Fewer people are allergic to meat than anything else, it seems ”

Actually, I think fewer people are going to be allergic to vegetables than to meat. I’m allergic to pork and my mother in law is so allergic to goat that it puts her in the hospital.

Things that we do to save money eating allergy-free include:
-Cooking whole grains for breakfast. I buy GF oats (Bob’s Red Mill) in bulk (25lb bags) They offer rolled, steel-cut and whole grain. We also use buckwheat (to make creamy, just run through a blender or food mill…they are very soft and will grind to a flour VERY quickly so be careful). You can often by these bulk bags for an additional discount (10-20%) at any place that sells them out of bulk bins, or even those smaller stores that sell small packages of the BRM products. You can even make larger purchases through the BRM website (or call them).

-We make lots of pancakes. Someone asked for a recipe using buckwheat and no eggs. This is one for pancakes but possibly if you thin them enough (which is hard to do with buckwheat…it keeps “puffing up”)they would work: This recipe makes approx. 12 pancakes. We quadruple it for our family.

1 1/2 C buckwheat flour (just make in the blender)
1 t baking soda
1 t cm of tartar (I also buy this in bulk)
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 C milk or water (we use water)
3 T oil.

We also make our own nut butters and “milk” from cooked grains and sprouted nuts. It sounds like a lot of work but believe me when I say I really dislike baking. Not a lot of baking going on here. Just quick easy things. I am just now in the process of starting a website dedicated to saving money with allergy-free cooking amongst other things so feel free to stop by and ask me questions and I will answer them as quickly as I can.

I do try to purchasing GF breads and other baked good to a minimum because they blow the budget out of the water very quickly.

My next quest is to find a tortilla maker and a great Allergy-free tortilla recipe. Those rice ones are awful hard AND expensive.

I heard this on our local NPR station the other day. Changes to the WIC program are making strides in making fruits and veggies more available. However, they are at the same time, discouraging other whole foods like whole milk and eggs because they are high in fat. Seems like a step forward and a giant step back at the same time. Here’s a link:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain/article/0/1/1568493/KPLU.Local.News/Feds.Revise.Popular.Child.Nutrition.Program#

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

My husband is allergic to fish and shelfish, I am sensitive to soy, and my younger child is intolerant of dairy and all gluten grains (we think he has celiac disease), so this week’s menu is fantastic for my family! We already eat lots of beans and lots of rice. It is almost getting fun to experiment with new recipes as we have been forced away from the boxed and canned meals. For me cooking involves simply shopping the fresh foods in the perimeter of the store and cooking healthy meals from scratch. This can be economical if I stretch meals by using lots of lentils and other beans and white and brown rice.

Thanks for posting this!

Recently we discovered that fructose malabsorbtion may be the cause for food intolerance in my household. It apparently affects up to ONE THIRD of us! I can’t handle anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup, which I discovered 2 years ago (oh darn, right?). I get terrible stomach cramps from the fructose and this led to reading about other High-Fructose foods, many of which are naturally occurring (apples, wheat, honey, etc.). This makes nourishing myself that much harder! But to live without IBS is heaven! And I’m also legume intolerant, along with salmon, tuna, and more… UGH. But this week I’m making some butternut squash risotto, which would be a great idea for anyone on a tight budget!

I really wanted to applaud you for suggesting GHEE to people, it is VERY EASY to make, and I LOVE the flavor of it! After all, it is the milk solids that give us the intolerance, not the milk fat. I also found that I can have some richer milk products without major reactions, like full-fat cream or whole milk in my tea. Some cheeses digest better for me, too, especially ones that are super-aged like parmesan, etc.

Another factor for dairy intolerance is that Ultra-Pasteurized dairy products kill all of the good enzymes that are helpful in dairy digestion! I was buying expensive Organic milk that was Ultra-Pasteurized and realized (after reading about it on Weston-Price) that I wasn’t getting the healthiest milk by doing that! I have since switched to a locally produced milk which is gently pasteurized, grass-fed (it cant’ say Organic if it is grass-fed as they can’t claim grass as organic), and it is HALF the price of the milk I was buying! So “Organic” isn’t always better! It is a regular store-brand, nothing fancy (Alpenrose Dairy here in the NW).

Sorry I wrote so much, I have been excited about my recent discoveries and thought that it applied to your discussion!

All the best to you!