Illustration by Kat Frick Miller
Welcome to The Globe’s new series, What’s In My Cart?, where we’re asking Canadians how they stock their kitchens.
Sasha Faraone was in her first year of teachers’ college when she experienced food-intolerance symptoms.
“I’d wake up in the middle of the night with sharp stomach pain. … It was so bad that one time I went to the hospital,” she says.
At 23, Faraone’s first colonoscopy and endoscopy revealed a gluten allergy and lactose intolerance. A little more than a decade later, the 36-year-old has adapted to her dietary restrictions, settled into a career as a family lawyer and is married. Now, hospital visits ring a different tone for the young couple as they prepare to welcome their first child early this August.
Like Faraone, an estimated 1 per cent of Canada’s population live with some form of gluten allergy or celiac disease. Earlier this year, Celiac Canada, a national charity that raises awareness on celiac disease, published Canada’s first food service guide to provide recommendations to hospitals, long-term care and retirement facilities providing care to Canadians living with gluten allergies.
An increased awareness of food intolerance has benefitted Faraone, who says it’s become easier to find gluten-free alternatives at grocery stores and restaurants.
Since Faraone’s aunt also has a gluten allergy, her extended family learned to adapt staple Italian dishes such as lasagna, pasta and desserts – rich with carbohydrates and cheeses – to gluten-free renditions. She says these alternatives taste great, but she sometimes craves a good French baguette from Ace Bakery, or bread from the Keg.
Here’s how Faraone shops for gluten-free meals during her pregnancy.
How I save: By choosing discount grocery stores like No Frills or FreshCo for products like gluten-free flour or frozen vegetables. Other grocery stores seem to sell the same product with better packaging, which is probably the reason why they charge so much more for the best products.
How I splurge: I go to Fiesta Farms or Farm Boy for organic meat, fish and poultry products, as well as fruits and vegetables.
The hardest shopping habit to keep up: Shopping between a few places in the city. I try to grocery shop two to three days a week to avoid waste, and I’m trying to be better at [meal] prepping. Me and my husband have busy schedules, but this has been a good way to save money and eat fresh.
How I’ve changed my eating habits recently: With the pregnancy, I’ve had to give up a lot of the food I enjoy while eating out at restaurants: no raw fish, sushi, or oysters, which I can’t wait to have once my daughter’s born. When it comes to grocery shopping, I’ve been trying to purchase things without preservatives.
Five items always in my cart:
- 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour – Bob’s Red Mill – $14.99: This is a staple for me. I like to bake once or twice a week. This goes into all of my baking. I love a good banana bread or scones.
- Gluten-free pasta – La Veneziane – $5.99: This is probably the closest gluten-free pasta I’ve found to the real thing. The lasagna sheets are great. I make everything else the traditional way: a few layers of bolognese sauce, a few layers of the lasagna sheets, and lactose-free cheese between.
- Organic gluten-free tamari – San-J – $6.99: This takes the place of soy sauce. Most people don’t realize that soy sauce is made with soybeans and wheat, so it has gluten. This one tastes just like standard soy sauce.
- Lactose-free traditional feta cheese – Tre Stelle – $6.99: Feta is one of my favourite cheeses. I enjoy it on pretty much everything: a scoop on my eggs, in a salad or on a sandwich.
- Organic canned tomatoes — Muir Glen — $4.49: I use these to make a tomato and meat sauce for my lasagna. They taste great. We also make pizza at home with these.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour is one-part whole wheat and one-part rice flour. The product is a combination of rice flours and other gluten-free ingredients. This version has been updated to remove the incorrect description.