My Mama Told Me, You Better Shop Around
When I tell people about my wheat/gluten and dairy allergies, they tell me that it’s easier to find things in the grocery stores than it was maybe 10 or 20 years ago (after expressing their sympathy at my plight). What they say is true, there is more product availability out there now than there was 10-20 years ago, maybe even longer than that. Question is, where can these be found?
I started off at my local health food store, Bunn’s Natural Foods in Southampton, PA. I had no clue what to buy so I tried what I thought I was going to like. I’m still not sure how long it took me to wander the aisles and find products to try that fell within the parameters of my new dietary restrictions. I do remember that I spent quite a bit of money that first time buying what I needed. While shopping at the health food store is good, they prices there can be a bit steep, so it was necessary to start looking around in other stores to see if I can find some of the items that I tried and liked for less money. I started looking in chain grocery stores such as Giant and Wegmans for new items to try and for things I’ve tried before that I knew I liked. Of course, this involved a lot of taking my time to read the labels and see what was in each item. This means that I can’t presume that it’s safe for me to consume, like that one time I tossed a bag of Bob’s Red Mill General All Purpose Flour in the cart without reading the label. When I finally did read the ingredients on the label after I got home, I saw that one of the ingredients was Sorghum Flour, which is something else that I can’t have. Regrettably, I had to return it to the store. Another thing that I try to do is keep my eye out for sales, specials, and coupons. I also like to go online and load coupons on to my Giant rewards card; it’s especially nice when they have something for money off some of the products I like such as Daiya cheese (which tastes like Laughing Cow cheese wedges when it’s melted; this is coming from someone who used eat Laughing Cow by the wedge, I don’t recommend doing that). I also like scanning through my Facebook feed and finding links for coupons for products that I consume, which I have been fortunate enough to find a time or two. For things that I have trouble finding at the store, I like to look online. Corporate chains, such as Walmart and Target both sell products that are gluten and dairy free and there are other websites such as Swanson Vitamins, Thrive Market, and Jet that also carry gluten and dairy free items as well.
About The Flour
Another resource that I was able to utilize was a college friend who has the same gluten allergy that I have. My friend Diana, who has been my friend for the last 20 years or so, messaged me on Facebook to let me know that a couple that she knew from church had a couple of bags of Gluten Free flour that they didn’t want anymore. So I told Diana that was fine and we eventually met up and she gave me not just what her friends from church had, but some other stuff that she thought I could use. Sadly the all-purpose flours that she gave me had Sorghum in it and the Kale chips had Ranch in them (I think she forgot I couldn’t have dairy). I did use the Bob’s Red Mill Brown Rice flour that Diana’s friends generously gave me, I used it as “breading” for fried eggplant when I made a gluten free and dairy free Eggplant “Parmesan”.
Shopping for special items can be tricky, even trickier if when you shop online because you can’t see the item in person. There is also the issue of cost, because it can get expensive. Thing is, be smart about the shopping and know what you want to buy. It will probably save you aggravation in the long run.
