EPISODE 30: Healthy Food on a Budget

STACY: Welcome back autoimmune warriors. I'm Stacy, and I'm joined by my sisters, Becky and Alysia. Today we're discussing a topic that a lot of us struggle with eating on a budget with autoimmune diets. We know how challenging it can be to manage an autoimmune condition while sticking to a healthy restrictive diet, especially when money is tight.

So we wanted to share a few ideas with you to help you stretch your grocery dollars. But first, our Good Bit Minute. We want to tell you about a really cool organization called FlashFood. FlashFood's mission is to eliminate food waste at grocery stores while simultaneously providing shoppers with access to heavily discounted groceries.

They partner with grocers to sell surplus food nearing its best by date, preventing it from going to landfills and offering customers significant savings on everyday items. Ultimately, Flash Food aims to create a more sustainable food system that benefits both the environment and the consumer's wallets.

ALYSIA: I think we can all agree that that's a good thing for everybody involved, especially considering what inflation has done to grocery prices lately. For many people, ourselves included, food is a huge part of managing our symptoms. In fact, it is our number two of our Big Six, a healthy diet with minimally processed foods that can have a real impact on reducing our symptoms.

But healthy eating can sometimes feel like it's reserved for people with bigger budgets. We're here to tell you that eating healthy on a budget is totally possible. You just need a bit of planning and strategy and creativity.

BECKY: That's right. And today we're going to share tips on how to prioritize nutrient dense foods, meal planning on a budget, and ways to get the most out of your grocery bill while still sticking to your autoimmune diet.

And we recognize that everybody's autoimmune diet is going to look a little bit different. But in general, I think we've all found that sometimes whatever it is you're eating, whether you're going gluten free, or paleo , or AIP, a lot of times there are things that are maybe a little more expensive. So, if you've ever felt like eating healthy was too expensive, this episode is for you.

STACY: Let's go ahead and jump in. All right, so we're going to kick things off with meal planning. It is definitely one of the best ways to keep your grocery budget under control. If you plan ahead, it helps you to avoid impulse buys and it makes sure that you're getting the nutrients that you need without overspending. Have you ever heard the old saying that "failure to plan is planning to fail?" Well, when it comes to what you put in your mouth, this is truer than ever.

When you have no healthy food purchased or prepared, you will be much more likely to reach for whatever quick processed food you have on hand, or the candy that your kid brought home from school, or the crackers that you're supposed to save for the good cheese, but you've just got the munchies and they're there in your eye space. If you have a plan, it's a lot easier to stay on task.

ALYSIA: And our number one tip to save money. is meal planning. So, we understand that we don't have all the time and energy in the world. We have our power bar and it's going to take some of our power bar to create a meal plan. The key here is to create a realistic meal plan.

You want to make sure that you are going to be picking meals that are easy to prepare, that use similar ingredients, and most importantly, that are satisfying and that you're going to enjoy eating. So, I found that planning three to four days at a time works best for me. So I'm not wasting food or money, but sometimes I can get a whole week of planning done, and that is even better.

BECKY: I would say make your meal plan according to what works best for you. I know some people that will have a very strict, "we're going to eat this on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday." I am a "What am I in the mood for or what sounds good tonight?" kind of person. So I tend to instead pick meals over the course of the week and then say, okay, tonight this one sounds good. Tomorrow that one sounds good. And change it up and not necessarily be strict on what day of the week I'm eating what food.

So do w,hat works for you there. When you're planning, make sure you budget for your grocery set a weekly or a monthly budget for food. And I know it can be tough. That's something that my husband and I try to do, and I'll admit sometimes I'm pretty awful and blow through it, but I try not to.

It can be tricky, Especially if you're newly diagnosed and you're trying to figure out your food intolerances. If you're not sure how much to spend, check out how much you've been spending the last few weeks. See if there's anywhere you can cut back. Especially if you are doing a lot of those processed food snacks.

Occasionally, what's funny is sometimes the processed foods might be a little easier on your wallet. The one that we always joke around about at our house is ramen. You know, you can get ramen for six for a dollar or ten for a dollar if they're on sale or whatever. But they're not going to be as good for your body.

