Ep. 282: Food Allergy Eating Without Breaking the Bank

Managing food allergies already comes with a cost—and for many families, that can add up to thousands of extra dollars each year when you factor in groceries, medical care, and time. With rising food prices, it’s no wonder the stress can feel even heavier.

But there are ways to make it work. We’re sitting down with FAACT Medical Advisory Board Member and Registered Dietitian, Alison Cassin, to share practical, nutrition-focused strategies to help you eat safely, stay healthy, and keep your budget in check.

Resources to keep you in the know:

• FAACT's Food Allergies, Healthy Snacks for All Ages - Podcast
• FAACT's Powerhouse Eating for Teens and College Students with Food Allergies Pt. 1 - Podcast
• FAACT's Powerhouse Eating for Coaches and Caregivers Managing Students with Food Allergies Pt. 2 - Podcast
• ALnourished Website - Alison Cassin, Food Allergy Nutrition

FAACT's Roundtable Podcast can be found on Apple Podcast, Pandora, Spotify, Podbay, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube.

 Sponsored by: Genentech

Thanks for listening! FAACT invites you to discover more exciting food allergy resources at FoodAllergyAwareness.org!

Transcript

Caroline: Welcome to FAACT's Roundtable, a podcast dedicated to navigating life with food allergies across the lifespan. Presented in a welcoming format with interviews and open discussions,

each episode will explore a specific topic, leaving you with the facts to know or use.

Information presented via this podcast is educational and not intended to provide individual medical advice.

Please consult with your personal board-certified allergist or healthcare providers for advice specific to your situation.

Caroline: Hi everyone. I'm Caroline Moassessi and I am your host for the FAACT Roundtable podcast.

I am a food allergy parent and advocate and the founder of the Grateful Foodie Blog. And I am FAACT's Vice President of Community Relations.

Before we start today's podcast, we would like to take a moment to thank Genentech for being a kind sponsor of FAACT's roundtable podcast. Also, please note that today's guest was not paid by or sponsored by Genentech to participate in this specific podcast.

Managing food allergies already comes with a cost, and for many families, that can add up to thousands of extra dollars each each year. When you factor in groceries, medical care and your time with rising food prices, it's no wonder stress can feel even heavier.

But there are ways to make it work.

Today we're sitting down with FAACT medical advisory board member and registered dietitian Allison Casson to share practical, nutritional focused strategies to help you eat safely, stay healthy and keep your budget in check.

Welcome back, Alison, to FAACT's Roundtable podcast. We're very happy that you're here. This is a really, really important topic and it's one that we've never really talked about. We talk about a lot of nutrition and really exciting items with you, but this is a first for us.

So welcome.

Alison: Thank you. I'm excited to be here. I'm very passionate about this topic and

Caroline: that's why we love you and that's why we like this so much.

Before we dive in, we'd love for our listeners to get to know you.

Can you share a bit about your background and what inspired you to get involved with the food allerg community?

Alison: Yes, this is a great question. You know, surprisingly didn't start my career as a registered dietitian coming out of my undergraduate degree, which was in zoology of all things.

I worked in a few labs, I worked in environmental research,

and through that I became really interested in nutrition and how our eating habits can affect the environment. But through that, you know, I worked in some food industry labs, specifically at a flavoring company, and really decided to take a clinical path towards new nutrition and become a registered Dietitian and I got my master's degree,

I did an internship, and I worked at Cincinnati Children's for almost 14 years as a registered dietitian with the kids and adults with food allergic disorders.

Caroline: Thank you. I'm glad you chose us. Even though zoology is very interesting, we know that sticking to a budget and even facing food insecurity is a real challenge and a reality for a lot of families.

And then at the same time, getting good nutrition on the table can really feel like a challenge. And that's why this conversation matters so much. So before, before we dig really deep into our topic, can you give us some general tips on budget cooking in general?

Alison: Yes. And I know this is an important topic, you know, for any human who's trying to plan nutritious meals and balance a budget. But even most more so nowadays, you know, budgets are really tight and groceries are getting really expensive.

