Going gluten-free - where to start? - £200 voucher plus signed copies of Budget Gluten-free to be won

[CeriMumsnet]

Going gluten-free can be a challenge, especially when it comes to budgeting. For those of you who are gluten-free, what would your top tips be? What are your favourite gluten-free products? How do you stick to a budget on a gluten-free diet?

And if you’re just starting or even have been following a gluten-free diet for a while what questions or concerns do you have? Becky Excell, author of new book Budget Gluten Free will be online in the next few weeks to answer some of your questions.

Everyone who posts on this thread by 18 March will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky winner will win a £200 voucher plus a signed copy of Budget Gluten Free by Becky Excell. 9 runners up will also win a signed copy of the book.

*Don't forget to also take part in the poll below about the cost of a gluten-free weekly shop (according to Coeliac cost of living report 2024) - the answer will be revealed on this thread next week!

T&Cs

Cooking for yourself is the biggest way to be gluten free on a budget. Many home made meals are naturally gluten free and then others only need small swaps.
Check stock cubes several main brands are gluten free, you don't need gluten free branded ones.
Get good at reading labels. Some supermarkets have secret gluten free products. But don't assume because it was gluten free once it will always be check the label each time as they change their recipes.
Gluten free bread is the single thing that has a massive price tag so I try to limit the bread I eat to keep the cost down. I will bake some at home cheese scones from Becky's books or soda bread are the ones I bake.

Hi, which flour is best used for making your own pasta and bread ? I terms of price and results ?

What are the health benefits of deciding to take up a gluten free diet ?

Gluten free bread is expensive, so I look out for yellow sticker reductions and then freeze it (remember to cut loaves into slices first)! I then take out and toast as and when needed. This works well for me as I generally don’t like the texture of untoasted gluten free bread, so even for sandwiches I lightly toast the bread (helps it stay together as well).

I do think that supermarket bread is one of the worst things about being gluten free - it’s just so poor and yet so expensive. Depressing really that companies look at those products and think they are adequate. They really aren’t!

I've definitely noticed our shop is higher than other people with similar shopping list due to the increased costs of gluten free items

I've always had the best results from Asda flour for anything.

It's much better to cook from scratch, I always batch cook so we've 'takeaways' in the freezer when I CBA.

Caputo flour makes the best pizzas ever ! They taste and look normal, I follow the packet instructions so make the dough overnight.

I look for reduced gluten free items to put in the freezer, also meals that are not specifically gluten free but don't contain gluten, reduced or on offer. Keep a good stock in house. Worst thing about gluten free is eating out, most places have such limited options. Some just take off the gluten items and charge the same,that really annoys me as they could replace with gluten free items eg cookie with ice cream.

I've been gluten free for nearly 28 years now, and I can still remember how hard it was at first - and its not always easy even now.
My top tip for those starting out is that although a lot of people will tell you 'oh, its easy if you cook from scratch, have quinoa instead of pasta' if that hasn't been the way you cook and eat before you were diagnosed, now is not the time to change that too - you'll just make yourself more miserable. There is plenty of GF ready meals and frozen stuff, so if you love a fish finger and chip oven meal, its easy to get that GF and enjoy it.

I've been eating gluten free for a couple of years and, while finding foods I like and can eat has been a matter of trial and error the biggest change I have had to make is carving out a section of the kitchen just for my own food prep and serving and buying my own toaster. I don't eat much bread but it's nice to have some to dip in soup and GF bread tends to be pretty claggy straight from the packet. I keep a loaf in the freezer and toast some when I need it.

It’s great that more products are appearing in cheaper supermarkets, I love Lidl & aldis gluten free dry pastas . Both are lentil or chickpea flour based with beetroot and split pea versions, very reasonable prices . I try to have plenty of fibre so like mesa sunrise breakfast cereal but this is very expensive at my local co-op , £4 a box !!!! Apart from prepackaged gluten free ciabatta rolls and doves farm flour for pancakes, these are the only properly gf products I buy as I eat simple food like grilled mackerel & veg or dhal & rice .

I did gluten free for a while, when breastfeeding my allergy baby

I missed real bread so much!

My tip is, make rice and corn your new best friends, they're surprisingly versatile.

Also, double check labels as gluten sneaks into so many unusual things

We're gf as dd is coeliac. Apart from me and dh still have normal bread. DD has Promise bread but it's like £4 a loaf. Crazy. My top tip is try and eat natural gf stuff as much as possible. So rice type dishes rather than using gf pasta, etc, etc.

Various members of my family have since being diagnosed and I've bought them all a Becky Excel book as a "welcome to the club" type present.

Agree with so much of the above. I started off trying to replace my old diet but actually I found it much more easy just to think about all the things I can eat and use them. Also thinking about a protein rather than a carb as the main dish has been easier.
My son is also gluten-free I found it good to make sure that parties that I just bring him his own food. Some people find it easy to do gluten free stuff for kids but others get a bit confused and it's just much safer and means he can have what he definitely likes.

It saves your life if you are coeliac.

Thank you, I'm not a coeliac, but wondered about the health benefits if swapping to a gluten free ? Did not mean to offend by my Q

Marks and Spencer Friday night yellow vouchers - it's all so expensive!
Also check items not in the free from aisles - "accidentally gluten free" usually the best
Make from scratch - Becky Excell is fab plus FB groups for others ideas

I am really glad the gluten free range is getting better and there is so much more choice. My nephew is gluten free and when shipping with my sister, the amount of time she spends reviewing the tiny area on the packing where products are written is so tough. How do people shop where there is not a gluten free section in supermarkets.

I have recently been diagnosed with coeliacs and I find it struggle. I have two boys who still eat gluten so making meals is a bit of a palaver now. For a little treat I have been buying Asda’s chocolate rice cakes which are quite nice and not expensive. Mostly I haven’t replaced bread or pasta or cereal, I just don’t have them anymore. My world of food seems very much smaller since I had to give up gluten.

We’re just starting our gf journey after my daughter (12) was diagnosed a few weeks ago.

Bread seems a bit rubbish but my daughter loves taking a Warburtons pitta pizza for her packed lunch. We spread garlic butter on one yesterday and it made fab garlic bread!

My DH is wheat free, not quite the same but we generally are g/f. We've found work arounds for most things but sandwich bread and rolls are by far the hardest things to do without.

If you can, invest in a Panasonic bread maker (one that has a GF setting). Not cheap, but worth it over time. Especially if you can get Juvela White Mix flour on prescription (which I know is a postcode lottery) but I get 7 x boxes under one prescription which makes 7 large and delicious loaves. I slice and freeze. Really nice.

I solely have a gf diet as I am diagnosed with coeliac disease. The benefits to my health are no more anaemia, skin rashes and mouth ulcers.

In our house there was big shift over to rice and potato and the rice and corn based pastas. As many have said, baking things for yourself is the best way forward for taste and purity of food. I find the shelf life of some GF products woeful and have frequently found in date foods with mould sadly.

Also, Jamie Oliver's pan fried flatbreads - any GF flour, natural yogurt mixed and then dry fried for a few mins each side. So versatile but I love them fresh from stove and drizzled with honey...

I echo the annoyance at how expensive everything is. Nice bread is extortionate and they've yet to bring out a proper twix substitute. I live in hope.