Bachelor on the Cheap

Gluten-Free Snack Option: Tuna Creations from Starkist

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On Day 2 of my Bachelor on the Cheap Gluten-Free Challenge 2023, I was considering snacks to put on the menu and thought of Tuna Creations from Starkist.

Coming in a variety of tuna salad flavors, the handy snack-sized pouches are also available in salmon and chicken salad options.  A perfect amount to make a sandwich or in my case, using a slice of cheddar cheese and making a wrap, the tuna was nice and moist, the sauce base was delightful and I got a bit of crunch from the celery and water chestnuts.  With only 80 calories, packing 13 grams of protein and just 3 grams of carbs, this is a repeat snack! 

Putting the tuna salad between a couple of slices of bread would have pushed the calorie count up at least another 140, along with an additional 24 grams or so in carbs.  Then there's the wheat gluten thing...

No bread required or missed!

With the slice of cheddar cheese, my total calorie count was 150, the protein number was 18 grams and just the 3 grams in carbs. 

Available at Walmart for just $0.89 for a 3-ounce pouch, Starkist Tuna Creations are a smart choice vs. snacking on wheat products such as pasta salad, crackers, multi-grain chips or something with a bun.  Tasting great and perfectly portioned, I'm giving Starkist Tuna Creations 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap Stars.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related:  A Bachelor on the Cheap Challenge: Going Gluten-Free For Good

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If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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Spice up your coffee

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I'm not into single-cup coffee brewers like Keurig. Sure they're convenient and in addition to regular coffee, they have a nice variety of flavored coffees to choose from.  But as a drinker of more than one cup of coffee a day, Keurig pods are pricey, in my book, cost prohibitive.

I'm a drip brew coffee maker guy.  Drip brewing is quite a bit cheaper than pod coffee and frankly, just as convenient.  No, you can't change flavors from cup to cup like you can with pods, but a drip brewer is just about as fast as a pod maker, with most modern drip machines allowing you to pour a cup before the whole pot is brewed.  And because a drip brewer keeps the coffee warm, I can simply pour that second cup, no trashing the old pod, inserting a new pod, and the wait to brew, required. 

The only real advantage a pod maker has is in the flavor department.  The choices are many.  Some folks are into changing flavors with their second or third cup or trying something new.  I'm not into that mid-morning change and if I want to explore new flavors, then a pot of it is brewed. And while you can purchase some flavored coffees for drip brewers at the grocery store like Hazelnut and French Vanilla, the options are limited.  You can expand on those options at specialty stores and some online shopping, but that price point goes up.

Don't pay extra for coffee blends...

Flavor your coffee using your spice rack and extracts.

For health reasons, I've been mixing cinnamon and ginger in my canister of coffee grounds for a couple of years now.  Those two spices have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and other beneficial properties, in addition to adding a little flavor to that morning cup of Joe.  If you don't want to doctor your canister of grounds, you can simply add a few dashes of spice to the brew basket in making your daily brew.

You can really flavor things up this way, adding quite a bit of variety to your normal cup of coffee.  The beauty is, it's blended with the brew, it's balanced, with the filter keeping out any spice grittiness.  About a 1/2 teaspoon of spice per six cups will do.

Spices to try:

• Allspice
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon
• Ground Clove
• Ginger
• Nutmeg
• Pumpkin Spice  (Yes, despite the pumpkin spice flavored everything overkill from Halloween through Thanksgiving, this is tasty)
• Star Anise (I'm not a black licorice flavor fan, but some people like this combo)

Cocoa Powder is another great flavor addition.  And if you grind your own beans, try adding some cocoa nibs to the grind.

Extracts to try:  When making a pot of coffee, throw a couple of drops of extract in the pot before brewing, rather than doctoring up the coffee grind.

• Almond
• Coconut
• Maple
• Mint
• Vanilla
• Fruit flavors
• There are other flavors to have fun with to, like "Cake Batter"

You don't need to buy special blends or pods to get great flavored coffee.  Take advantage of the spices and extracts you have on hand.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related:  A Bachelor on the Cheap Challenge: Going Gluten-Free For Good

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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The Bachelor on the Cheap Gluten-Free Diet Challenge 2023 - Day 2

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Day 1 was a successful one in terms of being gluten-free by totally avoiding bread, pasta, crackers, and the like.  I'm doing this diet because I feel better when I don't eat wheat products, with weight loss also desired.

Day 2 was very similar to Day 1, but there was less variety.  I ate six smaller meals, rather than three big ones and it was easy to plan a menu that did not include any wheat products.  Something else I'm doing in addition to eating gluten-free, is fasting for 12 hours from 8 pm to 8 am daily, in an effort to boost weight loss. 

Honoring National Hamburger Day, an annual day celebrating America's most iconic food, I fired up my Weber Kettle and grilled some up.  When I grill, I also batch cook to take advantage of all that charcoal heat, so in addition to grilling a dozen burgers, I put some brats and chicken on the fire in prepping meals for the next 3 days with some leftover to put in the freezer.