And so when you're budgeting and planning, prioritize lean proteins, lots of veggies and fruits, and try to plan your meals off of those items. If you can't afford organic, which is, you know, obviously the ideal, don't let that bother you. We have provided a link when we did our diet one, we provided a great link on how to wash your fruits and vegetables, so they're safer as far as getting pesticides off. We'll include that link again in our show notes for this.

STACY: I had a doctor who once told me even a regular apple that isn't organic is still a million times more healthy than anything in a box, but he was right. So do the best you can, is what we're trying to say.

One of my favorite tips for making sure that I can reduce the price of what I'm buying is making sure that I'm going to sales, and that I'm getting coupons where I can get them. If we start looking for discounts on items, you can stock up things like frozen vegetables, meat, pantry staples. These are things that you're going to see often with coupons and sales.

And it might take a bit of effort, but it can really help keep your costs down. Time is money, they say. Well, if you have a little bit of time, you can save a lot of money. Some of us might have a discount grocery store nearby, and if you have freezer space, then that's a great way because you can go buy discounted groceries that are near their expiration and freeze them and use them for later.

ALYSIA: Definitely. I think that another trick is buying in bulk so you can buy items like rice and beans and oatmeal and frozen veggies even, and they last a really long time. And it's not just cheaper to buy them that way, but it also saves you trips to the store for those because you have a bigger quantity. You can just use a little bit here and a little bit there. You just have to learn how to store them correctly.

For example, I buy my meat, most of my meat at Costco, and I come home and I vacuum seal it. into portions and then I stick it in the freezer. But, you know, if you can buy meat from a local farmer or a rancher, you're much likely to get better prices per pound. And often you're going to get better quality meat as well. But the trick is to just make sure that it is properly stored. You don't want to do plastic wrap and stick a steak in the freezer. It's just going to get freezer burnt. And that's an expensive cut of meat. That's just going to not taste good. So learn how to store your food products properly, so that they last longer and they can retain the flavor and the nutrients.

We have an extra fridge and a freezer in our garage specifically for this. I have a freezer. I even live in a townhome, guys. I don't live in a big house, but I have a small chest freezer that I keep off the side of my dining area that I purchased when I got sick of trying to be able to have enough backup food with the crazy weather that we tend to have here in Texas. And so yeah, I have a freezer.

BECKY: And I'm a crazy farm girl. So I actually have three freezers other than the one that goes with my refrigerator. We have an upright and two chest freezers. We also raise pigs for pork and we have a local friend who raises cows for beef. We really love the free range, you know, grass fed meat.

We actually have found, like Alysia was saying, if you have good connections, a lot of times you can get it for less than what it would be in the store. And it's a better quality, better tasting, better for you meat. Um, so we love that. So we have a lot of freezer space because we like to do that. And when you, when you buy half a cow or you're butchering a couple of pigs or whatever, it takes up a lot of freezer space. So that's why we do that, but it is a great way to do it.

Along that, when Alysia was mentioning bulk buying, let's talk about some building a budget friendly pantry. Having a solid pantry stocked with the right ingredients can really help stretch your food budget. Don't be afraid to maybe try some recipes and do a little more cooking from scratch.

And I know that's a hard thing to say because my family can attest that, especially if you're in a flare, you're having a bad day, you're tired, it is so easy to grab processed meals when you're tired, we're not going to tell you to throw out everything that you have and go buy all healthy versions of everything Use up what you have unless it's something that you're genuinely intolerant to, and you know you shouldn't have it, and then just use up what you have And then next time when you're replacing the stuff in your pantry tell yourself to get something healthier and look for more uh, affordable alternatives.

We have been talking about things like beans and rice, and I know a lot of people talk about beans being poor man's food. I've actually had people tell me that. I'm convinced that that is only if you don't know how to cook them well. My husband lived in Brazil for a couple years, and he can cook a mean pot of beans that I just love. So, if you think that that's boring stuff, find some new recipes. There's some really good options out there.