Fuel costs are rising.

And so I know this is squeezing families in a lot of ways. To give some general tips, I really want to say start with a plan, but try not to achieve perfection.

You know,

one of the biggest budget leaks that we have in our, you know, household budgets and when buying food is food waste. Buying food without a plan and then not using it.

So just take a really simple approach.

Look at your week ahead. Try to pick three or four meals to kind of anchor your dinners, and then make a short but focused grocery list so you're not buying the ingredients impulsively that you might not use.

So you don't need a full meal prep system. I know there's a lot of push on social media to prep meals and be really meticulous with the system, but just get a little bit of structure so your food that you're purchasing actually get used.

Once you're in a groove, you can think about batch cooking where you prepare large meals or a single meal that you can keep as leftovers or maybe you can freeze later.

I think really just keeping a loose plan is going into the grocery is a good way to do it. Also, one thing, you know, I'm going to talk a lot about shelf stable foods or foods that don't go bad.

You know, again, going back to the topic of food waste, there's really a misconception that fresh food is always better.

And of course, fresh food is great. You know, I love a fresh apple or strawberries or grapes. It's not always nutritionally equivalent, though.

Frozen produce is actually really nutritious, but also budget conscious because frozen produce is picked at its peak ripeness and Then flash frozen to preserve its nutritional value. So not only do you have that great nutritional value, but you also have the budget friendly aspect and the fact that you're not,

not going to waste it as quickly because it's going to stay nutritious and fresh in your freezer and it's already prepped, so you save a lot of time. Also, think about canned food.

Canned green beans are better than no green beans. So if that's what's feasible for your family from a budget and food prep standpoint, canned options like beans, tomatoes are really great to think about.

You know, Caroline, I'll say another aspect that's really important to me as a pediatric dietitian is how do we support offering a variety of foods to kids without overspending?

You know, with kids, especially those with allergies, there's a tension between offering that variety we see from research and pediatric feeding that frequent exposure to a food. And I'm not talking immunologically here, I just mean offering new foods to a child can increase the chances of their acceptance of eating that food.

So kids with food allergies, you know, Caroline, they're more prone to selective and picky eating. So there's that tension between introducing a wide variety of foods, but then also not wasting food, because little kids tend to waste food if they don't like it, which can cause further financial strain.

So keep the structure of the meal the same. Here's, you know, a way to offer kids a variety of food without that financial strain. Keep the structure of the food the same,

but very one component of your meal.

So if you know your child likes a specific grain or specific protein,

try offering them a different or non preferred vegetable.

So keep that base meal the same,

but offer one new thing or offer them all of the foods that they already like, but try a different dip or a different seasoning just to expand their palate a little bit without doing anything too exotic or too expensive.

Caroline: Okay, so I hear you. So what you're saying is like, if they love chicken and rice and broccoli, serve the chicken and rice and broccoli, but maybe add in a little few green beans on the side or you

Alison: know, offer the, the chicken and the rice. But maybe next time, if they like broccoli, maybe try cauliflower. You know, it's similar in its texture and flavor, but different in color.

So those are some swaps that you can make to kind of ease your child into new options without completely,

say, ruin a meal or, or waste a meal in their eyes.

Caroline: Wow. Where Were you years ago when I needed you? That is great advice and I have to say you are now our third guest within the last few weeks who made of we are not striving for perfection.

Alison: Yes, yes. Right. Progress, not perfection.

Caroline: That is it. That is amazing and great information on the frozen veggies. I personally actually thought it was the opposite because my son, who's 27 now, who's back at home temporarily keeps buying these big giant bags of blueberries and things like this.

Shouldn't I be getting fresh,

you know, fruit for the house? But now that you're saying this, that makes sense because then also when he comes back from the gym, he's a rock climber. So he goes to the rock climbing gym and then works out.

He comes home and he wants a quick, allergy friendly protein drink and he'll whip those out and it looks very convenient. But I was thinking he wasn't hitting top nutrition.

