Ep 219 Stretching Your Gluten Free Food Dollar

Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –

I’ve been working on a bit of theme lately looking into different aspects of food security as they relate to those on a gluten free diet.  On this episode I speak with Cinde Little the Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet.  Cinde has a tremendous website with lots of great ideas for main dishes, side dishes, salads and desserts.  The photos on the website make everything look delicious. Cinde talks us through some of the strategies she uses to save on meats and vegetables.  Planning seems to be the key.  Planning also includes eating foods when they are in season.  This sounds logical, but we often have to think ahead to do that.  We also talk about how to take an inexpensive pasta meal and make it special with some simple additions.  Many of us are not very adventurous when it comes to blending ingredients and tastes.  Maybe that comes from trying to keep our diet simple to make sure it’s gluten free.  Cinde gives us lots of ideas to switch things up and make inexpensive meals more exciting.  Cinde has become known for her online cooking classes that not only introduce you to a few new recipes, but take you through the process to give you more confidence cooking gluten free.  You can find Cinde online at https://everydayglutenfreegourmet.ca/

Instagram @ everyday.gf.gourmet/

Twitter @ littlecinde

Facebook @ everydayglutenfreegourmet

Sue’s Websites and Social Media –

Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com

Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com

Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com

Celiac Kid Stuff – https://www.celiackidstuff.com

Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com

Instagram – @suesgfbaking

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL

Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com

My Thoughts –

As I was talking to Cinde, my mind was taking me back to my childhood.  My mother grew up in a home with 7 brothers and sisters.  That was quite common at the time, but now, we look at that as a large family.  Large families, on a single income require some creativity when it comes to organizing meals. Cinde mentioned the importance of planning.  It would appear planning was of utmost importance when feeding 10 people on a very limited budget.

When I think back to some of the habits my mother had in her kitchen, I can see many were borne out of necessity.  My mother always knew what was going to be for dinner a couple of days in advance.  She purchased meats on sale and almost everything went into the freezer.  At least five days of every week, I could find something thawing in the sink for dinner.  We usually had spaghetti (she never used any other pasta, so it was always spaghetti) every Saturday.  She made a meat sauce which fed our family along with portions for two more Saturdays to go into the freezer. 

My mother always made soup from chicken and turkey bones.  It was her way to use up some of the vegetables she had at the back of the fridge.  Her favourite soup was pea soup (not my favourite).  She would only make it on special occasions and often bought a ham bone from the butcher, rather than buying a ham and eating from it first.  She always used dried split peas in her pea soup, which made the whole endeavor take a couple of days.

Reflecting on all the things I learned from my mother in her kitchen, most of them were about not wasting food, making something stretch to multiple meals and putting the effort in to have lots of home baked goodies.  I didn’t realize at the time, but many of these lessons would form the basis of my planning in my kitchen.  Being frugal is more than just penny pinching – it’s being creative and using what you have.  Thanks Mom!