STACY: I think that we forget that some of the things that are the most nutrient dense and the most important are things that are foods that are staples, maybe not here in the U.S., but definitely elsewhere in the world. Beans are a given everywhere in South America and large portions of Europe. Rice is a staple everywhere.

Here's the thing we need to remember with autoimmune disease. Everything we put into our mouths is fuel for what we want to accomplish in life. It is also to help our stomach and our intestines work better. Because we have a tendency toward inflammation, it's important that we have essential ingredients that are nutrient dense.

So things like canned or dried beans, rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, frozen veg, all of these are affordable, they're versatile, and they're extremely nutrient dense, and healthy for us. And these staples can be used in a variety of dishes. And they're perfect for a budget friendly autoimmune meal plan. And here's the other thing that people don't mention.

Beans are usually pretty fast. They're kind of a set it and go thing. So you take beans out the night before you want to cook them, you stick them in water and let them soak overnight if you really want them nice and soft. It's hands off. Throw them in an Instapot or a slow cooker and let them go all day long.

It's nowhere near as physically exhausting to prepare a pot of beans as it is to cook a full meal. Get yourself a good rice cooker, make some rice, make some beans, throw some beans over some rice, and you're good to go. Now I'm not saying you want to do that every day, but it is budget friendly, and it's extremely healthy, and you're not going to come away from it being obese and sick from eating good, healthy food.

Those are the pantry staples that we think are important, but we'd love to hear from you what some of the pantry staples are that you have on hand that are your go to's as well.

ALYSIA: A couple of my go to's. I always have canned coconut milk and canned tomatoes because those, I use them a lot. And they, I use them in soups and stews and curries and they add a lot of flavor and richness to those dishes.

Also, coconut milk is my go to substitute for recipes that call for dairy. So I can do a little bit of dairy, but I generally try to avoid it as much as possible, because it is inflammatory. I like to have coconut milk on hand. It's creamy, it's thick, it has a very similar consistency to heavy whipping cream.

But it does have a little bit of a flavor. I don't mind that. And on the lines of coconut, I also have coconut oil. In my pantry at all times, avocado oil and olive oil. I banished vegetable oil and canola oil from my kitchen years ago, so I have good oils. I also have a wide variety of different vinegars and spices, and I use those all the time. Those are staples in my pantry. What about you, Becky? Do you have staples?

BECKY: I do. And a lot of the ones you just. mentioned are ones that I have too. I found because I tend to be a penny pincher about things, it was hard to make that conversion to healthy oils like olive oil and coconut oil and avocado oil, because when we're talking about budget friendly, it is actually cheaper to get canola and vegetable oil.

But that's actually, in my opinion, I found that's one that's worth saying I'm going to pay a little bit more, because if you look at the studies on healthy oils, it's totally worth it.

ALYSIA: Of the foods that we're talking about, if you are going to buy a healthier product, I would say when it comes to fats and oils, that is where you should spend those grocery dollars to make sure you're getting healthier fats and oils.

Next, I would try to go for meats being your next choice. But yes, you're going to pay more right now, but you are going to save money in the long run on your medical bills. I truly believe that. So I look at it as an investment. Personally, I have adjusted my mind and my budget to just say this is the oil I buy. I don't buy garbage oils anymore.

BECKY: And I agree. And that was where I made that conversion. But I found that that was something that made a difference for me personally in my health. And so I made that choice to spend more money on those healthy oils. But some of the other staples that I love, I love spices and herbs.

It's because our family likes to put spices and herbs in everything. I used to love to do garlic. I can't do that anymore because of my lupus, but you better believe everybody else in my family loves it. My husband has an issue with black pepper. I can't do the garlic. And so I will make our favorite dishes with everything, but those two, and then we put them out and people can put it all on themselves.

And they just know that's how it works at our house. One of our favorites is turmeric. Discovered that a few years ago, because Scott couldn't do the black pepper and so we kind of use it like a pepper substitute, but it is lovely. It's great and it has wonderful anti-inflammatory benefits as well as ginger and again garlic for those of you that can eat it and cumin and those are all wonderful anti-inflammatory spices that can help autoimmune conditions.

