Archive for the ‘Moneysaving Tips’ Category
May 14th, 2010
A dozen tomato plants
There’s no doubt that a gluten-free diet can be good for your health — but bad for your wallet. Gluten-free frozen meals, baked goods and bread can be double or even triple the cost of their gluten-containing counterparts. But so many people feel that having to live gluten-free leaves them with no other choice. You simply have to buy the specialty foods and pay the high cost. With Gluten Free on a Shoestring, I’ve tried to show how that’s simply not the case. You can take back control by learning to cook and bake gluten free with more taste, and less cost.
While cooking and baking yourself can minimize certain costs of being gluten free, other expenses are harder to avoid. For example, even though you can make your own gluten-free pasta from scratch (see recipe: http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/fresh-gluten-free-pasta/), sometimes we just need to rely upon packaged gluten-free pasta. And even at a good price, that can cost double what regular, wheat-based pasta costs. So you have to get more creative and look for other ways to save and make up the difference.
One way is to try growing your own vegetables. Let’s face it. Fresh produce just isn’t cheap. I use tons of frozen vegetables, which are picked at the peak of freshness and generally very cost-effective. But some things just can’t be frozen with good results (frozen tomatoes, anyone? blech). So if you can grow your own, it leaves you with some extra money to buy those $2-$3 bags of gluten-free pasta and that occasional $7 loaf of gluten-free bread when you’re really in a pinch (heaven help us!). Don’t already think you have a green thumb? No worries. The time to start is now, and here are some tips to get started:
1. Plant what’s expensive to buy, and easy to grow.
While the idea of pulling a fresh carrot from the ground may be alluring, it’s not the best use of your gardening time. Carrots are inexpensive to buy fresh, all year long. Instead, plant more costly things like cucumbers (almost $1 each in my area, even in season) and tomatoes (usually around $2.00+/pound). Also, consider what’s easy to grow. Time is money, so you want your efforts to bear fruit … or vegetables. We have had great success in our back yard with zucchini. So it’s a staple every year. Herbs are easy to grow as well. And there’s nothing like adding fresh-picked basil leaves to your pasta sauce, salad or tomatoes and mozzarella.
2. Start small and early.
If you want to get the most from your effort, it helps to start early. But be careful. Plant too early and cold Spring weather will kill your plants. So here’s what you can do instead: Save your empty cardboard egg containers. Fill them with a small amount of potting soil and drop in and cover the seeds of your choice. Then water periodically, just enough to keep the soil moist. You can leave your plants outside during the day. But you should move them inside (or to the garage or shed) until the weather is consistently at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit overnight. Depending on your area and climate, this could be mid-May to early June.
There are a couple of reasons to use the cardboard egg cartons. 1) They give you individual sections for your seeds. 2) They biodegrade, so you can break off the individual compartments, peel off as much paper as you can (without damaging the plant) and actually plant the whole thing right in the ground. If you keep them wet enough, you’ll even notice that your plants will sprout roots right through the bottom of the carton.
3. Skip the soil and get some FREE compost.
Here’s an extra Shoestring tip: Instead of buying potting soil, find out if your town has a compost pile. Our local sanitation department has a huge mound of compost available for FREE (and no, it doesn’t stink). People are constantly driving up to fill their buckets, trash cans, pots, etc. You can’t beat the price, and compost is great for those little seedlings. FREE compost is a lot less expensive than paying $4 for a small bag a potting soil. It’s also a whole lot greener.
So break out your garden gloves and trowels this season and give gardening a try. It’s the Shoestring thing to do. Plus, it can be lots of fun, especially when you get to harvest things like this:
Warmly,
Nicole
December 28th, 2009
This has been quite a year. Filled with downs and then ups.
As many of you know, I was laid off from my job back in March. That lead to the start of Gluten Free on a Shoestring. Since then, the blog has grown by leaps and bounds. It’s been mentioned in the New York Times. It’s attracted nearly 1,000 loyal “fans” on Facebook. And now Gluten Free on a Shoestring is set to become a cookbook as well.
Much of this success is due to you. Your comments and stories have inspired me and made sharing these recipes so rewarding. So thank you for all of your support and encouragement. And please keep those messages coming.
As we move into 2010, I plan to share more recipes and give you a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the cookbook. After all, Gluten Free on a Shoestring is as much yours as it is mine.
Let me wish you and your families Happy Holidays and success in the New Year. To cap things off, I’ve shared some “Shoestring Specials” to help you finish 2009 on a shoestring – because isn’t that why we’re all here?
See you next year!
