I regularly get asked 'What DO you eat then?' Most people think following a gluten and dairy free diet must be awful. In the early days it was a challenge but I've been gluten and dairy free for nearly 2 years now with just the occasional glutening (accidental or deliberate!) And it definitely gets easier. The biggest challenge I have is sticking to my budget.
If money's no objective then paying double or three times the price of 'normal' stuff isn't a problem. You can buy GF versions of just about everything now. They vary hugely in taste. Sometimes they're so awful I just don't bother with them at all. Or they are so processed. So I mainly stick to food that's naturally gluten free. Rice, potatoes, quinoa, pulses, meat, fish, eggs, fruit and vegetables. I can eat goat's cheese, butter and milk although it's a bit more expensive than cow's milk products. But it's for a treat.
I can eat some types of crisps and quite a lot of sweets. And dark chocolate :-) So it's not all bad.
There are 4 GF things I buy and am happy to spend more on. They are Tamari (a wheat free soy sauce), Helen's Bread Mix (tastes like a farmhouse style crusty loaf), Sainsbury's free from pasta (tastes the same when it's covered in sauce!!) and GF wraps (B Free or Warburton's Newhouse are the best)
I use Alpro soya milk and yoghurts and am happy to pay more for them. But I eat them sparingly. Since I'm doing WeightWatchers atm I stick to the recommended serving sizes on the packs which are much smaller than I'm used to!! So I'm not just saving calories but also money by making my food last longer.
Our daughter is GF, at first we were shocked at the prices of every thing, but like you we looked into what we were eating and with a few tweaks we have found natural GF foods to prepare and eat. We avoid most of the GF processed food, and eat a huge variety of dishes, our only problem is bread, but we will get some Helen's bread mix.
ReplyDeleteI've tried most the GF breads and bread mixes and tried making my own from scratch with no luck. I love Helen's Bread mix, really easy to make. Best eaten on the day it's made but freezes well for toast
DeleteIt's surprising how many folks ask 'what DO you eat' when it would be much quicker and easier to list what we DON'T eat. JERFing (just eating real food) is so much more natural and healthy and yet most folk assume that 'normal' food is the highly processed stuff packaged in boxes in the supermarkets.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing exactly the right thing to base your meals on real foods and have some of the other things as treats and extras.
Are you okay with Feta cheese, it's something I eat quite regularly now.
Yes can eat feta but only after checking it's made with just sheep's milk. Waitrose Essentials feta is all sheep milk.
Delete