I also like to have curry, oregano, chili powder, things like that. Onion powder is definitely a huge one at our house. We have also made the change from iodized salt to sea salt. And again, that is one of those choices where it's a little more expensive, but especially in my case, because I have Graves disease, the iodine is not a good thing for me, but it's kind of become a big thing for me now.

It is worth the extra money. It's not a ton. It's still salt, so it's still not super expensive, but again, you have to look at things and say, okay, some things I can do less expensive, but some things I'm going to take that extra money and I'm going to put it toward the better option. And this is one of those times. It's pricier, but it doesn't have the negative effect on your health that table salt can. And you can actually also often use a lot less of it.

STACY: And here's a fun one, chia seeds. They're cheap. They lost a long time, and you can use them in smoothies, puddings, or baked goods. There are very few things that are more nutrient dense and protein high than chia seeds.

They're an excellent source of protein. They are great at creating this gelatinous substance that then is like a scouring for your intestinal tract. There are very few things that we can eat that are so inexpensive that are so good at scouring out and cleaning out our gastrointestinal system. And the reason that's important is that a clean system is a happy system, and a happy system is a less inflamed system.

And our gastrointestinal tract is a huge portion of the inflammatory problems we have with autoimmunity. So if we can do things that are inexpensive, protein dense, which is always good for people with autoimmunity, and that have very little to no taste, really. I mean, chia seeds don't have a really distinct taste, but they are very good at what they do. And so because they're super nutrient dense, they're great.

I love flax seeds too, but not everyone can tolerate them. They have a lot of nutrient dense reasons for existing in our food as well. And as one thought, and it's an important thought, if you don't like it, don't have it in your pantry. Just because it's healthy for you doesn't mean it should sit in your pantry if you're never gonna use it I'm not gonna have garlic in my pantry because it's not good for me, but there are certain things I just don't like. There's no point in having them, because I'll never use them.

ALYSIA: Yeah, beet, canned beets or even refrigerated beets I bought one time. I'm like "these are so good for you! They're such a good starch." But I'm telling you, that sat there uneaten forever, because I hate beets.

BECKY: So I try beets. I'm not a fan, but my husband loves them. So we do have them, but it's true I like beans in a lot of forms, but for whatever reason, I can't stand lima beans. That's one that it's just not gonna fly for me either. Here's the thing, just like Stacy said, if you're not gonna eat it, don't have it. But at the same time, at least try it. That doesn't mean go out and buy a bulk thing of it. Try a smaller version. Try some new recipes. If you've never really used it before, try some recipes. See if you could like it, if it would be worth your time. If it's really something you're never going to eat, because you just can't stand it, then don't do that to yourself.

ALYSIA: Exactly. So if you stick to a few versatile ingredients, you can create tons of delicious and nutrient dense meals on a tight budget.

Here's an out of the box tip for you. If you need help putting recipes together with these ingredients, you can ask chat GPT or Gemini or whatever AI platform you use to help you find recipes and create a meal plan. How cool is that? I've been doing that lately and it's kind of fun.

STACY: Put in what I basically want, like this week, I'd like to eat at least one serving of salmon. Please put chicken in for a couple of days. Give me a beef meal, a pork meal. I, I give it basic parameters and then I let it build it. And then if it comes up with a recipe that I absolutely hate, I say, everything except this, find me a new recipe. And it can do that. And it's so much easier than digging through a cookbook.

And I'm not saying cookbooks aren't great. I've got some that I love, but it's not always the answer.

ALYSIA: Yeah. And one of the other cool things it can do, if, if it's like the day before payday and you just do not have the grocery budget to go shopping, but you have a handful of random stuff in your fridge or your freezer or your pantry or whatever, you can say, "Hey, chat GPT. I have these ingredients. What can I make out of them as a meal?" And I know there are apps that do that as well. But that's just a quick way to be able to use what you have on hand. Another way to save some money and make your dollars stretch.

