Frugality on SCD?

 

I'm answering a question about cooking frugally on SCD. I think it's very possible to be frugal though it ends up being boring sometimes, and it's still far more expensive than GFCF. On GFCF it's easy to make many meals based on beans (most of which aren't allowed on SCD, though some are), rice, potatoes, and other grains/starches. While on SCD I'd put meat and veggies over rice noodles, rice, potatoes, etc. On SCD the meat and veggies are generally the whole meal, which is of course more expensive. I stock up on whole foster farms chickens at Stater Bros., where they usually are 99 cents a pound but frequently go on sale for 69 cents a pound. I also buy whatever other meats are on sale and plan meals around those. We eat a lot of lentils. Veggies are much, much cheaper at ethnic markets than they are at the regular market (even Stater Bros.), so when we are down the mountain I go to the local Mexican market and just deal with the funny looks I get for being the only blond girl there. ;) Celery is 3 for 99 cents versus 1 for $1.99, for example. I've found ethnic markets to charge a third or half of the usual prices for produce wherever I've lived, and have no idea why this is but it's a lifesaver for us. We also go to a little independent produce market which does sell some organic stuff but mostly just locally grown things for even less than the ethnic place, but it's 90 miles from our home so we only go there when we are out that way for some other reason. Trader Joes is really helpful also. They have the best price on bananas, almond butter, and almond meal. We eat a lot of the dehydrated and freeze-dried mangos, though I know those are a little questionable for SCD. They have the best prices on lara bars also. For fall they are selling hard squashes for under $2 each, so we're stocking up on those as well. Aside from that, it's just planning our meals for the week and looking for sales, which I guess we all do. I'd love more tips on being frugal on SCD but for now I'm just addicted to sales, cooking twice the amount needed and freezing (though my son often just eats what I want to freeze!), and just trying to get the kids to like the cheaper foods. Rhonda cup