So I think that's really important information you just shared.

Alison: Yeah. The flash freezing preserves the nutrients in the food and also keeps it from spoiling, so you're not wasting any food.

Caroline: So now let's start digging deeper and looking a little tighter into our food allergy world.

So can you walk us through a few of the major allergens from two angles? First, if a family can include that food, what form it comes in,

some maybe budget friendly options and then easy ways to use it. Like for example, my daughter's allergic to tree nuts, but my son's peanut tree nut and sesame. So she can have peanut that.

If that allergen needs to be avoided, then what are some practical alternatives that are, you know, again, affordable.

Alison: Yeah. And Caroline, your family's like a lot of families where you're balancing multiple dietary restrictions, which can add to the complexity and of course the cost. Right. Starting with peanuts. You know, because you mentioned that specifically from your family.

And we also talk to so many families through our organization that avoid peanuts and tree nuts. You know, peanuts are so budget friendly because they're shelf stable and they contain really healthy amounts of protein,

but also healthy fats. And for little kids, calories that they need to grow, those nutrients are really valuable. They have a long shelf life. They don't require cooking. You know, they're great for packing and lunch for kids who can take it can be used both in meals and snacks.

A single jar of peanut butter can really go a long way, especially if you're using it strategically. So I like to think of peanut butter as a multi use staple.

You can mix it into Oatmeal, you can put it into smoothies, you know, after a workout to boost the calories and give a little extra protein. It's great as a base for sauces like noodles or rice, but also just spread on toast or as a dip for fruit or crackers so that flexibility ensures that it really gets used rather than just sitting in the pantry.

You know, a lot of times we talk about peanut in terms of early introduction. You know, feeding peanut to infants around 4 to 6 months of age can significantly reduce the risk of developing a peanut allergy.

So practically, what's great about early introduction is babies don't need a large amount of peanuts to achieve that tolerance early in life.

So from a budget perspective, you know, we want to make sure we're just introducing small and developmentally safe portions to infants, giving consistently over time.

But you really, you know, have to emphasize whenever we talk about early introduction to never offer whole peanuts or thick spoonfuls of peanut butter to infants because those are a choking risk.

So when we're offering peanut, we want it thinned. A little water or if it's an infant, you know, breast milk or mixed into oatmeal or puree is a safe way to give it.

Caroline: So now if we can look at the flip side. So if you're avoiding peanut and you're missing that kind of portable shelf stable protein, now what there are, as you

Alison: know, alternatives like sunflower seed butter and soy nut butter.

Now, economically, they're more expensive than peanut butter. Those are available replacements. I would also think about other foods that provide protein, healthy fats and calories, and some of those key micronutrients, like trace minerals that are in peanut.

So, you know, instead of thinking, what can we replace peanut with exactly, you know, in terms of a nut butter alternative, while those exist, think about, like, what foods give that same nutrition at a good price and that can open up more affordable options?

You know, I'm thinking I'm going to talk about beans so much today, but beans, vegetable oils, things like that can be nice alternatives. Not necessarily as a one to one ratio for replacing it practically,

but should thinking about incorporating those items throughout a daily eating pattern can really place peanuts fairly economically.

Caroline: Okay, so when you say daily, instead of looking at it per meal, I see what you're saying is you're saying look at it for the whole day.

Are we hitting our protein needs or fat needs for the day? Ah,

there we go. That's very clever too.

Very strategic,

right?

Alison: We don't necessarily need to perfectly balance every meal that is what we're trying to achieve, Right. Balanced eating at most meals. But if we can achieve just a daily, healthy eating pattern, that's what we're going for.

Caroline: Excellent. Okay, so now let's talk about milk.

Alison: So milk is such a staple in our American diet, which is great for those of us who can consume it, but really a challenge for individuals who are allergic.

So for those who are able to consume milk, you know, it's a great source of calcium. We've seen that on all the just milk campaigns or got milk, excuse me campaigns.

So it's a great source of calcium,

vitamin D, protein, and of course, a major source of calories, especially for young kids.

