ends of aisles and checkout stands. How many times have you roamed the supermarket thinking of yummy, healthy meals to make for the week, only to get home with bags of groceries, unable to remember a single meal? Us too.
At the risk of sounding a little basic here, shopping lists are really helpful. They not only remind you of foods and ingredients you need, but also help prevent impulse shopping.
Keep a running list of what you’re running low on or what you need to buy next time you’re at the shops. Make sure the list is handy for everyone in the family so no-one whines that you ‘forgot’ a favourite food (when you didn’t even know that was a favourite food). Stick one of those magnetic write-on cards on the fridge door or keep a notepad on the kitchen bench.
As you do your menu planning, add the ingredients you need for your week’s worth of meals to the list. Oh, and don’t be like us and forget to take the list with you!
Obviously, the most important issues are what do you like, what are you going to make and can you get it gluten-free?
Keep in mind the two kinds of gluten-free foods: those that companies make as special gluten-free items and those that are naturally gluten-free.
Finding just about anything in a ‘gluten-free’ version If you look hard enough these days (and living in a city rather than a small town helps here), you can buy just about anything gluten-free. For country dwellers, you can order many of these items online. Take a wander through your local health food shop and you may be agreeably surprised at the range of gluten-free goods and the abundance of choices.
Keep a look out for the following gluten-free versions in stores:
Refer to Chapter 7 for more on available items, and the sidebar ‘Happy apps for instant help’ for ways apps can make your shopping easier.
Many people think the gluten-free lifestyle limits them to buying foods that say ‘gluten-free’ on the label. This is so not true! Many of the foods that you’ve been eating all your life are inherently free of gluten and these are often not marketed — or labelled — as gluten-free. They include the obvious players — meat, poultry, fish, seafood, fruits, vegetables and nuts — but also some products that seem like they may have gluten in them but don’t.
Asian foods — like rice wraps, many Thai foods, and most fish sauces — are good examples of foods that are often inherently gluten-free (remember, though, that soy sauce usually has wheat in it, so look for the gluten-free varieties). Mexican and other ethnic cuisines also offer a lot of naturally gluten-free foods.
The last thing you want to do is spend loads of money on special items and expensive foods only to find that they taste more like cardboard than cake. Because gluten-free foods can be pricey, and because some are great and some are awful, asking around about gluten-free foods and getting opinions from others who’ve tried them is more important than ever. Of course, opinions vary, and what one person loves, another may hate, but opinions can be valuable, especially if you hear several of them. (You know what they say about opinions: They’re like stomachs — everyone has one.)
If you want to hear opinions on products, you have a few options. Try some of these places:
So you know what meals you want to make, you have at least some idea of what foods you want to buy and you may even have a list in hand. Where do you get all this stuff (some of which you’ve never heard of before)?
You can do most of your shopping at supermarkets now. If you’re surprised by this, don’t be. Remember, we encourage you to eat mostly foods that are inherently gluten-free, and those are at your local supermarket.
The larger supermarket chains usually have a facility for online shopping and delivery (for example, www.homeshop.com.au
).
Health food shops have long been the coeliac’s best ally. When supermarket chains were totally ignorant about gluten-free products, your friendly health food shop was there for you, trying new products, responding to customer requests, encouraging developing companies and taking risks on your behalf. Now that ‘gluten-free’ has hit the big time and awareness is high, supermarket chains have come in for the kill and are taking much of the business away from smaller shops. Some of the bigger supermarket chains are now developing their own brand of gluten-free products. They’re good and sometimes — but not always — cheaper.
Coming soon to a corner near you! Farmers’ markets are popping up everywhere (not just next to farms), offering fresh produce, eggs, meat, fish, honey, nuts and other (inherently gluten-free) items, usually at lower prices than most retailers. The foods are ripe, often organic and the generous samples that sellers pass out are enough to count as lunch. This is where you may find the most delicious gluten-free products of all — your genuine, home-baked treasures.
You can also feel good knowing you’re supporting local farmers and the environment: The food is often grown without pesticides and less petrol is used to transport the produce from the farm to you.
You want a thrill? Go to an Asian market — the more authentic, the better — and check out all the stuff that’s gluten-free. Don’t forget the Thai and Indian aisles. Truly, the selection is amazing. Sauces, rice paper, tapioca noodles, rice sweets, things you’ve never heard of and things that you may have wondered about for years — and quite a few are gluten-free. Asians use very little wheat in their products, but be aware that products do sometimes appear on the shelves that aren’t labelled according to our Australian food regulations. If the product doesn’t have a label in English, check carefully with the assistant and be certain that communication is clear and unambiguous. (In some cultures, telling the customer what you think they want to hear is considered polite, which makes it hard to be sure whether a product is gluten-free.)
We’re not making this up. Once only a dream for those who’ve been gluten-free for a long time, gluten-free stores are finally a reality. Wonderful little shops filled with gluten-free foods, books about being gluten-free, cookbooks and other important resources are beginning to pop up and they’re thriving. Maybe you’ll get lucky and one will pop up near you.