Warmly,
Nicole
Final Shoestring Specials for 2009
Amazon.com Offers (all offers good thru 12/31/09)
25% off Oskri Organics GF bars
Use code OSKRI554
Order at http://bit.ly/5xK0dX
10% off over 10 different Bob’s Red Mill products (including gf flour, mixes for pancakes, pizza crust, cookies & more)
Use code BOBSGLFR
Order at http://bit.ly/5dlkVA
$10 off Nestle Toll House Chips ($29 min. purchase)
Discount automatically applied at checkout.
Order at http://bit.ly/6oA4Gj
35% off LesserEvil Snacks (gf popcorns and potato sticks)
Use code TSTEEVIL
Order at http://bit.ly/8sCEVV
40% off Sam Mills GF Corn Pasta
No code needed. Discount automatically deducted at checkout.
Order at http://bit.ly/4EP2yW
15% off Celestial Seasonings Teas
Use code TEACEL45
Order at http://bit.ly/790W8X
Gluten-Free Mall
10% off your order thru Jan 1, 2010
Use code 7f3a62
Order at http://www.glutenfreemall.com
Celiac Disease Book Offer
Save $10 on “Recognizing Celiac Disease” by Cleo Libonati (thru 12/31/09)
Recognizing Celiac Disease is a ready reference that identifies symptoms related to celiac disease and their underlying causes. Order at http://www.recognizingceliacdisease.com
$2.00 Coupon for Attune GF Probiotic Bars
Attune wellness bars combine all-natural, great-tasting ingredients with powerful probiotics that are clinically proven to support digestive health and promote a strong immune system.
Print the coupon at http://attunefoods.com/coupon/?MjAwb2ZmNw
Disclosure: Gluten Free on a Shoestring receives a small affiliate commission on Amazon.com orders placed via product links and Amazon banner ads on our site. So support Gluten Free on a Shoestring and order through the blog. And thanks…
November 28th, 2009
A gluten free Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night … and then a really good After-Thanksgiving Sandwich.
At Thanksgiving dinner, all 3 of my kids ate themselves silly, and then, at the very end of the night, asked that I save the scraps they simply could not eat. The very next day, they were all clamoring for leftovers (and interrogating me about whether or not I did in fact save their individual scraps). I did not cook at all that day. It was glorious. In an effort to eek out one more meal from my Thanksgiving efforts, I have assembled a lovely After-Thanksgiving Sandwich. And I invite you to do the same….
What I did looks dramatic, but is simple. The depth of the cranberry color makes all the difference in the presentation, with no more than a modicum of effort. I took a couple of thick slices of Tom’s Sandwich Bread, buttered each side of the bread and then topped the butter with a generous layer of cranberry sauce, then layered in some sliced Thanksgiving turkey, and topped it with Apple & Leek Cornbread Stuffing. Assemble the sandwich, slice it in half with a large serrated knife, & enjoy.
In case you don’t know the pleasures of homemade cranberry sauce, here’s a quick recipe. I usually buy a bunch of bags of fresh cranberries this time of year, when they’re readily available, and throw a few in the freezer. Homemade cranberry sauce is so nice, I even make it other random times during the year. Cranberries also work beautifully in Any Berry Scones. You just use them frozen — no need to defrost before baking them with the scones.
Whole Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
1 12 oz. bag fresh whole cranberries
1 cup water
scant 2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir to combine.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the berries are soft and sauce is as thick as you desire.
3. Allow the sauce to cool. This may be stored in the refrigerator for days, so it’s great to make ahead of time.
Enjoy your After-Thanksgiving wonders!
Warmly,
Nicole
October 9th, 2009
Saving 15-30% on these products is no trick
Hello everyone. Nicole’s husband, Brian, here. Nicole is tied up with a bunch of things — one of which she’ll be telling you about soon (and it’s pretty exciting). So I’ll be your guest blogger today. Just think of me like a substitute teacher. Hey you in the back, I see you passing notes. Alright, maybe don’t think of me as a substitute. Think of me as Nicole, but not quite as funny.
With Halloween just around the corner, I figured you might like some treats in the form of gluten-free savings. I mean, isn’t that what this blog is all about? I’d post a recipe for you, but you’d probably never come back. I’ll leave the recipes to Nicole. So here you go. Your gluten-free savings tip for the week:
Save 15% – 30% on GF Products from Arrowhead Mills, DeBoles Pasta, Imagine Foods
Here’s the deal:
1. Click the link above for Amazon.com
2. Order any of their gluten free products from Hain by October 31, 2009. The savings apply to flours and mixes from Arrowhead Mills, rice and corn pasta from DeBoles, soups and broth from Imagine Foods and much more.
