Is eating wholesome gluten free food expensive? It doesn't need to be. I was delighted to receive an advance copy of Traditional Meals for the Frugal Family: Delicious, Nourishing Recipes for Less by Shannon Stonger. Like me, Shannon maintains that low budget should never mean low quality.
Shannon Stonger is the blogger at Nourishing Days and has also authored 100% Rye, Traditionally Fermented Foods, and co-authored The Doable Off-Grid Homestead. She, her husband, and their six children live on an off-grid homestead in Texas.
In Traditional Meals for the Frugal Family, Shannon shares how she feeds her family of eight with delicious, nutritious meals for less. Based on the wisdom of traditional food diets, these recipes are focused on unprocessed ingredients, pastured animal products, and frugal foods that people have thrived on for generations. The resulting meals are gluten free, almost entirely dairy free, picky eater certified and, most importantly, deeply nourishing.
The ingredients are commonly available in grocery stores or online, if you don't already have them.
The book includes:
- Defining Traditional Foods
- Thrifty Mornings
- Frugal Broth & Beans
- Economical Pastured Proteins
- Accompaniments
- Prudent Sweets and Treats
- Penny-Pinching DIY's
Frugal Cooking from Scratch Recipes
I made four recipes from the book:
Soaked Grain-Free Garbanzo Bean Pizza Crust (page 44)
I topped the crust with our favourite pizza toppings. The crust was delightfully chewy with beautiful crisp edges. We could easily hold a pizza slice in one hand without it falling apart.
Soaked Gluten-Free Artisan Bread (page 88)
I started Soaked Gluten-Free Artisan Bread a couple days ahead and let it sit in the fridge so it was ready to bake when we were ready for it. It made a couple of nice round artisan-style loaves, crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside somewhat reminiscent of sourdough bread. It was like the homemade bread I used to make before going gluten free!
Shannon soaks bread batters to make the grains more digestible.
Real Food Copycat Tomato Soup (page 60)
The soup was just like, from what I remember, the canned tomato soup I grew up with, only better - and, it's almost as easy! I'll be coming back to this recipe, for sure!
Dairy-Free Secret Ingredient Chocolate Pudding (page 112)
The chocolate pudding is smooth and creamy. I would never have guessed the secret ingredient in there!
Cheap Meals
If you're looking for cheap meals that you can make with simple, wholesome ingredients, I would recommend Traditional Meals for the Frugal Family.
It's published by Page Street Publishing, Co, and goes on sale March 24, 2020, for $19.99. You can pre-order your copy on Amazon now.
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Time-Sensitive Bonus
If you pre-order Traditional Meals for the Frugal Family before March 31, Shannon will also give you Wholesome Gluten Free, an e-book of recipes for ten soaked breads and treats made from a single master dough!
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