You can do all your gluten-free shopping from the comfort of your favourite easy chair, any time, day or night — you can even be in your daggiest PJs, if you want. Some great websites specialise in selling gluten-free products and within just a few minutes you can place your order. A couple of days later the goodies arrive at your door — and you may be so excited to rip open that big box of gluten-free goodies, it’ll feel like Christmas all over again!
All the gluten-free food manufacturers have websites, so if you know a specific brand you want to buy, you can go to the site and see what the company has to offer (you can find the sites with a quick online search). Some companies also offer a range of gluten-free products via the internet, for example:
Some sites allow you to sort out other allergens, too, so you can narrow down the products that are, for instance, gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free and soy-free. Some sites also provide customer rating systems. They give you an average customer rating and specific comments about a product. This customer rating system is invaluable in helping you decide which products to buy.
If you don’t have a computer, most companies offer a toll-free number and some will send you a free catalogue so you can order by phone or fax.
At first, the health food shelves may seem to be the best bet for finding gluten-free foods. But traps can emerge here too.
The fact that gluten-free products are more expensive is undisputed. For starters, a loaf of gluten-free bread costs at least twice as much as regular bread and it’s probably half the size. And how often have you seen it on special? Gluten-free rolls, biscuits, cakes, mixes and other items also cost more. If you’re eating out at lunch, often no low-cost choice like a toasted sandwich is available and you have to order a more expensive meal or salad. When you join a group of friends for a catered set dinner, you pay for three courses and only get two or one. Ah, life’s hard — but at least we can eat out, not like those on a truly restricted diet who may die if they accidentally ingest a tiny amount of their problem ingredient. So before you take a second mortgage on your house to finance this diet, take note of the tips in the following sections that can help to reduce the cost.
Much of the extra expense involved in eating gluten-free is in the high cost of commercial products. We’re not suggesting you celebrate little Luka’s birthday with rice crackers to save the expense of buying a gluten-free cake. You need to have some special items on hand and cakes or special occasion treats are definitely among them.
But if you find you’re spending far too much money, take a look at how many and what types of special items you buy. Breads, crackers, biscuits, cakes, pizzas, pretzels, doughnuts, pies — they’re pricey, for sure. But you don’t need them all the time. You can substitute regular chips (some are gluten-free) for a fraction of the cost of other gluten-free snacks. Even though they are high priced, sweets and snack bars that you can get at any supermarket are cheaper than health food bars (which can sometimes be loaded with sugar or artificial sweeteners and not as healthy as you might think).
By all means have a splurge from time to time, particularly when you’re feeling a bit ‘deprived’ on your diet. But for the main part, get organised, find a few simple recipes for biscuits, cakes, muffins and pizza bases — you can get some ideas from Chapters 10 to 15 — and have a bake-up. Your own products will taste far better and you’ll save pots of money. (If you work 60 hours a week and live the rest at full pelt you can stop gnashing your teeth in frustration at this suggestion. Margaret remembers how annoyed she used to feel when she was in that situation and well-meaning people told her it was so easy to bake three times a week. This suggestion isn’t for everybody.)
If you can find the time to bake, make sure you have some ‘regular’ alternatives to offer when friends with big appetites come round or they’ll demolish your home-cooked goodies before you’ve poured the coffee. But if you want to build your reputation as a fantastic cook, serve them up and watch the happy faces. Or you can put half in the freezer as soon as they’re baked — and cooled — so they last a bit longer. Nothing’s nicer than discovering a little container of forgotten friands at the back of the freezer.
If you get into baking in a big way, buying your flours, xanthan gum or bread mix in bulk will save money too. Large families often buy a carton of biscuits or mixes rather than individual packets, and this can reduce costs.
Ordering by mail is very convenient — and essential if you live in a remote area — but delivery costs will add to the budget. Unless you have to rely on mail-order products, try to persuade your local health food shop or small supermarket to stock the items you want, or find similar ones that are made locally. For some, the satisfaction of getting a product you love is worth the additional cost, but not everyone can afford to do that. It’s very sad when you hear of families who can only buy special food for their coeliac, or treats for the other children, but not both!
Some people think that eating nutritious foods is more expensive. Not true. Fresh produce and meats do seem expensive — they are! But many of the highly processed foods that are cheaper are far less satisfying, less nutritious and may cause weight gain and make you feel hungrier than ever.
Eating out at restaurants or fast-food places eats through a budget in no time. Eating at home not only ensures that your meal is, in fact, gluten-free, but also saves you money.
Sure, planning and preparing home-cooked meals takes time (we give some time-saving tips in Chapter 9), but the money you save and the peace of mind that comes from knowing your meals are nutritious and gluten-free are well worth it.
The gluten-free mixes for baked goods like pizzas, cakes and breads may seem expensive and they are. But they’re usually cheaper than buying those products ready-made. Gluten-free mixes vary a lot — some are heavier than others — so try a few to find the ones that give you the results you’re looking for.
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