3. Enter the promo code HAINGF25 at checkout and you’ll SAVE 15%
4. To SAVE AN ADDITIONAL 15%, choose the Subscribe & Save option (for automatic reordering every 1 – 6 months).
That’s it. No tricks. No hassles. And no shipping charges when your order is at least $25. Now isn’t that better than a candy apple? Does anyone really like those things anyway? So do me a favor. Or actually two favors. Go ahead and order gluten free from Amazon.com. And tell Nicole that I was a good sub, or quote unquote guest blogger. Positive reviews keep me in good standing.
September 25th, 2009
Amazon.com on a Shoestring ??
When you’re on a shoestring budget, living gluten-free can sometimes be challenging. Your choices are limited. Health food stores are expensive. And ordering online is no good when shipping charges start to add up. But there are ways to be smart about it. One of those ways is with Amazon.com.
I’ve written about Amazon.com before as a great place buy things like all-purpose GF flour and get free shipping (and often a better price). But free shipping is only the half of it. There’s more to the story…
Save 15% on selected GF products
You can save an extra 15% off Amazon’s already competitive prices, and still get free shipping, on many Gluten-free cereals, Gluten-free flours and Gluten-free baking mixes through Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program.
Here’s how Subscribe & Save works: You place an order of eligible items and choose to receive repeat shipments of that order every 1, 2,3 or 6 months (it’s up to you). Don’t want another 4 bags of gf flour that soon? No problem. You can change, cancel or deactivate the subscription right after your initial purchase – and you still get the 15% discount, and there is no penalty at all. That’s shopping smart. And that’s living Gluten Free on a Shoestring.
So go shop and save. You know what basics you need to have in stock. Just take a pantry inventory, and stock up. You can thank me later.*
Warmly,
Nicole
* P.S., In case you’re wondering, Amazon did not put me up to this. Yes, if you click through a link to amazon on this site, you will help support us a teeny tiny bit (we get a tiny little monetary reward through their amazon affiliate program), and we’d appreciate that. But you can always avoid that, if it makes you feel not-so-fresh at all. Just put amazon.com in your browser and go it alone. No problem, no hurt feelings. Just savings, shoestring-style.
May 14th, 2009
Mmmmm chicken bones
I am well aware that I am not the first person to think of roasting chicken breast. You salt, pepper & olive oil it, throw in a few cloves of garlic (it really does up the flavor quotient), and put the whole mess in a hot, hot oven (say 400 degrees at least) for a good 40 minutes.
But did you know how lovely other things taste when you roast them near chicken? It’s those chicken bones. They reveal such surprises when you roast them & they share their bounty with whatever is nearby. So don’t be afraid to chop up whatever you like and roast it alongside the chicken. Potatoes (skin intact, please), carrot chunks, turnips peeled & diced (divine), you name it. You can also make a dressing, like apricot sauce or honey mustard to name a couple, and slather it all over everything. Just don’t forget an acid (like mustard or vinegar) and the oil. Massage it into the chicken and roast it all, with the chicken skin side up. That way, the fat drips off and coats everything.
And then, after the bones have been picked clean by your children/guests/husband/wife/friend, gather them from everyone’s plates and stash them away (refrig or freezer). Even just one bone from one half a split chicken breast can make quarts upon quarts of gorgeous chicken stock. Just boil them away with some more salt & pepper, maybe throw in an onion, & delight.
I can usually find skin on bone in split chicken breasts for around about $1.50 a pound on sale. When I do, I buy and freeze. You can even roast it nearly frozen, just allow it more time in the oven and make sure the meat is opaque and the juices run clear before you pronounce it cooked through. And save those bones!
Warmly,
Nicole
May 12th, 2009
- Bob, My Hero!
Oh, Bob. You devil, you. Now you’ve gone & done it.
I have been using Bette Hagman’s Four Flour Bean Mix. It costs a mint. This is a problem for me. I shy away from baking for my children as often as I would like. And that means that Bailey, my oldest, is growing up with a very, very strong sense of deprivation. Okay, I’m overstating it. But really she has a tremendous sweet tooth. But when flour is so expensive, I hesitate more often than not. I had tried to buy the component flours to make my own freaking Four Flour Bean Mix, but I simply cannot find sorghum flour (one of the essential components) in a brick & mortar store anywhere near my home. And if I have to mail order it, the shipping costs are killer. And I’m down to my last 3 pound bag of Bette Hagman’s mix from Authentic Foods. I won’t lie to you. I was starting to panic. Damn, I have to remember to get more comfortable lying. That is an embarrassing thing to admit. And then I saw it. The light at the end of the tunnel, and it wasn’t the light of an oncoming train….
