Gluten-Free Grocery Haul

Our household is organic-centric ... I mean, we don't have a certification or anything, but we do what we can. Now, we're eliminating gluten (not for the sake of trendiness, but for one kiddo's gut situation).

So, I had to stock up on some things I didn't know I needed until facing the task of cleansing gluten from our household habits. This box is from a site called Thrive.com. I'm using Thrive to order things that either aren't in any nearby store, or are outrageously priced in my nearby stores. (There's usually a membership fee for the site, like what you'd encounter in a Sam's Club or Costco or similar store, but you can also apply for a free membership through their program called Thrive Gives, which is what we did.)

(Yes, a kid's bare foot is in the picture-- my toddler kept nabbing things from the set-up, and I was lucky to get this one group photo just in time.)

From Front Row Right:

The iron and calcium supplements are for me ... not all vegetarians need supplements, and in fact, in my 20+ years as a vegetarian, I've never used them, but these days I find I need all the support I can get to keep up with my kids. The small box on the far left of the front row is just a pack of lip balm sticks, because it's a dry and cold winter around here, and the organic calm-keeper is a homeopathic remedy meant to help my oldest, who is ... insomniatically inclined (inherited that from me, I suppose).

The "Thin Stackers" in the middle are rice-cakes of sorts, but nothing like the Styrofoam monstrosities I reluctantly gnawed as a kid. They have kind of a toasted taste to them. I find they're very versatile. My kids like them with pb&j, hummus, cheese, etc.

Now, for the Back Row Break-Down:

First items of concern: bread and baked goods.

I scored an organic, gluten-free sourdough starter, because I just need bread in the house. It's too easy to throw together a sandwich if anyone (usually me) is hungry and in a hurry. I've started the starter, and I'm documenting my progress, so I'll post when it's ready and I've baked a loaf (instructions have me coddling this starter for three to seven days, so who knows if both of us will survive the process)!

Also, I needed a flour alternative for my baking endeavors like birthday cakes, the occasional batch of cookies, banana bread for those not-used-in-time bananas, etc. The baking mix is for those lazy-baking times-- their suggested cornbread recipe is something I can easily pair with vegetarian chili for an easy dinner; their pancake recipe is a filling Saturday brunch, etc.

I grabbed a bread-crumb alternative made of chickpeas so that I can do a crumbly coat on a baked mac 'n cheese, or homemade veggie burgers (which I used to hold together with eggs and panko). I'll let you know how that goes-- I haven't tried it yet.

The story with the sweeteners...

We could do more to watch our sugar intake around here. We're not awful, but I noticed that one place I could easily cut back was with baking, because the "treat factor" is exciting enough-- it doesn't need to be loaded with sugar. I'll post when I bake with this stuff, which is erythritol-based (I don't care for stevia or xylitol). Erythritol is natural and tooth-friendly like xylitol, but with a more "convincing" sugar taste, I find.

For the pastas, I played it safe and just ordered a couple, made with different flour alternatives (brown rice for the lasagne, quinoa for the elbows) to see which we liked best. I recently had a pretty underwhelming experience with a corn-based penne that we bought from our grocery store, so I didn't go that route. The quinoa elbows were a big hit with the kids at lunchtime (just with butter and salt, no thick sauces to hide it), and I managed to sneak in a few mouthfuls, and found I liked it, too. The brown rice lasagne also turned out well ... I mean, I guess with lasagne, it could always just be called "casserole" if it doesn't hold it's shape, but it did its thing!

Now, despite all of our particular restrictions, we are extremely budget-conscious. We're not "splurge-ers." I'm a devout coupon-er and rebate-seeker. Thrive gives you a percentage off your first 3 orders-- it said a $20 maximum discount, so I stopped shopping when the cart calculator showed a discount of 19 and change.

Our second order should be here later this week. I'll show you when it arrives :)