I highly recommend the Macro range of products you can find at Countdown or Woolworths.
In particular I have found these to be really good:
So far in my comparisons between smaller organic and/or gluten free shops in Tauranga, and the major supermarkets, these products have been the best find in terms of quality/price by far!
Their gluten free products are also much better than many of the ones I have tried, as they have steered clear of soy in most of their products, also they seem to use less sugar than other brands in their flour mixes, if at all. Would be even better if they were organic and gluten free, but if you are on a budget and can't afford to buy the more expensive organic/gluten free flours from an organic store near you, these are the next best option.
Although Wheat came up in the top 12 worst food items in terms of pesticide loads in NZ in 2013, there is not comprehensive data available for all the other grains to the same levels. However, it does appear that since corn, rice and tapioca didn't feature in the list it would be safe to assume they are of less concern. So eating gluten free flour products with these as the main ingredients every now and again is not such a big deal.
In particular I have found these to be really good:
- Organic Coconut Cream - (Only 1.99!) Cheaper than most asian stores and other organic stores I have checked out, and its organic, not to mention it has no nasty preservatives or thickeners!
- Organic Peanut butter & Nut butters - Also cheaper than what I have found in organic stores, not to mention that the price is even cheaper than some of the conventional peanut butter's in the supermarket.
- Ketchup, BBQ Sauce, Marinade, Sweet Thai Chili Sauce - I have been meaning to make my own for so long but to be honest, with these readily available there isn't much incentive to spend ages in the kitchen and you would probably spend more on just buying the ingredients separately anyway. Pretty good find.
- Canned tomato products - particularly important if you are wanting to steer clear of the myriad of pesticides found on tomatoes in NZ. If you cook a lot with tomatoes you will want to stock up on these, and they are pretty affordable - when you compare with the price of fresh organic tomatoes this is a great deal!
So far in my comparisons between smaller organic and/or gluten free shops in Tauranga, and the major supermarkets, these products have been the best find in terms of quality/price by far!
Their gluten free products are also much better than many of the ones I have tried, as they have steered clear of soy in most of their products, also they seem to use less sugar than other brands in their flour mixes, if at all. Would be even better if they were organic and gluten free, but if you are on a budget and can't afford to buy the more expensive organic/gluten free flours from an organic store near you, these are the next best option.
Although Wheat came up in the top 12 worst food items in terms of pesticide loads in NZ in 2013, there is not comprehensive data available for all the other grains to the same levels. However, it does appear that since corn, rice and tapioca didn't feature in the list it would be safe to assume they are of less concern. So eating gluten free flour products with these as the main ingredients every now and again is not such a big deal.