Last week, I hinted at the possibility that I might have found a viable alternative to Four Flour Bean Mix (FFBM). I didn’t want to come out with a full throated endorsement, though, before I had taken it for a spin myself. Yesterday, I made gluten free pizza dough with it — and then made pretty little empanadas – more on that later in the week. And it went off without a hitch! Bob’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour is almost precisely the same as FFBM, just swapping out potato starch for corn starch. And best of all….{drum roll} …. it is available at Amazon and qualifies for free shipping!
**adorable happy dance**
This means that, for the low low price of $3.33 per 22 oz. bag, you can be the proud owner of a truly All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. Just add xanthan gum and let ‘er rip. Click on the link in the sidebar for Bob’s All Purpose. I’m in love with that bearded man. He kinda looks like the Gorton’s Fisherman, doesn’t he? If I didn’t already have so many children, I’d offer myself to him.
I am on Cloud 9. You should come visit me here. There’s pizza here, cookies, birthday cake… Oooh! I think I just spotted some french bread!
Warmly,
Nicole
May 6th, 2009
Edible Party Favor
For my 7 year old’s birthday party, I baked some cookies ahead of time (for the sake of time), and had the girls help me bake off others (I had made the dough ahead of time). Then I layered the cookies in bakery bags and sent them home as party favors. I’m not sure how the girls felt about it (at least one said, “cookies? that’s all??”), but the parents appreciated their kids coming home with something that disappears rather than a trinket that just collects dust and drives parents that much closer to the brink of insanity (is that just me?).
The cookies you see above are Cornmeal Cookies (I have been asked for the recipe in real life, and I will post it tomorrow) and Chocolate Molasses Cookies. The Chocolate Molasses Cookies are adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe, and they taste like little cookie brownies. They are easily one of the most fabulous cookies I have ever made, and I have made a lot of cookies in my time.
So that’s my contribution to the Moneysaving Arena: Edible Party Favors. Recipes to follow. I know I know. You can hardly wait….
Warmly,
Nicole
April 30th, 2009
Find it on amazon: http://tinyurl.com/dzpr9b
Yesterday’s Dining section in the New York Times had an article about Michael Ruhlman’s new book, Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking. It occurs to me that this is a moneysaving idea, and that it applies equally well to gluten free cooking & baking (or really any sort of allergy free cooking & baking).
{The article is here http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/dining/reviews/29book.html?_r=1&emc=eta1 }
Pie dough = 3 parts flour: 2 parts fat : 1 part water. Roux = 3 parts flour : 2 parts fat. Sausage = 3 parts meat : 1 part fat.
Armed with a sense of proportion and ratio, you can create any number of dishes and creations. Suppose you are cooking from a recipe, though, and you don’t really care for the way it is taking shape as you are cooking. It doesn’t smell lovely or it doesn’t look like it will suit your family’s preferences — or your own. Once you develop a feel for the way things hang together, how they behave separately and in combination, it gives you wings.
When I had my first child, I did not know how to make pasta. I never learned even the rudiments of cooking while growing up, and I never really cared to. And then I had my first child, & when she was ready for solid food, I got inspired. The single ingredient baby foods in a jar seemed okay, but when it came to things like meat and multi-ingredient foods, & the jarred food just smelled bad. I started out super slowly about 6 1/2 years ago, and built up at my own pace. By the time my son was born, and got sick, I was already well into the swing of cooking. But I had to relearn everything, and it forced me to be flexible. It was a blessing in disguise, because I know that I can cook now with whatever I have on hand, even if what I have on hand seems limiting.
I haven’t read Ratio yet, but I like the concept. And I thought you might, too.
Warmly,
Nicole
April 29th, 2009
Mangia!
This isn’t a moneysaving tip. It’s just a tip Tip.
A number of years ago, I found this little ceramic guy in a kitchen supply store in Manhattan called Sur la table, and I love him. You stick him in a pot of boiling liquid of any sort, and he dutifully keeps it from boiling over. I have no idea how it works, why it works, or even what he is called. But it works. I think it absorbs some of the heat energy.
I have browsed Sur la table’s website, though, and have not found the Okay Chef. I have to guess, though, that any old piece of ceramic would do. The Okay Chef is jaunty, but I honestly don’t think there is anything particularly magical about him as compared to other bits of ceramic — except his happy face.
On second thought, his happy face can be kind of irritating. What’s he so happy about? I guess that he has one job, he’s good at it, & he’s never going to get laid off. I also am willing to bet that either he doesn’t have any children, or he only has grown children who have all gone on to live productive and self-sufficient lives. In Italy.
Anyway, that’s my tip. It may seem like a small thing, but having one of these little gadgets allows me to make more of things because I get to fill my pots to the brim and worry not, within reason. So it appears it’s a Moneysaving Tip after all (sort of).
Mangia!
Warmly,
Nicole
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