Good gluten free foods?
emmaburlton
Posts: 6 Member
Hey guys! I'm just starting my weight loss journey. As someone who's had coeliac for a couple of years now, I've really abused it in order to binge unhealthy foods under the excuse of "well I can't have most of the foods I used to enjoy so I can eat chocolate/etc". Now I'm looking for some healthy foods & meals to start with.
At the moment I'm so picky with veg and I get really strange about textures, I end up eating a lot of simple foods like mashed potato, GF mozarella sticks, etc. While I'm staying in my calories, fats and sugars etc have been sky high lately because I'm filling those calorie goals with snacks or foods that are quite fatty.
I'm also interested in some meal prep ideas? I'm kind of tired of just bringing sandwiches to work/college/etc and I'd love to have something I can heat up and dig into. I'm pretty bad at cooking but I'd like to give it a try and see what I can do, especially as I'm off to uni next year, so I'll literally die if I don't cook! Hahaha
Thanks in advance!
At the moment I'm so picky with veg and I get really strange about textures, I end up eating a lot of simple foods like mashed potato, GF mozarella sticks, etc. While I'm staying in my calories, fats and sugars etc have been sky high lately because I'm filling those calorie goals with snacks or foods that are quite fatty.
I'm also interested in some meal prep ideas? I'm kind of tired of just bringing sandwiches to work/college/etc and I'd love to have something I can heat up and dig into. I'm pretty bad at cooking but I'd like to give it a try and see what I can do, especially as I'm off to uni next year, so I'll literally die if I don't cook! Hahaha
Thanks in advance!
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Replies
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It doesn't have to be complicated, I promise! Start with the basics, meats, veggies/fruits, dairy. Learn to cook one thing REALLY well. For me, I make a killer roasted chicken. I buy the biggest chicken I can find and then have it for dinner, the leftover meat goes for things like soup, chicken salad, pot pie (you can buy pre-made GF crusts), etc., and then I use the bones to make stock.
Definitely cook in bulk (if you like leftovers, I know some people don't) and if you don't have any where to heat up your food, invest in a good Thermos to take your hot food with you.
If you are brand new to cooking, check out a couple of cook books, you can go to your local library and check out a few to get yourself aquainted with the recipes. Learn what the safe substitutions are for ingredients you can't have. For example, I find that Almond Flour mixed with Coconut Flour makes a good substitute in many baked goods, for a thickener, I use Arrowroot instead of wheat flour, etc.
For grab and go foods and snacks, Aldi has a great GF line of products.
Good luck, you can do this!3 -
Thank you so much!0
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I prep my food on a Sunday for the week. I’ve made plenty of delicious meals. Such as a ‘one pot chicken’ that I’m really enjoying right now. Basically chicken thighs, tomatoes, chopped kale, jalapeños and pesto all cooked in one pot then divided into 7 meals. Change ingredients to taste. Enjoy experimenting, it makes food more enjoyable and ‘dieting’ easier. Good luck 😊0
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What has helped me and my family (I'm celiac, and so are many other family members, so we trade ideas. ^_^ )
1. I love bento boxes like crazy. They are pretty, the recipes are pretty, and so I don't feel like I'm looking at my sad little lunch while other people get nicer ones; the bentos are just as nice if not better. The boxes are often quite pretty (and many available for cheap). The sizes are listed by ml. (this company sells tons of them - cheap plastic through more expensive and fancy wooden ones: https://en.bentoandco.com/collections/bento-boxes-newest-oldest )
Some other cool things about bento boxes - the traditional bento ratio of foods was 4:2:1. 4 parts rice to 2 parts protein (meat, eggs, tofu) to 1 part other ingredients like veg or fruit. If you do this, typically with veg for the 1 part 'other,' without a ton of fat-based sauces, your calories for the bento box will be very close to the size in ml, which was SUPER convenient for me when I was trying to diet. Some folks recommend more of a 3:2:1 ratio for weight loss, but to start off with, as long as it makes it easy, I think 'go for it,' you know?
