A Recipe and an Observation

Although I have come across several blog pages of people who give tips on how to eat a less expensive GFCF diet (that's gluten-free, casein-free for all you simpletons out there who still eat wheat and dairy products), I'm pretty certain no one out there will ever tell you that eating this way is downright cheap.

In my former life - alright, to be honest, just a few months ago - I was a couponaholic and a master at saving money in the grocery aisles and other stores. I could go to the grocery with coupons in hand and walk out having spent a quarter of the total amount as the person in line in front of me and have twice as many bags in my cart. I was so well-known for my tightwadery on a particular message board for moms in my area, that I not only had people asking me daily for advice on how to save money on groceries, but in other areas as well, such as children's clothing. It amazed them that we live on one salary and I can afford to clothe my children almost exclusively in brand new Gymboree clothes for around the same price as the same clothes would be priced at resale shops and poor quality clothing found at stores such as Walmart.

Those days are gone. Well, to be accurate, they're not gone. I am still a die-hard bargain hunter and I definitely still buy Gymboree clothing. The only thing that's really changed is that it's a lot tougher for me to find the bargains while food shopping since so many things contain gluten and/or casein. So many of the products we buy now are very specialized. Not only do we eat a GFCF diet, but we also do not eat soy. We do not eat anything that contains artificial flavors, dyes, preservatives, or sweeteners. And if that didn't eliminate enough products, we also try to eat as organically as possible. There are many items that, once we follow all our elimination rules, the only brand that's left as an option just so happens to be organic. And then there are some things that I simply refuse to pay the price for the organic version.

If you're sitting there trying to tally up what your own family's grocery bill total might be if you were to eat the way we do, let me help you...We spend anywhere from twice as much to three times as much on groceries as we used to before trying to be so darn healthy!

For that reason, and of course because I am always looking out for the next money-saving meal, when I see a recipe that is GFCF and inexpensive to make, I'm all over it. Below is one I've found that's pretty good and that we all enjoy and I don't have to apply for a second mortgage each time I make it. It can be found at vegweb.com. It is a website for vegan recipes but don't let that scare you - some of the recipes are very good and easily adaptable to contain meat if you like animal products (like a big fat, juicy steak!) in your diet, as we do! By the way, it does contain oats. I know a lot of people who do not eat gluten will not eat oats. We have no problems so far with oats so I use them but I do buy Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Whole Grain Rolled Oats.

Recipe submitted by cafebeatty, 08/22/06

Blender Waffles with Rolled Oats
Ingredients (use vegan versions):
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups water
1 banana (sliced)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions: Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour batter into waffle iron. Enjoy with your favorite syrup or fresh fruit. This recipe is super quick and turns out great. I make it for my family and they love it!
Serves: 4 waffles
Preparation time: 5 minutes

My own personal note: Be sure to cook these a bit longer than you would traditional waffles or you will be eating mush on the inside of a nice golden crust.

We love REAL maple syrup and buy it by the gallon. For the richest, yummiest, and least expensive maple syrup we have found, check out Leane and Michael's Sugarbush. Their smaller size container prices seem pretty comparable to other suppliers we have checked but their gallon price is significantly lower.

If you're still with me, congratulations to you for having the patience to read this far. And congratulations to me that I've not bored you out of your mind. You're probably wondering about the title of this post and asking, "So where is the observation?" Well, relating back to the recipe I provided and the fact that we now buy a lot of organics, part of the reason I chose to make this recipe just this past weekend was because we had some (organic) bananas that were past their prime, as in, black. Everyone knows when they get like that the only thing to do with them is to make banana bread or something baked. When I peeled open the last two bananas - I know the recipe calls for one but I used two because they were very small - we had onhand, I was expecting to put a pile of mush in the blender. Normally, with two toddlers, bananas don't get black around here very often. However, the last few times I've bought regular bananas they have gone black in two days or so. Not these organic bananas. They not only took quite a few days to go black but even once they had done so they were still firm and the perfect texture for eating. So although I am the bargain hunter I am, I will continue to pay twice the price for organic bananas simply because they are better quality, last longer, and don't turn to mush.