Simply Samantha: March 2015

Homemade Swiffer Wet Jet Solution

Bruno 8:00 AM

One of the hardest things about making a gluten free meal or baking gluten free is that sometimes the ingredient list is SUPER long and requires many expensive ingredients. Add in Organic and natural products and your grocery bill gets pretty prices.

I have complied some tips on how to make a meal gluten free without breaking the bank.

Side Note: I wrote a post about Shopping Organic and Healthy on a Newlywed Budget here if you want to check that out too!

Know what you can and can't substitute:

Its pretty east to substitute ingredients in recipes if you know WHAT you can and can't. For instance, its pretty easy to substituted Soy Sauce for Gluten Free Soy Sauce, pasta for GF pasta, so on and so forth. However, don't try to get gusty and substitute harder ingredients like flour, especially when it comes to baking. You can sometimes get away with it with cooking but when baking it is easier to stick to gluten free. Using gluten free flours and starches is hard enough so its better (and less stressful) to stick to a recipe that is already gluten free then try to make a non-GF recipe gluten free.

Small the better:
Pick recipe's with the fewest ingredients. One of my rules when choosing a new recipe is that I make sure it is simple yet full of nutrition. One of my husbands favorite recipes that I make is Stir Fry. I make a very healthy version using rice, veggies, egg's, soy sauce (GF) and sesame oil (all organic of course). Super simple, GF,and full of nutrition.

Realize some stuff is worth buying even though it can be expensive:

GF Organic Soy Sauce is almost $4 at my local grocery store. Yup, that is expensive. However, I look at it this way, it is one of the easiest ingredients to substitute so to me, its worth the money.

Stick to the basics:
Sometimes its better to stick to the basics. One of my favorite basic meals to make is a baked lemon chicken with rice and veggies/salad. Easy, cheep, and gluten free.

Find GF All-In One Meals:

Make it easier on yourself and try to find healthy All In One Meals. Modern Table Meals is one of my favorite GF All-In One meals. In just 15 quick minuets you can have a delicious pasta meal. I made some the other night and the poor hubster was so upset when there wasn't any more for 2nd helpings! You can also find many other GF All-In One meals in the freezer sections of your grocery store or local health food.

While these aren't the most elaborate of tips I hope they help! I know how hard it is to make great meals that are also gluten free and healthy.

Do you have any tips for cooking/baking Gluten Free??

I'd love to hear them! I struggle with GF baking, its my weakness :o