But because it's so prevalent in households with young kids, it's really prone to waste. So that costs money. So one thing you can do, and we talked about frozen vegetables.

You can also, surprisingly, freeze milk before it goes bad. So you have a gallon of milk. It's, of course, cheaper to buy a gallon of milk than it is to buy smaller amounts.

So depending on your family's needs, you might not use a gallon of milk in the time that it would expire. If it's about to expire, don't toss it. Just finish.

Freeze it. Now, maybe when you thaw it, it's not going to be the best for drinking, but you can use it in small portions for cooking. You can use it in baking.

Just freeze it in ice cubes to make it easier to pop out and thaw and use. You can use it in smoothies. This is one of the easiest ways to prevent waste is to just use your freezer strategically.

You know, the other thing we talk about a lot when I see kids in pediatric feeding clinics or, you know, in the gastroenterology clinics I used to work in, you know, there was a lot of waste with sippy cups.

Kids, you know, carrying around sippy cups. It's really easy to pour milk for kids and then have it not be finished, especially with young children. So try to serve smaller portions and then refill it as needed so you're not wasting a large serving of milk in a sippy cup or even just an open cup at mealtimes.

Caroline: That's a really good suggestion. You're right. I remember throwing out, even though it's like maybe just a teeny bit in the cup, that adds up over a week, basically you've thrown out an entire cup by the end of the week.

Alison: Totally right. And kind of going back to our progress, not perfection. It's impossible when you're feeding Kids or even any humans. Right. No matter what their age, to prevent a hundred percent food waste.

But all the little small preventions can add up to your family's monthly budget.

Caroline: Absolutely. And now if we can stop for just a moment and examine freezing foods. So you mentioned freezing the milk in the grocery store. I'll see plastic bags, a little kind of zippy on the top, and then I see it says freezer.

And so are there any freezing suggestions like using these bags or using glass or I see the freezer wrapped paper to the aluminum foil and so forth. Any ideas or suggestions on freezing?

Alison: Yeah, that's a great question. So be careful when you're freezing things. The higher the fluid content of the food, the more it will expand when frozen. Yeah, the bags are really great because,

you know, you want to leave a little space so the food has room to expand. The ice crystals have room to expand when frozen.

If you put something in a glass jar and seal it tightly, there's a chance that that jar could crack and break if the fluid content or water content of that food you're freezing is high.

So just keep that in mind when you're freezing food because again, if you, you break a jar, you're compromising not only the, you know,

a mess that's now in your freezer, you've wasted the food that you're trying to preserve, but then you've also lost that container. So plastic items are good. You can reuse those bags, you can wash them and reuse them,

you know, so that you're not wasting the plastic as well. So if you invest in those bags, you don't have to necessarily invest in like the fancy Stasher reusable plastic bags.

Those are really expensive. But you could theoretically wash your Ziplocs if you're able to as well.

Caroline: Thank you so much. And so now the flip side of milk, if you're avoiding milk, what suggestions?

Alison: There's so many plant based milks that are on the market and they're great. They have great utility in either just drinking out of a glass or using in cereal or using in certain recipes in place of milk.

But you know, nutritionally they're not always equivalent to milk. So in terms of purchasing these things with the assumption that they're perfect cow's milk replacements,

you know, it's good to think about the nutrients you're replacing in other ways. So sure, if you have the means to buy an alternative plant based beverage product and you or your child wants to use them as a drink or in their cereal, that's great.

But if you don't have the means and you're looking for other alternatives, you can simply use,

say, depending on the application. You can use just water and oatmeal. You could use broth instead of milk in a savory dish.

You could use oil or safe fats for texture in baking instead of butter. Save your more expensive dairy free milk for when you really need it for the taste or the mouth feel.

And I would worry less about using those because they're not always nutritionally equivalent, except if you are using soy milk and because that does contain a fair amount of soy protein.

That's a nice alternative to cow's milk protein.

Caroline: Broth is definitely a favorite for my family and so we used to put broth in mashed potatoes and then when my son outgrew his dairy allergy, we never changed the recipe because it's bread.