BECKY: Obviously, as we're talking about doing recipes, one of the single best ways to stay in your food budget and stick to your dietary needs is cooking at home. It is obviously cheaper than eating out. And even though we're, again, we're talking about power bar, how much we have of it versus convenience. Sometimes that means. planning ahead, like we said. I promise though, you will find that if you take those few extra minutes every day to actually cook at home instead, you're going to feel better and you're going to save more money.

And the reason you're going to feel better is because I think we can all attest that as much as it's fun to go eat out sometimes, it is really, really challenging when you have a lot of dietary restrictions to make sure that all of those things are met. Even if there's just a little bit of cross contamination, that's enough that you can have that inflammation that really just messes you up, and you get into a full flair.

There's a lot of benefits from choosing to eat at home. And I'm not saying don't ever go out to eat, but if you're somebody who likes to eat out like all the time, you might want to consider cooking from home a little more than you currently do.

STACY: I think that's definitely true. You don't have to be a professional chef. You can learn simple techniques about how to chop vegetables, sautée and roast. It'll save you a lot of time and money in the kitchen. If it isn't something you've learned yet, you don't need to be intimidated. Remember, cooking is just another skill for you to learn on your self care journey. There are so many online resources to help you.

Get on YouTube, find a video. There is a video for everything. There are so many sources, and it can be a lot of fun, especially if you do it with your partner or your kids. I'm going to tell you right now that when you are a poor college student, one of the greatest gifts that your parent can have given you is an ability to cook for yourself. It gets you dates. It gets you friends. It makes life easier at college. It's a huge, huge plus.

ALYSIA: I just have to say it was so cute because my son that's in college was home cooking. This past weekend and he was telling me how excited he was about these meals. He was cooking for himself and how none of his roommates knew how to cook. And he talked to me about how he roasted broccoli and cauliflower, and he ate the whole pan in one sitting because it was so delicious to him. It cracked me up because what kid. loves broccoli and cauliflower that much? But if you learn, I mean, if you're not a big vegetable fan, I'm telling you right now, roasting your vegetables could be a deal changer.

I thought Brussels sprouts were disgusting. If they are roasted correctly, they are delicious. I promise. There are a lot of things that if they are cooked properly are so much more enjoyable to eat. As we're talking about that, let's also address batch cooking because a lot of us are pressed for time.

It's a game changer to cook in batches. You can cook large portions of things like soups or stews or casseroles and you can freeze leftovers for later. It's not only cost efficient, but it's also time saving. So don't be a snob about your leftovers. I know some people that are like, "Oh no, I don't, I don't eat leftovers. I don't do that."

I just think that's the biggest money wasting thing you could possibly do when it comes to having a food budget. Food waste is the most. costly mistake you can make when you are trying to eat on a budget. So if you store them properly and you eat them in a timely manner, you can save a lot of money.

Remember, not every meal has to be delicious and wonderful and amazing. Sometimes you just need to put fuel in your body. Leftovers are perfect for those occasions, and you're saving money by not eating out or by not making something new. I do have to put a plug in here for my favorite food budgeting tool that I found recently.

I've been using it for several months. Now, it's a cookbook, uh, by a woman named Cassie Joy Garcia. "It's called Cook Once, Eat All Week." You guys, this book has been a game changer for me. I am not kidding. Essentially, she's laid out 26 weeks worth of gluten free meals that incorporate several of the same ingredients over one week.

So she'll give you a shopping list and then prep instructions. So you spend some time prepping and then you have several easy meals, like healthy, easy meals to throw together during the week. It has saved me so much time. It has been delicious. I think we've been doing this for a couple of months. We're not all the way through the cookbook, but I would say of the recipes we've made 95 percent of them.

Everybody in my family has been a fan, including children, picky eaters, even really good recipes, pretty simple recipes. I love it because her nutritional approach is totally in alignment with mine. She is all about choosing whole real foods, over processed foods, eating balanced meals that incorporate protein and veggies first with a healthy starch as well.

