When you discover that you need a special diet, you might start to panic. Not only do you have to figure out new ways of cooking and eating, but you may also see a spike in your grocery bill. Special foods sometimes can cost a lot more than what you usually buy.
Recently, a member of my family was told a “low glycemic index diet” was needed. This diet pays close attention to foods that cause a sudden rise in blood sugar. The goal in this diet, is to eliminate many carbohydrates that might cause that spike. Each food has a rating that tells you in a general away, how that food might affect the amount of sugar coming in to your blood stream at one time. There are other factors that affect this as well. The problem is that most carbohydrates are inexpensive. Pasta, rice, stuffing and baked goods can often be used to stretch out that food bill. Even beans can be on the list of “undesirable” foods.
But, there are those ways around catering to a special diet, not matter what it is, without spending a lot in your budget. Here are some tips.
Prepare as much as you can from scratch. Those prepackaged meals sure are convenient, but they will cost you in the long run.
Take a look at how you normally prepare foods. Sometimes a change in cooking method may be all it takes to make an unacceptable food into an acceptable one. In the diet mentioned above, steaming rice is better for you than boiling rice, and dried beans (cheap, cheap, cheap) are better than canned beans.
Do some meal planning. Yes, it can take some time, especially in the beginning, but if you have your meals planned out with acceptable foods, then you can buy in bulk and buy during sales when you find the foods you need.
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
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