Very tasty for sure.

Alison: We've seen that happen a lot with kids who outgrow their milk allergy. They just have a strong affinity for their plant based alternative and that's okay, you know, if it contains calcium and vitamin D and they're getting protein and fat from other sources,

that's really all we care about.

Caroline: Good. Thank you again. This is great. So now let's just take a look at egg.

Alison: Yeah. Eggs on their own are such an efficient source of protein and can be used in so many ways if you are able to consume though. Side note, eggs are great for using up foods that might otherwise go to waste.

So you kind of have two birds, one stone. Eggs are great on their own right now at least they're pretty price stable. But you can add them to leftover vegetables to kind of make an omelette or frittata.

And you can do the same with rice, you know, or other cooked grains to make fried rice. I just got this idea from, I think it was New York Times cooking.

They called it pizza eggs. You take leftover pizza, chop up your pizza, kind of saute it in a pan, and when that pizza nice and melty and crispy, crack a couple eggs in to make a scrambled egg dish.

It's so if those ingredients are available to you, that's a great way to use up some things in your fridge that might otherwise go to waste. Or you might be eating unenthusiastically because they're leftover.

So you can turn a small amount of food into a full meal pretty easily with eggs.

So you can think about these same principles when you are trying to do early egg introduction for infants so maybe take a leftover scrambled egg or even a mashed hard boiled egg to serve to infants.

You can either mix it in a puree or you can give it as a finger food if developmentally appropriate for that child.

Caroline: Excellent. Okay, so now the flip side of egg, if you're avoiding egg.

Alison: So if you're avoiding egg, the substitutes for, say, a straight scrambled egg can be kind of expensive.

They're available,

but they're definitely a lot more expensive than just eggs themselves. But I really love this a block of tofu. It might be outside of the box for a lot of people, but tofu is, when it comes to proteins, not extremely expensive.

It's less expensive than meat products. You know, when you compare weight for weight.

So you take some tofu, saute it, you drain it, saute it with some seasonings to make a egg scramble. And you can find lots of tofu egg scramble recipes all over the Internet that are really good.

Or you can use some of the baking substitutes for egg that came out of World War II,

too. Rationing. You've probably heard about these where leaveners like baking soda and vinegar made a really nice shelf stable egg replacer when eggs were rationed, you know, back then. But you're also.

You're gonna laugh because I'm talking so much about beans. I just love beans. Have you ever tried this? The liquid from a can of garbanzo beans? It's called Aquafaba. And you pour it out again, we're not wasting food.

If you pour out that liquid and you save it, you can scramble it like an egg and kind of make a meringue. But you can also just use it as an egg alternative in baking or other recipes that require a little bit of egg to hold some shape and structure to the product.

Caroline: My son was allergic to egg, and he outgrew that allergy, too. But we did do Aquafaba and we did find those old school recipes of using the alternatives from the pantry and even applesauce.

And then what's really funny is when he outgrew the egg allergy. I started with new recipes, and to me. And then they said, why did you change?

I was like, what? But we can have egg now and dairy. And they're like, no, we want those banana muffins. Funny. But a lot of those egg substitutes really work well.

Alison: They do. And they give a lot of moisture, you know, and a lot of, like, really nice what we use in the food and beverage industry. The mouthfeel just tastes good and it feels nice when you bite into it because of the moisture.

Yeah, I think if you still enjoy using them even without egg allergy, I'd say go for it.

Caroline: That's wonderful. Well, I just have two more to ask you about. How about wheat?

Alison: So wheat, there are so many wheat free options on the market, but a lot of them are more expensive. They can be two or three times more expensive than their standard wheat containing counterparts.

Some of the gluten free wheat free versions can be lower in fiber and protein, so they're less ideal. But I think a necessity in a wheat free diet because you need to have a cake mix, you know, you need to have some cookies.

Especially when you're talking about kids, those treats are really important.