She also has notes on how to make each recipe low carb or paleo or dairy free. I mean, it's a very, very inclusive cookbook. And it has been absolutely life changing for my personal meal planning, not to mention saving me money. We'll provide an Amazon link in the show notes for you if you're interested.

BECKY: I have done something similar in the last few months with an online resource called Family Freezer. If you don't mind doing freezer meals, you can prep things all on one day. And she has a really awesome setup. She has some great tutorial videos, and she gives options of, I need a gluten free meal or plug it in and say, Hey, these are the ingredients I have. What kind of recipes can I do? That has been very useful for me.

And so we will also provide a link for that as well, because we know there are a lot of resources, and if any of you have resources that have been great for you for this, please include them in the comments. We'd love to hear.

Really quickly, let's talk a little bit more about affordable protein sources. We did mention a few options. We recognize not everybody has connections with farmers and ranchers, but if you do, a lot of times that's a great way to get affordable, good quality meat. You don't have to break the bank on meat. Things like beans and lentils and canned tuna, Greek yogurt and eggs and tofu are budget friendly as well and are also packed with protein. And of course we mentioned chia seeds. Keep in mind some of those things like tofu. If you are somebody who has a soy sensitivity, that is one you're going to want to avoid. Again, just be aware of what your personal dietary needs are. There are some other affordable protein sources outside of just meat.

STACY: But if you do choose to buy meat, you can keep in mind that there are cheaper cuts like chicken thighs or chicken legs. If you don't mind having meat on the bone, ground turkey is great. Pork shoulder is good. And these are just as nutritious, but they usually cost less than steak and chicken breast. And don't overlook seafood in your diet.

I think that everyone panics about seafood, because fresh is quite expensive, but frozen fish can still be made very delicious and it is a good source of protein. And sometimes you find it for less expensive than steak. Just the other day I was at Sam's and there was a three pound bag of shrimp that cost less per pound than the steak that I had been looking at. You can find cheaper cuts and they can be made very, very delicious. Chicken thighs make amazing enchiladas.

ALYSIA: I think shopping sales is really helpful because they don't have the same meat on sale every week. Shopping sales, you can mix it up a little bit. I would say another trick is to find budget friendly substitutes for expensive ingredients.

I mean, obviously besides meat, but for example, gluten free flour, it's pretty pricey. And you can make your own from ingredients like oats or rice. And I actually have a blend that I make and it calls for some, a little more strange flours, arrowroot or cassava or potato starch. Those kinds of flours you might be able to find much more affordably at an Asian grocery store.

They are used so commonly in their cuisine that they have just much better prices on them. There's often really better quality. products as well. The rice flour I get from the Asian grocer, it's so fine. It is so beautifully ground and it's a fraction of the cost. It's a lot less than you would be paying at a natural grocer.

Check out your Asian groceries. Don't let those be forgotten. Take a little time to explore the other grocery stores around you to see what they have to offer as well. And if you have a local farmer's market, definitely shop there as well. I'm always sad when our farmer's market closes for the season because I get the most beautiful produce throughout the growing season there.

STACY: So eating at home is obviously going to be your best choice if you're trying to save money, but sometimes eating at home isn't an option and you've got to eat out. So how do you stick to your diet without blowing your budget?

ALYSIA: Good question. I would say first of all, Um, if you know, you're going to be going to a restaurant, you want to check out the menu online beforehand, look for places that are going to offer gluten free or allergen free options and pick your meal before you go there, so you're not even tempted by the menu.

BECKY: Sometimes, and this seems a little unusual if you're going to a restaurant, but sometimes packing your own meals and snacks when you can, if you're going somewhere is also a good option, especially if you're looking at road trips. Where you're on the go, because depending on where you're at, you might not be able to find something that fits your dietary needs so preparing ahead of time is a good idea. Bring your own homemade gluten free sandwiches, salads, snacks. Um, again, it's going to be cheaper and healthier than grabbing something, you know, from a fast food place that may or may not be something that is safe for you to eat.

