Melissa Erdelac - Frugal Gluten-Free Cooking: 60 Family Favorite Recipes That Won’t Break the Bank

Family Favorite Recipes That Wont Break the Bank

frugal

COOKING

Melissa Erdelac, creator of Mama Gourmand

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For Ryan. All because two people fell in love.

Commence the pity party. Following a gluten-free diet can really blow. Its hard not to mourn the end of bakeries and bread baskets, even if its in the best interest of your health and well-being.

Go ahead. You can be salty about it. In fact, you should be salty about it! WAIT. I cant enjoy my favorite foods and instead have to spend exorbitant money on exponentially worse substitutes?! Suddenly, gaseous stomachs, headaches and loose bowels may seem a whole lot more appealing

If you invested in this book, I know youre done with the gluten-free racket. Stores and restaurants prey on our wistfulness, presenting all our beloved comforts in a diet-friendly version. But a flawed system quickly becomes evident. Inflated prices do not mean elevated taste.

Whether youre new to a gluten-free diet or are over the sticker shock, this cookbook is a win for the underdogs. No longer will you get suckered into buying expensive store-bought substitutes. Trust me. Theyre just trying to pull one over on you in your moment of weakness. When you can neither pronounce nor identify ingredients on packaging, a big clear GLUTEN-FREE label can dupe you into an expensive safety net of relief.

Say goodbye to paying more for peace of mind. Following the recipes in this book will give you an arsenal of tried-and-true comfort foods, which are simple to make at home with affordable ingredients. When creating this collection, I drew on dishes to fill the body and the soul, while also retaining some crucial components.

First and foremost, I wanted them to taste undetectably gluten-free. A central part of saving money is making one meal the entire family can enjoy. Raising a young family myself, I know how challenging nightly dinners can be. If you or a family member are gluten-free, you dont want to fall into the trap of having to double down on dinner. These recipes will free you from extra work and buying extra ingredients!

Secondly, I wanted you to buy minimally. The recipes focus on a streamlined list of ingredients, while relying heavily on kitchen pantry staples. A small selection of spices appear throughout the book, so if you need to stock up on something, you will get your moneys worth! However, a lot of the spices are pretty common, so chances are you probably already have them on hand.

Items needing to be purchased, with the exception of gluten-free flour, can be found at standard supermarkets. Theres no need to shop at specialty health food stores, and your shopping lists will consist of wallet-friendly items, like produce, inexpensive proteins, canned goods and affordable grains.

Finally, Id be remiss to not address the emotion behind what we eat. I grew up in a large family, and we were no strangers to frugality. We knew money was not abundant and my parents worked hard for it, yet one place we never felt it was at the dinner table. My mom mastered feeding the eight of us with homemade meals that never left us longing. Fast, convenient and highly manufactured mixes never graced our shelves, for everything was homemade. Where I might have yearned for designer jeans and vacations that began in an airport, our dinner table set us apart. We were lucky to sit down to meals filled with so much love and effort.

I aimed to replicate that feeling in this recipe collection. The methods are effortless and streamlined but still invite a feeling of homemade goodness. Finally sit down to meals that exceed all expectations, with tastes so indulgent and nourishing that frugal or gluten-free will be the last words youd think to use to describe them.

Adjectives such as easy, fast, 30-minute, quick and simple are a shining beacon of hope for getting dinner on the table because, just like the assurance of death and taxes, you can count on time and energy always being in short supply at dinnertime.

The temptations of conveniencetakeout, drive-thrus, grab-and-go and premade mealsare appealing, but they come at an even higher premium with a gluten-free diet.

For weeknight cooking, my number one hack to battle frivolous spending and the pull of splurging is to plan ahead. Once a week, jot down predetermined, affordable recipes and shop with a dedicated list of ingredients. Extraneous and expensive trips to the grocery store will fall to the wayside!

These budget-friendly weeknight recipes rely on affordable cuts of meat and proteins, which will slash your grocery bill. Just because your budget wont take a hit, doesnt mean the flavor will. Using pantry staple items, broths and certified gluten-free sauces from your local discount grocery store allows for rich seasonings while keeping the entire recipe reasonable and convenient.

Most importantly, a busy life needs simplicity. Streamlined steps mean you can turn out dinner with ease, maintain sanity and sit down to a deserved moment of delicious salvation.

What I appreciate most about this recipe, and I wish the same for you, is not assembling 20 enchiladas while hangry. Like Dad says, Its all going to the same place, so rip up some corn tortillas and dive into a cheesy chicken enchilada experience. Save yourself the effort, but keep the taste!

serves

1 lbs (795 g) boneless, skinless chicken

8 oz (227 g) cream cheese, softened

cup (120 ml) sour cream

2 (4-oz [113-g]) cans diced green chiles

1 tbsp (15 ml) lime juice, freshly squeezed

1 tsp (4 g) ground cumin

1 tsp (4 g) chili powder

tsp salt

2 cups (226 g) grated Colby jack cheese, divided

10 corn tortillas, torn into bite-sized pieces

1 (10-oz [283-g]) can red enchilada sauce (I like La Victoria)

Optional toppings: fresh cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, jalapeos and sour cream

Preheat the oven to 375F (191C). Place the chicken on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 22 to 26 minutes, flipping halfway through. Chop the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Spray a 9 13inch (23 33cm) baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sour cream, green chiles, lime juice, cumin, chili powder and salt. Beat the mixture on low until well blended. Stir in the cooked chicken and 1 cup (113 g) of cheese.