You know, when we're thinking about financially, we want to use them strategically. Those alternatives,

not necessarily as a daily default if there are budget constraints. So there's so many affordable foods that are great wheat free alternatives. A lot of them are rice, rice products or just rice itself.

Potatoes, corn and corn items like tortillas or polenta which are fairly low cost. Of course, oats, you know, certain things certified gluten free if you need to be gluten free.

Oat products and oats themselves are really useful. And again of course beans and lentils. You know, these foods also can contain some of the vitamins and minerals that that wheat products are enriched and fortified with.

So those can be good nutrient replacements as well. They can really be a nice base of a meal to add some bulk. So I, I often recommend, you know, using rice like or potatoes as the base of a meal.

You know, think rice bowls or baked or mashed potatoes, maybe topped with chili, roasted potatoes, you know, with fun toppings, inexpensive, they can be kid friendly and really easy to batch cook and save.

You know, corn and oats are great options. They're often also higher in fiber. You know, popcorn is a whole grain, so that's a great high fiber filling, nutritious snack, especially for kids.

So, so think about all of those things and keeping meals as simple as possible and less focused on the wheat alternative is usually a easier, cheaper and nutritionally balanced way to go.

Caroline: Excellent tips. I love popcorn too. Excellent, excellent tips. So now the flip side of wheat.

Alison: You know, I find that choosing whole grain options, you know, whether it's a whole grain bread or a whole grain pasta, is usually best. Sometimes those products are more expensive, but oftentimes if you can find the store brand, they are from a price perspective often equivalent to their refined wheat standards.

So if you are able to afford and obtain whole Grain versions of wheat products. That's ideal. But if not, again, we're going for progress, not perfection.

Just buy what you can afford or you can get your hands on and what's best for your family.

Caroline: And honestly, probably every other week my local grocery stores will have sales on pasta and breads. And so I just watch all the coupons and Wednesdays is when we get all the little sale flyers in the mail.

And I'm always digging through those.

Alison: Right. You know, I have to say I'm not talking a lot about the allergen free alternatives like the snack foods, the breads, the mixes, the pastas,

you know, because those tend to lean more expensive.

But what's interesting about those foods is they're not an often high demand in grocery stores. They can end up in the clearance racks. So go back to the back corner of your grocery store and check the dates and check those racks because you can find cassava pasta, you can find,

you know, a baking mix. You might find some allergen free bars. I've found tofu chicken nugget. You know, there's all kinds of items back there that are like less popular.

It's not a sustainable way to shop because you're not always going to be able to rely on finding those foods. But if you can fill in some gaps or have some treats here and there with foods that are extremely marked down, that can be a good tip too.

Caroline: That's a great tip. We actually, in our local grocery store, we hit the produce section and then the clearance section. My entire family have taught everybody this because you're right,

you really can pick up some great.

I actually picked up some cookies for my kids after Easter that are typically very expensive and they were 70% off and they were thrilled.

Alison: Right. And even if you can't use what you find in the section immediately or by the expiration date, freeze it. If you have room in your freezer,

try to freeze it and find a way to make it a foundation of a meal or a snack or a treat later.

Caroline: Wonderful. Again, wonderful tip. So last but not least, tree nuts. So if you can have tree nuts, what are your tips and ideas on tree nuts?

Alison: If you can have tree nuts,

the less processed, and this is the same for any food,

the, the less processed the food is, the less expensive it likely will be. So when I say process, I mean as simple as cracking open a nut, right?

That's processing. So an a whole nut is going to be less expensive. Now the feasibility of cracking open your own nuts for human consumption. I'm thinking of my grandpa sitting in his recliner with the nutcracker Christmas.

But you know, if you can do that at home, that's theoretically the less expensive way.

Even a step up from that would be bag of nuts that hasn't been ground or hasn't been put into a nut butter or have the ability to grind them yourself.

That's one way to save some money.

Or you can just consume them whole without any processing.