Day 2 Menu:

Meal	Time	Description	Calories	Protein (Grams)	Carbs (Grams)
Breakfast	9am	Steak, two eggs, cheese	650	60	4
Snack	11:30am	Tuna and cheese	150	18	4
Lunch	2pm	Two burger patties w/cheese	750	38	4
Snack	4:30pm	Brat	193	8	2
Dinner	7pm	Two brats	386	16	4
		Total intake	2129
		Minus calories burned	500
		Net caloric intake	1629
		Water count	5
				140	18

On a bit of a carnivore day, I consumed a nice amount of protein (140 grams), and minimal carbs (just 18 grams!) and didn't miss eating any wheat products, not even a couple of buns for those burgers.  Lacking some veggie and fruit intake, I'll have to remedy that on Day 3.

Think about how many more calories I would have consumed by eating hamburger and hot dog buns with those burgers and brats.  There's the added grocery expense of those items too.

Stay tuned for Day 3, which will include a product review!

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related:  A Bachelor on the Cheap Challenge: Going Gluten-Free For Good

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

follow me on Twitter @Bacheloronthe1

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The Bachelor on the Cheap Gluten-Free Challenge 2023: Day 1 Diet, Afternoon Snack & Dinner

BachelorontheCheap.com

My body doesn't like gluten.  Whenever I consume regular bread, pasta, cookies, crackers, and the like, my body complains.

So in getting serious about going gluten-free for good, I promised to maintain an online diary of my daily menu, including new gluten-free products I sample, as well as restaurant reviews and their gluten-free offerings.  Here's my first official afternoon snack and dinner entries for the Gluten-Free 2023 Challenge Diary:

Day 1 Diet, Afternoon Snack, Saturday, May 27, 4 pm.

I had an apple.  Yep, that's it.  You know that old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," I'm taking that to heart and this diet, seriously.

Day 1 Diet, Dinner, Saturday, May 27, 7 pm

• Two servings of little smokies, topped with melted cheddar cheese.

So I made it through my first day and there was no wheat gluten in anything I ate.  Nicely balanced, my daily intake consisted of meats, cheese, nuts, seeds, fruits, and grain.  I got plenty of protein and a few carbs.  The best thing, NO BREAD, PASTA, CRACKERS, or the like, no wheat gluten!

It wasn't hard to stay away from those things either, but it is only the first day.  It wasn't an expensive grocery day either, I was able to satisfy my appetite with foods I already had in my pantry and fridge, no grocery shopping required, no special gluten-free products needed.

Stay tuned for Day 2!

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related:  A Bachelor on the Cheap Challenge: Going Gluten-Free For Good

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

follow me on Twitter @Bacheloronthe1

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The Bachelor on the Cheap Gluten-Free Challenge 2023: Day 1 Diet, Lunch

BachelorontheCheap.com

My body doesn't like gluten.  Whenever I consume regular bread, pasta, cookies, crackers, and the like, my body complains.

So in getting serious about going gluten-free for good, I promised to maintain an online diary of my daily menu, including new gluten-free products I sample, as well as restaurant reviews and their gluten-free offerings.  Here's my first official lunch entry for the Gluten-Free 2023 Challenge Diary:

Day 1 Diet, Lunch, Saturday, May 27, 1:30 pm.

A beef and rice bowl

• 1/2 cup long-grain white rice (leftover)
• 6 ounces of skirt steak, cut Carne Asada style
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup green pepper, diced
• a dash of black pepper
• a dash of onion powder
• a dash of garlic powder
• salt to taste

I simply browned the steak in a large skillet over medium heat, adding the green pepper and onion to soften them up a bit.  After the meat was browned, I dumped in the leftover rice, which was prepared the day before in a rice cooker with chicken stock, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic.  I applied another dose of those powdered aromatics and combined to incorporate.  While that was cooking, I was thinking, "This needs a sauce," and started to reach for some soy sauce...  Oops!  Soy sauce has wheat in it.  Scrap that.  So foregoing the Asian flare, I broke out a bit of cornstarch, and some beef stock and made a quick slurry gravy.

This is a perfect single-serving portion, fitting nicely in a cereal bowl.  This lunch has about 484 calories, packs 44 grams of protein, and about 32 grams of carbs.  It's a bit high in the carb count for my liking, but this isn't a low-carb diet, it's a gluten-free diet.  I will, however, still get a benefit of an overall lower carb intake by eating gluten-free.  And here's a carb tip:  If you're going to eat carbs, try to eat them earlier in the day so your daily activity can burn those carb-energy calories. 

Going gluten-free lends itself to smaller portions, there's no wheat gluten bulk, especially when it comes to bread, as in a bun for the burger (lettuce wrap instead), there's no croissant to go with the scrambled eggs, there are no croutons for the lettuce salad (I've got a gluten-free recipe, it's tasty, but I don't make it that often because I hate paying the high price of gluten-free bread).  So with the smaller portions, I'm able to eat six small meals/snacks a day, rather than three large meals.  This helps the body burn what you consume more efficiently.

Costing less than $2 to prepare, this was a winner, winner, beef & rice bowl dinner, er, lunch...

