For Lent this year, I made the decision to give up gluten. Many friends and acquaintances have recently been diagnosed with Ciliacs Disease or another similar gluten intolerance. Because I hear how much of a challenge this can be, I decided to walk in someone else's shoes for the next 40 days.
It is a sacrifice for me to give up breads and other grain related foods. It's taking careful meal planning. Dining out can be difficult. Luckily, I don't do that often. The biggest challenge for me, is determining what to substitute for the wheat products I'm used to. Products marketed as gluten-free are often very pricey, but I don't have the budget to increase my spending. So far I have been eating a lot of rice as a side dish. I went to the grocery today and picked out raw beans to try to cook. I did pick up one box of gluten-free rice crackers, and one bag of rice pasta. I'm mainly trying to eat more raw foods, though.
Another challenge I'm taking (unrelated to Lent) is to examine our grocery budget and determine how much I spend a week to feed Alex and myself a healthy diet. I was inspired by Indianapolis Foodie's recent posting.
While I'm guilty of shopping at one of the big box stores, I try to shop the edges. I buy dairy and produce, and only hit the middle aisles for beans, rice, baking ingredients, canned chicken, and frozen fruits and veggies. I'm slowly trying to incorporate more local stores and products, but I'm still feeling a little lost on where to shop. I know of one yummy meat market, and I know that farmers markets will start springing up all over the city around April or May.
Anyway, I want to show that you can eat healthy on a budget. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
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