Also, most bento recipes are Asian, which as long as you use GF soy sauce (which is actually just fancy soy-only soy sauce made in ways to avoid cross-contamination, so it's BETTER than reg. soy sauce, ha!), are typically GF. Sometimes you'll find a sauce that is not GF, like hoisin, but there are recipes for DIY GF versions that are easy to find (this gal has a ton of old bento recipes that are super tasty - http://justbento.com/recipes )
And lastly, the entire concept of bentos lends well to leftovers, even tiny ones. Like here are some insanely slick bentos (more artsy than I would ever make, frankly) - https://www.pinterest.com/freshdesignhome/bento-boxes-are-amazing/?lp=true One thing you can see, though, is that some of the foods are super small amounts. Like, one or two meatballs, or just a few pieces of a fruit, or like 8 peas. So if you have just a few leftovers, they will always add well to bentos the next day. :-) And one can use, say, mashed root veg (like potatoes) or another carb to replace the rice, if you don't like the texture, too.
Oh, and I should say - I am not a good cook, and I don't like cooking, and I still really like these. :-)
2. Going to recipes from cultures that typically have very little gluten normally is VERY helpful. Because these are recipes that have always been GF, so there have been decades, or centuries, of cooks perfecting them and making them taste awesome. Many Asian dishes (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Thai...) fall in this category. There are some great recipes from various countries in Africa, too, that involve more sweet potatoes and yams, or other grains that aren't wheat.
3. I like a crockpot or slow cooker over the weekend - I can put a bunch of veggies and onion/garlic in water, cook for a while (30-60minutes on stove top pot) and then blend it up in a blender. This type of soup is great to use later with other foods. Like, take a thermos and then add rice and meat to it during lunch and it's like either a thick stew or, if you use less soup, almost like an easy risotto-esque meal (if you use sushi rice).
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I'm on to fish stew recently. Get the sale item(s) take them home and make the stew immediately. Fish on sale does not keep. I have been logging about 800 calories for 2 quarts of stew. No gluten, very low fat. Recipes abound but the key is non oily firm whitefish as the main ingredient. I like Asian recipes but dial back the oil.0
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Street tacos or tostadas.
You can take the tortilla to work and assemble everything after you've warmed up the meat .
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I find for meal prep that prepping quinoa or rice to use as a good gluten free carb works well. You can make things like salads, stir fry, curry etc and eat them with some rice or quinoa. Also it doesn't have to get boring as there are many types of rice, quinoa, or blends to try
Gluten free bread (if you find a nice one) is nice to have on hand but I have naturally just planned my meals around not needing bread, for example; I might make a loaded omelette and all the toppings fill me up so that I don't need any toast with it.
Yogurt and fruit is a nice healthy gluten free snack (or meal). So are smoothie bowls, which should generally be low in fats depending on how you make them. They're relatively easy to meal prep as you can assort fruits into bags, chuck them in a freezer and pull them out to blend up when you wish to eat.0 -
You're getting good tips here. I've been diagnosed for almost 8 years, unfortunately I am allergic to soy, coconut and egg as well so my life is more complicated than yours will be.
But if I can learn to do it, you can learn to do it.0 -
Another vote for cuisines that are naturally GF, like Thai. (Brands like San-J make GF soy sauce. This is available at Whole Foods and supermarkets with large Asian sections. Smaller health food stores should have good GF selections as well.)
This is the cookbook I used to learn how to make Thai foods: https://smile.amazon.com/Quick-Easy-Thai-Cuisine-Cookbooks/dp/4889960945/
Note: her servings sizes and portions of meat tend to run small compared to what my American palate is used to. I tend to double meat in many recipes, and count on it making less than the portions stated.
The cheapest place to get Asian staples is probably going to be Asian markets. Amazon is the worst place to buy, IMO.
I don't go crazy trying to get all the ingredients. As far as I'm concerned, ginger root is a perfectly reasonable substitute for galangal. Don't hesitate to google "'X' substitute".
I tend to use cayenne pepper instead of fresh peppers - I find it easier to control the heat and don't have to worry about perishability.0
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