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related:  A Bachelor on the Cheap Challenge: Going Gluten-Free For Good

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

follow me on Twitter @Bacheloronthe1

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New jobs posted from careers.sedgwickcounty.org, May 27, 2023

Jobs
Administrative Support II - Wichita, KS, US
Administrative Specialist I - District Attorney - Wichita, KS, US
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WIC Client Care Specialist - Health - Wichita, KS, US
Part Time WIC Client Care Specialist - Health - Wichita, KS, US
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Information System IT Specialist COVID-19 - Wichita, KS, US
General Clinic Nurse Practitioner - HEALTH - Wichita, KS, US
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Name for a startup gluten-free bakery

BachelorontheCheap.com

I'm currently doing a new challenge, the Bachelor on the Cheap Going Gluten-Free Challenge 2023.  I'm eating healthier and part of that is eliminating wheat products from my diet.  I feel better when not eating so much regular bread, pasta, crackers, and such.

So in line with that, here's a name some baker wanting their own place can steal, GF Hutton Bakery.  The tagline is, "When GF Hutton Bakes, people be eat'n!"

People who were around in the 1970s and got sick of the overkill of television ads for a certain investment banking firm will get it.

The Bachelor on the Cheap Gluten-Free Challenge 2023: Day 1 Diet, Morning Snack

BachelorontheCheap.com

My body doesn't like gluten.  Whenever I consume regular bread, pasta, cookies, crackers, and the like, my body complains.

So in getting serious about going gluten-free for good, I promised to maintain an online diary of my daily menu, including new gluten-free products I sample, as well as review restaurants and their gluten-free offerings.  Here's my first official snack entry for the Gluten-Free 2023 Challenge Diary:

Day 1 Diet, Morning Snack, Saturday, May 27, 11 am.

• Pistachios, one serving (1/2 cup, in the shell)

I love pistachios, they're my favorite nut.   This is a healthy, satisfying snack at 170 calories per serving, 5 grams of protein, and 9 grams of carbs. Compare that to a serving of Wheat Thin crackers, with fewer calories at 140, but only 2 grams of protein and a whopping 22 grams of carbs.  And then there's that gluten thing...   Or you could have Sun Chips, also 140 calories, also just 2 grams of protein, and 19 grams of carbs.  And while Wheat Thins and Sun Chips are tolerable on their own, they're much better with dips, a bit of cheese, or a portion of meat to go with them, which drives up the calorie count...  And then there's still that gluten thing...

Bonus, pistachios are stand-alone good, you don't need a dip, a bit of cheese, or a portion of lunchmeat to go with them. 

Pistachios are also Bachelor on the Cheap Wallet-Friendly!  I purchased a 16-ounce bag of Southern Grove (Aldi private label) Roasted Pistachios with Sea Salt for $5.19.  That's just $0.64 per serving. 

TIP:  Pistachio shells make great mulch!  Don't throw those empty shells away.  Toss them in the flower bed, veggie garden, or plant container.  They'll help retain moisture, keeps the weeds at bay, and over time will break down into nutrients for the soil.  You'll be amazed at how quickly the empty shells from a serving of pistachios every day will cover a small flower bed.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related:  A Bachelor on the Cheap Challenge: Going Gluten-Free For Good

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

follow me on Twitter @Bacheloronthe1

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The Bachelor on the Cheap Gluten-Free Challenge 2023: Day 1 Diet, Breakfast

BachelorontheCheap.com

So I've been pretty focused on eliminating wheat products from my diet lately, but admittedly, it's been an on-again, off-again relationship for about two years now.  I haven't been diagnosed as being gluten intolerant, I haven't taken that step, but I definitely feel better when I'm not eating so much regular bread, pasta, or crackers. The sluggishness, the bloating, the indigestion... Not there when I don't eat the stuff.

So in getting serious about going gluten-free for good and as promised, here's my first entry for the Gluten-Free 2023 Challenge Diary:

Day 1 Diet, Breakfast, Saturday, May 27, 8 am.

• Two scrambled eggs (splash of whole milk, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon chia seeds, 1 teaspoon flax seed meal, NO salt)
• Three slices of bacon, chopped (the salt in the bacon carries the dish)
• One slice of American cheese (yes, melted on top of the eggs)

This breakfast has about 430 calories, packs 29 grams of protein, and about 17 grams of carbs.  If I would have put those eggs in a medium tortilla, add another 100 calories and another 18 carbs.  If I would have eaten these eggs with a bun or croissant, the carb and calorie counts would have been even higher and my body would be complaining to boot from any three of the flour vessels.  No, thank you.

Adding chia seeds and flax seed meal to your eggs provides an additional boost in protein and the carbs in them (your body needs carbs for energy) are good carbs, your body burns them efficiently.  Besides being a healthy carb alternative, chia and flax add flavor and texture to the eggs which is kind of the point, if you don't enjoy a particular health food, don't eat it.

This breakfast only cost about $1.25 to prepare.  Healthy, tasty, nothing wheat about it, and pretty low carb, that's Bachelor on the Cheap Gluten-Free Challenge 2023 Friendly!

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related:  A Bachelor on the Cheap Challenge: Going Gluten-Free For Good

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

follow me on Twitter @Bacheloronthe1

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