STACY: And if you are at a restaurant, you can always ask for customization. Most places will accommodate special dietary needs if you ask. For instance, you can swap out regular fries for a side salad. You can ask for sauces on the side. It's all about being proactive and knowing what works for you. I have found that most restaurants want to please their customer, and they want you to be able to come back. So customization, it's not that big of an imposition for them most of the time. the time.

ALYSIA: I do want to say I think it's more likely to find cooperation in maybe a sit down restaurant. Fast food restaurants, there's very few of them who are willing to make sure that your food is safe for you to eat. Uh, there are some, but it's harder to find.

I would also say, when you do have a good experience, please leave a good tip. Say something to your waiter or waitress. "You know, I really appreciate you guys going out of your way to make this happen for me." \ I have left beautiful reviews online for restaurants that have made it, my experience dining there safe and enjoyable.

To wrap up, we want to talk about finding support and resources. There are so many online communities and support groups for people with autoimmune disease. We've mentioned them before, and there are ones specific to those that are trying to manage their diet. These groups often share budget friendly recipes and tips and even sales on products. I have seen posts about that. I absolutely love my Facebook groups for recipe sharing and for ideas.

BECKY: I would agree. I'm on a few different ones. They have some great options. People that are going through the same thing as you and maybe who've had more experience and have had a lot of fun experimenting can share their good recipes and it's a great way to go.

You might also want to check out affordable cooking classes or workshops, whether in person or online. Some cities offer low cost cooking classes, like we mentioned before.

STACY: And if you're struggling financially, there's no shame in getting government assistance programs like SNAP, which can help with food costs. And many states offer special programs for people with medical conditions. So, please don't hesitate and explore those options because everyone deserves to have healthy food available for them.

ALYSIA: Uh, one more resource that I can personally recommend is an app that I was referred to by one of my Facebook groups. It's called Plan to Eat and I am totally in love with it. It's not a recipe service app. It's instead, it's essentially an app where you can build your own digital recipe book. So I don't know about you guys, but I'm constantly saving recipes that I see on social media posts or I'll do a Google search for, you know, dairy free yogurt recipe or whatever. And then I'll have a thousand bookmark recipes from all these searches that I've done. Sometimes it's not so easy to find them. This app takes those links and it creates a recipe card for you in the app. It cleans all of that dumb stuff out and you have a recipe card. You can add your personal recipes to it.

You can track nutrition and macros. You can create meal plans. You can create shopping lists. This app has been so helpful to me. I cleaned up my recipe cupboard and saved all of my online recipes in a couple hours, one afternoon. And I love it. It's organized. It's easy to find what I'm looking for. So if you want to try it to help yourself get a little more organized and keep track of your recipes, we can give you a referral link for 20 percent off.

You can go to www.plantoeat.com/ref/autoimmuneadventures, and we'll have the link for that on our blog as well.

BECKY: Just to wrap up, eating on a budget with autoimmune conditions is absolutely doable. It takes a little practice, you might have to get a little creative, and you might have to go out of your comfort zone if you're somebody who doesn't normally cook for yourself, but with a little planning and creativity and resourcefulness It can definitely be done.

ALYSIA: Yep, absolutely. So stick to the basics, meal planning, shopping smart, and cooking at home. Remember, it's okay to take small steps. Every change that you make is a step in the right direction. This is no different than any other part of your self care plan. It is a skill that you are learning to do.

STACY: We hope this episode gave you some practical tips and inspiration for managing your autoimmune diet without breaking the bank. Remember, you got this.

BECKY: You do. Thanks for tuning in to autoimmune adventures and we'll catch you next time. Don't forget to keep experimenting with new recipes and ingredients.

ALYSIA: Take care, everybody. Happy cooking. Remember that you are worthy of joy. Your disease does not define your life, you do.

HELPFUL LINKS:

FlashFood - https://flashfood.com/

Cassie Joy Garcia "Cook Once, Eat All Week" - https://www.amazon.com/Cook-Once-Eat-All-Week

The Family Freezer - https://thefamilyfreezer.com/