You know, this is a bit of a controversial topic, but when we're talking about early introduction or selective nutrition consumption, you know, so for individuals who say have a pecan walnut allergy but are able to consume cashew and pistachio and we want them to consume the nuts that they are tolerant to,

maybe just rinsing the nuts might be sufficient to prevent cross contact. Definitely discuss that with your doctor.

Trying to find nuts that are certified free of cross contact with other trina can be more expensive and not always feasible. So sometimes to achieve that tolerance of consuming the nuts you are able to we recommend just rinsing or washing the nuts that are safe to ensure any limits to the cross contact.

Caroline: Boy, I understand that. Cause my daughter's allergic to tree nuts but she can have almond.

I'm always looking for almond farms and thankfully where I live I'm in Reno, Nevada but we go to California a lot and the path that we take there, there are a lot of almond farms and so I often will stop in but that's just by luck.

Alison: Again, discuss it with your provider. Like your risk might be different than others but in some cases that could be an option for you to consume tree nuts that are safe for you in a safer fashion.

Caroline: Thank you. And then lastly the flip sides. If you can't have tree nuts, I mean I know it'll probably cross over somewhat with peanut but if you have any other tips on that too,

right?

Alison: I mean the sunbutter I honestly I love sunflower seed butter. So good. You know the sunflower seed butter because it's processed in the sense that the seeds have been ground. If you can buy just sunflower seeds, if those are safe and available to you, that can be a great alternative to peanuts or tree nuts.

A snack food that's shelf stable and again has the some protein, fat and trace minerals that you could otherwise be missing.

Caroline: Well, thank you. I know that was quite a bit but that was a lot of really good practical information.

So now let's end on another practical note because all of this is so practical.

What are a few of your favorite top Nine allergen free, nutrient dense foods that families should have on their radar.

Alison: I've talked about some of these already. But just to reiterate and really drive it home, beans and lentils are such a power food, right? They have protein, they have fiber, they have vitamins and minerals that we can be mixed with missing from other wise restrictive diets.

So beans and lentils, they're shelf stable. They're so economical. I love these foods. Now on their own, they're not that exciting, right. They need some seasoning and that's where things get really expensive.

So really go to some of your local stores. You know, I love like I love Aldi. You can pick up seasonings at aldi for sometimes one or $2.

So if you don't have a lot of experience cooking or have a, a really broad pantry of seasonings at home, start there, start with some garlic or some steak seasoning or even just bouillon cubes, broth cubes, just to get yourself started with seasoning.

These foods that can be otherwise bland on their own. So whether it's beans and lentils, rice, oats,

boxes of pasta, I talked about fresh and frozen vegetables where frozen are less expensive. Even frozen fruit is great. And if you have the ability,

canned fish can be a really great again, shelf stable, nutritious,

high protein option that can be great. And lower cost per serving than their fresh counterparts.

Caroline: Again, this has just been phenomenal. Great tips,

practical tips, and even if you're not on a budget and you just don't want to waste,

these tips apply to everybody with ease and just being very conscious about the world and our ways. Before we say goodbye today, is there anything else you want our listeners to hear from you?

Alison: Just driving home that progress over perfection.

Yes. And stand on my soapbox a little bit. If there's anyone tuning in today who in this moment is comfortable financially and you have the ability to donate allergen friendly pantry items to your local pantry, you know, there are families in need who would love to have access to those foods or just financial donations to those organizations can help so many people experiencing food insecurity.

So getting involved in advocacy, you know, for, for food access is really something I'm passionate about too.

Caroline: I love that. And that is a wonderful way to end because you're right. If we can help,

let's help. Thank you for giving us your time and your wisdom. I feel like we've just taken an entire class here in a short amount of time. So thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and your time.

And everything.

Alison: Of course. My pleasure. I know I went over time, but I can't help it.

Caroline: No, you are perfect. You are absolutely perfect. So thank you so much.

Alison: Thank you, Caroline.

Caroline: Before we say goodbye today, I just want to take one more moment to say thank you to Genentech for their kind sponsorship of FAACT's Roundtable podcast.  Also, I want to note that today's guest was not paid by or sponsored by Genentech to participate in this specific podcast.

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