As a large family our food budget is definitely one of the areas, where we have to make our money do miraculous things every month.  Really, it’s God in action, because I don’t know how it happens most of the time.

Now, the gluten free life style may seem like just another fad, but it keeps our children healthy in the short term, and affects their future health in every way.  Two of our children have an autoimmune disease called Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease is not something they will ever grow out of, it is not something that they acquired from eating the wrong things as babies, i is not from me eating or drinking anything while I was pregnant with them, or coming into contact with pollution or the wrong type of non-GMO grains.  It is a true allergy at the cellular level, specifically in their intestines.

If they go on and eat gluten later in life it will damage their bodies and create a whole host of health problems that could result in a shorter life expectancy.

So, the gluten free pantry is incredibly important.

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I did a video tour of our pantry, and you can see it here!

 

Start with empty shelves!

You will have to throw things out. I know, the thought made me shudder when we were starting. Find another family to bless or donate what is still usable!  We can no longer use the food bank, but they would love your items!

Get rid of your plastic storage containers and utensils. Gluten is a sticky protein, and you don’t want to cross contaminate all your new pantry items, or the food you cook in the future.

Look up the sneaky names for gluten. You may be able to save canned goods or frozen fruit and vegetables, but be sure of the ingredients, and manufacturing.

Here is what our pantry has…..

Dry goods:

Beans – we choose dried because they are very cheap and we can control cross-contamination better

Rice – We generally use brown rice to fit into the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating

Quinoa

Nutritional Yeast

Spices – you will need to make your own seasoning blends because anti-caking agents and cross contamination are very common, and buying single ingredient spices in bulk is how we do this

Nuts and seeds – these are best and cheapest raw and un-roasted because of seasonings being an issue. Also, buy the packages that say “pieces”, they are so much cheaper than the whole nuts.  I started making my own peanut butter, and my family love it!

Oatmeal – Certified Gluten Free Oats

Gluten Free Flours – You can find our list here

Canned Goods:

Check all your cans for manufacturing!  It’s not usually what’s in the can that is the problem, it’s how it was packaged.

Canned Veggies – and you can see where we use some of them in my Green Bean Goulash

Canned Coconut Products – Full fat milk, and coconut cream

Canned Beans – We do not do this much anymore, but we do keep some for emergency use, now we like to soak our beans from dry and cook them ourselves

Condiments – Thickeners, preservatives, and colorants are big here.  Stay safe!

Frozen Foods:

Again, check manufacturing!  Very few seasoned, or saucy items are clean of contamination. Stay safe!

Veggies, Fruits, Meats – no preformed patties because they usually have “modified food starch”

Refrigerated/Produce:

Milk Products – I make my own Kefir, Greek Yogurt, and Cottage Cheese.  Because we were dairy free for 7 years we do not usually use it for straight drinking or cooking.  I also can sell surplus kefir grains if you message me here

Meats

Cheeses

Eggs

Veggies

Fruits

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

If you want to learn more about my family, Read about Why I believe you are a Gatekeeper, or how to cut down your cooking time you have come to the right place.