{"id":5260,"date":"2023-07-17T14:04:37","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T19:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=5260"},"modified":"2023-07-17T14:04:37","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T19:04:37","slug":"how-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/how-much\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much!?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>That gluten-free bagel costs how\nmuch!? All food has become more expensive, but the increase in specialty foods\nis especially noticeable. At the same time, the selection has become more\nlimited. That can make it tempting to give up on a specialized eating plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"674\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cookies-674x450.jpg\" alt=\"cookies\" class=\"wp-image-5264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cookies-674x450.jpg 674w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cookies-337x225.jpg 337w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cookies-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cookies-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cookies-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cookies-1200x801.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve been gluten-free for 20\nyears. I remember the days when it was difficult to find gluten-free packaged\nfood in the grocery store. And when you did find it, the quality was often\nquestionable at best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Things got better. Selection grew, quality improved, and prices were steep but not heart-stopping expensive in most cases. Then things got even better in the US. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/consumers\/consumer-updates\/gluten-free-means-what-it-says#:~:text=As%20one%20of%20the%20criteria,using%20valid%20scientific%20analytical%20tools.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Gluten-free labeled (opens in a new tab)\">Gluten-free labeled<\/a> foods had a standard to meet. Woohoo! When I was overly busy and needed to grab something convenient, it wasn\u2019t hard to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, I\u2019ve added the complication\nof keeping the amount of histamine in my diet low and many days I feel like I\u2019m\nback to 2003. I have to plan further ahead to make sure I have something\navailable on days that I don\u2019t have time to cook. I can\u2019t find the gluten-free\nbrands I prefer. When I do find a packaged food that meets my criteria, it\u2019s so\nexpensive I have to think twice. Often I opt for a deconstructed meal of a\nhandful of lettuce followed by a cucumber followed by an apple. Then I look for\nsome kind of protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between this year\u2019s travel, family\nvisits, and general obligations, I\u2019ve felt pretty frustrated at times. I haven\u2019t\nhit the point of eating gluten or giving up on a low histamine diet, but I\nunderstand the temptation. And I\u2019m still trying to figure out the most\nefficient and satisfying way to address the everyday dilemmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Here are a few things that are helping:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Mixing an additional batch or two of dry ingredients when I make biscuits or pancakes. <\/li><li>Freezing muffins and cookies so that they last longer.<\/li><li>Cooking roast instead of steak so that I have meat for more meals.<\/li><li>Seasoning chicken or ground beef with only the basics so that I can use them in multiple ways.<\/li><li>Freezing cooked chicken tenders, meatloaf, chopped brisket, etc. when I have some left.<\/li><li>Mixing and matching uses of a type of bread or wrap. <\/li><li>Keeping microwaveable rice in the pantry.<\/li><li>Buying multiple items online when they are marked down.  Using less expensive <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/san-j.com\/products\/\" target=\"_blank\">rice crackers<\/a> as a crunchy side rather than gluten-free saltines or table crackers.<\/li><li>Keeping BBQ sauce and salad dressing mixed up in the refrigerator.<\/li><li>Cooking multiple vegetables at one time even if I don\u2019t need them for that meal. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>None of these is a big thing, but\nall of them together help me stay ahead of hunger. They also mean I cook more\nfrom scratch and eat less prepackaged food. Not only is that healthier, it\nhelps me avoid the sticker shock that has me asking, how much!?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>That gluten-free bagel costs how much!? All food has become more expensive, but the increase in specialty foods is especially noticeable. At the same time, the selection has become more limited. That can make it tempting to give up on a specialized eating plan. I\u2019ve been gluten-free for 20 years. I remember the days when &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/how-much\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How Much!?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[792,9],"tags":[2802,2080,3453,3451],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5260"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5265,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260\/revisions\/5265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}